Anabaptist martyr Dirk Willems’ story has been told in visual art (Jan Luyken), drama (James Juhnke) and undoubtedly many other ways. This heroic narrative is both gripping and puzzling — puzzling because it contradicts the human desire for survival, gripping because it reveals a faith many cannot fathom. Willems’ story is true both historically and symbolically. He is a symbol of the hunted and oppressed people throughout history who have nearly escaped oppression only to turn around and rescue their oppressors and face oppression again. How many times have minorities in the United States stepped up to protect freedoms denied to them? Black soldiers fought in World War I to “save the world for democracy,” though they did not have democratic rights themselves. After that war, they were forced, again, to live under Jim Crow rules. Today, minorities who fought in “Operation Freedom” wars live in a country that sometimes attempts to arrest and deport them. Willems is not an isolated martyr from the past but a symbol for many today.
Lauren Friesen, North Newton, Kan.
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