Menno Simons (1496-1561) in his own words

Menno Simons was a Roman Catholic priest who joined the much maligned Anabaptist movement in Friesland about a decade after its beginning in Zurich, Switzerland in 1525. One major branch of that movement eventually became known as "Mennonite" because of his prominence as a leader.

Menno managed to live a relatively long life in spite of a 1542 edict by Charles V which placed a price of 100 gold guilders on his head and threatened severe punishment for anyone offering him shelter or reading any of his works. In spite of that threat, Menno devoted his life to preaching and writing what was considered rank heresy in those days, that one should have the right to be a member of a church of one's choice rather than having to be baptized into the official state church in the region of one's birth.

The following represents a selection of his words from various parts of "The Complete Writings of Menno Simons," a Herald Press book translated from the Dutch by Leonard Verduin and edited by John C. Wenger:

    My dear friends, I tell you the truth, I am no Enoch, I am no Elijah, I am not one who sees visions, I am no prophet who can teach or prophesy otherwise than what is written in the Word of God and understood in the Spirit...

    At one time I was wicked and carried the banner of unrighteousness for many years. I was a leader in all kinds of folly... the fear of God was not before my eyes. Yet everyone sought me and desired me. The world loved me and I it. Everyone revered me.

    But my conscience tormented me so that I could no longer endure it. The blood of innocent martyrs I knew of fell so hot on my heart I could not stand it. I thought to myself, I a miserable man, what am I doing? If I continue in this way, and don’t live according to the truth I have, if I don’t put away the hypocrisy, the impenitent, carnal life... If I don’t use all my powers to direct the wandering flock who would gladly do their duty if they knew it, how shall their blood rise up against me in the judgment?

    So I prayed to God, with sighs and tears, that he would give me, a sorrowing sinner, the gift of his grace, create in me a clean heart, and graciously through the merits of the blood of Christ forgive my unclean walk and frivolous, easy life and give me wisdom, courage and a manly spirit so that I might preach his exalted name and holy word in purity.

    Let me repeat, I have formerly acted shamefully against God and my neighbors; and I still sometimes think, speak, and act recklessly, which I sincerely regret. But I desire and seek sincere teaching, true doctrine, true faith, true works and an unblamable life. For this I must pay dearly with so much oppression, trouble, labor, sleeplessness, fear and anxiety, shame, heat and cold, and at last with torture, yes, with my blood and death.

    So while others rest on easy beds and soft pillows we have to hide in out of the way corners. While they revel in the music of trumpet and lute at weddings and baptismal banquets, we have to be on guard whenever a dog barks for fear an officer has come to arrest us.

    We do not agree with those who teach a mere historical faith which knows no conversion, spirit and fruit. On the other hand, we do not agree that we can be saved by our own merits and works. 

    True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it returns good for evil, it seeks that which is lost, it binds up the wounded, it becomes all things to all people. 

    Some charge that we have our property in common. This charge is false. But we do teach that all truly believers are members of one body. Since they are one, it is Christian and reasonable that they love one another, that one member be concerned for the welfare of the other. The whole scripture speaks of mercifulness and love, which is the only sign whereby true Christians may be known.

    They say we will not obey the magistrates... We have obeyed them when not contrary to the word of God. We intend to do so all our lives. 

    (But) Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people.

   That the office of magistrate is of God and his ordinance I freely grant. But those who are Christians and want to be a magistrate but then do not follow their prince, head, and leader Christ, but cover and clothe their unrighteousness, wickedness, pomp and pride, avarice, plunder, and tyranny with the name of magistrate, I despise. For those who are Christians must follow the Spirit, word, and example of Christ, no matter whether they  be emperor, king, or whatever they may be. For these following admonitions apply to all alike: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Those who say they abide in Christ should also walk as he walked. Epistle to Micron  (CWMS, 922)

    We who were formerly no people at all, and who knew no peace, are now called to be a church of peace. True Christians do not know vengeance... Their hearts overflow with peace. Their mouths speak peace, and they walk in the way of peace.

    The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value.

    Therefore, my precious brothers and sisters in the Lord, take the crucified Christ as your example, and the apostles and prophets of God. Learn through them how they all came in at this very narrow gate and have left all things hanging at the entrance. They were so endowed and trained by God that they knew nothing, sought nothing, loved and desired nothing but the eternal treasure--God--and eternal life.

The following is a translation of words on a simple stone memorial more recently erected at Witmarsum, Menno's home village:

Witmarsum may with right its Menno Simons claim,
In Netherlands the first of church-reforming fame.
He took his stand there, from the priesthood broke,
And in a little house the word of freedom spoke.

Jesus, Menno Simons And The Great Omission

From 1965-1988 I was blessed to pastor a wonderful
congregation that met in this simple and stately structure. 

"Go into all the world and establish churches in all nations, training pastors and church leaders who can preach good sermons, lead inspiring worship services, raise large sums of money for church programs and facilities, and still have funds left over for other mission and relief efforts. And lo, all of these things shall be with you to the end of the age." 

- Matthew 28:19-20  (Reversed Standard Version)

Ever feel like some helpful instructions like these should have been included in the Bible, but are nowhere to be found? 

Why didn't someone like Mathias, for example, the apostle appointed to replace Jesus's treasurer, write up a set of church bylaws, some sample congregational budgets, a suggested pay and benefits scale for pastors and members of the church staff, and some blueprints of the kinds of accommodations necessary for a viable congregation?

Regrettably, we have nothing of the kind. Instead, we have statements like "silver and gold have I none," "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them," "God does not live in buildings built with human hands" and "believers broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

What kind of real "church" would that be?

Then there are later church leaders like Menno Simons, a 16th century Anabaptist leader who wrote extensively about church-related subjects but didn't include any practical instructions about church buildings and organization in any of the over 1000 pages we have of his writings.

I did find two passing references to church buildings by Menno, as follows:

"I therefore let you judge whether they (members of the state-sponsored church in which Menno had been an ordained priest) believe from the heart (that)... Christ is the atoning sacrifice for their sin, who nevertheless seek and follow all kinds of idolatry...golden, silver and wooden saints... (and) stone churches..."  (Complete Writings of Menno Simons, p. 39)

And of fellow Protestant reformers who defended infant baptism Menno wrote:

"...our opponents have no more command to baptize children than Israel had to circumcise females, or to build churches, altars and places of worship on hills or in valleys..."   (CW p. 713)

What kind of radical church leader would say things like that?

Having said that, while I have been a member of a small house church congregation for over three decades, I am not opposed to congregations having meeting houses. I would, however, love to see them designed in such a way that, like other buildings in the community, they would be used for a variety of life giving purposes throughout the week.

