Could a True Orthodox Christian Be Elected President of the U.S.
AGGreen
Bush attended yesterday morning at the gay-tolerant Episcopalian National
Cathedral. In attendance (though probably not participating) was at least
one Greek Orthodox hierarch.
***Since Orthodox Christians should not pray with the nonOrthodox, should
not attend nonOrthodox services, should not acknowledge the existence of
other religious belief systems, especially those claiming to be Christian,
etc., could an Orthodox Christian be president and still hold fast to the
tenets of The Faith without alienating most of the citizens who elected
him/her?
Al
_________________
Bush gets to work on 2nd term
President, family attend prayer service
Saturday, January 22, 2005
By Ann McFeatters, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette National Bureau
WASHINGTON -- His tuxedo back in mothballs, President Bush yesterday started
off the first full day of his second term with national security briefings
on Iraq and a prayer service that included evangelist Billy Graham saying
that having Bush in the White House for four more years was ordained by God.
After having danced fewer than nine minutes at the inaugural balls Thursday
night, Bush was back at the White House an hour earlier than expected and
was up early yesterday, aides said. He attended a packed mid-morning
interdenominational service at the National Cathedral with his wife, Laura;
their two daughters;, Vice President Cheney and his family; and about 3,000
others.
The president made no remarks at the service but joined in the singing of
several hymns. He also frequently smiled in appreciation at a sermon by the
Rev. Mark Craig of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, who
spoke of adopting a child from China when he was 55 and said that, in
essence, hope springs eternal and that the future belongs to everyone.
This was the ninth presidential inauguration for the now-frail Graham, 86,
who uses a walker. In his remarks, he said: "Our Father, we acknowledge your
divine help in the selection of our nation's leaders throughout history, and
we believe that in your providence you have granted a second term of office
to our president, George W. Bush, and our vice president, Richard Cheney."
Participating in the service were representatives of the Roman Catholic,
Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Protestant faiths. A Muslim imam scheduled to
attend was taken ill.
The emphasis on God and prayer services at the start of Bush's second term
has worried some. The Rev.Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister and president of
The Interfaith Alliance, said, "Just as religious leaders must refrain from
trying to dictate the political beliefs of their congregants, political
leaders must abandon the misguided illusion that they speak as prophets of
God's will."
Although Bush's nominee for secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has not
yet been confirmed by the Senate, she is still on the job as his national
security adviser. She gave the president an update yesterday about progress
toward the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq. The administration expects turnout by
Iraqis to reach 80 percent, despite continuing violence there.
As the president later yesterday went to and from the cathedral, his
motorcade passed anti-war protesters on the street.
After Bush's inaugural speech Thursday, in which he laid out an ambitious
agenda to promote freedom around the world, he now prepares for the State of
the Union address that he will deliver Feb. 2 to a joint session of the
House and Senate. The next day, he sends an annual budget to Capitol Hill
that is expected to set off a firestorm of controversy by calling for
across-the-board federal cuts of 5 percent, except for the departments of
Defense and Homeland Security.
In his State of the Union speech, White House aides say, Bush will outline
again what has become a bold post-election agenda calling for overhauling
Social Security and the entire tax code, limiting lawsuits and instituting a
controversial "guest-worker" program for foreigners who want to work in
America that he insists is not amnesty for illegal aliens.
The president also must soon name a director for national intelligence, a
potentially powerful post that has been created in the wake of the 9/11
terrorist attacks to improve intelligence sharing within the government.
He also may need to nominate a new justice for the Supreme Court. Chief
Justice William Rehnquist swore him in Thursday but was clearly frail and in
poor health with thyroid cancer.
As concrete barriers erected to keep anti-war protesters at bay during
inaugural ceremonies were lifted from downtown Washington streets yesterday,
politicians wearied by the previous night's festivities took a day off, and
the nation's capital braced for a likely major snowstorm this weekend.
But next week, full-scale partisan warfare can be expected. House Democratic
leader Nancy Pelosi of California said she was dispirited by the prospect of
dealing with Bush's proposals and fighting what she called the "destructive"
agenda of "extremist Republicans." Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., new head of
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also used the word "extreme"
in referring to GOP plans.
But Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the new Senate Democratic leader after last
fall's election defeat of South Dakota's Tom Daschle, told Bush in a phone
call that he hopes that they can work together. "There are many areas where
we can find common ground," he said in a statement. "... One of our
immediate tasks must be to put our nation's fiscal house in order. ..."
------------
(Ann McFeatters can be reached at 202-662-7071 or
amcfe...@nationalpress.com)
nick cobb
for an uneducated wannabe!
