And No One Shall Make Them
Afraid
Jesus came that we might
have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
However, violence, the threat of violence, and the fear of violence
permeate life in North America, often robbing us of this abundant life. Violence is also pervasive in our
world. Perpetrated by individuals,
groups, social systems, and governments, it leaves countless victims around the
globe.
As Mennonites in Canada, the
United States, and Puerto Rico, we have been affected by this violence. While we affirm a commitment to peace and
nonviolence, we have frequently tolerated and even benefited from some forms of
violence. We have wrongly accepted, at
least in part, what theologian Walter Wink has called the “myth of redemptive
violence,” the belief that good ends can come from violent means, and that some
violence is necessary to solve problems, to ensure security, and to make peace.
The scope of this statement,
while broad in some respects, is limited in several ways. The terms violent and violence
refer only to violence perpetrated by human beings, human institutions, and
human social structures, which harms human beings. The statement makes no attempt to address acts of God or human
violence that harms animals or other parts of God’s creation. While these are important issues, they are
beyond the scope of this statement.
For the purpose of this
statement, violence is defined as the human exercise of physical, emotional,
social, or technological power which results in injury or harm to oneself or
others. The perpetrators of
violence often exploit an imbalance of power to dominate, control, or use
others. The various kinds of violence
form a continuum. At one end are acts
of physical violence, rape, incest, and sexual abuse, which result in serous
psychological damage, severe bodily injury, and/or death. At the other end are acts of intimidation,
threats, and emotional and verbal abuse, which result in fear and the
destruction of personhood.
Any form of human violence, wherever it might appear
on the continuum, is an expression of evil.
Violence was present in the first human family. Since then, the spirits of revenge, greed,
and domination, along with unresolved anger, have multiplied violence many
times. Violence alienates us from God
and from each other, and the fear of violence is a prison in which our very
souls shrivel.
All violence is fundamentally incompatible with the
reign of Jesus Christ in God’s kingdom of love. Therefore, as followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we
must directly confront the reality of violence in and around us. Jesus calls us not to resist evil with
violence and to forgive rather than to seek revenge. We want to find ways to reject all forms of violence in our
relationships and endeavors, and to increase our efforts to live out the
nonviolent way of Jesus.
This statement seeks to name the violence in
ourselves, our church, and our society.
It identifies way sin which the church is responding to this violence
and suggests additional ways for us to respond as peacemakers and children of
God.
One of the most basic issues of the Bible is how one deals with evil, and with violence in particular. In Spite of some Old Testament Scriptures where certain kinds of violence were used, the basic direction of both the Old and New Testaments is toward peacemaking, which includes nonretaliation, reconciliation, and mutuality.
God’s intention for a peaceful world
has been present since creation.
Genesis 1 describes the creation of humankind, male and female, in God’s
own image. Both the woman and the man
were blessed and given the command to fill the earth and subdue it. Both were given dominion over the rest of
creation, but neither was given dominion over the other. This peaceful creation was marred by
sin. The rule of man over woman is one
of the consequences of sin (Gen. 3:16).
This pattern of domination continues with Cain’s murder of his brother
Abel and with Lamech’s song of revenge (Gen. 4). Then “the earth was filled with violence.” This is one of the reasons given for the
great flood in the time of Noah (Gen. 6:11).
One of the purposes of the Law
(Torah) was to restrain violence and to provide penalties for violent behavior
(including murder, rape, assault, and theft) within Israelite society. In the Prophets and Writings, violence is
associated with man kinds of sin, including human bloodshed (Hab 2:8),
kidnapping (Hab. 1:9), injustice and unrighteousness (Isa. 59:6), planning evil
things and stirring up wars (Ps. 140:1-2), wars of ruler against ruler (Jer.
51:46), eviction of people from their land (Ezek. 45:9), and robbery (Amos
3:10). For Isaiah, violence is the
opposite of peace, justice, salvation, and the praise of God (Isa. 59:6-8;
60:17-18). According to the Old
Testament, the source of violence is not only the human heart, but the “gods,”
the spiritual powers that act contrary to the ways of the true God (Ps.
