I sense a clear evil not hiding anymore but doing a victory lap by showboating its new power (response to “Anabaptist Trumpism” by Melissa Florer-Bixler at anabaptistworld.org, Feb. 4). In part, this evil has been brought into power by false Christianity, which no longer claims God’s kingdom first but the United States first. I would like to offer hope: the hope that we have seen humanity and God defeat similar evil. I and others may not hold political power, but the power that we have to show love to others will not be defeated.

Jean Marc Logan, Facebook comment

For those of us outside the peace churches but inside peace fellowships within mainstream churches, this article  makes for difficult reading. We love, admire and respect Hutterites, Amish and Mennonites, and we often idealize the Anabaptist tradition as the perfect vision of how all our churches should be. But this vision is, at times like this, unrealistic and takes no account of the reality of human behavior.

Ross Ahlfeld, Facebook comment

Like Melissa Florer-Bixler, I was nonplussed by the efforts of Levi Miller and Daniel Miller (“Why Many of Us Voted for Trump,” December) to explain Anabaptists’ votes for Donald Trump. I think her naming of Whiteness as more foundational to many of our choices than Christian faith is correct, and I accept her warning about pursuing economic and social ends “in the guise of religious pacifism.” Yet the language and the argument in her article give me pause. Jesus did warn us that following him would lead to terrible family separations. But the Apostle Paul also urged us to welcome those who are weak in faith. I challenge us not to “other” our co-religionists, whether the Amish or German Mennonites. Rather than claim spiritual virtue, let us urge one another to search our hearts for whether we are able to “pledge ourselves again to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Nancy R. Heisey, Philadelphia

I wonder whether Levi Miller and Daniel Miller now have a different take on their vote for a man they thought would reduce inflation and usher in an era when the U.S. steps away from military involvement. Here’s the reality after three dizzying weeks: Trump almost immediately said inflation was a thorny problem he doubted he could solve. He threatened to annex Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada, while enacting steep tariffs that almost all economists agree will lead to worse inflation. He suggested the U.S. take over Gaza, remove the Palestinians and establish vacation resorts. He effectively neutered USAID, which rendered the kind of assistance to needy people worldwide that I thought Anabaptists were keen on. Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance, whom the Millers saw as a moral man atoning for Trump’s character flaws, says Christians should look out for themselves and their families first, then their community, then their country and, last of all, the rest of the world. I didn’t realize Jesus footnoted his command to love your neighbor according to that hierarchy. I wish the Millers had addressed whether they also voted for Trump out of a desire to see all the power of government reside in the executive branch, but I excuse them for a failure to foresee the blitzkrieg we are enduring. I foresaw it, but I thought it would take months or years.

Rebecca L. Gaff, Rolling Prairie, Ind.