Historically Anabaptists and other members of free churches, thousands of whom were persecuted, tortured and executed in Protestant and Catholic jurisdictions alike, met secretly in caves, barns or in each other's homes until they were later allowed to build simple meeting houses of their own. And in the second century some of the persecuted "followers of the Way" also began to adapt or construct special buildings as they were permitted to do so. 

I post this hoping to generate some some good conversation on church real estate.

Note: Here's some interesting history of how the Christian church developed what some called its "edifice complex." 

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2018/06/from-mere-meeting-places-to-holy-spaces.html

Are We Becoming A Church Of MINOs (Mennonite In Name Only)?

Menno, though not without his faults, was far
ahead of his time as a writer and church leader.

One of my more memorable seminary courses involved the study of the 1069-page The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, and was taught by the late John C. Wenger, the translator of the work. I've since posted numerous blogs on Menno, and recently read Myron Augsburger's interesting historical novel, The Fugitive, on Menno's life.

As a member of a church that bears his name I have always appreciated the life and legacy of this 16th century reformer. Menno, a widely acclaimed priest in Friesland, made the courageous choice of aligning himself with the free church (Anabaptist) movement a decade after that it had its beginning in Switzerland. He never wanted to have a church named after him, but because he, unlike most of his fellow free church pastors, managed to escape martyrdom for a full 25 years and became the movement's most well known leader and its most prolific writer, peaceful Anabaptists in the Netherlands, as well as in Germany and Switzerland, became nicknamed as Menn-ists, and later as Menno-nites. 

One benefit of this misnomer was that it help distinguish the peaceful and non-violent branch of the movement from those who advocated the use of violent means of overthrowing jurisdictions aligned with a state-controlled church. 

Menno's survival is nothing short of a miracle, in that Holy Roman Emeror Charles V had a price of 100 guilders on his head, and decreed that anyone even providing him shelter was to be executed, and at least one person was. 

Today's North American heirs of the Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition tend to make much of the fact that they represent "a third way," that they are neither Protestant or Catholic but are unique in how they take following Jesus's teachings seriously, as in not resisting evil by evil means as taught in the Sermon on the Mount, on living a life of discipleship, simplicity and self denial, and by insisting that every believer must make their own decision about what faith, if any, they choose.

But in practice, are North American Mennonites really that different from other Christians?

1. Unlike most Mennonites today, Menno lived a life of voluntary poverty.

(God) knows that I seek not wealth, nor possessions, nor luxury, nor ease, but only the praise of the Lord, my salvation and the salvation of many souls. Because of this, I with my poor weak wife and children have for eighteen years endured excessive anxiety, oppression, affliction, misery and persecution. At the peril of my life I have been compelled everywhere to drag out an existence in fear. Yes, when the (state church) preachers repose on easy beds and soft pillows, we generally have to hide ourselves in out-of-the-way corners. When they at weddings and baptismal banquets revel with pipe, trumpet and lute, we have to be on our guard when a dog barks for fear an arresting officer has arrived. When they are greeted as doctors, lords and teachers by everyone, we have to hear that we are anabaptists, bootleg preachers, deceivers and heretics, and be saluted in the devil's name. In short, while they are gloriously rewarded for their service with large incomes and good times, our recompense and portion must be fire, sword and death. (p. 674 Complete Writings of Menno Simons)

2. Unlike most progressive Mennonite churches, Menno did not support having a salaried ministry and special houses of worship.

 "...humble yourselves and become unblameable disciples, that you may thereafter be called ministers...pastor diligently, preach and teach valiantly, cast from you all filthy lucre and booty; rent a farm, milk cows, learn a trade if possible, do manual labor as Paul did, and all that which you then fall short of will doubtless be given you and provided by pious brethren, by the grace of God, not in superfluity, but as necessity requires." (p. 451)

...they, our opponents, have no more command to baptize children than Israel to circumcise females, or to build churches, altars and places of worship on hills or in valleys... (p. 713)

...I therefore let you judge whether they believe from the heart who with the mouth say that the blood of Christ is the atoning sacrifice for their sin, and nevertheless seek and follow after all kinds of idolatry, ...stone churches and the drunken harloting of priests." (p. 393)

3. Unlike Mennonites who have become known as "the quiet in the land," Menno wrote and spoke openly to authorities, appealing for religious toleration and equal justice for everyone.

They say we will not obey the magistrates... We have obeyed them when not contrary to the word of God. We intend to do so all our lives. (But) Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of the lord... (p. 549) to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people. (p. 551)

4. Unlike later Amish and Old Order Mennonite groups, Menno did not advocate for  any kind of distinctive dress or headgear different from that of other ordinary members of the working class. But unlike more progressive Mennonite groups, he did write about simplicity in matters of personal appearance.

...whatsoever you do, do it in the name and fear of the Lord Jesus. Do not adorn yourselves with gold, silver, costly pearls, embroidered hair and expensive, unusual dress. Use such clothing as becomes women professing godliness and which is suitable for your occupation... (p.383)  and if (lavish dress) is forbidden to women, how much more to men who are the leaders and heads of their wives! (p.377)

5. Unlike many evangelical leaders of his day and of ours, Menno strongly advocated for justice for the poor and for the working class.

...For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant, but manifests itself in all righteousness and acts of love, it dies to flesh and blood, it destroys all forbidden lusts and desires, it seeks and serves and fears God, it clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry,  it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it aids and consoles the sad, it returns good for evil... (p.307)

Question: How have North American Mennonites benefited from the violence of others who killed and banished native Americans and took over their land?

"True Evangelical Faith"

Menno Simons, 1496-1561

Some 500 years ago members of the "Anabaptist" or free church movement in western Europe (founded on freedom from state control of religion) began to be referred to as "Mennists" or "Mennonites" due to the influence of one of their most loved and long-lived leaders, Menno Simons.

Menno, a former Catholic priest from Friesland, was not the group's founder, having joined the movement ten years after it began in Zurich, Switzerland in 1525, but became its leading voice and its most prolific writer.

He uses the term evangelical here as distinct from both the Catholicism of his time, which strongly emphasized the necessity of good works, and contemporary reformers, who stressed faith alone as necessary for salvation:

True evangelical faith
is of such a nature that it cannot lay dormant;
but manifests itself
in all righteousness and works of love;

It dies unto flesh and blood;
destroys all forbidden lusts and desires;
cordially seeks, serves and fears God;
clothes the naked; 
feeds the hungry;
consoles the afflicted;
shelters the miserable;
aids and consoles all the oppressed;
returns good for evil;
serves those that injure it;
prays for those that persecute it;
teaches, admonishes and reproves with the Word of the Lord;
seeks that which is lost;
binds up that which is wounded;
heals that which is diseased
and saves that which is sound.