58:1-2).
War, as an act of mass violence
of one nation against another although sometimes sanctioned in the Old
Testament, is restricted by God to old-fashioned weaponry (Isa. 31:1), to small
armies (Judg. 7), and to dependence on God for victory (Judg. 7:2; Ps. 20:6-7). The books of the Law, as well as the later
Prophets, hold up as the ideal battle the crossing of the sea in the Exodus,
when God fought for Israel, and Israel had no weapons (Exod. 14:13-14).
The Psalms, as well as other
passages, expect that God will save people not only from the sins they commit,
but also from violence committed against them (2 Sam. 22:3; Ps. 18:48;
140:1). One of the ways that God will
take care of the violent and the wicked is to let their own violence turn back
upon themselves (Ps. 7:16; 37:12-15; Prov. 21:7). God also brings salvation through surprising acts of deliverance:
making a way through the Red Sea, or routing the enemy with floods and swarms
of hornets (Exod. 14-15; Judg. 5:21; Josh. 24:12).
The Prophets look forward to the
day when violence will be no more, when even the wolf, lion, and lamb will be
at peace with one another (Isa. 65:25).
In the age to come, people will trust in God alone and “no one shall
make them afraid” (Zeph. 3:12-13).
In the New Testament, Jesus
suffers violence, but does not commit violence. Although Jesus at times chose to avoid suffering (Luke 4:28-30),
he accepted suffering when his hour had come.
Jesus told his followers not to use violence to prevent him from being
arrested (Matt. 26:52; John 18:36), thus rejecting the use of violence for
self-defense. He suffered crucifixion,
but god overcame the violence by raising Jesus from the dead.
Jesus taught his disciples not
only to avoid committing violence, but actively to love their enemies (Matt. 5:43ff.);
not only to avoid murder or insult, but to be reconciled with the brother or
sister (Matt. 5:21ff.); not only to avoid adultery or rape, but to refrain from
looking on each other with lust (Matt. 5:27ff.). Instead, Jesus’ followers are to respond to enemies with
surprising acts of mercy and nonviolence – going the second mile, for example
(Matt. 5:38-42).
As Jesus had forewarned them,
the early disciples experienced persecution, imprisonment, banishment, beating,
and execution. The apostle Paul was an
intended victim of mob violence (Acts 21:35-36). Far from complaining about his imprisonment, Paul rejoiced no
matter what his situation and considered that he and others like him were
completing the sufferings of Christ, participating in Christ (Col. 1:24). Paul assumed that believers would no longer
participate in such sin as murder and strife (Rom. 1:29-31). The general prohibitions against violence
also appear in the qualifications for a bishop (1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7). The writings of the early church reinforce
Jesus’ teaching against retaliation and violence: “Do not repay evil for evil
or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing” (1 Pet. 3:9);
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God… Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19, 21). In the early centuries of the church, these
teachings applied not only to personal morality; they informed those Christians
who refused to participate in the army and its organized violence.
The examples of Jesus and the
early church can give us guidance in not intending violence against
others. Likewise, they show us how to
deal with others’ violence against us.
We believe the following about violence and suffering:
1. God’s
wrath sometimes allows sin to boomerang against the sinner, but God’s central
attribute is love. God may turn
suffering to our good or use it to teach us, but God does not desire that
anyone suffer. In Jesus’ healing
ministry, he worked actively to relieve suffering. The powers of violence are active in the world and, in this age,
sometimes thwart God’s will. Only in
the age to come, when Christ’s victory over the powers (by means of the “sword
of his mouth,” that is, the Word) is apparent to all, will violence be
completely overcome.
2. No
violence committed against us, or those we love, justifies our committing
violence in return. When we are sinned
against, we become more vulnerable to the temptation to sin in return. But violence does not overcome violence; it
only turns us also into violent people.
