Orthodox Biz Blog

In late 2007, Dr. Clark Carlton, author of the well-known five-volume Faith Series of books on Orthodoxy, published an Open Letter to Orthodox Christians on behalf of Ron Paul. In his letter, published on LewRockwell.com, Dr. Carlton lays out his case for why Orthodox Christians should support Republican Ron Paul for president.

Dr. Carlton believes that our unique experiment in self-governance is at a cross-roads, and that only rediscovering Constitutional principles as espoused by Ron Paul can save our Republic.

I found a lot of what Dr. Carlton had to say in this article extremely worthwhile, and would invite every Orthodox Christian to read it. Below are some of my thoughts on the article, and what I found interesting both as a political scientist (which I was before I went into software) and as someone who still actively works in the political arena.

First of all, he noted in humility that, "I do not believe that there is one "Orthodox" answer to some of the questions that I will raise below. In other words, I will question neither the purity of your faith nor the sincerity of your commitment to Christ if you disagree with my thoughts."

That is a good point. One that more Orthodox Christians would do well to keep in mind. Many Orthodox Christians have come to the Faith from confessions where certain political ideas have achieved the level of dogma. Unfortunately, some new converts to the Faith carry those attitudes with them into Orthodoxy and that leads to profound problems.

The Trinity is dogma. Reject it, and you are not Orthodox. Your ideas on the proper level of taxation are, well, your ideas about the proper level of taxation. The first breaks our communion, the second we can discuss at coffee hour after having partaken together of the Body and Blood of Our Lord and Savior.

Dr. Carlton then moves into a discussion of the very real issue of politics and the Christian faith, particularly dealing with the concept of symphony as practiced in the Roman Empire:

Indeed, the actual history of Roman Orthodox symphonia is a decidedly mixed bag. Our calendar is full of saints who suffered exile and even torture at the hands of the "most pious Christian Emperors" (Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Maximus to name but three). The point is that Orthodox Christians throughout history have lived all over the world under quite diverse political circumstances. While Byzantine symphonia holds an honored place within the history of the Church, one cannot claim with any theological seriousness that this is the only Orthodox political philosophy.

Therein, for me of course, lies both a profound truth and a profound problem. Everything that Dr. Carlton said is true. But, then, are there any enduring, universal principles that could be considered part of a coherent Orthodox philosophy of governance?

Roman Catholic thinkers have been grappling with political questions for hundreds of years, and have produced distinct Catholic concepts such as subsidiarity.

Subsidiarity can be defined as a principle that holds:

government should undertake only those initiatives which exceed the capacity of individuals or private groups acting independently. The principle is based upon the autonomy and dignity of the human individual, and holds that all other forms of society, from the family to the state and the international order, should be in the service of the human person. The principle of subsidiarity was developed in the encyclical Rerum Novarum of 1891 by Pope Leo XIII, as an attempt to articulate a middle course between the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism on the one hand and the various forms of communism, which subordinate the individual to the state, on the other. The principle was further developed in Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo Anno of 1931, and Economic Justice for All by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I can give you examples of Roman Catholic ideals of governance. (I just did, actually.) I can give you examples of Roman Catholic ideals of economic organization. But I am at a loss to give you any examples of Orthodox teaching on either of those two topics, other than symphonia. It's almost as if all thinking on these principles stopped in the Orthodox world around the 5^th or 6^th Centuries.

Which is why I am thrilled to see Dr. Carlton actually take on the idea of symphonia point blank. Perhaps this will start a trend in critical thought towards God and government among Orthodox thinkers.

Not that we should be looking to develop a point-by-point platform like a political party might. That isn't what the Catholics did, and not what we should do either. But the Catholics have at least created some broad guidelines that can frame the debate over such things as individual rights and the role of government in a free society. On the Orthodox side, we don't have a whole lot to go on.

