In the past week, Nicholas took a car service from the airport after a business trip. During the ride, he struck up a conversation with the young, friendly African-American driver. The young man has a wife and multiple children to support. He told Nicholas that he was practically living in his car, sometimes spending as much as 20 hours a day trying to earn enough just to support his family. He felt like rising living expenses, soaring rent, and his onerous self-employment taxes were “ripping him to shreds”. He was in the process of dusting off his resume. He hoped that some tech certifications and prior industry experience might land him a job paying enough to keep covering the bills, while allowing him to spend more than a few hours a week with his wife and kids.
Meanwhile his “democratically elected” government continues to import millions of poor people to strain social services, print untold billions of dollars for boondoggle projects like “Green Energy” and “Defense” to enrich favored industries, send tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine, and in general just keeps doing all kinds of things that make a working man’s life harder than it should be. “Democracy” is a scam.
Neoliberals (see here for a definition) demand all their favored governments maintain a veneer of democratic legitimacy through regularly held elections and pro-democracy rhetoric. Why? Because Neoliberals understand that you can economically rape a populace to death if you can only convince them that they asked for it. “Well, gee this sucks! But we voted for concentrating all our wealth in the hands of a small group of hyperconnected plutocrats, so better suck it up! Besides, we can just vote the bums out, right? Time to go to my third job so I can earn enough to buy groceries.”
Americans often criticize monarchies because of the supposed power of the King or Queen. All the while, they fail to understand that, historically, the power of kings is quite limited compared to that wielded by a “Democracy”. The citizens of a monarchy are jealous and suspicious of the king. They begrudge him their taxes, their sons for military service in his wars, and his power over their lives. A king that pushes too far into debt, fights unpopular wars, levies too high taxes, and/or enacts overly burdensome societal regulations will eventually find his head on a pike and his dynasty a quaint, historical footnote. The idea of a “totalitarian” monarchy is almost impossible to imagine.
But a Democracy? Well, that is where the real power is. The people actually identify with the government because it is “theirs”. The citizens are thus willing to bear the most outrageous hardships in the name of the “common good”. Millions of citizens will willingly follow, and defend, an Oligarchic enterprise that seeks nothing but to profit from their suffering. The common man in a “Democratic” system will consent to live in a prison, as long as he gets the chance to vote for the warden of his choice. It is the most successful fraud in history.
Before you read Fr. Geoffrey’s insightful article below on monarchy, we’d like to provide a few additional insights into the nature of monarchy and “Democracy” for you to consider:
- Monarchs take a long view of history. They not only want their kingdoms to thrive in their own lifetimes, but they want to pass on those kingdoms to their offspring. Indefinitely if possible. Elected representatives, as has been shown repeatedly by practical experience, think very short term, and mostly about their own personal gain. They will be in office for an unpredictable timeframe, so most make lots of hay while the sun shines. Congressmen trade stocks on the basis of insider information gained in their official duties. Family of Congressmen (and Vice Presidents) form lobbying groups to pocket “fees” for “representing” special interests, sit on boards, and game the system a thousand other ways. The “big guys” always seem to get their cut. Government regulators pocket money directly from industry while still in their regulatory roles. After leaving government service, they end up in high-ranking positions with the very private corporations they were once in charge of “regulating”. Politicians leave office and likewise migrate to industry without so much as a decent interval to even pretend things are on the up-and-up. Generals retire, then go to work for Defense contractors whose weapons systems they were once in charge of procuring. The whole system is so soaked in corruption that no one bothers thinking about the future of the country they are robbing blind. No monarch with real power and authority would, or even could, ever preside over the accumulation of $31 trillion dollars in debt. Only a system with “democratic legitimacy” could so thoroughly bankrupt a nation without triggering a revolution.
- Monarchy is not incompatible with civil and economic liberties. As Americans, we are encultured to associate the words “freedom” and “Democracy”. As we have hopefully shown, these two concepts are actually in opposition to each other. Freedom is frequently curtailed through democratic means in ways that monarchs could never emulate. If nothing else, the recent COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, mandatory jabs, censorship, travel restrictions, and ruinous sanctions should have proven this to any thinking person’s satisfaction. Personal identification with government policy through electoral support turned half the population into “Karens” willing to imprison people in their own homes. The situation in Europe is another example of “Democracy” trampling the freedoms and economic well-being of citizens. NATO governments know that their Climate Change polices and Russian sanctions are weakening their own nations and hurting their own people. Yet they persist in doing so, despite the very clear will of the voters not to starve, not to freeze to death, and not to be reduced to penury by sky-high energy costs. “Democratically” elected governments could not care less about the hardships of the people they are supposed to represent. A king would think better of such policies, unless he wished to meet an angry mob at his door. It is much easier to focus your discontent on one man, than it is on an entire “system” of millions of interconnected political and bureaucratic cogs.
- Even the most optimistic political thinkers cannot envision any way that the corrupt, sclerotic, compromised Western societies can reform themselves. The power to change course is not within the system. We will simply all drift along, things getting worse, until the system implodes. What happens then is anyone’s guess, but hard times lay ahead.
- Orthodox Christianity does not inherently lend itself to support for “Democracy”. That will seem like borderline heresy to many, but it is the truth. Progressive “Orthodox” academics have labored mightily to imbue “Democracy” with religious significance, while simultaneously being unfairly critical of the historic realities of Orthodox monarchies. An example is here from the Greek Archdiocese FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church:
In many countries in the world today, civil order, freedom, human rights, and democracy are realities in which citizens may trust; and, to a very real degree, these societies accord persons the fundamental dignity of the liberty to seek and pursue the good ends they desire for themselves, their families, and their communities. This is a very rare blessing indeed, viewed in relation to the entire course of human history, and it would be irrational and uncharitable of Christians not to feel a genuine gratitude for the special democratic genius of the modern age. Orthodox Christians who enjoy the great advantages of living in such countries should not take such values for granted, but should instead actively support them, and work for the preservation and extension of democratic institutions and customs within the legal, cultural, and economic frameworks of their respective societies. It is something of a dangerous temptation among Orthodox Christians to surrender to a debilitating and in many respects fantastical nostalgia for some long-vanished golden era, and to imagine that it constituted something like the sole ideal Orthodox polity. This can become an especially pernicious kind of false piety, one that mistakes the transient political forms of the Orthodox past, such as the Byzantine Empire, for the essence of the Church of the Apostles. The special advantages of the Church under Christian rule may have allowed for the gestation and formation of a distinct Orthodox ethos within the political spaces inhabited by Orthodox Christians, but they also had the unfortunate additional effect of binding the Church to certain crippling limitations.
For astute readers, it is clear that such efforts are merely the attempt by well-paid academics to turn Orthodoxy into a religious support system for Neoliberal globalism. A reasonably good monarch is going to be concerned with preserving the cultural, religious, and economic legacies of the unique people(s) over which he reigns. “Democratic” institutions typically have no such concerns, which is why Globalists favor the pretense of popular sovereignty over true monarchies. Helping Globalists transform our world into a transnational nightmare is not a role fit for the Orthodox Church.