AGGreen
and not participate in heretical worship services (all nonOrthodox). Deal
with it, idiot! There is only one True Church, one True Christianity. All
others are false. Deal with it.
"nick cobb" <ni...@cris.com> wrote in message
news:pCwId.18209$_X7....@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
ARCEO Moderator
ARE FORCED TO PRAY WITH NON-ORTHODOX.
ARCEO MODERATOR
Matt
ARCEO Moderator wrote:
> ABSOLUTELY NOT. ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS CANNOT HOLD ANY OFFICE WHERE THEY
> ARE FORCED TO PRAY WITH NON-ORTHODOX.
>
What makes you think that the President was "forced to pray" with
anybody?
If an Orthodox Christian were elected President, surely he could simply
decline to participate in this kind of event; some kind of "interfaith"
gathering which didn't involve prayer could be held at a non-religious
venue, everyone could be invited to say something "positive", and that
would doubtless "fill the bill".
I must confess that I wonder about your President's view of "Islam" (as
expressed in his famous "Islam is Peace" remark). Since I doubt that he
is naive enough to believe this, I assume he is just trying to "reach
out". But to join in prayer with people who worship the mohammedan
deity is puzzling, if for no other reason than that it encourages
others to think that a false god and the real one the same.
Matt
nick cobb
of the church and try and interpret them. The canon(s) you refer to must
be explained in the context of why they were written. Something you
obviously haven't done or can't do!
The term "prayer" goes far beyond just "a" prayer. It refers to
participation in full liturgical worship, even communion.
For Orthodox Christians to come together with other Christians and pray
for peace or guidance is NOT what this canon refers to.
There were Christians in the early church who would participate in the
full liturgical worship of Jewish worship and then participate in
Christian worship.
DEAL WITH THIS!
AGGreen
dispersions on those who try and hold on to the traditional faith rather
than succumb to the neo-modern, pope-loving Orthodox.
***And now you want us to worship with the Jews before Divine Liturgy? What
a guy! Thank you Jesus for providing alternative seminaries to SVOTS!
"nick cobb" <ni...@cris.com> wrote in message
news:ScRId.20944$by5....@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
john j
Triumphalism and exclusivity of Traditional Orthodoxy makes an Orthodox
president of a Protestant /Catholic country very difiicult.
AGGreen
"john j" <JOH...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:17484-41F...@storefull-3131.bay.webtv.net...
Alexander Arnakis
Let's get real about this. Anybody who's a serious contender for
president is the kind of person whose true religion is "politics,"
regardless of what formal denomination he or she belongs to. A Roman
Catholic candidate (Kennedy or Kerry) is no more serious about his
Catholicism than an Orthodox candidate (Dukakis) is about his
Orthodoxy. And don't kid yourselves -- the so-called "born-again"
Protestant candidates are no better; they're perhaps more practiced at
pulling the wool over the eyes of the voters.
Joe Orthodox
> On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 16:00:44 -0500, "AGGreen" <A...@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>
>>***On this point I will agree with you.
>>
>>"john j" <JOH...@webtv.net> wrote in message
>>news:17484-41F...@storefull-3131.bay.webtv.net...
>>
>>>No a traditional Orthodox could not be elected President. The
>>>Triumphalism and exclusivity of Traditional Orthodoxy makes an Orthodox
>>>president of a Protestant /Catholic country very difiicult.
>>>
>
> Let's get real about this. Anybody who's a serious contender for
> president is the kind of person whose true religion is "politics,"
> regardless of what formal denomination he or she belongs to. A Roman
> Catholic candidate (Kennedy or Kerry) is no more serious about his
> Catholicism than an Orthodox candidate (Dukakis) is about his
Wow. I agree!
> Orthodoxy. And don't kid yourselves -- the so-called "born-again"
> Protestant candidates are no better; they're perhaps more practiced at
> pulling the wool over the eyes of the voters.
And a good thing it is. My concern is when they actually DO believe in
rapture theology.
AGGreen
"Alexander Arnakis" <inv...@address.none> wrote in message
news:k4abv0p62u77ds1bf...@4ax.com...
***So, the only good candidate for president is one who doesn't follow any
religion?
Alexander Arnakis
>
>***So, the only good candidate for president is one who doesn't follow any
>religion?
>
equally false to the philosophers, equally true to its own adherents,
and equally useful to the magistrates." I think the best statesman,
given the things that he has to do in today's unpleasant world, is
probably a pagan at heart. Yet, it's useful for a president to be able
to make the appropriate religious "noises" for the sake of the
electorate. Politics is all about hypocrisy -- but hypocrisy so finely
tuned that we're not aware of what it is.