There is no way to peace and nonviolence, except through peaceful,
nonviolent means.
3. No
suffering, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
(Rom. 8:38-39; 2 Cor. 4:8-10). God, whose
own Son suffered and was killed, is with all those who suffer and call on God
for help and comfort. No violent act
committed against us can remove us from relationship with God. God’s invitation “Do not be afraid” echoes
through the Old and New Testaments. God
helps us overcome our fears when we put ourselves completely into the hands of
a loving God.
4. The
process of forgiveness is the way to get through suffering. Forgiveness, in contrast to reconciliation,
does not require the perpetrator’s repentance.
Instead, forgiveness is a process we go through in the power of the Holy
Spirit to release and to begin loving the offender or enemy rather than
harboring anger. Forgiveness is a
choice not to become what we hate.
5. When we
choose the way of loving enemies, rather than violence, we are becoming
transformed into the image of Christ, who is the image of God. Romans 5:10 affirms that the character of
God is one of love for us; even when we were God’s enemies, Christ died for
us. And Matthew 5:38-48 explains that
it is precisely when we are loving enemies that we are acting as God acts. Our love may also open the way for God to
transform enemies and situations of violence.
Thus, Christians are not to commit acts of violence
nor to respond violently to enemies. Beyond this, Christians are called to be
channels of God’s peace and to help reconcile others who are committing
violence against each other. Christ
calls us not only to be gentle or nonviolent, but to be peacemakers, active
workers for peace, inviting others to turn to Christ’s way of love (Matt. 5:5,
9).
We affirm, with the Confession of Faith in a
Mennonite Perspective, that “violence is not the will of God. We witness against all forms of violence,
including war among nations, hostility among races and classes, abuse of
children and women, violence between men and women, abortion, and capital
punishment.”[1]
Violence is pervasive in many areas of life. In the following sections, violence and the church’s response to it will be explored in five ever-widening circles of life experience, from individual to global. Each section includes calls for specific action. Even though no one person or congregation will be able to do all these things at one time, we must remember that silence and inaction can perpetuate violence. We call the church to consider prayerfully how it will respond.
A. Violence Against Oneself.
Jesus invites each person to enjoy wholeness. Resources to foster wholeness are available through the Holy
Spirit, the Scriptures, and the church.
However, instead of accepting this gift from God, we often commit
violence against ourselves.
Suicide and attempted suicide
are the ultimate violence against the self, but suicide leaves many other
victims – family,
friends, even whole congregations.
Understandings gained from our mental health ministries are leading us
into greater openness and helpfulness in these tragedies. As we practice compassionate care and
listening, we can displace secrecy, fear, and condemnation, and we can provide
safe places to grieve, talk, and struggle with difficult questions.
Another form of violence against
self is violence for “kicks” – reckless risk-taking to prove oneself, demand
respect, or achieve a high. Such
recklessness can be manifested in many ways.
An additional, more subtle form
of violence against self, abortion, not only ends the life of the unborn but
violates the woman who has chosen it, or who has had this decision forced upon
her. She will very likely feel she has
lost a part of herself and will need to grieve the irreversible decision she
has made. This can be a life-wrenching
experience for the woman, sometimes for the father of the unborn, and others
close to them.
There are numerous other forms
of violence against the self, including substance abuse, eating disorders, and
self-mutilation. Not all of these forms
can be addressed here.
Self-destructive patterns often
develop without any awareness of the harmful consequences to self and others. Such behaviors may result from individualism
and selfish choices, from fear or unresolved anger, or from other interacting
factors such as mental illness, trauma, major losses, or inadequate economic,
emotional, or spiritual support. Often
the self-destructive person has been the victim of another’s violence. Part of the enslaving nature of evil is the
cyclical pattern of violence in which victims become violators- becoming what
they hate, and sometimes hating themselves, too.
In response to violence against
oneself, we call the church to:
-
Counsel, nurture, and lead people away from behaving violently against
themselves.
-
Build each other up with affirmation, encouragement, and prayer.