The sentiments expressed above, and those expressed below by Fr. Geoffrey, may be particularly troubling for Americans as steeped as we are in the lore of representative government. We are in no danger of having a monarchical system any time soon. Be that as it may, any reasonable person should see that our current system cannot stand forever. Even the hyper-Neoliberal New York Times openly laments that the endemic corruption of our political order threatens its “legitimacy” and encourages Americans to choose “non-democratic alternatives”. With what shall we replace our current swamp when its continuation finally becomes untenable? Whatever comes next will never be perfect, as perfection is not attainable in this world. But could we not at least strive for a system that does not collapse into rapacious Oligarchy within a scant few decades of its founding?
—OR Staff
God Save the King!
A few days ago, crowds gathered in sorrow around the front gates of Buckingham Palace in London. The waited, and they watched.
Finally, the flag on the palace was lowered, and they knew Her Majesty the Queen had died.
Spontaneously, the crowd broke into song.
They sang, “God save our gracious Queen, long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen!”
Most people recognize this as the national anthem of Great Britain.
It is, of course, also Canada’s second national anthem, although many have forgotten it.
But the phrase “God save the Queen” – or now “God save the King”, does not come from a song.
In six places in Holy Scripture, we find the words, “God save the King”. Two are most famous.
The first occurs in 1 Samuel (1 Sam 10:24), where we read, “Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen (referring to King Saul), that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.”
The second occurs in 1 Kings (1 Kings 1:39), where we read, “Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.”
George Frideric Handel wrote his famous anthem for coronations, based on this verse. We’ll hear it played again in a few weeks, for the first time in seventy years.
The Orthodox Church – from the time of the Old Testament, straight through the days of the early Church to the twentieth century – is filled with kings and queens who are saints and even martyrs for Christ.
These are examples of holiness and self-sacrifice.
We have famous examples, like Saint Constantine the Great, who not only Christianized the Roman Empire, and made Christianity legal, but convened the First Ecumenical Council which defended Orthodoxy against the heresy of Arianism.
Or the Empress Theodora, who after nearly two centuries of the destruction of holy icons throughout the Byzantine Empire, courageously restored them to the churches under her rule, despite fierce opposition.
Or the passion-bearer Tsar Nicholas II, who faced the assaults of the atheistic Bolsheviks, and with his family were led to the slaughter, trusting in Christ, and praying for their captors.
Orthodox Christians who deeply understand their faith also understand why monarchy has throughout time been an instrument of God to sanctify the fallen world.
Monarchs are not chosen by men – they are only accountable to God.
If they fulfil their calling, their reward is very great, and if they fail in their calling, their punishment is very severe.
Christian kings and queens usually do not achieve their positions – or keep them – because of buying off public opinion. They are not voted in, or voted out. The passions of mankind affect them as individuals, but it is the hand of God – not political ambition or an election campaign – which puts them in their place of rule.
A wonderful book, Pious Kings and Right-Believing Queens, compiles the lives of hundreds of such saints – all of them kings and queens. Many of these saints are martyrs for Christ.
One can hardly imagine a book about saints entitled Pious Presidents and Right-Believing Prime Ministers – of course, there is no such book!
We do not have to look very far to find examples of leadership based on ambition, and the kind of results ambition brings to the world.
The Holy Gospel presents us with a stark contrast to these righteous kings and queens, in the person of King Herod.
Of course, this Herod was not a real king – he was a political appointee, by the Romans. He was a fake king.
Saint John Chrysostom contrasts him with the moral purity, the moral excellence of Saint John the Baptist. This is the reason John the Baptist bothered him so much – because he spoke the truth about Herod’s sinful life, and his marital immorality.
The Venerable Bede tells us John the Baptist was righteous because of his truth-telling: Herod was not. He lived by lies. He married the wife of his dead brother, and then, while trying to impress his friends on his birthday, he made a very stupid promise to the daughter of his new wife.
It was this promise which eventually led him to murder Saint John the Baptist.
Brothers and sisters: righteous people are not manipulated by the opinions of their friends.
Righteous people speak the truth.
Saint John Chrysostom tells us we all – as Christians – actually owe that to people who are living sinfully. We owe it to people to tell them the truth.
One is reminded of our late Queen’s televised Christmas messages each year, in which she always spoke about the birth of Christ.
Who else would do that? Would some elected political leader do that?
Even as the head of a heterodox church, she spoke the truth, and lived righteously – and was on her knees in prayer for her nations and her family every night – literally, I might add.
You can be sure Herod was not doing that.
Righteous kings and queens – the saintly ones – are given to us as icons, here on earth, as heads of nations, to show us grace, and holiness, and righteousness, incarnate within our very governments.
For Orthodox Christians, this is not a philosophical concept, because we recognize that Christ sanctified all creation – including governments – by His incarnation in the flesh.
Any Orthodox Christian who truly understands the Orthodox faith and the teachings of the Church Fathers will also have learned this – or at least, will not reject this when they hear it.
Dear brothers and sisters, as we give thanks for the blessings of seven decades of rule of a righteous Queen of our own country, let us recall the hundreds of kings and queens whom God has raised up as saints of the Orthodox Church: true icons of holiness who are praying for us before the throne of God, in the Eternal Kingdom.
– Archpriest Geoffrey Korz
[…] should the king make a misstep, he, being one man, is easier to correct than an elected government backed by large segments of the population (take the covid […]
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It is true that Orthodox Christian monarchies are more biblical than modern false democracies, after all, so-called democratic America is actually a Masonic-controlled America.
But monarchs with true Orthodox Christian virtues are not common in history, are they? The last Tsar Nicholas II with Orthodox Christian virtues was martyred, the current declared deceased Queen of England is a Freemason, and Putin and Trump are Freemasons, so it’s hard to restore a true Orthodox monarchy, especially in countries without an Orthodox tradition, and isn’t the US government’s still corrupting the Orthodox Church, a certain Orthodox leader pictured with Pempeo openly support homosexuality?
In fact, I was in China, and I always longed to join the Orthodox Church, because I recognized that the Christianity spread by the Orthodox Church is the Christianity of the Apostolic tradition, but I did not have the opportunity to join the Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church did not come to China to spread Orthodoxy.
Of course, I now know that at present Russia has not really restored Orthodox Russia, it is currently a post-Soviet era influenced Russia, Putin is a puppet of the Jews, even Russia to restore the blessed Orthodox Russia has not yet been achieved, let alone other regions, even if you give a monarch now, he must be a Jewish Masonic breeding
Thank you I think you summed the predicament up nicely and showed the realities in Russia and the British Monarchy. One only need to look at the obvious ‘wand breaking’ ceremony during the funeral of Elizabeth to see one of the more obvious indications of who this woman adhered to (there were many other symbols during these ceremonies in display).
Unfortunately, the restoration of Orthodoxy in Russia by the Putin-Regime is a matter of convenience not conviction. It is being done to deepen Russian nationalism and provides Putin with the moral authority to pursue his policies even if they run to the detriment of the country. WIth regard to the author’s preference of monarchy over democracy, while I can in essence agree, all monarchies have, over time, succumbed to the machniations of occult organizations either by acquiescing to their religion of the occult (remaining western monarchies) or by being dethroned (Russia, China maybe some western European ones).
