Ken Liu, OCAN Exec. Dir.
Many Americans believe we are upon one of the most momentous elections in the history of our nation, with strong views on both sides of the political spectrum. Each side thinks the other is going to cause the downfall of democracy.
Maybe, maybe not. The question for us is, how should we Orthodox Christians participate?
I suggest three scriptural passages as particularly instructive.
1. “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’” (John 18:36)
Ever since the ancient Israelites called out for an earthly king rather than trusting in God’s leadership (1 Samuel 8), we humans have sought in vain for dynamic rulers to lead us to glory. But God has already given us a King in whose dominion we are to pledge our ultimate allegiance.
In the 2nd century A.D., the anonymous author of "Letter to Diognetus" wrote admirably about the peculiar allegiance of Christians: “They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. . . They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven."
Earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Our allegiance is to an eternal kingdom. All else is secondary.
2. “Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 145:3)
In every age there are charismatic leaders who rise up with promises of either restoring a nation to a glorious past or taking us to a visionary future. And in every age people are enticed to trust in such illusory promises. But inevitably those promises fail for the simple reason stated by the Psalmist –- there is no salvation in princes nor sons (or daughters!) of men.
Putting our trust in earthly rulers is both folly, and idolatry.
3. “Do not turn to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” (Proverbs 4:27)
Of course King Solomon was not warning us about the perils of today’s American political parties, but I think this verse is an apt metaphor.
In his Farewell Address, our nation’s patristic father George Washington warned against the dangers of political factions: “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
Just as we ought not to put our trust in any political ruler, neither should we put our trust in any political party. In heaven there will be no red or blue states.
As Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said in The Gulag Archipelago, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts." It is human hearts that we must first transform, if we are to have any hope of transforming insititutions or states.
Our prophetic call.
More important than who we campaign or vote for is how we as God’s followers live out our prophetic calling in a secular age. Christ said that we are to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). In a time that is increasingly prone to confusion and distortion of truth, this calling is more important than ever.
We Orthodox attorneys who know the source of all Truth have a particular obligation to speak to truth, justice, and goodness. We must not succumb to the temptations of using the state to further our ends (whether on the left or the right) by force or fiat. Rather, we can best serve the Church and the nation by being a prophetic voice -- calling out right from wrong, and protecting against overreach of the state -- regardless of who is in power.
© 2024 Kenneth Liu