By Andrew F. Estocin Law #4: Faith is a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer: In the same way that a thermostat sets the temperature in given room, Orthodox Christianity changes our society and is not a mere indicator (or thermometer) of popular culture. Letter from Birmingham Jail is not just a call for social action, it is also a critique of Christianity and that includes our own Orthodox Christian witness today. Rev. King has some harsh

By Andrew F. Estocin Law #2: Being Legal Does Not Mean Being Right: “Never forget that everything Hitler Did in Germany was legal.” This warning from Letter from Birmingham Jail points to the tradition of natural law. Natural Law is an integral part of Orthodox Christianity and the thought of Martin Luther King. What is natural law? It is the teaching that just laws participate in and reflect the law of God. Man has a

By Andrew F. Estocin “Our Church has never hesitated to fight, when it felt it must, for the rights of mankind….there are times when we must risk everything, including life itself, for those basic American ideals of freedom, justice, and equality, without which this land cannot survive. Our hope and prayer, then, is that we may be given strength to let God know by our acts and deeds, and not only by our words, that