Still it is good an right to contemplate a moral and valid political system, because if we wish to replace the current one we need to think of ways that future political systems cannot be undermined by the evil powers that have schemed in the dark for centuries. Thank you for that!
To me, Putin has been a mystery. Years ago, I watched video of him with tears during church services, heard him address a synod of bishops giving so much honor to the Church speaking of its necessity for the society to survive.
Yet, Some of his alliances, seem a bit odd. Of course, for me, the question is how much have the Russians aligned themselves with the “great reset” requiring injections, etc, etc. Of those things, I am not able to observe.
Has he been backed into a corner in Ukraine? (many think so) or is he just playing the game (others say so). Obviously, the globalists play both ends against the middle (Ford motor built engines for Hitler; this is how the world works).
Of course I admit I cannot see into his mind and heart. I admit I was once very much endeared by him because of his coherent and educated rethoric so unlike that of basically all western leaders these days. However, there was always that lingering doubt, why would he manage to come to power when they so tightly control this process in the west and his predecessor was clearly very much under their influence. Did he slip through? This never made sense to me. Then I was also reminded of his KGB past and how they are trained to play different personalities almost to perfection. Putin has enjoyed this entire training of course, he is a very intelligent man.
Of course then the pandemic happened and I saw how he changed his positions and wavered on the mandates. Then I saw him predicting an energy and food crisis at last year’s Valday conference, a few months later just when Covid measures were conveniently being lifted all across Europe and US states he starts marching on Ukraine (the timeline was perfect). Of course this in and of itself is no evidence but since it aligns so perfectly with the ‘great reset’ plan and advances their cause so much I have now no doubt for myself. I recommend you look at the joint-declaration made by him and Xi at their meeting during the Olympic winter games. To me it speaks for itself.
Will I still like to listen his speeches and will it seem coherent and rational? Sure. But I will not trust this man unfortunately. He may be doing a lot right for Russia and espouses conservative values which all Orthodox can only admire but this in itself is no reason to cast aside all doubts and pretend like Covid didn’t happen in Russia or his moves aren’t helping along the great reset. The problem is that it makes our situation all the more dire and that is too troubling for some to accpet.
Well, you get what you vote for. Odds are based on voting demographics the driver you talked with voted for and supports all the policies that are creating these issues.
While I agree with lots of what I read hear—having a king does wonders for a national identity—I would like to at least show another side of things.
How about a short civics lesson:
1. America has never been a democracy. In a democracy, everybody votes on everything. What America has is a CONSITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. The whole American system was carefully crafted according to biblical concepts of covenant to get around despot monarchs with “checks and balances.” Based on God’s fundamental endowment of free will (“endowed by the Creator, inalienable rights”), it means the truest earthly government is never without the consent of the governed. God never forces Himself on anybody, but kings do. Only a constitutional republic can do that functionally.
2. America is not herself right now, our Constitutional Republic has been hijacked by subverts of the globalists world bankers; the same group that over threw the Czars of Russia and the Kaisers of Germany and put Hitler, Stalin, and Mao in power. As for the will of the people, it is totally being ignored right now; nobody can say honestly, America is being run democratically. Keep in mind, paying taxes, corporate welfare (all welfare), and the European control Federal Reserve were Trojan horses; modifications not consistent with the beginning. Also, the current generations of America have been totally brainwashed as to what it means to be an American. Judging America with its founding system of government by the current generation is absurd. In the beginning, the states and local government held the strongest rule. As always power corrupts and things have evolved according to outside forces.
3. America’s Constitutional Republic has withstood the globalists longer than any European monarchy; we’ve never had a Hitler, we’ve never had a Stalin, We’ve never had a Mussolini (not yet, but their trying real hard), even though we have a lot of communists running around. All European monarchies were more vulnerable to outside control and anti-Christ take over. The only revolution in the last 1000 years to be an improvement for the people was the American Revolution, a revolt against monarchy. The only revolution in world history to bring religious freedom, was the American Revolution.
4. God told Samuel to tell Israel, if they want a king, it would be a direct rejection of God Himself. This lust for king came about by viewing the pagan nations around Israel; even the Jewish monarchy was a pagan platform (that’s what the Bible says). Obviously, a king becomes the core of the national identity but for Israel it was an affront and displacement of God Himself as their King. All kings in Christian nations claim to rule by “Divine Rite/Right’ (most put in power by popes of Rome) and all their misdeeds are therefore accredited to God and the whatever church put him in power; that doesn’t work in a Constitutional Republic; God rules outside the mistakes of men. Before King Saul, Israel was ruled by a system of elders—representative government according to families—the only place in the Bible it is implied that God is king before the Second Coming. The American Constitutional Republic is the closest thing to that ancient model of governance by representative elders, with a singular standout elder with limited veto power, on a large scale. This exact same concept is modeled at the Council of Jerusalem and in Orthodox hierarchy where the pope was “first among equals.” And the globalists are still trying to crack it. Now even Orthodox governance has shifted toward papism. In the beginning it was tribal.
5. Rome prospered as a republic, but totally corrupted as a monarchy.
6. No nation on earth has been more blessed than America. No nation has done more to feed the poor, preach the (Protestant) Gospel, and assist other nations.
7. Why have so many fled the monarchs of the world to come here? I am still looking for the English language Orthodox Church in Russian, Serbia, Romania.
8. Until Christ comes, no form of human government will be free of corruption as long as humans are running it. The problem is not the form of government, it’s the heart of Man. Knowing that, the American constitutional framers created a system minimizing the effects of the fall on human government; nothing yet has ever beat it.
9. Canada, Australia, are still under the thumb of English monarchs, and their civil liberties are far worse than in America.
10. All human governments not rooted in the ancient Hebrew/Mosaic system, are rooted in Nimrod’s Babel the first time after the flood people gathered into city states. Even for Israel, it was second best where all the sins of the king became the sins the whole nation suffered for. Moses never set up any protocols for a king, only priests and elders.
Bottom line: Until the Second Coming, the world has only known two basic models of government: 1. The tribal form (self-governance with elders) 2. The universal form
America’s constitutional Republic along with all those smaller local republic style governments (state, city, school boards etc) are based on a glorified tribal system; the original Hebrew model. Orthodox Patriarchy is also tribal in nature—when it is done as it used to be done (not the EP).
On the other hand, all solitary kings—other than Christ—popes, dictators are based on Nimrod’s model of dictatorial universal governance setting the stage for Anti-Christ. While there have been good monarchs, the concept of a universal ruler does lend itself to anti-Christ.
Now consider this: Even God rules in the midst of elders—He has 24 as I recall. And, Scripture is clear regarding Christ, “the government will rest upon His shoulders” meaning He Himself will not be the sum total of government, but others will govern with Him (know ye not ye shall judge angels?” 1 Cor. 6:3). Again, even the Millennial Rein of Christ will be group rule not pure monarchy.
