The Color Wheel
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The other day, the topic of politics came up while I was standing post with three shipmates. I indicated that I still didn’t know who I was going to vote for, but, “I’m definitely not voting for Kerry.” One of my fellow watchstanders looked at me like I was a dunce, “Well? What does that tell you?” That’s just the point, it doesn’t tell me anything.
Recently, Dr. Peter Bouteneff wrote an essay entitled, “Orthodox Christians and the Presidential Election” It was originally posted on BeliefNet. Though the article is too short for such a complex subject, Dr. Bouteneff’s reasoned, temperate and moderate essay has sparked a firestorm among some conservative Orthodox writers.
The Priests Patrick Henry Reardon and Johannes Jacobse have been particularly vexed by Dr. Bouteneff’s essay. Priest Patrick has posted two entries on Touchstone Magazine‘s “Mere Comments” blog: “More on the Confusion of the Orthodox,” and “Still More on the Confusion of the Orthodox.” The latter article quotes Priest Johannes’ article on the subject, though without a link citing its source. Both follow-up on an article on the same site by James Kushiner, “Orthodox Confusion.”
These articles attempt to remake the thorny issues facing our society into simple political issues with high-contrast answers. I find this false dichotomy rather less than helpful. I particularly disagree that there is a significant difference between the two political parties with the highest profiles: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party nominee for Vice-President, writes an article that compares President Bush’s voting record with Sentator Kerry’s. On a variety of significant points, the two are indistinguishable.
Priest Patrick then begs the reader, “Permit me, please, one other comment rendered in all charity,” and proceeds to question the ability of the largest Orthodox seminary in North America to train priests, implying that the seminary’s moral clarity (and, by extension, Dr. Bouteneff’s) is lacking. I question the moral clarity (and the pastoral compassion) of a priest who can only see complex issues in two colors.
Update: In the comments to an article on the Orthodoxy Today blog, Dr. Bouteneff offers a rebuttal to criticism.