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понедельник, 2 апреля 2012 г.

Democracy and Kingdom of God


In his interview to Vladimir Pozner archpriest Dmitrii Smirnov made several amazing revelations. http://www.1tv.ru/sprojects_edition/si5756/fi14400


At the beginning of the show he said that he thinks that he doesn’t have any points of view that contradict the views of the Orthodox church. I don’t know who Mr Smirnov considers sectarians and what sects he struggles with but in his interview he definitely looked like he belongs to some kind of sect himself.

1 Authorities. Answering Pozner’s question “Are you a monarchist?”, he said he is a anarchist. I didn’t know that the church believes that governments and laws are not necessary. This is not what the Bible says: “Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God” (Romans 13:1).

2 Lies. D Smirnov thinks that it is OK to tell lies about what exactly Winston Churchill said about democracy. It just doesn’t sound Christian-like.

3 Democracy. And when asked about his political views he said he an opponent of democracy. He called it his credo. Well, I can understand why some people are not very positive about democracy as a political system. It will be sufficient to remember how Jesus Christ was crucified or how Adolf Hitler came into power. The will of the majority of the people isn’t always the best for a country. There is even a term “egalitarian tyranny”. The Irish Christian novelist C S Lewis in his book “Present Concerns” writes the following:
” I am a democrat [proponent of democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man.I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government…
…The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”

The sinful nature of man is the main reason why we can’t do without democracy. Uncontrolled absolute power is something people cannot cope with on their own. That is why a system of checks and balances needs to be put in the foundation of any political hierarchy. True electability and independent legal system alone can make things work much better. However democratic principles cannot be the ultimate solution. As the Russian Christian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev pointed out:
The aim of the Law is by no means to have the world that dwells in evil turned into Kingdom of God. The aim is not to let it turn into hell before its time.

Here it might be relevant to quote Winston Churchill once again (not clipped, but more complete version): "Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time". Having used the passive constructions he left unknown who had said and who had been trying. Ruling classes or parties evidently cannot come up with anything better than a democracy. What about that Kingdom of God V Soloviev spoke about? Is it totally unreal? I don’t think it is possible unless all the people (including rulers) begin to strive for Godly values. But it is our only hope. There are some disturbing trends in the western world. Probably only Russia, that is still in her search for true identity and her own mission in the world, has a chance to make a difference.

May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! (Matthew 6:10)
Amen!

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