-
Help people learn to process anger and rage in healthy ways
-
Become better informed about depression, its early symptoms, and
evaluation of suicide risk factors.
-
Encourage people to choose constructive, life-enhancing behavior rather
than self-destructive behavior and harmful addictions.
-
Respond with compassion to all those hurt by abortion, seeking to help
them in their journey of healing.
-
Be instruments of God’s grace for forgiveness and healing,
acknowledging that violence against the self, while contrary to the will of
God, is also within the range of God’s redemptive work.
-
Uphold the value of, and cherish, every human life.
B.
Violence in Close Relationships.
As
humans, we need close relationships. In
our families
and
friendships, we love and care for one another, nurture children, and experience
God’s love. Yet, in these close
relationships, many people experience intense personal violence.
Violence in close relationships
takes many forms. It can be physical,
sexual, verbal, or psychological. Most
commonly it is perpetrated by men against women and children. However, some women also use violence
against their partners and/or their children, some juveniles abuse their
parents, and some adults abuse elderly parents.
Research reveals that spousal
abuse occurs in more than one quarter of marriages in the United States and
Canada, and that almost all of the victims are women.[2] Research also reveals that the incidence of
family violence may be as high in Mennonite homes as in the general population.[3] We confess that, while we affirm a
commitment to peace and nonviolence, many of us have allowed violence in our
homes and in our churches.
Child abuse continues to be
widespread. Through abortion, many
children become victims before birth.
In Canada and the United States, abortion results in over one million
deaths each year.[4] Violence against children takes many forms,
including physical abuse, incest and other types of sexual abuse, psychological
and emotional abuse, threats and verbal abuse, and neglect and abandonment. Numerous studies show that rates of child abuse
are alarmingly high. Those who work
with survivors of childhood abuse testify that the same seems to be true in the
church.
We acknowledge that sometimes it
is necessary and appropriate physically to restrain children in order to
protect them or others and/or to discipline them. Such restraint should always use the least amount of physical
force possible and should be done to ensure safety, never to instill fear or to
harm the child.
Physical and sexual violence in
dating relationships among teens and young adults is also widespread. Statistics show that rape and attempted rape
are major problems in this age group.
Most of this sexual violence, as well as physical violence, is
perpetrated on dates or by persons known to the victim.
Sexual misconduct by pastors,
church leaders, and counselors also violates close, trusting
relationships. This form of violence is
present in the Mennonite church and may be more prevalent than we want to
admit.
At the heart of nearly all
violence in close relationships is the desire to control or use another
person. This violence exploits some
perceived or actual imbalance of power in the relationship, whereby the person
with more power seeks to dominate the person with less power. The attempt to control may begin with verbal
and emotional abuse such as put-downs and name calling. If these tactics do not work, some people
resort to physical or sexual violence.
As painful as this relationship may be, many are reluctant to leave an
abusive relationship because they fear economic consequences and other factors.
According to the video Broken
Vows,[5]
churches have been slow to respond helpfully to violence in close
relationships. Some victims of abuse
have not been listened to or believed by their congregations. Sometimes victims have not received the
support needed to leave an abusive situation and to seek healing. Sometimes victims have been blamed by
well-meaning church leaders and told to go back to the abuser and be more submissive. Some congregations are beginning to respond
more helpfully to victims. Yet, we have
a long way to go in responding to both victim and abuser.
We affirm the congregations and
church agencies that have begun to respond.
The Women’s Concerns Office of Mennonite Central Committee ahs provided
educational materials, workshops, and a support network for survivors of
abuse. Some area conferences have held
workshops or appointed special committees to respond to abuse. Two consultations for Mennonite leaders
called “Men Working To End Violence Against Women” helped participants begin to
better understand the dynamics of power and control in close relationships, and
called men to a new level of accountability and nonviolence.
Victims and perpetrators of
violence in close relationships are not just someone else, somewhere else. When any congregations meets for worship,
undoubtedly victims, survivors, and perpetrators of abuse are present. We need to start with honest self-reflection
and a careful review of our own relationships, so that healing and change can
begin with us and flow through us to a hurting world.