The persecution, suffering and anxiety which befalls it
for the sake of the truth of the Lord,
is to it a glorious joy and consolation.

- Menno Simons, "Why I Do Not Cease Teaching And Writing" 1539

A 16th Century Reformer Advocates For Workers

 

Menno Simons 1496-1561

In sixteenth century Europe, when there were few labor laws protecting working people, Dutch Anabaptist reformer Menno Simons wrote these words in a treatise called "True Christian Faith." He begins the piece by commending the Roman centurion who was concerned about a servant of his who was ill, and who implores Jesus to heal him, then writes:

It is to the shame and disgrace of all false Christians and especially to many rich, some of whom are more merciless and cruel toward poor servants and hirelings than they are to their dogs and animals (pardon the expression), for as soon as they get so ill that they cannot perform mule's labor, they are unmercifully turned out of doors and sent to this or that institution, or to their parents and friends who sometimes have scarcely a bite of bead or an old cot in their houses. 

Again others, with great damage to their little earnings, have to get a substitute while they are sick. And even if they do serve their time in health with hard and severe labor, some of these unmerciful, cruel, bloody folk put forth efforts to deprive these poor lambs, who have to watch while they (their employers) sleep, labor while they rest, run when they command and stand while they sit, of a goodly portion of their grievous toil. 

Now they complain of  a spoon is lost; then a dish that is broken; always they have ruined this or that. Yes, some of them would feed them with water and straw, and pay them with the whip and chaff, as they do their laboring oxen and horses, if they were not ashamed before men. They would not be ashamed of such things before God of whom they know not. Oh, woe upon such heathenish tyranny and unmerciful cruelty! 

But let it not be so with you, dearly beloved... Be as solicitous for your servants as he (the centurion) was of his servant. Teach them, admonish them and reprove them with a fatherly spirit as often as they do wrong. Set them an unblamable example in all righteousness and piety. Sympathize with them in their severe and heavy labor. Comfort them in their poverty, comfort them, I say, and grieve them not. Give them decent support and their earned pay and do not dock them in their wages. Protect them in all honorable things; do not chide them without cause lest they become discouraged; do not discharge them before the agreed time but let them serve out without loss their time as agreed, lest the name of the Lord be blasphemed. Be friendly toward them at all times. And if any are weak and sick, assist and serve them. Get someone else to serve in their place without loss to them until the Lord takes them or restores them to health.

But if they are willful and obstinate and refuse to hear your word and command, if they do not follow your admonition and counsel, if they want to rule rather than serve, if they waste their time and labor in laziness, if they are unfaithful, rebellious and troublesome, wickedly corrupting your family and children, etc., then come to an agreement with them as to wages earned, before two or three witnesses, so that the fault may not be on your side, and the Word of the Lord be not disgraced. In this way let them move on, that your conscience be not troubled on their account and your house and children be not ruined. Yes, do to your poor servants even as you desire that it should be done to you, if you were called as they are.

--from The Complete Works of Menno Simons, pp. 364-366

Some Favorite Words From Menno Simons 1496-1561

source

I especially like the following quotes by Menno Simons, a contemporary of Martin Luther who became a prominent Anabaptist (free church) leader in the Netherlands and who died January 31, 1561: 

    "True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it returns good for evil, it seeks that which is lost, it binds up the wounded, it becomes all things to all people."

    "Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people."

    "We who were formerly no people at all, and who knew no peace, are now called to be a church of peace. True Christians do not know vengeance... Their hearts overflow with peace. Their mouths speak peace, and they walk in the way of peace."

    "The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value."

    "Therefore, my precious brothers and sisters in the Lord, take the crucified Christ as your example, and the apostles and prophets of God. They were so endowed and trained by God that they knew nothing, sought nothing, loved and desired nothing but the eternal treasure--God--and eternal life." 

                - from the Complete Works of Menno Simons

"What cursed, wicked abomination and traffic!"

source

Dutch Anabaptist Leader Menno Simons (1496-1561) minced no words in his opposition to military violence.

In Menno's day, warfare mostly involved bloody hand-to-hand carnage carried out with lance and spear, in which men clubbed, stabbed and lacerated one another to death in unimaginably horrific ways. With the later invention of gunpowder and ever more efficient and brutal means of killing, now including drone strikes, engaging in war would be even more unthinkable for a follower of Jesus like Simons.

Here are some quotes from The Complete Writings of Menno Simons:

Captains, knights, foot soldiers, and similar bloody men risk body and soul for the sake of gain, and swear with uplifted fingers that they are ready to destroy cities and countries, to take citizens and inhabitants, to kill them and take their possessions, although these have never harmed them nor given them so much as an evil word.

Since we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, how can we then fight our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords of iron we leave to those who, alas, consider human blood and swine's blood of well-nigh equal value.

O God, what cursed, wicked abomination and traffic! And they call that protecting the country and the people, and assisting in justice!

Our Troubling Mennonite Inferiority Complex

This 1100 page volume represents an amazing
legacy of faithfulness under severe persecution.

"Many American Christians simply assume that the state has no business dictating church beliefs or practices, that a church should be a gathered body of believers rather than a net that that scoops up everyone within the area of a parish, and that baptism is a step of obedience upon profession of faith. What most do not know is that Mennonites were the first (surviving) group of Christians to insist on these things, and that they died by the thousands for doing so."

- You May Be More Mennonite Than You Think (Christian History & Biography, Fall, 2004)

I'm all for practicing the kind of "demuth" (DEH-moot, the German word for humility) most of us Amish and Mennonites have had drilled into us from birth, but it saddens me to see more and more of my fellow Anabaptists becoming apologetic about their identity. Many congregations are dropping the Mennonite label from their church name, or are leaving the denomination in favor of becoming a part other more generic or widely accepted brands of Christianity.

I understand that, and Menno Simons himself, an early leader (though not a founder), of the movement would have never chosen to have this or amy group named after him. The Doopsgezinde (baptism-minded) faith communities in Holland and Friesland, where Menno had considerable influence, simply became nicknamed Mennonists because of his prominence, and the name was eventually adopted by the Swiss Brethren and others who represented the third wing of the Reformation, "free churches" that were under the rule of neither Protestant nor Catholic controlled jurisdictions. 

