From the editor

Twenty years ago, our government threatened to start the first Gulf war, then made good on those threats in August 1990. We had the first Gulf War, the Second Gulf War and now the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mennonites now seem to be at peace with these nearly continual wars.

There may be many reasons, and different people may have different reasons. But why are Mennonites not resisting the current wars or protesting military spending? Here are some possible answers:

1. We are comfortably middle class; we don’t want to rock the boat that provides the wealth and security we enjoy.

2. We don’t know how to protest a distant and “echnological war.” It was much easier to protest when the draft took the bodies of our young men.

3. We are influenced by postmodernist influences that suggest there is no absolute truth, including the belief that all violence is wrong.

4. We have become assimilated into the political system and support—or don’t want to object to—the rationale provided by the political party of our choice.

5. We see the wars as appropriate “police actions” by the global community against rogue states or lawless cultures.

There has been a lack of energy in Mennonite Church USA around this issue for the past several years. The Delegate Assembly did adopt a resolution against the Iraq War in 2005, and some 17,000 of us signed a letter sent to President Bush in 2002. But now the remnants of a robust peace activism are weekly prayers of peace distributed across the Internet and a few “specialists” helping military members who have become conscientious objectors. Occasionally we also hear from a family that maintains resistance to war by not paying their taxes or see a faithful few stand in a vigil to remind the public.

I’m guessing few Mennonite congregations hear sermons these days that articulate a clear repudiation of the wars our country is fighting. In some places such a sermon may negatively impact a pastor’s performance evaluation.

“We believe that peace is the will of God,” says Article 22 of Confession on Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. “God created the world in peace, and God’s peace is most fully revealed in Jesus Christ, who is our peace and the peace of the whole world. Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace, doing justice, bringing reconciliation and practicing nonresistance even in the face of violence and warfare.”

Here at The Mennonite we receive many manuscripts for publication; few of them reinforce our church’s convictions about war and peace. However, our denomination made a specific commitment in 2005:

“We will renew our commitment to teach peace to every generation and to provide youth with meaningful alternatives to military service,” says the Statement on the War in Iraq.

We want to do our part to “teach peace to every generation” and specifically invite writers to submit articles that reinforce our peace convictions. We are particularly interested in articles that connect to current events and elements in popular culture that would be of interest to youth and young adults.

Mennonite Church USA claims to be a historic peace church. Having made peace with war and rumors of wars, we do not want our peace convictions to become history.