Mennonites search for alternatives to war-making

How have Anabaptists lived out the gospel in times of conflict? In our response to conflicts such as the one in Iraq, are we called to go in and bring the gospel and give a gift that lasts into eternity? Isn’t this even more important than sending buckets of soap, towels and toenail clippers? A panel of experts, including two professors, a pastor and a peace worker, addressed these questions and others at a discussion on war, peace and conflict at a Vancouver Mennonite church on Sunday afternoon, April 27.

“It depends on how you understand the gospel,” said Gay Lynn Voth, a professor at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, in response to the question from the group of 37 people. Voth said historically Anabaptists have responded to worldly problems in at least three ways: retreat to monasticism in the manner of Michael Sattler, active engagement with society and politics in the manner of Pilgrim Marpeck, and revolution in the manner of the Muensterites. At this time, we need to flex our “peacemaking muscles” and listen respectfully, she said.

Proclamation of the message is important; however, the presentation of the gospel fails if it is divorced from personal relationships with people, said Dan Unrau, pastor at Fraserview MB Church in Richmond, B.C. Others emphasized that being a compassionate presence in time of need is essential to relationships. “I find myself frozen. . . . I certainly don’t like George Bush’s answer,” said Unrau when asked how to stop Saddam Hussein. Jesus came to bring us an answer to conflict, a “third way”, he added. This comment led to an energetic discussion about the various possibilities of what a third way could look like.

Elsie Wiebe Klingler told stories and showed photographs of people in Iraq. She had visited the country a year earlier as one of a team of MCC workers sent to investigate the suffering under more than a decade of strict economic sanctions against Iraq. Wiebe Klingler is MCC B.C.’s coordinator of peace education, domestic violence and sexual abuse programs.

In a time for open discussion, one woman asked why people in the peace movement tend to “sanitize” Saddam Hussein and “villify” George W. Bush. Wiebe Klingler said too often the debate is oversimplified. Media has done a great job of teaching people to see the issue with only two options: pro-Hussein or pro-Bush. So when one questions the war on Iraq, there are often some very unhelpful assumptions operating about who is on which side. “The evil actions of Saddam Hussein do need to be accounted for and stopped,” she said, “and there we need to consider options other than waging war on an already devastated nation.”

John Dyck, a professor at Trinity Western University, considered the political interests Western nations have in Iraq and the Middle East. At 4,000 years old, Iraq’s civilization is among the oldest in the world. Will these nations, so young in comparison, be successful in erecting their Western models of democracy in that nation? “Some Iraqis are offended at the thought,” said Dyck.

Angela Neufeld, a member of MCC B.C.’s peace committee, led the group in a time of worship and prayer. As part of a closing blessing, several members of the group came forward with towels, toothpaste and other items to pack in relief kits and send to Iraq. MCC has a goal of sending 16,000 kits to Iraq, in addition to other aid efforts.

—A joint release of Mennonite Central Committee B.C., Columbia Bible College and Fraserview MB Church