I go to Fresno Pacific University. I knew it had the degree I wanted and that it was Mennonite. I did not know what a Mennonite was though. Basically they really work at living out community and pacifism. Pacifism is harder to accept than community. I am really grappling with pacifism right now.
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What is Pacifism?
Webster defines pacifism:
1. opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes
2. an attitude or policy of nonresistance
What do critiques say about Pacifism?
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals.”
Colman McCarthy
“The absolute pacifist is a bad citizen; times come when force must be used to uphold right, justice and ideals”
Alfred North Whitehead
What do promoters of Pacifism say?
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”Mohandas Gandhi
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”Mother Teresa
Is Pacifism an unattainable ideal?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”John F. Kennedy
Did Jesus speak of Pacifism?
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:38-42
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What is Pacifism?
Webster defines pacifism:
1. opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes
2. an attitude or policy of nonresistance
What do critiques say about Pacifism?
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals.”
Colman McCarthy
“The absolute pacifist is a bad citizen; times come when force must be used to uphold right, justice and ideals”
Alfred North Whitehead
What do promoters of Pacifism say?
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”Mohandas Gandhi
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”Mother Teresa
Is Pacifism an unattainable ideal?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”John F. Kennedy
Did Jesus speak of Pacifism?
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:38-42
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This semester I am in a class called Theology of Radical Discipleship. Today we watched the first 10 minutes of “The Radicals” and on Thursday we will finish it. Here’s the back cover of the vhs box.
“To a world of fear Anabaptists introduced freedom...a crime punished by death.
The year is 1525. Michael and Margaretha Sattler have fled their religious orders.
Their quest: restore the church to the purity of its early days when communities of believers practiced peace, compassion and sacrificial love.The Sattlers join a group called the Anabaptists and together challenge the 1,000 year control of the Church by the State.
They call for baptism to once again become, not a mark of citizenship, but an adult and voluntary decision to follow Christ.
As their movement grows, so does the determination of their enemies to stop them...by any means necessary.In 1527, Michael is burned at the stake and Margaretha drowned.
But their movement survives and today is carried on by the Mennonites, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ, the Hutterites, and the Amish.”
“To a world of fear Anabaptists introduced freedom...a crime punished by death.
The year is 1525. Michael and Margaretha Sattler have fled their religious orders.
Their quest: restore the church to the purity of its early days when communities of believers practiced peace, compassion and sacrificial love.The Sattlers join a group called the Anabaptists and together challenge the 1,000 year control of the Church by the State.
They call for baptism to once again become, not a mark of citizenship, but an adult and voluntary decision to follow Christ.
As their movement grows, so does the determination of their enemies to stop them...by any means necessary.In 1527, Michael is burned at the stake and Margaretha drowned.
But their movement survives and today is carried on by the Mennonites, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ, the Hutterites, and the Amish.”
There is some graphic detail portrayed in this film.
1 comment:
We can't speak your language, so... thanks for the link... however we don't know what it says.
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