In response to violence in
close relationships, we call the church to:
-
Move beyond denial and disbelief, break the silence that surrounds
domestic and professional abuse, and proclaim that the gospel of peace and
nonviolence applies to close relationships.
-
Make the church a safe place for victims and survivors of abuse so that
they may speak up and receive care and healing.
-
Promote and support compassionate and realistic alternatives to
abortion.
-
Learn the special dynamics of power and control that are at work in
violence within close relationships
-
Recognize that the safety of the victim- whether adult or child- is the
first priority, and that providing safety often requires a period of
separation.
-
Recognize that individual counseling rather than counseling the couple
together is essential for the safety, transformation, and healing of the
domestic abuse victim.
-
Work redemptively in calling perpetrators to be accountable for their
actions, to stop their violent behavior, and to submit to God in their own
transformation and healing within the church.
-
Reexamine our understandings of church and home leadership in light of
Jesus’ teaching and example, and reject any patterns based on injustice.
-
Face more honestly the reality of male privilege in society, and find
ways to counter the violent and destructive aspects of our children’s
socialization.
-
Study carefully and teach creative, nonviolent ways to discipline our
children.
C.
Violence in Leisure. Violence
has long been part of leisure and entertainment, since the time
of
the first tragic dramas and publicly-staged fist fights. Modern society presents violence as
entertainment through a bewildering variety of media, including books,
magazines, comic books, movies, television, arcade games, video tapes,
electronic games, personal computer games, music lyrics, and the Internet.
Dinner parties feature murder
mysteries. Electronic games lead
players to rape, eviscerate, and decapitate the enemy. Action hero toys and war game theaters cater
to would-be warriors. Toys of violence
give children practice in the actions and attitudes of violence. Professional sports often glorify violence
and encourage winning at all costs.
News reports of violent acts
have increased, despite declining rates of violent crime in North America. It appears that some editors have decided,
“If it bleeds, it leads.”
Violent content in entertainment
has increased and become more explicit in the past decade. When violence is linked to sex in the
entertainment media, it contributes to sexual violence and distorted ideas
about sexuality and sexual pleasure.
Studies suggest that violence in the media teaches children and adults
to behave more violently, become desensitized to the harmful consequences of
violence, and become more fearful of being attacked.[6]
Popular culture also perpetuates
the myth that violence brings the victory of order over chaos, and that, if a
“bad guy” commits violence against others, an indestructible “good guy” must
use violence to vanquish such an irreformable “bad guy” and restore peace-
until the next installment.
Jesus taught people to love
their enemies, not exterminate them.
Just as we guard ourselves and our loved ones against other dangers so,
too, we must guard against the violence so prevalent in leisure today.
In response to violence in
leisure, we call the church to:
-
Advocate for and help create more choices in entertainment that are not
based on violence.
-
Model cooperation, acceptance of differences, and nonviolent ways of
resolving conflicts in our own lives.
-
Refrain from leisure activities that make a game of violence, or
minimize the harmful consequences of violence.
-
Speak out against the “violence for profit” ethic that drives many of
our leisure industries.
-
Screen our children’s toys, games, television viewing, and play for
violent content and intent.
-
Work to reduce violence in community and professional sports, and
refuse to participate in such violence ourselves.
-
Watch newscasts with our children and teach them to be sensitive to
other’s pain.
-
Raise awareness to the desensitizing effects of using violent
entertainment themes.
D.
Violence in Public Life. Violence in
public life is tightly woven into the social fabric of
North
American society. Canada and the United
States were established and much of their wealth obtained by the violent
oppression and genocide of native peoples, the oppressive violence of slavery,
and the exploitation of certain immigrant groups, women, and children for hard
labor.
We confess that we have
benefited from these atrocities. Much
of the land that brought wealth to Mennonite families and congregations was
available to our forebears because of this violence. Many of us, especially Mennonites of European background, have
benefited and continue to benefit from white privilege, and from the economic
and structural violence in society.