This is Who and What God Is: He shares power and delights to do so. It’s the only way to mature the free will of Man.
As for Russia—the “third Rome”—, the closest thing to a Czar they will ever get, they already have in Putin.
Regards, John Lee
Greetings John Lee – Thank you for that comment, but will have to disagree on many of these points.
America is a representative democracy with a written Constitution. The American Government is not based on Biblical precepts directly in that the Constitution (unlike the later Polish one, the second written Constitution) does not specifically address God or Christian principles by name. Of course there is an underlying Christian ethic, especially in the idea of man having pre-political rights. That can only be due to man being made in the image of God, though the Constitution does not reference that fact.
Regardless, the Constitution is an Enlightenment document through and through. King George was not a despot, and the founders knew that. The laws they objected to had been passed by Parliament. The King, as the article mentioned, is a convenient rallying point for discontent. Which is why a smart king avoids too much discontent. Even in the 1770’s, King George had to contend with Parliament and that meant self-centered politicians who provoked what became a crisis for the British Empire. How many American states have lost the consent of half their citizens or more? How many city governments? What about the Federal Government? Congress and Biden hover at or less than 30% support. Yet, what changes? Nothing.
The Articles of Confederation were overthrown almost effortlessly. The Constitutional Convention was a coup. The Constitution almost immediately was subverted to allow for a concentration of power in Washington. Even Jefferson as president exercised power he doubted was really Constitutional. This was on the heels of Adams and his Alienation and Sedition Act. Even Washington went too far. The entire scheme fully collapsed in 1860 in a bloody Civil War, followed by a military occupation of the South. The extraordinary powers claimed by Lincoln to suspend Habeas Corpus, etc. were never fully surrendered, leading down a path of greater and greater presidential authority. Mid-19th and our Constitutional order was already totally upended. Not good, right?
The US has been continuously at war for almost the entirety of its history. Since the Spanish American War, we have had overseas imperial possessions. The Philippines were annexed against their will by President McKinley. They fought for their freedom and we killed 600,000 of them to force them to stay under American control. We made such a mess of Cuba that we got Castro. Around the same time, have you ever looked into how we got Hawaii?
Thanks to having outposts in the Pacific, we found ourselves embroiled in Asian politics that led directly to a conflict with Japan that got us into WWII. Have you ever looked into WWI and the duplicity of the Wilson Administration as they lied to America even while planning for war? Have you ever looked into how the Germans and the Austrians, two monarchies, wanted to negotiate peace by 1916, but the two democracies (France and Britain), wanted to press on the slaughter to bring America into the war for fresh bodies? While researching it, take a look at the banking ties between the big money center banks who hand lent extensively to Britain and France, and how they needed a victory to recover their investments. If we were this corrupt in 1916, John Lee, that the president and his party lied to win re-election knowing full well they planned to enter the war to further American financial interests at the cost of American lives, only thereby to extend the war and bring about the Bolshevik Revolution… Seriously, what kind of legacy is that?
Where are those checks and balances again, John Lee? We can’t find them. Haven’t been able to for a long time. Whatever was left of them after the 19th Century were finished off by the New Deal, the undeclared Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra affair, Gulf War (undeclared), wars against Serbia, the Patriot Act, various executive orders…. And that was before we discovered the power of governments to completely shut down the economy and keep everyone locked at home. After a scant 246 years, we have already had one massive Civil War and there are no “checks and balances” to be seen. It is hardly an impressive record.
The American Republic was first overthrown then reconstituted under a Constitution that was specifically written to give power to bankers and business, while providing just enough rhetorical cover to make the average, freedom loving American believe otherwise. You are familiar with the controversy over the Bank of the US, “internal improvements” financed by taxpayers, Alien and Sedition Acts, and protective tariffs? The Constitution was a poison pill, about which Patrick Henry was absolutely right.
When Henry saw the result of the Philadelphia convention’s work, he was appalled. To him, the new Constitution proved that Americans had already forgotten the dangers of consolidated national authority. Although he had refused to attend the Philadelphia meeting, Henry eagerly went to the Richmond ratifying convention, setting the stage for a clash between Henry and his political nemesis, Madison. Henry commandeered the ratification proceedings, warning in exquisite (and, Madison thought, exasperating) detail all the ways in which the Constitution jeopardized American liberty.
How did things “evolve” this way so fast that we were already slaughtering each by 1861, and now even someone who admires the Constitution can plainly tell you our entire governing system is completely dysfunctional? If a future monarchy is not the answer, then whatever is the answer is surely not what got us here. Perhaps a revived Articles of Confederation would be better. But certainly not Hamilton’s and Madison’s creation.
Let us work backwards. From an Orthodox perspective, the American concept of religious freedom is fatally flawed. The Constitution recognized freedom of religion at the national level, primarily because the States themselves had different established religions in most cases. It was a way to keep the peace, not separate religion from government. Or at least so most reasonable Americans would have concluded. Deists, Freemasons, and Atheists had other ideas. As the Federal Govt rapidly expanded in power, that concept evolved to “religious pluralism is a positive good! We should have more it! Religious anarchy for all!” Religious pluralism became a positive good in and of itself, which is exactly what the US government promotes around the world.
If all religions are equal, then none of them matter a whole lot.
The American colonies were actually quite well off within the British Empire. Taxes were low. Certainly much lower than today. Direct interference in local affairs was minimal. Good situation really. Hotheads and Enlightenment dreamers such as Sam Adams were one cause of trouble. George Washington wanted the land in Ohio that he had been promised but could not get because of a crown treaty with the Indians.
Washington’s lifelong interest in land speculation is illustrated in the fight over bounty lands promised to the veterans of the Virginia Regiment who fought with him in the French and Indian War. In this episode Washington acted on behalf of his fellow veterans as well as vigorously, sometimes aggressively, in staking out his own land claims.
Washington felt he was owed thousands of acres of land, enough to become the largest land owner in the colonies. And that damned British Government was in his way…
John Hancock wanted to protect his smuggling operations. It was an atheist however, Tom Paine, who used the Bible in his pamphlet Common Sense to really gin up mass appeal. Because of an atheist using biblical language, the American Revolution became imbued with a kind of Protestant religious zealotry. Even then, the war was supported by maybe half the US population. If there had been more deep and broad support, we might not have needed the French to finish the job for us.
As for an improvement? 70 years after the American Revolution, gross governing mistakes and progressive accumulation of power in Washington provoked a Civil War that resulted in between 650.000 to as many as 850,000 dead. That is an improvement to the human condition?
Hitler replaced a republic. The Kaiser had been gone since 1918. The Weimer Republic was a corrupt joke. Mao replaced a nationalist, authoritarian govt as the last Emperor had been deposed since 1912. The communist regime replaced the Kerensky Govt, which had made the massive mistake of overthrowing the Tsardom, despite the fact that Tsar Nicholas II had named a successor. Did you know that John Lee? The Provisional Government overthrew the Tsar in February 1917. The Bolsheviks then overthrew the Provisional Government. Most people believe the commies overthrew the Tsar, but it was the Democratic Socialists who refused to honor the Tsar’s wishes.
