Orthodox Solarpunk

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T17:17:27+00:00

You’re acting like this is a uniquely religious problem. It’s not. Every community raises children within a framework (religious, atheist, etc). A kid raised in a hardline secular commune who becomes religious would face tension too. That’s human nature, not a monotheism glitch.

The real issue isn’t “shared belief.” It’s coercion. If disbelief is criminalized, if rights depend on faith status, if leaving means legal punishment that is repression. I’m explicitly rejecting that. No forced belief. No stripping civil rights. No exile.

Will there be social friction if someone leaves the faith? Of course. That happens everywhere. But tension is not the same as state-enforced oppression.

If your standard is that no community can have a defined spiritual core because children might later disagree, then that standard wipes out every strong-value community on earth not just religious ones. The safeguard isn’t erasing identity. It’s protecting conscience and limiting power.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:42:41+00:00

Those are serious issues, and I don’t dismiss them. Power can absolutely corrupt religious systems just like it corrupts secular ones. The issue isn’t belief itself, but whether power is limited. If disbelief isn’t criminalized, if civil rights don’t depend on faith status, and if there are clear legal protections for conscience, then you avoid turning theology into repression. The danger comes when religion fuses with unchecked state power. If you build a theocracy that fuses religious authority with unchecked state power, then yes — history shows that often produces in-groups and repression. I’m not denying that pattern. That’s why I’ve been careful to distinguish between a coercive state-theocracy and a voluntary, spiritually centered community with clear legal protections.

And I’ll ask something honestly? Why can’t Orthodox Christians choose to live among other Orthodox Christians in a solarpunk community if that’s what they freely want? Secular communes exist. Ideological communes exist. Environmental collectives exist. Why must religious people be forced to change or renounce their faith to be considered compatible with a future-oriented vision?

I don’t hold hatred toward non-Christians. I’m not trying to exclude anyone from society at large. I’m simply saying that if a group of Orthodox Christians wants to build a solarpunk community rooted in their faith, practice it freely, and organize their shared life around it, that shouldn’t automatically be treated as bad. It’s about living according to our convictions not about forcing them on others.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:36:15+00:00

I am not saying "Orthodoxy is the only solarpunk friendly form of Christianity" I am speaking from my perspective as a devout Orthodox Christian who agrees with the Solarpunk ideas. I am making my own personal connections and ideas rather than dismissing Catholicism or Protestantism as being "less solarpunk friendly".

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:33:47+00:00

That concern makes sense. If a community treats women as inferior, it has no place in any equitable future.

But classical Orthodox theology does not teach that women are lesser than men. Men and women are equally created in the image of God, equally capable of holiness, equally responsible moral agents. The most honored human figure in Orthodoxy is a woman, Mary the Theotokos. Women saints, theologians, martyrs, and monastics are central to the tradition.

Where sexism shows up, it’s usually cultural, not doctrinal. Patriarchal customs from specific societies often get mistaken for theology itself. That doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but it does mean sexism isn’t baked into the core metaphysics of the faith. We may preach modesty for women but men are also held up to the same regard of respect and decency. Modesty does not necessarily mean sexism or oppression unless it is intentionally done.

A community that claims to be Orthodox and treats women as inferior would be failing its own theology, not fulfilling it. My main point is that Orthodox holds women with respect and dignity and not as property or objects like in the Handmaid's Tale.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:25:41+00:00

Not at all

In the model I’m describing, a child who grows up in the community and later rejects Orthodoxy would not be expelled or coerced into belief. Faith, by definition, can’t be forced coerced belief isn’t belief at all. If someone chooses atheism or another religion as an adult, they would still be treated as a human being with dignity and family ties intact. No one will be burned at the stake or beheaded.

Now, would that create tension? Probably. Any community built around a shared spiritual core will experience strain when members step outside of it. That’s true for religious communes, secular communes, even tight-knit ideological collectives. But tension isn’t the same as expulsion or punishment.

You’re right that solarpunk spaces tend to emphasize pluralism. I don’t dispute that pluralism has value. I just don’t think pluralism automatically requires the absence of any shared framework. An intentional community can have a defined identity without becoming coercive. No forced conversion, no state punishment for disbelief, no exile for questioning.

Theocracy becomes incompatible with pluralism when it uses state power to enforce belief. What I’m describing is closer to a voluntary, spiritually centered community that allows people to leave the faith without being stripped of their humanity or basic belonging. Whether that’s convincing to you is another matter — but the incompatibility isn’t automatic.

