Mennonites used to be concerned about what vocations were and weren’t appropriate for followers of Jesus Christ. But now it seems most anything goes. When a member of a Mennonite congregation chose to work for the Hesston, Kan., police department, did anyone ask him to account for his decision?
By killing a mass murderer (“Sorrow, Comfort After Kansas Shooting,” March 14), Hesston’s police chief only did what his job required. In a real sense, he had no choice. The choice was made when he took the job and began carrying a gun. For that is what it means to be a police officer, even in a small, predominantly Mennonite town. It may well be that someone has to do it. But it doesn’t have to be me.
I am not unsympathetic to Hesston police chief Doug Schroeder. If he is a normal human, with a God-given aversion to killing another human, he is now suffering post-traumatic stress.
The lesson is simple. To avoid the horrors of killing, don’t join the military. Don’t become a police officer. Don’t listen to those who would persuade you to carry a gun for your protection. What gun would Jesus choose?
D.R. Yoder
Epworth, Ga.
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