|
|
|
Submitted October 26, 2004
Neither Major
Candidate Represents Orthodox Christian
Values
|
 |
 |
+Christ is in our midst!+
Dear Orthodox Christian News
Service:
I am writing to take issue with
your publication of the editorial entitled
"President George W. Bush: Sharing and
Supporting Issues and Values of the Orthodox
Christian Community, " published in The
National Herald on October 22, 2004. As a U.S.
citizen, I believe, as does your organization,
that I have a responsibility to cast my support
behind leaders that best exemplify my values. As
an Orthodox Christian, those values are largely
determined by the teaching and example of Christ
and the faithful witness of His Church
throughout the ages.
I find it highly inappropriate
for your organization to purport to represent
the mindset of all Orthodox Christians,
especially in regard to the upcoming election.
Further, the endorsement of one candidate over
another puts your organization in the dangerous
position of intimating that there is a "right"
choice. The fact of the matter is that neither of the major candidates, nor
their parties, do a good job of representing
Orthodox Christian values. At the very least
your endorsement of President Bush ought to be
qualified as representing only the views of your
organization.
Since I have the benefit of
knowing your opinion on our current political
milieu, I will share mine as well. As I
mentioned before, I think that neither of the
two major political parties in this country
represent Orthodox Christian values. Frankly,
unless Orthodox Christians comprise the bulk of
their base, I don't expect either to do so
anytime soon. Neither party has articulated or
demonstrated a commitment to developing
spiritual poverty or meekness, they do not
(consistently) mourn the state of our world,
they are more interested in power than
righteousness, neither advocates mercy for
everyone, neither
strike me as being especially
pure of heart, neither party can be said to be
peacemakers, and while they are quick to tag
their campaigns with some aura of spirituality,
neither seems willing to suffer persecution for
the sake of Christ.
Show me a candidate whose
platform is based on those planks and I'll
readily agree that they support "the issues and
values of the Orthodox Christian community."
In the interim, I would hope that
your organization would foster Christ's
Commandments of Blessedness in your
membership--indeed, for all Orthodox
Christians--and instead of advocating for one
political candidate or another, voice our
concern that candidates that want to represent
us need to use these as a yardstick. As a start,
you might direct your readership to this
petition at Sojourners Magazine:
http://go.sojo.net/campaign/takebackourfaith
.
Most humbly yours in Christ,
Jonathan Kotinek
|