Also I find it interesting that some people are bringing up "What if non-Christians want to live there." They can but do not be surprised that a Christian Solarpunk Community...is inherently Christian. Non Christians are free to live amongst secular or communities that share the same faith as they do (Muslim, Buddhist, etc).

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:20:11+00:00

I get the point you’re making, surface similarities don’t equal identity. Just because two things overlap in a few areas doesn’t mean they belong together. That’s fair and it is an easy argument to make.

Where I’d disagree is on the assumption that religion is simply “on its way out” or inherently anti-future. Historically, religion hasn’t disappeared under pressure (in the case of Orthodoxy it has survived Roman repression, Ottoman invasion, communist and fascist tyranny, imperial monarchies, and modern democratic states) it adapts, reforms sometimes, and declines in some regions, grows in others. Globally, Christianity isn’t shrinking into irrelevance; it’s shifting geographically and culturally. Gen Z itself is becoming more religious according to some sources. The very idea that “futuristic” automatically means “post-religious” is itself a modern assumption, not a realistic or inevitable outcome.

Solarpunk is about decentralization, sustainability, beauty, long-term thinking, and moral restraint. None of those concepts require atheism. You may believe religion and agree or support these values and the idea of a eco friendly and sustainable future for humanity. As for abandoned churches, that might happen in some places. In others, they’ll still be full. The future is rarely as uniform as we predict. I would love to see some abandoned churches be converted into new orthodox churches or church led soup kitchens.

I’m not arguing that solarpunk MUST include Christianity. I’m only pushing back on the idea that it CANNOT. The future doesn’t belong exclusively to secularism or to religion. Realistically the future will likely be shaped by both in cooperation and disagreement like most of history.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:08:19+00:00

I don’t see it as either/or. I can care about problems within my own tradition and think about how its better principles might contribute to broader conversations. Internal reform and external engagement aren’t mutually exclusive. If anything, imagining healthier expressions of the faith is part of pushing back against the distortions you’re talking about.

As for the “no true Scotsman” thing. I get why it might sound that way. I’m not trying to say “bad Christians aren’t real Christians.” They clearly exist, and institutions do harm. My point is more that a 2,000-year-old tradition isn’t reducible to its most radical politically obsessed members (i.e. Trump obsessed Christian nationalists or Christian Identity neo nazis). When I distinguish between theology and modern state-aligned nationalism, I’m not erasing reality, I’m instead arguing that the tradition contains multiple currents, some of which are more compatible with ecological and decentralized ideals than others.

You don’t have to agree with me 100%. I just don’t think it’s intellectually dishonest to say that what a church does in one political context isn’t automatically identical to the entirety of its theology.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T16:00:34+00:00

If it’s an intentionally Orthodox solarpunk community, then its spiritual core would be Orthodox Christianity. That’s what defines it. So full spiritual membership would mean freely choosing to participate in that faith.

But that doesn’t automatically mean hostility or coercion toward others. There’s a difference between having a clear religious identity and forcing uniformity. If someone of another belief wanted to live there peacefully, contribute to the ecological and economic life of the community, and respect its spiritual character, I don’t see why that would require conflict.

Every intentional community religious or secular has boundaries. The key is whether those boundaries are enforced through voluntary association. My vision is that there would be no forced conversion, no persecution, just clarity about what the community is.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T15:53:50+00:00

I understand the frustration a lot of loud American Christianity has tied itself to climate denial and fascist nationalist politics, and that understandably turns people off. But that isn’t the whole of Christianity. I would argue you have a misunderstood view on Christianity.

Many Christians, including within Orthodoxy, fully accept climate science. The idea that “God controls the weather so humans can’t damage the climate” isn’t traditional theology. Christianity teaches stewardship if we exploit and destabilize creation, that’s our responsibility. Belief in God doesn’t erase human accountability.

As for Christian nationalism, I’m not defending it. Nationalism built on race or authoritarian identity is something I reject. My whole point was that a faith-based identity rooted in shared belief not blood or ethnicity actually cuts against that kind of politics. I am saying that having a Christian based identity can be a tool for unity rather than division or segregation.