Bad move getting rid of the monarchy.
Now back to the first point, that the American Republic has been better at resisting the Globalists than the European monarchies. Considering that many European monarchies (through various dynasties) lasted over a thousand plus years to our 246, that is an astonishing claim. Currently, the US Govt is the primary vehicle for globalism in the entire world. Russia, China, India, Iran, Brazil, various Global South countries are coming together to oppose us because we and the NATO we dominate are the anti-Christ, globalist oppressors. Whether the American population can form a cohesive opposition to globalism remains to be seen, but our governing elite is all in all the way.
The example of Samuel’s warning was specific to Israel which was directly governed by God. No other people anywhere or any time has ever had that same situation, though the warning about the dangers of government (monarchy or not) is still appropriate. As the article pointed out, how many Emperors, Empresses, Kings and Queens have been recognized as saints? The American Constitutional Republic is not anything close at this stage to any kind ancient governance, nor has it really been. The legislature barely functions, the President can launch nuclear weapons without any check on his authority and attack any nation he deems appropriate, the Deep State can do whatever it wants. Doubt even imperial China with double our population and its sprawling land mass had a bureaucracy that could match ours in size, scope, and power, which is weird considering it is Mandarin rule that China was noted for.
The pretensions of American-funded Constantinople aside, there is no shift towards papism on the part of the vast majority of the Orthodox world. If the CIA were not propping up Bartholomew, the Orthodox world would be in a much better place and we would not be having this conversation.
The Republic had multiple civil wars and many internal problems, including the fact that the expansion of slavery took away the jobs of free citizens. Morals were lax, and the common man subsisted on the dole. By Caesar’s day, Rome was a tinderbox due to all the problems that could not be addressed by Senatorial rule. This is roughly where we are now. The system is so corrupted, that only a fresh “reset” from outside is likely to change things. The system is unable to self-correct due to internal factors.
The Roman Empire was much larger at its height than the Republic, and as an Orthodox Christian you should be cognizant that the Eastern Empire lasted until 1453. The Republic lasted 509 BC to 27 BC, with some lapses into dictatorship / tyranny and massive internal social issues. The Empire in the East lasted 27 BC (few hundred years shorter if you only count from the founding of Constantinople as a capital) till 1453. That is a remarkable longevity is it not? China lasted as a Kingdom and an Empire from 1600 BC to 1912. By comparison to the history of monarchies, the US republic is a blip on the historical timeline.
We have been remarkably blessed in so many ways. How do you really compare the US versus the British Empire versus the Eastern Roman Empire versus China (most populous and oldest civilization) versus ancient empires versus the nation of Israel… That is a lot of history to cover and a lot of arguments over “most blessed”.
Considering that all of Europe was evangelized by Benedictine and Greek Monks, that the Gospel was carried around the world even to India and Asia before America’s founding, that South and Central America are largely Catholic which is certainly not our doing… It is impossible for anyone with an understanding of history to support the statement that America has done the most to spread the Gospel. To where, exactly? Now we have certainly done the most to spread porn (we produce the most), LGBTQ propaganda, Hollywood trash, and transgenderism. But the Gospel? If that were true, then there would be more Evangelicals than Catholics in the world, which there are not.
As for assisting other nations, the Philippines (mentioned earlier), the Mexicans (half their territory lost to us in a war we started), the Libyans, the Iraqis, the Guatemalans, the Hondurans, the Nicaraguans, multiple African nations, the Vietnamese, the Cambodians, the 50% of Europe abandoned to the Soviets after WWII, the Serbians, the Georgians, the Afghanis, and so many more nations are not enthusiastic about thanking us for “our help”. The US and its promoted international order have been responsible for an estimated 30 million foreign deaths since 1945. We’re an international killing machine. Do we call that help?
In a huge way, this whole thread illustrates exactly what the introduction to this article was all about. Since at least the late 19th Century, the US Govt has been an enforcement arm of American mercantile interests. Just look at the number of US invasions of only Latin American and Caribbean nations, not to mention the CIA-induced “regime changes” as in Chile. Yet, because we have been a “republic”, instead of opposing that blatant record of horror, you feel the need to defend it because the government was “yours” since it was nominally subject to a vote. If all of those interventions, those crimes, had been committed by a King or an Emperor – how would your tolerance for them change? Drastically, to be sure. Our ruling elite hides behind popular consent manufactured through sham elections and blatant propaganda to get innocent people to defend their nefarious actions.
We were blessed with abundant land, rapid industrialization, a stable currency through most of our history, abundant natural resources, no famines, our cities were largely immune to war, no sectarian (religious) strife on any scale, a favorable investment climate with solid property rights (inherited from England), the protection of the British Navy (prior to our achieving military power on our own right), and no military rival on the North American continent. Imagine if Mexico had been a super power? However, Russia is the largest landmass on Earth, which is hardly a legacy of failure. Serbia and Romania dealt with something the US never had to – physical proximity to a great military power. In their cases, Byzantium then Turkey. Had we spent the last 150 years battling for dominance between the US and the Confederacy, or the US and Mexico, how would that have affected our history? We are blessed. Others not so fortunate. Our economic dynamism absorbed countless immigrants, not a few of whom lamented that while the jobs were good, the land plentiful, the people and culture were not so attractive. Ethnic enclaves resisting assimilation into what they viewed as a defective culture have been a constant in American history.
No government will ever be perfect in an imperfect world. However, ours went bad really fast.
1812 – stupid war with England primarily over a desire to annex Canada. A war that caused New England to threaten to secede from the Union to protect its trade with Britain. Imagine, the Constitution almost unraveled by 1812. By 1860, 11 states did quit the Union. Up to 850,000 died to force them back in against their will. Many of the Constitutional framers were like Hamilton and Madison, they desired a consolidated, powerful national government and put poison seeds in the Constitution that eventually sprouted into full blown federal supremacy. What are the practical limits on the American Federal Government that can wage war anywhere, anytime, and in any manner the President sees fit with no Declaration of War? What are the limits of a Federal Government that can run up 31 trillion dollars in debt and print money at will? If the Department of Justice goes after you, even unjustly, you will be bankrupt and destitute by the time you get your day in court. It is hard to see how our current governing system is much better than that in many other places.
The monarch is a figurehead with no authority in those countries. How much time have you spent in either country? They are a classic examples of using Parliamentary elections to cover for globalist domination. No matter which party you vote for, nothing changes. Different names and faces, same policies.
Israel was specifically under the rule of God. You sound very much like Tom Paine in Common Sense.
As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by kings. All anti-monarchical parts of scripture have been very smoothly glossed over in monarchical governments, but they undoubtedly merit the attention of countries which have their governments yet to form. “Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s” is the scripture doctrine of courts, yet it is no support of monarchical government, for the Jews at that time were without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans.