Perhaps their most priceless legacy, one we now take for granted, is their belief in freedom of religion. Anabaptists (re-baptizers, or adult baptizers) stood for the right of every person to make a personal choice as to how, or whether, to define and to live out his or her faith, independent of the dictates of the state. In sixteenth century Europe, infant baptism was not only a seal of ones membership into the state run church of one's birthplace, but it was the official registration necessary for having full rights as a citizen.

A second legacy, and one that hasn't yet caught on like the first (though in God's plan it eventually will), is that of a people who take Jesus's way of non-violence seriously, even to the point of refusing to fight in the wars of whatever nation in which they live. Unfortunately, not all Mennonites around the world have always been consistent with this, but at the heart of their movement is the conviction that Jesus came to usher in a rule (kingdom) of radical cross-bearing love for all, even our enemies. Never in history has this conviction been so needed as today, and Jesus and all of the prophets see this as the forever future of all God's people of faith and good will.

A third legacy is the conviction that believers are to be a part of simple, self-governed communities of faith that don't need elaborate buildings, professional clergy or complex liturgies, but that the church is wherever people gather together to support and care for one another and nurture each other in their faith. Again, this may no longer represent all Mennonite-related groups, but at their core is a commitment to a daily life of service to others that reflects the spirit, not merely of Menno, but of Jesus himself, whose radical life and teachings are seen as needing to be taken seriously.

Add to all of this the legacy of a rich history of martyr stories chronicled in the Martyr's Mirror. Here are over a thousand pages of heroic tales of men and women of unimaginable courage and conviction who were tortured and cruelly killed for their faith at the hands of both Protestant and Catholic state church persecutors. And there is the Ausbund, the oldest Christian hymnal continual use, still cherished by many Old Order Amish groups today, that contain many accounts of these martyrs.

Then there is largely overlooked 1000-page Complete Writings of Menno Simons, which represents inspirational teaching on a Christ-centered faith that was, and still is, well ahead of its time, and is free of some of the anti-semitism and calls for violence against people of differing beliefs that was characteristic of the writings of many of his fellow Protestant reformers.

With all due Mennonite humility, one could also cite the contributions to mental health reform brought about in part by conscientious objectors during World War II who served in terrible state run psychiatric institutions, and who helped establish ten different mental hospitals and treatment centers in the United States in the second half of the last century. And Mennonite Central Committee, a worldwide relief and service agency, has had a worldwide impact disproportionate to the size of its supporting constituency, and its PAX program (volunteers serving abroad) became a model for President Kennedy's Peace Corps.

One could also mention the good work of Mennonite Disaster Service, and the promotion of worldwide Restorative Justice programs, spearheaded by people like Howard Zehr and kept alive by EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. Then there is the invaluable witness of Christian Aid Ministries, a relief and service ministry of more conservative Anabaptists that now rivals Mennonite Central Committee in its worldwide outreach and in the size of its annual budget. And we can't overlook the quiet but compelling witness of the Amish, one of the fastest growing group of Christian believers in the US, and its powerful testimony of peace and grace demonstrated in the Nickel Mines School shooting in 2006.

In the area of world missions, Mennonite church plants in Africa and in the Far East have grown exponentially, with far more Mennonites in other parts of the world than here in North America.

Should any of this result in a spirit of pride on the part of this small part of God's worldwide church family?

Of course not, but let's get over our unhealthy inferiority complex. And maybe thank God for whatever kingdom impact God has made through a minority family of faith that has a history of some bold ideas that are ahead of their time.

Let's Stop Killing People For Killing People (Or For Any Other Reason)

If we were truly a Christian nation, we would be asking questions like "For whom would the crucified Jesus seek the death penalty?"
(Wikipedia map)

President-elect Donald Trump recently addressed one of his Christmas post to the "Radical Left Lunatics who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the  United States but in particular, their Political Opponent, ME." 

In the post he falsely claims that "Sleepy Joe Biden" pardoned death row prisoners (Biden did commute the sentences of 37 convicted murderers to "life without the possibility of parole" but did not in fact pardon them).

Trump goes on to say, "I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky 'souls' but instead will say, GO TO H___!"

I'm not sure Trump, while continuing to promote his $59.99 Bibles, actually claims to be a Christian, but I can't help comparing his words to those of 16th century reformer Menno Simons, who wrote the following to the professed Christian rulers of his day: 

"It would hardly become a true Christian ruler to shed blood, for this reason: If the transgressor should truly repent before God and be reborn of him, he would then also be a chosen saint and child of God, a fellow partaker of God's grace, a spiritual member of Christ's body... (F)or such an one to be hanged from the gallows, put on the wheel, placed on the stake, or in any manner be hurt in body or goods by another Christian...would look somewhat strange and unbecoming in light of the compassionate, merciful, kind nurture, disposition, spirit and example of Christ... which example he has commanded all his chosen children to follow. Again, if he remain impenitent, and his life be taken, one would unmercifully rob him of the time of repentance of which, if his life were spared, he might yet avail himself."    

                                - The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, pp. 920-21

Thousands of 16th and 17th century "free church" believers (nicknamed Anabaptists, meaning re-baptizers), of whom Simons was a respected leader, were victims of capital punishment. Many of their stories, of being drowned, burned at the stake, beheaded and otherwise tortured and condemned to death by both Catholic and Protestant state church authorities, are recorded in the over 1150-page "Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians." Their primary crimes were to insist on the right and responsibility of everyone to make a personal choice to align themselves with a community of faith of their choice and to avoid the use of violence to impose their will on others by force or by military means.

Since that time, both the Roman Catholic church and most mainline Christian denominations have officially opposed the death penalty. Many of today's evangelical and fundamentalist churches, however, strongly defend the practice.

Mennonites and Amish—Ten Myths and Misbeliefs

1. Aren't Mennonites just a more progressive group of Amish?  No, “Anabaptists,” not Amish, are the ancestors of today’s Mennonites. Anabaptists emerged in western Europe in 1525, nearly 150 years before Jacob Amman and his Amish branch of the movement. Anabaptists advocated a “free church” based on voluntary baptism and church membership. While supporting many of the reforms of Martin Luther in Germany and Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland, they promoted what was then the radical belief in complete freedom of religion, and were against requiring membership in any established state church, either Protestant or Catholic. They saw mandatory infant baptism, which in those days registered children as both members of the church and citizens of the state, as violating the freedom of individuals to choose faith for themselves.

2. Does the term “Anabaptist” mean “anti-baptist”? No, Anabaptist was the nickname given to all “free church” dissenters, and means “re-baptizer.”  Early Mennonites tended to reject the term, as it identified them with a despised and diverse movement which included a small minority that did advocate violent revolution.

