Pacifism needs updating
by Lisa Schirch, Harrisonburg, Va.
Melissa Florer-Bixler’s response to my article on pacifism misrepresents my work and writing (Letters, March). I do not think the church and state worked in a complementary way, nor do I subscribe to Calvinist beliefs.
The point of my article (“Confessions of a Modern-Day Pacifist,” February) was to encourage Mennonites to be more pacifist, not less. We should question and critique government and military policies and practices. But we should also point the fingers at our own lifestyles and in our own practices of calling armed police.
Pacifism needs updating because Mennonites living in North America do not face the same type of repression that they did in earlier empires. Many Mennonites pay taxes, use public services and call the police but then want to offer a purist critique from afar, without meeting government and military staff in person to share our different point of view. We can only be consistent in our pacifism if we look both at our own behaviors and lifestyles as well as those of the government.
As to Florer-Bixler’s critique that I am not Anabaptist: I have lived in Mennonite communities and attended and worked for Mennonite institutions my entire life. I believe my life and work fully attest to the Anabaptist identity I embrace.
Associated Issue: On a different track - February 2011
Associated Article: Confessions of a modern day pacifist
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