OQ-Opinion question

OrthodoxHistory.org » Orthodoxy in Colonial Virginia

Not accurate. Their big concern was that Congress should NOT recognize any religion as a state religion, ie Church of England, which was protestant. In their ardor for that NOT to happen, they cleared the way for all religions.

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A Catholic in admiration of my brothers and sisters of the East.

I think most historians would agree that in the late 1700's it would have been impossible to build a mosque on US territory.

As others have pointed out thats a broad question. Of course there was a time when this country or many parts of it conformed to general christian morality. In f act some of those laws would be considered extreme in an Orthodox theocracy, such as 'dry' counties where restrictions are placed on alcohol. Instead of advocating for gay marriage most likely in an Orthodox country there would be no civil marriages whatsoever. By the latter half of the empire civil marriage was simply filing a paper saying who would inherit what if there are no children. It was strictly a religious ceremony, this continued through the Ottomon Empire and still is the system in place in Palestine.

If all the laws conformed to Orthodoxy it probably would be a monarchy, that would still retain an element of secularism. Thats one of the symbolic meanings of the double headed eagle found on churches and on Orthodox flags. The government and church are still two seperate factions but occupy the same house and work synergistically. An Orthodox theocracy would be a mild one, as government and church are to remain autonomous and distinct according to Orthodox understanding.

Yes a porn magazine would be considered contraband (but thats not a certainty), foreign missionary work and proselytising would be illegal, certain businesses in the realm of entertainment would need to close on certain feast days. Abortion would be illegal, beauty pageants would probably cease, but depending on the area topless beaches would remain but not full nude ones. In addition the state would promote incentives for people to work out their salvation in accordance to Orthodox principles.

It will not resemble Taliban nor Iran for that matter (unless you think thats what Russia resembled under the romanovs).

I think in practice, laws can't actually force a population to do anything - take prohibition for example. Laws in general are a reflection of popular culture and social norms as they already exist. Very few laws are truly groundbreaking in that they drive social reform, especially moralistic laws. The laws almost always follow the social reform, not the other way around. Back to OP, would like to live in a country governed by a truly Orthodox ethos in it's population, where the laws of land were a reflection of the faith...of course, but I know that will never happen until the Kingdom.

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lex orandi, lex credendi

to add my two cents to the original post. personally, I gotta agree not to legislate morality, unless it happens to harm another person (ie abortion). ideally, everyone in America would be an Orthodox Christian because they choose to be, not because the government forces them to be.

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"Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of joy and eternal salvation." -Fr. Alexander Schmemann

"The time of the end, though it seems to be near, we do not know. Let us then struggle while it is still day, with the time and the weapons which our All-merciful God has given us!" -Fr. Seraphim Rose

I would be concerned in general that nations where government is strongly tied to religion aren't all that sucessful in governing well, historically. They tend to run to abuse and corruption in the Church and in government.

An interesting thing though IMO is the nation of Bhutan. Not perfect by any means, but they seem to have somewhat successfully integrated religion into their political institutions, compared to some of the other examples I know of.

However, they are quite a small place and relatively culturally and religiously homogeneous. But it would be interesting to consider their approach.

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Rise, heart, thy lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may'st rise:
That, as his death calcinèd thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and, much more, just.
George Herbert

We as Orthodox Christians believe so strongly in each person's free will before God that I think it's hard for us to even think of trying to legislate something that must come from each person's heart.

I also think that anytime the Church is entwined with government, it becomes seen as part of the "establishment" and the sins of the government are seen as the sins of the Church. I think we can see that every where there has been/is an Establishment Church. People who want to rebel against their government, for whatever reason, will also rebel against the Church. The Church should never be in a position of secular power.

Mary

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Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing Life!

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't wake up thinking, "why can't we be more like Bhutan?"

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I dun'no...

Look what happened in Russia.
The Czar declaired himself to be Patriarch.

As long as the Patriarchate was located in a different country, it might be ok.

Then again... being Orthodox might just end up as being a matter of conformity.
I'm a lot more passionate about Orthodoxy than that!