3. Was the name “Mennonite” chosen to honor Menno Simons as its founder?  No, the peaceful Anabaptists preferred simply being called “Brethren” (well before  the beginning of the “Church of the Brethren,” founded in 1704). Mennonite” was first a nickname but one that eventually gained acceptance some years after ex-Catholic priest Menno Simons of Friesland joined the movement in 1535, ten years after it had begun in Switzerland. So Menno was not its “founder,” but the group became identified with him as one of its most influential and long-lived leaders.

4. Have Mennonites always been quiet and withdrawn? Anabaptists were at first very outspoken in their attempts to bring about more radical reform in the church, but after being rejected and severely persecuted over the first 150 years of their existence (by Protestant as well as Roman Catholic authorities) later generations did become known as “the quiet in the land.” The deaths and suffering of thousands of early free church proponents led many Mennonites and Amish to seek asylum in the new world.

5. Why have the “plain” Mennonites and Amish maintained such a distinctive culture? While they have always stressed living simply and modestly, early members of the movement dressed no differently from any other 16th and 17th century European peasants. What makes their way of life distinctive today is how and to what extent they have successfully preserved and adapted certain existing patterns of attire from their European past.

6. Could Old Order and conservative Mennonites and Amish be considered cults? No, in that their confessions of faith are very much in line with traditional Christian creeds. Where they differ is in how they apply their faith to everyday life. For example, most of them (plain and otherwise) have maintained their nearly 500-year conviction that Christian should not take part in harming or killing others, even in war, and that the church should use no stronger form of coercion or discipline than excommunication. They have also traditionally been committed to living a simple, self-disciplined life, attempting to follow the example and teachings of Christ and his early followers. Thus they resemble monastic communities more than cults, and some early Anabaptists were in fact influenced by monasticism. Unfortunately, groups that are serious about not being “conformed to the world” are also often prone to dissent and division within their ranks, hence the unfortunate number of divisions.

7. Doesn’t it take dictator-style leaders to keep members of more conservative (“plain”) Amish and Mennonites in line? Contra-cultural patterns of appearance and behavior are preserved primarily by the influence of strong, nurturing families and through close ties to caring faith communities. Amish and “plain” Mennonites actually have less hierarchical forms of church government than do most denominations, and their ministers are typically unpaid persons chosen by “lot” from their own congregations.

8. Don’t most young people in more conservative churches grow up wanting to rebel and leave their faith? Some do, of course, but larger numbers are staying than ever, resulting in “plain” churches being among the fastest growing Mennonite groups in the US, soon to outnumber their more progressive Mennonite cousins.

9. Are most Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley members of the more conservative groups? No. While Old Order Mennonites are the fastest growing and most visible group, their total numbers in this area are under 1500, while there are some 4000 Valley members of the more “liberal” Virginia Mennonite Conference, a part of the Mennonite Church USA (as is Eastern Mennonite University).

10. Are most of the world’s Mennonites found in North America and Europe? No longer. As a result of mission efforts by more progressive evangelical Mennonite groups, there are now far more Mennonites in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia than in the US and Canada. This is not true of Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites, however, since they do not actively evangelize or proselytize others, but they will accept outsiders as members if they are willing to commit to their way of life.
                                      

Can We Revive Augsburger's Mennonite Dream?

Menno Simons' most quoted text was "Other foundation can
no one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

In the 1970's David Augsburger, as speaker on the Mennonite Hour, wrote a widely acclaimed piece called “The Mennonite Dream,” as follows:

From the beginning in 1525 through the present, Mennonites have pursued a dream,

• That it is reasonable to follow Jesus Christ daily, radically, totally in life.

• That it is practical to obey the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and the whole New Testament, literally, honestly, sacrificially.

• That it is thinkable to practice the way of reconciling love in human conflicts and warfare, nondefensively and nonresistantly.

• That it is possible to confess Jesus as Lord above all nationalism, racism or materialism.

• That it is feasible to build a communal church of brothers and sisters who are voluntarily, disciplined, and mutually committed to each other in Christ.

• That life can be lived simply, following the Jesus way in lifestyle, in possessions, in service.

Sixteenth-century Anabaptists, forebears of today's Mennonite, were not all of exactly the same mind, but generally embodied the above as what it meant to be followers of Jesus. True communities of faith were not simply to affirm certain correct beliefs but were to actually apply the teachings of Jesus to their daily lives. 

Most of today's heirs of that legacy profess the same vision, but I wonder whether our "dream" even remotely resembles those of our spiritual ancestors.

I must ask myself, "Am I moving toward, or ever further away from, the Jesus who is all about good news for the poor, release for the captives, and relief for the oppressed? Or am I/are we becoming ever more a people of wealth and privilege who see ourselves as benefactors who do lots of good but who remain entitled to all the comforts and conveniences of well-to-do North Americans?"

Adam M. L. Tice wrote the lyrics to the following award winning hymn, “The Church of Christ Cannot Be Bound” based on Menno Simons’ well-known quotation: “True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute and serves those who harm it. It binds up that which is wounded.”

It is hymn #392 in the new Mennonite hymnal Voices Together:

The Church of Christ cannot be bound
by walls of wood or stone.
Where charity and love are found,
there can the church be known.

True faith will open up the door
and step into the street.
True service will seek out the poor
and ask to wash their feet.

True love will not sit idly by
when justice is denied.
True mercy hears the homeless cry
and welcomes them inside.

If what we have, we freely share
to meet our neighbor’s need,
then we extend the Spirit’s care
through ev’ry selfless deed.

The church of Christ cannot be bound
by walls of wood or stone.
Where charity and love are found,
there can the church be known.

“The Church of Christ Cannot Be Bound”

Text by Adam M. L. Tice, © 2005 GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduced by permission of GIA Publications, Inc. Any further reproduction requires permission from the publisher. For congregational reprint licensing, contact ONE LICENSE: http://www.onelicense.net

Here's an interesting postscript from Elwood Yoder's recent history of the Trissels Mennonite Church, where Augsburger served as pastor for much of the time he was the speaker on the Mennonite Hour:

"Twenty years after he left Trissels, while in an office at the Claremont School of Theology, from where Dr. David Augsburger earned his Phd, a stranger heard David's voice and asked if he was "David Augsburger." The man remembered Augsburger's voice from a radio broadcast twenty years earlier. While traveling across Oregon by car with his parents, the family had the radio on and happened to be listening to Augsburger's "Mennonite Dream" program. That night, in that car, the man told David Augsburger, "I became a Mennonite."