Racism and other forms of deeply entrenched institutional injustice do
violence to many in society, and continue to perpetuate and sanction the use of
violence by one person or group against others.
Individualism and deteriorating
family and social ties have been major factors in the recent growth of violence
in North American public life. Many
people no longer have the family and community connections that once served to
control public violence.
Fear of violent attacks has
grown. Many people, especially women,
are afraid to go out alone at night.
Public parks, streets, and parking facilities are perceived as dangerous,
particularly after dark. Even church
people are tempted to buy weapons for self-protection.
Weapons manufacturers advertise
fingerprint-resistant handguns. The
growth of gangs with ever more lethal weapons, illegal drug traffic, militia
groups, bombings, and drive-by shootings has led to a demand for larger police
forces, harsher penalties for crimes (including the death penalty), and more
prisons.
Structures, systems, and
institutions themselves are violent when they contribute to an atmosphere in
which economic classes and ethnic groups are pitted against one another, and in
which the antidote to violence is assumed to be more violence. High school youth are lured into expanded
military cadet training that promotes violence as a solution to problems.
Violence does not overcome
violence. As an alternative society
within the broader society, the church can proclaim and demonstrate a different
way. We can provide healing and hope by
what we practice within the church, our workplaces, and neighborhoods. We can teach and demonstrate that biblical
justice comes through peaceful means.
Many programs of healing and
hope already exist within Mennonite circles and can serve as models for
additional programs: victim-offender reconciliation programs, restorative
justice programs, mediation networks, peace centers, prison ministries, peer
mediation in schools, communication with legislators, and peace education
programs. In addition, many
congregations and individuals have created communities of love and accountability
that counteract the violence in the surrounding society.
In response to violence in
public life, we call the church at all levels to:
-
Demonstrate a community of love and accountability within the church,
call people into that community, and work to build community in neighborhoods
and cities.
-
Work and pray in ways that confront the powers that promote
institutional violence, racism, sexism, prejudice, and poverty.
-
Create and support programs of restorative justice, rather than
punitive retribution, so that both offenders and victims can receive justice.
-
Establish friendships with people in prisons, demonstrating that no
one, no matter what crime he or she has committed, is beyond the love of
Christ.
-
Work to abolish capital punishment, wherever it has become law.
-
Advocate laws for greater restriction of the manufacture and possession
of guns whose primary purpose is to kill or threaten human beings.
-
Teach and practice nonviolent conflict interventions and dispute
mediation as third parties when others are involved in, or tempted to,
violence.
-
Use the 1995 statement “Agreeing and Disagreeing in Love” as a guide to
dealing with conflict in the church.
-
Teach the skills that enable people who are personally threatened with
violence to act nonviolently, relying on love and creative responses rather
than responding out of fear or using weapons for personal protection.
-
Develop programs within the church to train people in the spiritual
disciplines of peace, nonviolence, forgiveness, loving enemies, and building
relationships in the face of differences.
E.
Global Violence. Violence is also hurting the
global community. Major armed conflicts
continue
to 40 countries. World military
spending remains at U.S. $750 billion per year. Twenty-three thousand active nuclear weapons are still deployed,
and 20 nations possess or are attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. One hundred million land mines have been
sown around the world, and more are sown than removed each year. Over half the weapons sold to the Third
World now come from the United States and Canada.[7] The threat of military violence continues to
be used to manipulate and control other countries, and to enable wealthy
countries to enlarge and protect their wealth at the expense of the world’s
poor. This vast economic and public
policy commitment to violence presents a model of violent behavior that is
imitated at all societal levels.
This armed violence is the
result of nationalism, nations’ unrestrained pursuit of self-interest, and the
structural violence present in the world economic system. Ninety percent of the victims of this
violence today are civilians, those who are weakest and least responsibly for
the economic disparity and the wars they must endure. Those who survive the violence are often disabled or made
homeless or destitute by war. In
nations no longer able to meet their citizens’ basic needs, the resulting civil
violence does lasting damage.