Tom Paine was an atheist and a radical who eventually abandoned America for revolutionary France, feeling that our revolution had not gone far enough. His use of the Bible was essential in convincing enough Americans to back independence to make the war possible until the French could be persuaded to win our war for us. Here is part of Tom Paine’s introduction:
As a long and violent abuse of power, is generally the Means of calling the right of it in question (and in Matters too which might never have been thought of, had not the Sufferers been aggravated into the inquiry) and as the King of England hath undertaken in his own Right, to support the Parliament in what he calls Theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpation of either.
Notice Parliament in the quote? Not just the King, but an elected Parliament which was really the source of the trouble, but not convenient as a boogey man. Remember “No taxation without representation”? It was simply easier to arouse indignation and rebellion against a specific person than a body of politicians. That was precisely one of the points of the article.
Here is more of Tom Paine, notice the universal nature of this? Pure enlightenment, and representative of a common sentiment of universalism / globalism among the founders. Interesting that you think a system founded on these ideals would resist globalism:
The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances hath, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected, and in the Event of which, their Affections are interested. The laying a Country desolate with Fire and Sword, declaring War against the natural rights of all Mankind, and extirpating the Defenders thereof from the Face of the Earth, is the Concern of every Man to whom Nature hath given the Power of feeling; of which Class, regardless of Party Censure, is the AUTHOR
Choose to leave much of that. This comment is already huge. As Fr. Geoffrey made clear, God has seen fit for much of history to work through monarchs. We celebrate saintly monarchs on many feast days, and from many countries. God worked gloriously through them. Christian kingship is analogous to Christian fatherhood or being a Christian chief. Where are the saintly Presidents and Prime Ministers? They don’t exist. The nature of their offices drive them away from God. As for when and where there will be new monarchies or restored monarchies, no one can predict how much longer the world will exist, and what could possibly happen in the future. Present trends never continue. The US had the first written Constitution in history and that did not occur until 1789. Will Russia have a Tsar? Perhaps. Will the US break up? Perhaps. Could a hereditary monarchy arise in the US? God knows. Regardless, the US Constitution as written, as interpreted, as applied indicates that any representative form of government is almost guaranteed to quickly devolve into oligarchy. It is not a bad idea to ponder alternatives, even as we try to mitigate the worst effects of the breakdown of the system we have been bequeathed. That is a struggle we are only just beginning.
Thank you for your clarification. So, when are you immigrating out? And where are you going?
Well the article was written by a Canadian. So he probably won’t be immigrating from Canada, unless it is to escape JT. Having a contrary view of American history and being pro-monarchy are not really problems for Canadians. We are going to see a lot of Americans leaving over the next few years. Mexicans are already complaining about all the Americans moving there. Ironic, no? A couple we know just moved to Ecuador to live in an American village there. They retired, did the math, and realized their retirement income goes very far there. Beautiful spot on the water.
If you spend time with Americans who are doing well, but not rich, there is a lot of talk about emigrating and where to. Just a fact of life these days. The Biden initiative for a Central Bank Digital Currency is horrifying, and that is just the latest paranoia-inducing government move.
Those of us in Florida are not likely to go anywhere. Why leave a state where you are already established, which has a proven record of telling the Feds to pound sand, and which literally hundreds of millions of people want to live? That may change, though, as things could end bad for everyone under Washington’s control.
Having a contrary view of American history and civics is not a disqualification for living here. You don’t have to believe in the schoolhouse Rock version of the founding to still love the US, particularly if you are from a region that has its own distinct culture.
Ok, let’s cut to the chase. Whatever it was that procured God’s blessing in spite of all the evil that has gone on, Orthodoxy had nothing to do with it. American Orthodoxy still has its mind and its heart in Europe to be of much value here.
No foreign army has marched within our borders. No city in our mainland has been bombed into annihilation. Putin is not shelling Denver (sometimes I think they could use it) or Colorado Springs. How have we so consistently avoided the catastrophes of Europe? My only answer is God’s grace and if God’s grace has come upon a certain nation, it would be asinine to ignore it or take the object of God’s grace for granted by comparing it to superior regimes that failed to protect their people. Additionally, if God has granted such grace, why? Whatever it was, we better figure out how to get it back.
This is NOT radical nationalism; what it is, is love thy neighbor as thy self as in loving thy neighbor you save thyself. Who is my neighbor? Everybody in the same boat I am.
If some wish to get out of the boat, get into some other boat, that’s their prerogative. Orthodoxy in America has yet to turn the corner, become indigenous in spirit and in fact, to become part of the solution. As long as we’re singing, “God save the king”, and pining for the return of St Czar Nicholas—indeed a godly man—we’ll never do anything for where God saw fit to plant our butts—on America soil.
Make no mistake: American ORTHODOXY IS AT THE CROSS ROADS. What is now and has been, will NOT remain here. Things will change and whether or not Orthodoxy has any place in the future of American lore has yet to be determined.
Christ is standing at the fig tree, shaking it for all its worth and nothing of fruit is falling out. Will He dung it? Or just cut it down? God will only endure sterility for so long, then the axe.
One comment to begin – the roots of all Western Christendom is the Orthodox Church. The West was Orthodox before the schism, and even remained Orthodox in some places long after the schism. William the Conqueror brought the Roman Church and the Latinizing influence in 1066 AD through conquest, but it took decades (maybe longer) to fully extinguish the Orthodox Church in the British Isles. As late as the 13th Century, Anglo Saxon knights were still heading to Constantinople for religious and cultural freedom in exchange for fighting for the Emperor.
It hurts our witness to ignore the common roots for both East and West. Orthodoxy is not alien to American Culture, which is based on English Culture. Multiple colonies had established the Anglican Church, which contained the roots of Orthodoxy.
So Orthodox in the US have a unique role. To the Americans at large, we witness that American Culture is not finished. In truth, there are several American cultures, and the distance between them is growing all the time. None of them align with the historic Christian Faith. The traditional Anglican and Roman Catholic are closest, but those have drifted horribly in the past 50 plus years. The impact has been devastating.
To Americans, we are a call to repentance, to renewal, to embrace the whole truth of Christ and to return to the True Faith. Americans are not as holy as many of them believe.
But we also have a witness to the Orthodox World. There are several American cultures (Yankee Culture which is formerly Puritan, South Eastern, Mid Western, etc.), and within all of them are elements which are good and can be perfected through enculturation of the Church. There are some common traits, which also can be enculturated. Any Orthodox Christians who believe Americans can become Greeks or Russians or any other ethnicity is simply misguided at best. American culture must be enculturated the same as previous Orthodox Cultures were built by combining what was good with the Gospel.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/does-the-orthodox-church-love-american-culture-enough-to-transform-it/
This is not going to happen by accident. The Orthodox Church in the US has to actually set out to convert America and build a native, Orthodox Culture. Curiously, some of the most radical opposition to that are American converts.
Not aware of anyone pining for Tsar Nicholas, but the truth is that Americans are entirely too “Presentist”, even the religious ones. Most Americans seem to have negative views of the past. Progressives blame the past for not being “woke”. Religious Americans are often hostile to historical Christian figures, particularly the royals. This is a subset of an American heresy that treats the Constitution as an inspired document and the founders as secular saints.