German Mennonites Supported The Third Reich's Vision Of "Deutschland über alles"

source

According to numerous sources (see links below) the majority of Mennonites in pre-WWII Germany became caught up in the nationalistic fervor whipped up by Hitler's Nazi Party, as expressed in the slogan "Germany Above All". 

As one example, the following telegram was sent by a group of Mennonites to der Führer on September 10, 1933:

To Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Berlin:

     The Conference of East and West Prussian Mennonites, assembled today in Tiegenhagen, Free State of Danzig, feels deep gratitude for the powerful revival that God has given our nation through your energy, and promises joyful cooperation in the upbuilding of our Fatherland through the power of the Gospel, faithful to the motto of our forefathers: "No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ.”

Sixteenth-century church leader Menno Simons, who attached the apostle Paul's "No other foundation" text to each of his writings, would have been aghast.

Undoubtedly Hitler, not much of a religious person himself but grateful for the support of a people he saw as even more purely Aryan than most other Germans (due to their having mostly married among themselves for some centuries), was gratified. At least he took the time to write the following response:

     For your loyalty and your readiness to cooperate in the upbuilding of the German nation, expressed in your letter to me, I express my sincere thanks. —Adolf Hitler

The fear and frenzy the Nazi party engendered, with dire warnings of a threat of communist infiltration and of Jews subverting German values and identity, took the nation by storm. According to historian Dean Taylor, in 1933 the United (Vereinigung) Mennonites stopped asking for special treatment as conscientious objectors from war, and in 1934 dropped the term “nonresistance” from its confession of faith.

The Mennonitisches Blätter, an official Mennonite paper, actively encouraged members to take up military service, and in its May, 1939, issue the editor wrote a glowing tribute to Adolph Hitler on his 50th birthday, according to a March, 2004, article in the Mennonite Life.

As a result of this shift in beliefs and practice, thousands of Mennonites supported the Blitzkrieg and joined the fight against the Allied forces in World War II. Some even took part in the brutalities inflicted in Nazi death camps, though many claimed to be ignorant of all of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. In any case, we have no record of Mennonites speaking out in protest against the Nazi regime.

As a member of a church committed to non-violence even in war time, I have often been asked what I would have done had I been of draft age in the '30's and '40's.

Had I been a German citizen during that time, I hope I would done everything possible to rally people against Hitler's coming to power, and thus have helped prevent the tragedy of the Holocaust and of the deaths of some 50 million people as a result of World War II.

And I may have even quoted Menno Simons himself in doing so, as follows:

...Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people.

...The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value.

*******************************************

http://www.ephrataministries.org/remnant-2012-11-mennonite-nazis.a5w 
Dean Taylor, "Mennonite Nazis: a Lesson From History"

https://themennonite.org/daily-news/scholars-address-nazi-influence-on-mennonites/    

Tim Huber, of Mennonite World Review, for Meetinghouse, describing a workshop entitled, “From Aryanism to Multiculturalism: Mennonite Ethnicity and German Nationalism, 1871 to Today”, presented at Mennonite World Conference, 2015.

https://ml.bethelks.edu/issue/vol-66/article/peace-or-persecution-mennonite-involvement-in-the-holocaust/     Allysa Schrag  Mennonite Life, Summer 2012

Celebrating "John The Anabaptist" For Advent

This is John as portrayed in the Jesus of Nazareth movie.

It is written by Isaiah the prophet,

"I will send my messenger ahead of you, 

who will prepare your way, 

a voice of one calling in the desert, 

'Prepare the way for the Lord, 

make straight paths for him.'"

Mark 1:2-3

John the Baptist should be the ideal candidate for patron saint of Anabaptist minded groups everywhere, but I know of no Mennonite church or institution that is named after this forerunner of Jesus.

Consider the Baptist's story. While in his early 30's John, a member of the Jewish priestly class, left his religious establishment roots and advocated for radical reformation, calling on people to be baptized as a sign of their commitment to thorough repentance and a transformed way of life. He was imprisoned for his outspoken opposition to King Herod's immoral behavior and was executed by being beheaded while likely in his 30's. 

Note some striking similarities to an event that contributed to the launch of the Anabaptist movement. Three young men of about the Baptist's age baptized each other, then many others, as a sign of their passion for radical change. This January 21, 1525, meeting of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz and George Blaurock marked the beginning of thousands of nominal believers being baptized as adults as a sign of their commitment to more faithfully following Jesus. Like John, Grebel was imprisoned for his outspoken witness, though he escaped and died of the plague at age 28. Young Manz was likewise apprehended, sentenced to death as a heretic and was drowned for his faith. Blaurock, a former Roman Catholic priest turned evangelist, boldly baptized hundreds and was burned at the stake at 38 years of age.

John the Baptist lived a life of voluntary poverty and urged people with more than one tunic--and with more food than they needed--to share generously with those who were in want. Similarly, early Anabaptists advocated for a radical sharing of their possessions with each other and with others in the spirit of Jesus. The Hutterite branch of the movement took the early church's example of having all possessions in common literally, and Menno Simons is well known for teaching that "True evangelical faith... cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, It binds up that which is wounded..."

Early Anabaptists were also bold to address people in positions of power, not unlike the Baptist, who confronted the corrupt practices of tax collectors for the empire and spoke out against occupying Roman soldiers extorting money and property to augment their pay. In a similar vein Menno Simons wrote, "Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people."

So what if today's Anabaptists more intentionally followed the example of the first century Baptist? 

For example, John the Baptist style Mennonite schools and universities would be less inclined to provide the kinds of state of the art amenities and programs designed to compete with other evangelical schools and colleges, and become more like boot camps devoted to preparing young people for worldwide engagement. It would also have a strong focus on living compatibly with nature and on helping preserve the planet. 

Baptist-modeled congregations would forgo owning expensive real estate and focus on calling all members to give up any excess consumer wealth and would engage all baptized members in active ministries to the poor and oppressed.

John the Baptist inspired Mennonite retirement communities would place high priority on providing affordable care to everyone regardless of ability to pay. The well to do would make their assets available to help provide for those of lesser means, and there would be no differences in the kind of care or  accommodations offered based on levels of wealth. 

What do you think would Jesus be saying about paying more attention to the life and teaching of his radical cousin?

"Mennonites in the Valley" XIV

Every spring I look forward to leading another JMU sponsored Lifelong Learning class called "Mennonites in the Valley," an up close and personal look at one of the area's more diverse religious groups. This one, scheduled for the Spring B session starting March 14, will be my fourteenth.