But lacking real guidelines, and understanding that Orthodox Christians live in a diversity of cultures with diverse historical experiences, Dr. Carlton then goes on to say:

This leads me to my second observation, which is that contemporary American culture is far removed from that which has developed within traditionally Orthodox lands. Therefore, I do not for one minute believe that the political principles that I shall advocate below are necessarily exportable to other cultures.

Russia is Russia. Greece is Greece. And the United States is the United States. All have different cultures, and what might be right for Russia won't necessarily work in the United States, nor vice versa.

To sum up, Orthodoxy is lacking in fundamental concepts of governance that can be considered universal principles. Orthodox Christians living in diverse lands with different cultures can be expected to approach political questions differently, and in ways that are largely culturally determined.

At this point, Dr. Carlton then dives into a discussion of the founding principles of the United States which are encapsulated in our Constitution:

According to Locke and his spiritual heirs such as Thomas Jefferson, the function of government is to secure the liberty of individual citizens. Thus, the American political philosophy begins with the individual. Of course, for the Orthodox, individualism is a very problematic notion, one that is intimately connected to our understanding of the Fall of Man. Yet, we must keep in mind that no secular political philosophy could possibly do justice to the Orthodox concept of persons-in-communion. Given the choice between secular individualism and secular collectivism, a good case can be made that individualism is preferable.

I think that hearkens back to the concept of humility addressed earlier. A classically liberal government is humble in its aims, seeking first and foremost to preserve the individual liberty of its citizens. This necessarily prevents a classically liberal government from embarking on grandiose schemes, because to do so would require the use of force against at least some of its own citizens.

Classically liberal regimes do not produce martyrs the way other methods of government do which try to get big things done .

As Dr. Carlton continues:

The American form of political liberalism is not a perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, and we must always be wary of granting America a sort of messianic status as some Evangelical Protestants have done. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that given our political, social, and cultural history, the kind of government envisioned by Jefferson is by far the best form of government for Orthodox Christians in America who wish to live their lives in pious obedience to the Gospel and the Tradition of the Church.

As someone who has been critical of Orthodox academia in the past, I was thrilled to read this Open Letter. Even if you don't agree with its endorsement or even many of the ideas expressed herein, the very fact of its existance is breathtaking.

Here is an Orthodox academic striving to deal with first principles in an Orthodox environment. While done in the form of an endorsement of a particular candidate, it was nevertheless a cogent argument for the compatibility of classical, Western liberalism with Orthodox Christianity.

And that is truly refreshing, since so much argument within Orthodox circles comes down to arguing for or against specific individuals in the mode of, "Hillary good, Bush bad!" or arguing over specific proposals, "Carbon emission standards good, Global Warming bad!"

What Dr. Carlton, however, invites us to do is go beyond that and start to really grapple with fundamental questions. This is hard for Orthodox Christians to do, especially since we love to look back at history for models to follow. As Dr. Carlton makes clear, there isn't any historical model for who we are as Orthodox Christians in the United States. Instead of looking to Russia or to Byzantium, we need to instead look at our own history as Americans. We need to analyze our founding precepts, our core beliefs, and begin to seriously consider what it means to be both American and Orthodox in terms of our relationship to governing authority.

American Orthodox Christians will always disagree over many individual policies and candidates. But at least by focusing on enduring prinicipals rather than transitory personalities or policy prescriptions, we can hopefully find some common ground on which we can all stand together.

In closing this blog, I applaud Dr. Carlton for issuing this letter for the personal risk it surely entails. Publicly backing any candidate is sure to cause ruffled feathers. When you make a living selling books on Orthodoxy, then getting potential buyers riled up can't be good for business. But, as Dr. Carlton says in his endorsement, he feels too strongly about the current cause not to speak out:

I have never contributed to a presidential campaign before. I have never put a political bumper sticker on my car before. And I have never written a letter like this before. I have done all three because for the first time in my life I truly believe that there is a chance to return this nation to the rule of law under the Constitution.

Glen Chancy is CIO for corfun.com and publisher of Orthodox Biz. You can contact him here .