We are hearing all about growth in the Orthodox Church. It would be great if Orthodoxy was jurisdictionally unified. It would be great if all the bishops were deeply spiritual. Would be even better if there was a unified plan to build an authentic Orthodox American culture.
Right now, we don’t have all that, but despite that, we are seeing growth in all our parishes. The Orthodox Church is planted here and will not be leaving. Now, God may certainly swap out the crew of the Ark of Salvation and replace those who are not following His path. But the Church itself will not be going anywhere.
We didn’t. The US split into two in 1861 and saw the slaughter of somewhere up to as many as 850,000 or more people. This seems to get lost somehow when Americans talk about how blessed we were. Within 70 years of our founding, Americans slaughtered a whole generation on the battlefields fighting each other.
After that horrible war, came military occupation of the South. The South in many areas has actually never recovered from the destruction and death, followed by the economic marginalization.
America had no rival on the North American continent. After our successful secession, Great Britain took it upon herself to safeguard the new American State to prevent any European predation. Eventually we became a military power in our own right, and when we did, we ginned up a war with Mexico and took half its land.
Was that war a “blessing” of God? The results made America a continental power, but was our ability to trash Mexico in a war a “blessing” or “God’s will” or was it a geographical accident driven by greedy men lusting for land and power?
Great Britain was a small island that came to rule over almost the whole world. In the mid-1500s, united Poland was the largest state in Europe and the continent’s most powerful nation. Two hundred years later, Poland ceased to exist. Byzantium was the super power of its heyday which lasted for hundreds of years. There are many more examples of states that were blessed with wealth, power, and territory. Comparing across all these centuries and locations is simply not feasible.
America has had a really good run since the latter half of the 19th Century. Two oceans protected us, but still in the 20th Century we have made all the world’s problems our own. Our leaders are now much more concerned with what happens in Europe than what happens in our cities. Where we go from here is anybody’s guess, but it does not look particularly promising.
If it’s not her government that makes her special (I’ll concede your points for now), then what is the core source of American exceptionalism? By exceptionalism I mean BLESSED BY GOD BEYOND THE MERIT aka, grace.
If you deny American exceptionalism, you deny the sanity of every immigrant—including your ancestors— who left treasures, land, family, and every other form of government to come here? How many Orthodox left Orthodox nations to come to a Protestant nation with an inferior form of government? This all seems to me so bizarre.
Why? Why? Why?
IMITATION IS THE PUREST FORM OF FLATTERY
Beyond immigration—maybe they were just duped into coming here—,why has American styles, American ways of doing business, and even American culture been the envy of the world, especially in Russia?
Why would lily white Ruskies doin’ the tunes of American-Afro-bros find instant success worldwide?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbVZlZ2fhlQ
I kind of like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rmOg4_8wD0
In this one, I see no Russian garb, only American knock off.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8aZZ9d_EA&list=RDEMclg0uXG-9wD00z18fmLmlQ&index=11
Why would Moscow’s most talented musicians re-can American music in English (not Russian), wear American garb, not Russian? And become an instant global success? Nobody can deny America has been the envy of the world. Is there such a thing as Russian—or Serbian, or Romanian, or….— pop music anyway, if there is it never gets beyond their boarders.
American Culture is World Culture, is it not? Do you watch football or fute bol? Really isn’t watching soccer like watching paint dry? (ok, personal preference) Basketball is another American invention, and the Europeans all do it now. Only in American baseball do we have the “World” series. Every Asian and Latin American player aspires to come here to play it.
I really like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rmOg4_8wD0
And this one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYV4H9rU6o&list=RDEMclg0uXG-9wD00z18fmLmlQ&index=10
These guys and gals do it better than the American originals, go figure. American culture is world culture. Russian culture is…well… just Russian.
Beyond culture, no nation on earth has produced more food, more inventions, more solutions to problems than Americans. So I ask you, what is the source of American exceptionalism?
If all that you say is true—our government is not special, even deplorable—and American exceptionalism so obvious, then we must ask the question why would God place so much blessing on America??? That’s the real question. And, if we figure out what that is that pleases God so much, He blesses us beyond everyone else, why would we not just keep doing it?
In summary: it’s not about world popularity anyway—right?— it’s about standing before God, is it not? Why would God make America an example of what works and what doesn’t? Really I’m confused now.
Without any other logical answer in sight, then I am left with only one conclusion as to why America has been so blessed by God and the envy of every other people on earth: the prayers, revivals, benevolence of the Protestants, charismatics, faith-people and such. Please tell me this isn’t so, I left that all behind to become Orthodox.
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1) Relatively open immigration policies 2) Safety, because aside from Indian Wars and the Civil War, populations who were subject to oppression or frequent wars could come here and breathe easy. 3) Economic opportunity. The US inherited private property and contract law from the English. It was a good place to invest. 4) Immigrant communities could form and were left alone for the most part. Our cities were patchworks of various ethnicities. No one tried to force Italians or Greeks or Germans to assimilate. They could even keep their religion, which in the case of Orthodox under Turkish rule, was not freely allowed at home but was in a New York neighborhood. They were free to be themselves, and to keep sending back to the old country for more and more relatives. As for a Protestant country? Even now the single biggest Christian body in the US is the Roman Catholic Church. 6 of your current Supreme Court justices are Roman Catholic. The Catholic Church has had a profound impact in shaping the United States. It is the ongoing collapse of the Catholic Church that has turned America into what it currently is.
The American Constitution functioned tolerably well for most of its existence. It almost broke in 1812. Reached another crisis with Andrew Jackson. Broke down in 1860, and has been moving inexorably towards concentration of power in Washington that is a direct betrayal of what the average American in 1776 thought he was fighting for. After WWII, the process accelerated as part of the birth of the National Security State. At this point, we see extreme differences between states in economic, tax, fiscal, and COVID policies. The extreme differences, should they be tolerated going forward, are going to restructure our country internally. If they are not tolerated, you will see us collapse into tyranny.
The Constitutional order is completely dysfunctional after 246 years. That is the question we are asking – if the US is the first Constitutional Republic and we have reached this point in our history, can Constitutional Republics really survive without collapsing into oligarchy?
Regardless of the answer to that, it is much better if Americans are less triumphalist about their system of government which has its own problems.
American pop culture is consumed and emulated globally, particularly by the young. Given the content of our popular entertainment (Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, etc. ), are you saying that is a good thing?
In prior ages, French Culture set the standard. In some quarters, everyone wanted to be British. Americans still consume a huge amount of British TV and music. What does any of that prove, and is our popular culture a thing we should be proud to export?
Our government system was devised by men. Men are flawed. The system has flaws. Those flaws have led to serious problems and even to mass death. We need to look at the situation honestly.
The US emerged from WWII as 54% of the entire world GDP. The world was either not developed or had been devastated by the war. God’s will? Happy accident of having two major oceans and an isolation population that kept us out of WWII until after most of the killing was over? The US post war boom was amazing, but by the 70’s America was already beginning to offshore the best working class jobs.