In case you're interested, here's this year's course outline, with some details still subject to change:

I.  Some Course Goals
    A.  To become better acquainted with members of a diverse religious group in our area.
    B.  To understand some of the similarities and differences among Mennonite subgroups.
    C.  To un-learn some common myths and stereotypes about Mennonites.
    D.  To increase participants’ appreciation of their own faith history and traditions.

II.  Course Outline  (classes meet from 9-11 am, except  9-11:45 on 3/28 and 9-12:45 on 4/4)

    A.  3/14 Introduction/Overview (Park View Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, top floor)
        1.  Survey of Valley Mennonite roots and branches
        2.  Introductory slide show on Valley Mennonites

    B.  3/21 Virginia Conference Mennonites (at Eastern Mennonite High School, rear entrance)
        1. Meet in Choral room (Rm. 115, east end of new addition) at 9
        2.  EMHS Chamber Choir with Jay Hartzler 9:15-9:45 (Choral room)
        3. WVPT documentary on area Mennonites: “Silent Grace” 9:50-10:30
        4.  Menno Simons Historical Library with Lois Bowman (3rd floor, EMU Library)

    C.  3/28 Old Order Conference Mennonites (gather at Weavers Mennonite Church, west 33)
        1. Brief orientation at historic Weavers Mennonite
        2. Car pool to Mountain View Old Order School and/or the Burkholder Buggy Shop
            (up to eight persons may visit school during classses)
        3.  Pleasant View Old Order Church,11-11:30 am, meet with minister Lewis Martin

    D. 4/4  Southeastern Conference Mennonites (meet at the Bank Mennonite Church)
        1.  Historic Bank Church Cemetery
        2.  “Susanna Heatwole Brunk Ballad,” sung by great-granddaughter Ruth Stoltzfus Jost
        3.  Interview with Southeastern Conference minister Eldwin Campbell
        4.  Discussion of Augusta County’s Beachy Amish community (om which I grew up)
        5.  Home cooked noon meal (optional, at $20) with Old Order Mennonite Janet Shank

    E.  4/11  Crossroads Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, 711 Garbers Church Rd. ($4?)
        1.  Report of church visits and other enrichment activities, writing thank you notes
        2.  Question/answer period, review and final “exam”

III.  Suggested Enrichment Activities

    A.  Attend a Mennonite worship service or tune in to Park View’s service at WEMC 91.7 FM.

    B.  Visit Southeastern Mennonite Conference’s Berea Christian School (432-0007).        

    C.  Tour Christian Light Publication and book store (Mt. Clinton Pike and Chicago Avenue).

    D. Visit other Mennonite-related enterprises at Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market, Dayton         Farmers Market, Gift and Thrift Shop, Dry River Hay Auction (2nd, 4th and 5th Wed mornings         on Rushville Rd), Rocky Cedar Enterprises (2156 Country Store Lane), Shenandoah Valley         Produce Auction (Tue & Fri at 2839 Lumber Mill Rd), Riverside Plants (6377 W. Dry River Rd),     Onyx Hill Fruit & Plants (6918 Onyx Hill Rd), or Mistimorne Plants (723 Pike Church Rd).

    E.  Check out Mennonite Church USA website <www.thirdway.com>.

    F.  Visit EMU’s Menno Simons Historical Library and/or Campus Book Store.

    G.  Attend Harmonia Sacra Easter Hymn Sing at Harrisonburg Mennonite at 7 pm April 3.

The Whole Armor For The Whole Army

We battle against dark systems and powers that 
threaten us all.

I used to think of the Ephesians 6 metaphor of our putting on "the whole armor of God" as being about individual believers battling against the personal temptations and demons they/we each face every day.

Then I noticed that the Greek pronouns used in the text are all plural, applying to the entire community of faith to which this pastoral letter is addressed. 

This led me to read the text in a different way, as a set of instructions a general might give to troops on the eve of battle. Except our enemies, of course, are not the human beings arrayed against us, but the dark and powerful isms, ideologies and influences that influence and motivate people to perpetuate evil systems that help maintain their power.

Here is where we are called upon to use the non-violent spiritual weapons of prayer, proclamation  and persuasion to bring light to darkness and injustice and hope to the suffering and oppressed.

In the words of Menno Simons:

"O dear Lord, how many principalities, cities and countries have they (our persecutors) destroyed to the ground? How many fires have they set? How many hundred thousands have they dispatched? How have they robbed, skinned and plucked of his goods the poor peasant who would have gladly kept the peace, and was entirely innocent of the contentions of the princes? What beastly, inhuman, hellish tyranny did they commit and continue to commit?

"I am well aware that those tyrants who boast themselves to be Christians justify and make good their abominable warring, their sedition and bloodshed, with a reference to Moses, Joshua, etc. But they do not reflect that Moses and his successors have served their day with their swords of iron, and that Christ has now given us a new commandment and has girded us with another sword (I am not speaking of the sword of justice, for that is a different matter, but I speak of war and sedition).

"For we have, by the grace of God that has appeared to us, beaten our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks, and we shall sit under the true vine, that is, Christ, under the Prince of Eternal Peace, and will never more study outward conflict and the war of blood...  We use no other sword than that which Christ himself brought to earth from heaven, and which the apostles plied with the power of the Spirit; namely the one that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord... With this sword and with no other do we desire to destroy the kingdom of the devil, to reprove all wickedness, to plant all righteousness..."

- from The Complete Works of Menno Simons (Herald Press), p. 603-4

***************************************

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

- Ephesians 6:12-17 (NIV)

DNR Open Forum: A Write-in For Lady Justice?

A statue of Lady Justice towers high above
our local court house.

“Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office… to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; todo justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor… to the benefit of the common people.”  

 - Menno Simons

These words from a 16th century reformer are relevant today as we consider how to best use our influence for the common good. Voting as we know it was not an option then, but Simons made numerous appeals to those in positions of power.

Such appeals may have more impact than merely casting a ballot, especially when some of the more important posts in our local fall election—that of the sheriff and the commonwealth’s attorney—are uncontested. This makes me wish that in such cases one could assign a rating expressing one’s degree of approval of a candidate’s performance. 

In the case of Sheriff Hutcheson and Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst, one might choose a positive rating of, say, 85%, given their dedication, integrity and hard work on behalf of our community. 

Under the sheriff’s watch we’ve gained a full time mental health worker and a half time chaplain at the jail, a special pod for people with mental illnesses, and a pilot plan for giving inmates access to electronic tablets to use for educational purposes. On the other hand, I would love to see him do away with the arbitrary keep fee charged to inmate families and to consider offering drug rehab pods as numerous other jails have done.

