Put one back in the Mennonite column July 8, 2008
Posted by Zack in Missouri , trackbackWe went to a church house group Sunday night. A few people there said they read this blog! So they will laugh when they see see this story. Or maybe they were just humoring me and they don’t really read the blog. I will soon see…
So, here’s a typical and awesome story. I’ve met a whole bunch of people with a progression similar to this. There were at least a few other people with the same basic story there tonight; I also met a bunch of these guys on my visit to Ozark Christian College; and I’ve met scattered others.
“Ted” is about 23 (I think), really tall, blond, with a smile that never leaves his face. He grew up in a conservative evangelical family, going to a small country church in South Dakota.
His church had thread of historical connection to the Mennonites. He remembers in high school talking to a Mennonite pastor who served briefly at his church about pacifism. Ted couldn’t understand how the guy could oppose just wars of liberation or self-defense (like, I suppose, Iraq—this would have been the early days of the war). The pastor told him, “I used to feel the same way as you. Just read the Word of God and see what it has to say.”
Ted didn’t take him up on that challenge right away. After high school, he went to (very conservative) Calvary Bible College in Kansas City. After a couple years, he then transfered to another conservative Bible college. I can’t remember the exact name but it was: Midwest Bible…or Baptist…or Christian College — and yes, all three of those possible entities actually exist.
There he read Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, a best selling memoir of a young hipster/geek/intellectual Christian writer. One of the characters in the book was a pacifist. This got Ted thinking and he finally started to do a little Bible study on the topic, just like his pastor in high school had suggested. (And it’s funny, because the group had just been joking about how Donald Miller is the “gateway drug” to a radical Christianity. And, further, that Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis is when you start lacing the gateway drug with something a little more serious.)
A little later, in a Christian bookstore in South Dakota, Ted picked up a copy of Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution. It was right there on display, and he also had heard some other students talking about the book. Reading Irresistible Revolution sent him back to the Bible for more serious study. (Shane must be the Crack Cocaine of radical Christianity.)
Just like several other young, recently-right-wing Christians I’ve met, he wrote a list of passages in the New Testament that might justify violence in certain circumstances, and another list of passages that ruled out violence. The first list was very short, the second was very long. Moreover, just reading the words of the Bible through this new lens seemed to make the non-violent message of the Gospel stand out crystal clear and very loud. Ted became a pacifist—or “peacemaker,” as he prefers to say, because “it sounds more active.”
Ted graduated from college and went to work at an elementary school that mostly serves a refugee population in Kansas City. He believed in helping people in his community on a person-to-person basis, and he started living out that philosophy in his school.
I suppose he still had some partisan Republican instincts clanging around in his head and heart, and that’s why he threw himself into the Ron Paul campaign, with its mix of “conservative” social values (anti-abortion, etc…), libertarian economic policies and hardline, anti-imperial/anti-war stance. It was the perfect combo for Ted and he couldn’t resist. He dove in head first and spent a ton of time working in the Great Ron Paul Netroots Army.
Around the time that Ron Paul pulled out of the race, Ted read Shane Claiborne’s latest book, “Jesus for President.” Thanks to Shane, Ted realized that the government is not the solution to humanity’s problems. He decided to withdraw completely from politics. He plans not even to vote this year.
I asked him about Obama and McCain. Right off the bat he said that he doesn’t want McCain because he doesn’t want more war.
So what about Obama? Ted says he is really moved and excited about Obama when he sees his speeches on YouTube. But then he goes to the Obama website and looks at his polices. There’s nothing there that excites him. “There’s no substance. Obama talks about Change, but what is he really going to change? How is he really going to change it? I think both the parties are just out for power,” he said. He remarked that when he went to Ron Paul’s site, there were convincing specifics about how he was going to really change America.
I bet there are at least a million Ted’s out there. They are a group to watch. They have insane leadership skills thanks to the well-organized training grounds of their churches, camps, schools, conferences, etc… They are personally and emotionally well adjusted. And they are willing to sacrifice their lives (either literally or just in hard endless work) to save the world.
Tags: mennonites, pacificsm, transformation
Comments»
I wasn’t humoring you Zack! I’m one of the people with a story similar to Ted’s, only with a Dutch Reformed background rather than Mennonite, but I differ with him on the politics. I’m still kind of working through it, but I will vote and it’ll likely be Obama.
I may be naive, but it sure seems that Obama has the best chance to actually enact the change I’m looking for. I don’t view Obama as the agent of change, but feel like an Obama presidency would be the environment that is most friendly to “ordinary radicals” (although if they’re worried about losing their prophetic voice, they might go for another 4 years of Bush).
I kind of feel like we are somewhat responsible for the current political situation, and I’m afraid of any disegagement from the political process may hurt chances we have to cooperate on issues we can agree on.
Anyway, it was good to meet you — hope you and Elizabeth had a good time.
Oh, I also kind of think that while I feel that I do not have too much at stake in the election this fall, there are people that feel that do have a lot at stake. If I was oppressed, I don’t think I would give a hoot about the idea of electing Jesus for president. It also feels a little hypocritical to distance myself from the vote because of a few specific beefs with a candidate, when I’m fully for what I consider to be more important political action in other forms.
We did have a great time — thanks for leaving a comment! See you soon.
A friend’s facebook post referred me to this blog and its a hoot! A native Okie from the heart of the Bible belt, I attended Ozark Christian College and can attest that this is the path many of us young evangelical lefties have taken, as we read the above books… add Tony Campolo’s Speaking My Mind and you’re ready to vote Obama.
Zack, you might want to read Generations: The History of America’s Future by Neil Howe & William Strauss. The young man you describe is on the leading edge of the Millenial generation … they will be the next “Great” generation; akin to their great grand-parents who fought in WWII. Yes, they do have leadership skills and a willingness to sacrifice for a great cause, the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long, long time. It’s a good thing … and just in the nick of time.
P.S. Shane Claiborn is the crack cocaine of radical Christianity … and Miroslav Volf is the heroin.
Funny you say that Sonja - because at that gathering they were talking about Volf’s book Exclusion and Embrace
Wow! That story is the almost exact same as mine (haven’t got to Blue Like Jazz or Velvet Elvis yet though). I used to be a staunch conservative supporting the war 100% then progressed into a Libertarian. Ron Paul became a hero to me. Although I still profess to be a Libertarian, I am now more “Independent” than anything (or just “questioning” I guess). It scares me when McCain thinks it is ok to have a military presence in a country for “a hundred years” but I am also scared by the potential consequences of a national healthcare program that Obama calls for. I am constantly grappling with what policy would be biblical and practical at the same time. Maybe that is the point- the way of Jesus just doesn’t fit into the world’s notion of practical or realistic. I guess you can say as Shane Claiborne says, reading the Word with new eyes has really “messed me up”.
Zack,
I met and traded a few emails with you in 2004. A friend recently recommended this blog to me and I was so surprised to find out that you’re the one behind it. As someone who is fascinated by the nexus of politics and religion, I find your blog incredibly interesting. Keep writing!
Kara Bishop
Austin, TX
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i’ve not ever heard of Shane Claiborne compared to crack cocaine, but there’s some truth behind it!
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