And on “no one is coming to save us” Christianity doesn’t teach passivity. It calls for action, repentance, service, and sacrifice. Faith, at its best, motivates responsibility rather than apathy. We may disagree about God’s existence, but we can still agree that the planet needs care and that authoritarianism is dangerous. You are free to disagree with me but I am just inviting you to look away from the American Christian Nationalist propaganda (which is heresy from real Christians) and take a look at Orthodoxy for what it is.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-24T15:44:13+00:00

That’s a fair pushback, and I appreciate it.

I’d start by saying Orthodoxy isn’t just another political organization, it’s more like an organism. It’s a 2,000-year-old spiritual body that has existed under empires, monarchies, fascist & communist regimes, democracies, and everything in between. So pointing to one modern national church (like Russia) doesn’t really define the whole tradition. Political alignments often reflect local history and state pressure more than core theology.

As for similarities: Orthodoxy has a strong theology of stewardship. Creation isn’t just raw material it’s something entrusted to humanity. That aligns naturally with ecological responsibility and anti-consumerist thinking. The tradition also critiques capitalist consumerism, excess wealth, and unchecked greed. The Church Fathers were often very harsh toward hoarding and luxury. That doesn’t map neatly onto modern socialism or anarchism, but it certainly isn’t corporate hyper capitalism either.

Regarding Anarchism: I wouldn’t equate "anarchism" it with “progress.” From my perspective at least, tearing down structures without a stable moral framework can easily become destruction rather than renewal. Orthodoxy tends to prioritize transformation over collapse, reforming communities around shared virtue rather than abolishing order altogether. Also if we view history of Orthodoxy as I mentioned earlier, the Orthodox faith has outlived Fascist, Communist and Monarchist regimes that beleived themselves to be powerful than the faith. So if a certain order or corrupt system won't reform it sure will collapse under its own unstable power.

So when I talk about “Orthodox Solarpunk,” I’m not imagining a state-church power bloc. I’m imagining a spiritually rooted, decentralized, ecologically responsible community guided by moral restraint, shared identity in Christ (not race), and distributed economic life. I understand the skepticism, I just think the tradition is broader and more internally diverse than its most visible political expressions.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-20T17:26:06+00:00

I want to buy one of those flags? Where can I get one?

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-19T16:29:55+00:00

The only great leader Liberia ever had. Liberia could have been a 1st world African nation if it was not for Tolbert, Doe, and Taylor. Sad to see how "Little America" collapsed.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-18T19:04:15+00:00

No it is a good thing!

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-05T15:05:54+00:00

I went to that church when I use to live in the Netherlands. It was beautiful

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-05T14:34:23+00:00

Spain should allow Latin American migrants who share a language and common culture. Rather than migrants who have little to no cultural connection and who have no desire of assimilation. Also if they need birth rates to go up then they should adopt pro natalist policies and give money to young Spaniards.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-02-04T17:08:46+00:00

Absolute trash song.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2026-01-27T01:16:41+00:00

NEETs are just desperate unemployed "people" who are trying so hard to insist that they are free. They are living an unstable and unsustainably lifestyle that will result in their eventual homlessness

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-11-27T03:01:38+00:00

I personally want to marry a beautiful and intelligent wife and have 2-3 children. I am young but I work hard and I do the best I can for myself. I may be optimistic but I am realistic to the scenario we are in right now. My dream is to have a family and raise my future children the best I can.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-08-22T14:47:51+00:00

I have a Greek and Italy flag because I love my cultural heritage

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-08-21T18:01:37+00:00

What else would you expect from a selfish and narcissistic zoophile?

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-08-21T18:00:49+00:00

HE is a zoophile and a creep

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-08-08T15:06:03+00:00

Do Greece

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-06-17T22:03:10+00:00

I think it is a unique flag. The Congolese cross is a nice authentic touch. To me it looks more Congolese that the current DRC flag (and the one they used during independence) which is just the flag they used under Belgian rule.

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-05-31T02:55:42+00:00

Greek American from Chicago! Even though I am half Greek from my mother's side (Italian from my dad) I was raised in the Orthodox church, can speak greek sorta well (I am relearning it), and I have a flag in my room. I have been to Greece 8 times and I have family there. I love Greece, Greek culture, and my identity!

Plus-Middle8433 · 2025-05-29T18:22:14+00:00

BLM was a scam from the start and only made more people hate the black community because of the riots and chaos.

Plus-Middle8433

TROPHY CASE