As a result of Garst’s efforts, we have been blessed with having successful Drug Court and Day Reporting programs as alternatives to incarceration, with having her advocate for more available housing for ex-offenders, and with her speaking in favor of a “greenhouse mentality over a warehouse mentality” when dealing with offenders.

On the other hand, I would love to see her assess the legality of jail keep fees in light of the Virginia Constitution’s separation of powers provision and the U.S. Constitution’s “excessive fines” clause (as in exceeding what a duly authorized court has determined to be an appropriate punishment), as well as advocating for increased support of restorative justice and diversion programs to help reduce rising incarceration numbers. Also to increase the number of non-violent offenders eligible for bail while awaiting trial.

I recently sent some 100 emails to friends and acquaintances asking how (or whether) they plan to cast their ballot in the case of uncontested seats. Some plan to vote for whoever is the candidate, others plan to leave a blank in such cases, others will write in a name or a comment.

Which makes me wish we could simply give an approval rating. 

Meanwhile, with all due respect, I may simply choose Lady Justice, the symbol that towers high above our local court house.

Here's a link to comments I got from my recent informal survey on votinghttps://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2019/10/results-of-informal-survey-on-how-or.html

Results Of An Informal Survey On How (Or Whether) Some Local Folks Will Vote This Fall

As a matter of conviction I have always avoided partisan politics. I see myself as a worldwide Kingdom-of-God-minded independent, with a duty to appeal for justice everywhere in the spirit of 16th century reformer and spiritual ancestor Menno Simons, who wrote:

“Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office… to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor… to the benefit of the common people.”

Meanwhile, I’ve struggled with the question of whether to use the pebble’s worth of influence that represents a vote (an option Simons didn't have) in cases where it might help move the needle in a slightly more just-ward direction. 

So recently I sent an email to people on my address list (a random mix of local citizens concerned about criminal justice issues) as follows: 

In light of having two important local seats being uncontested, that of sheriff and the commonwealth’s attorney, what are your plans for November 5? 

___ 1. I choose NOT to vote. Here's why:

___ 2. I choose to cast a vote for each office, even if a race is uncontested (such as for the sheriff and the commonwealth's attorney). Here's why:

___ 3. For uncontested races, I may leave that option blank. Here's why:

___ 4. I will write in a name or comment if I am not in support of a candidate listed, Here's why:

Only one person checked the first option, but the response I got I found very thoughtful and helpful, as follows:

I have not voted in an election since 1988 when I realized that voting for someone who could either send troops into battle to harm or kill another person, or that they could vote to fund such an exercise would be be counter to what I believe. That is true on both the national and state level.

I do not vote for local officials because they are on the ballot with persons who I described above which could cloud my witness as to why I do not vote. So I chose not to vote at all.

Two other reasons I do not vote. First, I have yet to find any candidate worthy of my vote. For example, they are usually either pro death penalty, or pro abortion, which goes against my belief that Christians should have a consistent pro life commitment, womb to tomb. I do not believe Jesus taught us to choose the lessor of two evils. But rather as Christians we are to think on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.” Unfortunately politics are not any of these today nor have they been in the past.

Second, and a more recent understanding is that I choose not to get involved with elections because of the divide that it causes  between good people, between friends and family members. We tend to think it is bad now, but it has been that way almost since the beginning of the republic. So I choose to pray for our leaders no matter the party, no matter the office instead of public pronouncements either for or against a candidate.

I also believe that we (Mennonites) have lost some of our witness when we lost the “quiet in the land” preferences of previous generations. Yes we have spoken to governments throughout our existence, but have done so in quiet and respectful ways (I.e. CO status between the wars). In some ways we have become an echo church, one that echoes the culture around us.

Finally, I see voting as different than paying taxes, some of which go for military spending (which is one of the several liberties that the government has as outlined in the constitution, as opposed to the negative liberties outlined). I am  required (coerced) by the government to pay my taxes, but I am not required to vote. So I pay my taxes as I believe the Bible teaches,  but I withhold my vote, because I am not required (coerced) to do so.

One person explicitly supported voting in general, hence chose option #2: I choose to cast a vote for each office, even if a race is uncontested:

• I plan to vote. It is a privilege. I feel if you don't vote you have no right to complain.

Several  people checked #3: For uncontested races, I may leave that option blank. Here's why:

• I will leave the form blank if the candidate is uncontested and I don't think well of him/her holding the office. (Occasionally I've done a write-in as a protest, though.) If the person is uncontested but I more-or-less approve of them, I'll check their name.

• For uncontested races, I may leave that option blank. If it is a candidate whom I do not support, I haven't perceived that any opportunity to express my preference exists. I have assumed that all I can do is "vote with my feet" by leaving it blank.  Am I missing something?

• I will leave those blank, or write in Lady Justice!

• I 'check' #3. I’ve been thinking about what a reasonable person does about the unfortunate divisions in our politics…

• Our unopposed sheriff is cooperating with federal ICE authorities, but the feds are not following important asylum laws.  This creates fear in our community among many good people and harms community-law enforcement relations.

• I voted in absentia for the November election... for all the candidates I favored but not for the commonwealth’s attorney, where I left a blank… I substituted another name for the sheriff (to make an ironic joke).

• I choose option #3 because I don't want to support with a vote a person I do not support for the office.  I very much encourage all people I know to vote.

• I may leave the option blank because I don’t care about the statistics and what’s the point. I will write in a name if it’s an option although… I can’t imagine that would ever make a difference.

The rest of the respondents chose #4: I will write in a name or comment if I am not in support of a candidate listed, Here's why:

• I will vote for all contested races and some uncontested races. I will not vote for sheriff, however, because of his cooperation with ICE… I'll write someone in.

• I have felt that some of these current criminal justice officials have not been listening to the compassionate, engaged voices of our local citizens.  It's time to restore offenders to productive, contributing members of our society, not just to soak them in demeaning punishments.

• Our unopposed commonwealth's attorney needs to divert the many people with non-violent drug charges from jail before they even have a trial instead of denying bail bond.

• It’s a more specific form of protest vote, one that identifies the kind of person who I think should have run and hold that office.

• I'll do 4 if I don't approve of an uncontested candidate. But I must admit I often know nothing about candidates for some offices, in which case I usually leave it blank, i.e. leave it to others with more info to make the decision.

• If the sheriff and commonwealth’s attorney are uncontested, I will write a comment of objection.  Both seem to be guided by a willingness (if not a desire) to punish rather than to restore and to cooperate with federal agencies that hurt the most vulnerable people in society and all of us.