There is a not insignificant group of people in the Church who, like the Amish and Jehovah’s Witnesses, view American politics in its totality as anathema. This is not the teaching of the Church, but leftovers from our cultural upbringing which has taught us to associate piety with a rejection of the material world – an idea rooted firmly in the Radical Reformation. And to be fair, I struggled with my political involvement as a catechumen and considered, for a time, abandoning politics altogether. It took time to realize that the “world” I was supposed to flee was not the material world, but my own passionate inclinations.

As Orthodox Christians, we have an absolute duty to my neighbor and nation. While that can be daunting in the current political environment, the reality is that it’s never been easy – But Orthodox Christians have always risen to the occasion. What is our duty to the country, how do we avoid false-piety and ideologizing in fulfilling our obligations to our people and homeland, and remain on the royal path? https://orthodoxreflections.com/on-orthodox-christian-citizenship-relations-to-the-state/