The victims of global violence
are our brothers and sisters made in the image of God. We affirm, as in previous statements,[8]
that our first loyalty is to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, rather than
to any earthly nation. We affirm our
common humanity under God and our responsibility to care for the whole human
family in the name of Jesus Christ.
In response to global
violence, we call the church to:
-
Restrain our own material desires and ambitions, and promote a fairer
distribution of the world’s resources, in order to reduce inequity, hunger, and
hurt, which feed violence.
-
Identify the causal connections between socially-approved military and
economic violence, and socially-disapproved personal and domestic violence.
-
Finance and pray for the work of our church agencies in promoting
international justice, economic and personal well-being, respect for human
rights, and participation in decision making.
-
Call on legislators to reduce military spending and arms sales, and to
promote global justice.
-
Expand and publicize the range of nonviolent alternatives to conflict
offered through our conciliation and mediation programs, and through direct
interventions by Christian peacemakers.
-
Be steadfast in our refusal to participate in, train for, pay for, or
directly profit from the use of military violence.
The statement “Vision: Healing and Hope” calls us to
“grow as communities of grace, joy, and
peace
so that God’s healing and hope flow through us to the world.” Therefore, we commit ourselves to build
church communities that demonstrate a peaceful alternative to violence in
all areas of our life together – communities that can serve as channels of
God’s healing and hope to a world angry and frightened by violence.
As members of the General
Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church, with God’s help, we
commit ourselves, our congregations, and our church agencies to be
communities of nonviolence, demonstrating and proclaiming the peaceful life
to which Jesus Christ calls us. We
commit ourselves to teach nonviolence and peacemaking, both within the
church and beyond it. We choose to confront,
in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the powers, structures, institutions, and
spirits of violence that tend to shape human behavior. We pledge our love, both to violence
victims and to violence perpetrators.
We will encourage laws, public institutions, and policies that
work to reduce violence. We commit
ourselves to renounce the use of violence and urge others to pledge the
same.
For I will leave in the midst of
you
A people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the
name of the LORD-
The remnant of Israel;
They shall do no wrong
And utter no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie
down,
And no one shall make them afraid (Zeph. 3:12-13).
Prepared
by the Joint Committee on Violence, appointed by the Mennonite Church General
Board and the General Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church:
Lois Barrett, Wichita, Kansas
Florence Duley, Edmonton,
Alberta
Doug Pritchard, Toronto, Ontario
Roger Steffy, Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania
Adopted
in principle by the delegates at the General Conference Mennonite Church
Special Session in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 8, 1997, and by the delegates at
the Mennonite Church Assembly in Orlando, Florida, August 2, 1997.
Approved,
as revised, by the General Boards on November 22, 1997, in Denver, Colorado.
[1] Article 22, “Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance,” p. 82 (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1995).
[2] “What Every Congregation Needs To Know About Domestic Violence” (Seattle: Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, 1994).
[3] Isaac Block, Assault on God’s Image: Domestic Abuse. Winnipeg: Windflower Communications, 1992.
[4] According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Health Canada.
[5] Broken Vows: Religious Perspectives on Domestic Violence (Seattle, Wash.: Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, 1994).
[6] Reported in the video Beyond the News: TV Violence and Your Child (Harrisonburg, Va.: Mennonite Media Ministries, 1996).
[7] Project Ploughshares, Armed Conflicts Report (Waterloo, Ontario: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 1996); Ruth L. Sivard, World Military and Social Expenditures (Washington, D.C.: World Priorities, 1996).
[8] “Peace and the Christian Witness,” Mennonite Church, 1961; “A Christian Declaration on the Way of Peace,” General Conference Mennonite Church,” 1971; “Justice and the Christian Witness,” Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church, 1983; “A Commitment to Christ’s Way of Peace,” Mennonite Central Committee, 1993; and “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective,” General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Church, 1995.