A sensitive topic for some

SeraphimSarov said:

I guess I'm still shifting from the atheistic worldview where there is no such thing as the corruption of sin. I'm almost searching for a political identity, though I suppose from an Orthodox Christian standpoint, that doesn't matter so much as advancing the Kingdom of God.

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I can relate to this, coming from far left politics and activism as a non-believer to Orthodoxy. I have read this thread with interest, but haven't posted because I'm too new to have any kind of advice or anything to share. I always felt it important to have a political stance and to engage, but that's changing now and I'm actually just taking a break from it all, it stirs up too much. I don't want to become a total reactionary out of a need to distance myself, if that makes sense.

I am reading blessed Fr. Seraphims biography now, and it is wonderful. Never thought I'd lug a brick of a book like that around on the city bus. If you ever do get the chance to read it, I think you'll love it. also, seconding the Nihilism online, I read a bit of it on the net a while ago.

SeraphimSarov said:

I used to carry that book with me EVERYWHERE. An old member of this forum used to joke with me on Facebook when he'd see a picture of me carrying books and Fr. Seraphim's wasn't among them! Sadly, I sold it when I left Orthodoxy, but it is pretty cool that you can get it on the Kindle now. I just hope it has some of the cool pictures that are in the print edition!

I'm struggling to shed some of my leftist tendencies. Maybe some of them can stay, but a lot of it is incompatible with Orthodoxy altogether. I'm not necessarily upset about it, but it's hard to figure out where to draw the line. This isn't even mentioning all the people I know who are utterly confused by my sudden shift in politics and unwillingness to condemn Christianity on the whole.

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That's totally me right now, carrying that book around

I was joking with someone who also made this shift away from far left circles (we were both involved in the anarchist scene in our 20's) about starting a group for recovering leftists. Lol. I understand getting those sorts of reactions. I think I freaked a few people out with my conversion, and in one case lost a "good friend." Oh well. For me the temptation has been to go hard to the right, but I don't think that's the solution either.. so, avoiding too much politics for now.

I've been reading on the book "Man and the God-Man," by St Justin Popovich and he hits on some of the themes that Fr. Seraphim talks about. So far I'm about half of the way through the book. St. Justin does critique western culture from an orthodox perspective and doesn't hold back. I've really enjoyed the book so far. It's a small book, with about 114 pages of reading content, but is quite interesting reading. It is really focuses on Orthodox culture.

Communism and other versions of socialism in the 19th and 20th Centuries weren't just money systems. They aimed to create a new man!!! They openly said that. And that vision of a new man was an atheist one. There was and is no room for grace, providence, faith, or real spirituality in socialism. Government is your God, and only forced redistribution can save you. Abortion, evolution, and social engineering always follow because the aim isn't to make sure everyone is fed, the goal is a new man. Orthodoxy aims to create a new man of a quite different order.

Also socialism takes away the impetus to give, donate, and practice philanthropy. Instead it forces giving, which our Father among the saints John Chrysostom says is a type of sin. Poverty gives others the opportunity to give.

Capitalism is riddled with flaws. Big banks, hedge funds, sub prime mortgage implosions, greed, are all sad byproducts. But the desire to build a new man through forced redistribution and encouraged atheism is far worse.

SeraphimSarov said:

Is there a system where everyone is ensured bread and a roof that doesn't have a new man as its aim? Also, this came out recently that hit home kind of hard, especially as at one point in my atheism I admired Lenin: Epistle of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia on the 100th Anniversary of the Tragic Revolution in Russia and Beginning of the Godless Persecutions / OrthoChristian.Com

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someone maybe you should look into is Fr David Kirk. he was a Uniate turned Greek Orthodox priest, who was committed to left wing politics, but he let his Orthodoxy guide his politics. the Emmaus House in Harlem is his legacy, and they have lots of stuff about him there.