When my wife first went to meet some of my relative in Miami, she had a shock. Our family is a typical Latino family. This means that when we discuss contentious subjects, our hands start waving and our voices rise up. My wife comes from a family that is not quite that demonstrative. My family, of course, threw a dinner at which many were present. In the course of the dinner, two of my uncles (may they rest in peace) began to argue politics, began waving their hands, and their voices became very loud. It did not help that they had dinner knives in their hands. My wife was not sure what was happening, but she feared violence. She could not figure out why the rest of the family was relaxed and laughing.
The answer, of course, was that this was typical Latino family behavior, and there was no danger of violence. This type of argument had been happening for years between them, and was a regular event almost every time they saw each other. There was no animosity, it was simply the way it happened. Next family gathering, they would both be there and then eventually get into a political or religious argument or current events argument.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go to an Orthodox clergy conference. I was pleased to meet a Metropolitan and some priests for the first time and to share in a time of fellowship and learning. Guess what? During some of the dinner discussions, there were some strong discussions on politics. No, the priests did not get into loud arguments, but there were certainly some strong discussions. Nevertheless, before each meal, we would worship together, and after each meal we would go to one of the presentations. In other words, there was no break in “family” solidarity anymore than my uncles ever broke family solidarity because of their political or religious or other discussion.
Why do I bring this up? I am becoming increasingly concerned with the climate of the political discussion between all too many Christians in this country. No, I am not talking about discussions between “liberals” and “conservatives,” I am talking about discussions between committed Orthodox. I have been reading discussions in which brothers and sisters are using words like excommunication and of denial of communion. These are dangerous suggestions. They are dangerous because most often the suggestions are made by well-meaning people who are trying to fight against evil happenings in this country.
Some have gone as far as charging that one cannot be a member of one or another party because to do so would be to deny Christian morality and ethics. But, we have hierarchs, priests, and deacons in every jurisdiction who have voted Democrat or Libertarian or Republican in previous and current elections. Those who charge that one is immoral and unethical if someone votes for a particular party are, in effect, charging a large number of our hierarchs, priests, and deacons of behavior which makes them unworthy serving in the priesthood. They would no longer be considered, “Worthy,” “Axios.”
But, remember what I said about the clergy conference. We may have had sharply divided views on the political future of this country. But, we worshipped together; we ate together; we received teachings together without any rancor and without any suggestions by anyone that somehow there should be a division made, based on politics, between the clergy present. That is the attitude that needs to be present this election season among Orthodox Christians.
Let me drive it home. I am not suggesting that everything is relative. I do not believe in relative morality or ethics. But, I know that committed Orthodox clergy have come to different conclusions on which party would best support the totality of the many issues which confront our country without any suggestion that fellowship needs to be severed between us. It is time for all too many Orthodox to stop making declarations of excommunication or denial of communion. It is time for Orthodox citizens to join together in worship, in prayer, and in study.
No, I do not believe that we will come to one political conclusion. But, I am convinced that we need to be like my uncles; we need to be like the clergy in the clergy conference. We need to be united in Christ even while we argue, discuss, fight, and wave our hands in our political discussions. Perhaps someday we will reach one united political opinion. Perhaps someday our hierarchs will make a broader set of declarations other than the declarations that they have made against elective abortions. But, until then, and even then, we are called to be one in Christ.
This Lent commit yourself to be one in Christ and to keep the Evil One from using his wiles to separate the Orthodox in this country. Resist the temptation to demonize your fellow committed Orthodox believer.
Amen! May it be so for all Christians, as well.
Excellent post, Father!
Off topic: Is the picture from Heroes of Might and Magic?
It is a playing card from ” Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012″
Excellent food for thought, and reminder to be family. One must also be aware of the opposite dillemma. One cannot be blindly tolerant, lest we find ourselves unable to confront evil at all.
The 1970’s were a time of blind tolerance in too many places. However we are now at the other end of the pendulum swing. Much of our fight against political correctness is a fight against a very faded and barely existing opponent.
The very reason that I say we need to stay out of politics – the temptation to “see the faults of my brother” and “gossip” and “lust for power” are too strong. Theya re so strong, in fact, that we pray against them every day during this holy season. If we equate voting with “confronting evil” we’ve already lost – we wrestle not with flesh and blood. We can’t get trapped in an election cycle and say the prayer of St Ephrem with any integrity at all.
For example. Once, in the last year or two, during a local election campaign season, I was very chagrined to find in the narthex of our church some “voting guides” published by a local right-wing group. I complained to the priest, and he insisted they were “neutral” and informative only. For crying out loud, that group is a registered PAC. It’s true that the format and tone of that particular piece of their literature were somewhat “neutral,” but anyone who knows anything about that local organization knows how far right they are and how busily involved in trying to promote their candidates and bring down their opponents. And anyone local who knows all that would reasonably assume that the presence of these fliers in the church narthex indicates that the church aligns itself with this group. And if anyone happened not to know the organization and picked up one of those guides and then went home and checked the web site given there, they’d sure find all this out right away.
Eventually, the fliers quietly disappeared and I didn’t see them the next time we had elections. Perhaps someone realized that putting out PAC materials crosses a line. I don’t know. But if I see anything like that in my church again (which is just one way in which the right-wing members feel free to express their politics at church, while we who are more to the left always feel the need to be quiet), I will seriously struggle with giving up on the parish.
And by “more to the left,” it probably goes without saying that I mean if you’re just centrist nowadays, those on the right consider you left of Marx himself.