Mennonite Central Committee

Mennonite statement on violence

"And No One Shall Make Them Afraid"

Selected Excerpts

I. Introduction

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 and the United States, 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.....

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 to resist evil without 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...

 

E. Global Violence.

Violence is also hurting the global community. Major armed conflicts continue in 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.

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 responsible 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 civil resulting 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, 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.
• 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 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 profit from the use of military violence.