Tag Archives: John Jillions

God and the Election: How to Talk with Your Children

by Very Rev. Dr. John A. Jillions | български | Ελληνικά | ქართული | Русский | Српски

casting a ballot

Your children have been hearing a lot about the election in their schools, in your family, among friends, online and on television. As a Christian parent, priest, or teacher, what can you say? Does God care about the election? Here are some thoughts to help shape your conversation. 

The answer is yes, God cares about elections. Because elections are about people, and God cares about everything that happens to people. In an election, we choose leaders to govern and care for the people at every level of our country’s life. Jesus said that even a sparrow is not forgotten by God. If God cares for the tiniest bird, then think how he cares for every single human being. “Even the hairs of your head are numbered,” said Jesus (Matthew 10:30). That’s how extreme God’s love is for us. 

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Healing the Body Politic: A Politics of Communion

by Fr. John A. Jillions

Now that the American elections are over, it is time to assess the role of the Orthodox Churches in helping to shape our country. They could take a passive stand entirely apart from the political process, but then we would have to accept that everyone else would decide the conditions under which we live as Orthodox Christians. And we would then also have to admit that we don’t actively care about what happens to our country or about contributing to the common good. This would be entirely contrary to the history of the Orthodox Churches, which have almost all played central roles in shaping national cultures, even when they existed—as they did for most of history—under autocratic regimes.   Continue Reading…