Currently we are “blessed” with high inflation, 31trillion in debt, a sinking middle class, a struggling working class, and our cities falling apart. Our nation is at a crisis point itself. Can you really look young people in the face who are struggling to afford an apartment off $18 bucks an hour and tell them all about their blessings at this point related to the US government? Especially when another 600 million is sent to Ukraine?
The Episcopal Church was once known as the Republican Party at prayer. As noted, the Roman Catholic Church has had a profound influence on the US and its domination of the political arena has actually grown in the past 50 years, even as its moral influence has declined post Vatican II. To be honest, Evangelicals as we know them today are a very recent phenomenon and can be traced to post WWII rootlessness in California. By the time Evangelicalism became much of a cultural force, the US was already declining.
Ok, then. My question still remains. When will you immigrate out and where will you be going?
Yes, America is in trouble, but what makes America unique is Evangelicals–especially those with Charismatic leaning–will fight for America through prayer and fasting rather than let it descend into a Russian style revolution. Call it radical nationalism if you like, but they—in their understanding of things—view it as love thy neighbor thy self as we are all in the same boat.
Take a look around you, are you not in the American life boat? If America goes down, so do you. (ask the 20th century Orthodox in Russia if I am right, ask St Arsiny—who said the Orthodox let the revolution happen).
I am not trying to make an argument for forms of government; I am trying to get my fellow Orthodox to have a reality check. American Orthodoxy has come under judgment and is being weighed in the balance and found wanting. While much of it is following in the footsteps of the Episcopalians, Orthodoxy is failing to be the salt and light it is capable of being.
If Orthodoxy has everything–the saints, the liturgy, the icons, the Holy Virgin, then what does Charismatic/Evangelicalism have that the Orthodox do not??
God’s heart for the unregenerate. Without that you are nothing but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. And without fruit, Orthodox will be cut and cast into the fire. Does this make sense.
Who is the poor man, the naked man, the man in prison? It is the man who does not have the gospel. Do the Orthodox want to avoide judgment? then they must take fullfilling the Great Commission seriously for a change.
Bottom line: Orthodoxy in America is very close to being extinct—too much corruption—“(Houston) we have a problem!” Our (Orthodox ) ship has been severely damaged.
If any of us who are Americans immigrate, we will be sure and announce that. Are you seriously playing “America, love it or leave it” at a time when our government is a Neoliberal catastrophe?
Evangelicalism originated in Britain. North America is the most evangelical continent in the world, but Asia contains the most evangelicals (followed by Africa and North America). Depending on how you count, there are 600 million Pentecostal/Charismatics and 700 million Great Commission Christians in the world (substantial overlap between two groups). Clearly the presence of Evangelicals is not unique to the United States. Given our total population of 330 million, and the fact that only a minority of Americans are Evangelical, you can easily see that the vast majority of Evangelicals are not American. Many foreign Evangelicals don’t like wars and American foreign policy in general. Many of them live in nations we have bombed over the past few decades or against which we have active sanctions. It was something else when an Evangelical Church recently had a guest speaker who was a Palestinian Pastor. When he told the truth about Israeli persecution of Palestinian Christians, half the auditorium walked out.
Many American Evangelicals can not abide listening to the truth about our own shortcomings, especially in foreign policy. That blinds them to reality.
Who is trying to allow America to descend into a commie revolution? There many who want to use various causes (CRT, Wokeism, Transgenderism, Climate Change, etc.) to bring about a Marxist revolution. But we are not among them. Nor are any sincere Orthodox Christians. You are aware that Evangelicals are being branded as “enemies” of the American state because many of them believe in things that are contrary to Biden Regime. They now carry the stigma of being “anti-American”. It is ironic that patriots have now found themselves being branded enemies of their own government. But that is where we all find ourselves.
Who is abandoning America?
The world, and even much of North America, could continue on just fine if the regime in Washington either ceased to exist, or returned to being much less powerful.
Who is letting a revolution happen? You will find on this site denunciations of CRT, Globalism, Neoliberalism, Global Reset, Progressivism, etc. What are we ignoring?
Whichever segments of American Orthodoxy are attempting to follow the Episcopalians we call out, denounce, and bring attention to. That is a small, though influential segment, that is also heavily funded by foundations and by the US government. It will not succeed. Your judgement of the Church as being found “wanting” is a broad brush and is merely your opinion. Yes, there are issues that need correction. Otherwise, we would go back to publishing articles that most of us used to write about why you should convert to Orthodoxy. At this point, we have some housecleaning to do ourselves. Which is all to the good.
Besides a miserable record of failure? The RC was the dominant moral force in this country. When it went into a tailspin after Vatican II, the Evangelical movement could have become the primary influence. The Evangelical movement was powerless to stop the Sexual Revolution, abortion, and the overall decline of American moral and civic life. The remnants of the Catholic Church provide more moral influence than the entire Evangelical movement. It is a counterfeit church, incapable of reforming a popular culture to which it is inextricably bound. It is not the Faith of Christ, and has no ability to preserve or propagate either the Faith or authentic Christian culture. It is quite disconcerting that you would ask that question.
Might make sense, if true, but not given that Orthodoxy has a commitment to evangelism. If there were no Orthodox evangelism, where are all the converts coming from? This priest works secular jobs to support a primary parish and a mission:
https://sharethefaith.net/fr-adam-sexton-culpepper-va/
The organization his information is published on raises money to support mission priests. There are initiatives in every OCA diocese to fund missions. Could we be doing more? Absolutely. Much more, which is why many Orthodox Christians are working to do more. We are donating, and offering our time and talents to reach more people. Are there indifferent Orthodox? Sure. There are even indifferent bishops. But the pew warmers exist in every organization, not just ours.
To be clear, whatever judgment we fall under is God’s and not yours. You have been criticized in your writing before for being way too presumptuous. There are many Orthodox Christians, including priests and bishops, who are serious about the Great Commission and who are doing their utmost. If your area is different, then what can we do to fix it? We are seeing a great increase in parish attendance and membership in the past 12 months.
Do not see that at all. Yes, we need to clean things up and GOARCH would be a great place to start. The current economic troubles will probably go a long ways towards that. We are likely to simply become too poor to afford all these jurisdictions, overlapping efforts, etc. Plus, Constantinople only exists as long as American power can protect it. The waning of American power on the global scene will probably doom it to extinction, or to Russian vassalage. Orthodoxy in the US is not even close to extinct. It is growing like never before, and to God be the glory. Now, time to do even more.
Unrestrained doom and gloom is just as dangerous as unrestrained enthusiasm for a status quo that need improvement.
Those are some good points. No doubt, I have pushed things beyond what is prudent; please accept my apologies.
“Meanwhile his ‘democratically elected’ government continues to import millions of poor people to strain social services, print untold billions of dollars for boondoggle projects like ‘Green Energy’ and ‘Defense'”
Of course these are boondoggles — and I know you’re not giving an exhaustive list — but don’t you dare forget the commercial-bank bailouts of 2008! They dwarf many other boondoggles.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/2008-financial-bailout-809731/
True! The mother of all corporate welfare.