Goshen College and the National Anthem

[jbeasley]

I just found out through the Jesus Radicals website that Goshen College now plays the national anthem, flies a flag and more. Amazing. I thought Mennonites were smarter than this. The post on the front page says a lot.

http://www.jesusradicals.com/goshen-...ts-the-church/

[Porter Doran]

That was a brilliant write-up, and I was hoping for a way to thank Andy for it. Brave job, sir! I also hope to read more by Tim Nafziger.

The "fellowship movement" Mennonites won't be surprised to hear about this development -- they have been decrying Goshen College and the General Conference since the 1950s. Centralized money and power always tend to have the effect of corrupting first themselves and then others.

(Also, I believe that if we look for the preservation of faith in institutions or by intellect we must be disappointed.)

[stefanwarner]

This is such a bummer.

[nabsy]

Hey, hey stefan. It is a bummer yes but it is also an opportunity to do a little bit of low key resistance in our own backyards ;-) The way I see it, Goshen College is probably just hoping and praying that all the hullabaloo will die down soon so that the anthem becomes as normal and unchallenged as the stupid flag they put up there however long ago. I would strongly advise people to blog about it, make comments about it, contact the school about it, do whatever to make sure they know that Christians who are seeking to be faithful amongst the pressures of the empire--Mennos and non-Mennos alike--are sick to our tums-tums at, as the article says, this blatant display of the worst kind of cowardice (and it's the worst kind because the are trying to mask it as some kind of Christian virtue!) If we can't respectfully and persistently challenge this kind of nonsense in a low-threat situation, then we will most certainly have a very hard time should the going gets really tough! 300 phone calls and e-mails and a small committee managed to turn around a 114 year old practice. How about we see what 1000 or 2000 or 5000 phone calls and e-mails and blogs posts and comments can do ;-)

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

You can sign a petition which we will deliver during the easter season:

http://www.jesusradicals.com/anarchi...hen-college-2/

[Porter Doran]

Rock!

[stefanwarner]

I've sent e-mails, made phone calls, and signed the petition. I'll do whatever I can. I'll pray for you folks in the Goshen area.

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

You are a good man Charlie Brown

[nabsy]

Originally Posted by stefanwarner

I've sent e-mails, made phone calls, and signed the petition. I'll do whatever I can. I'll pray for you folks in the Goshen area.

Prayer is very much welcome Stefan! Pray that we are able to speak both prophetically and humbly, that we can be bold and sharp without losing the ability to listen. Pray that we can be steadfast and that we extend grace without cheapening our witness. Honestly, since the college announced their decision the reactions have been strong and primarily negative. But the post and letter of resistance we have on the site also seems to have generated a bit of a firestorm. Pray that we act out of God's will and not our own as it can be tempting in these kinds of conflicts to confuse the two. I am excited that people are taking this so seriously and that so many Christians from different denominations have already responded without us doing anything but posting it to the blog. (We just sent out an e-mail though so we will see what happens next). People feel very strongly that what Goshen College is doing may come out of some warped sense of hospitality but that it is certainly not faithful. It's a "small issue" that's not that small at all because, as one of my friends said today, it is a ritual of worship that shapes us toward questionable allegiances. Anyway I am rambling but I just wanted to say that prayer is vital as we find our way forward and to thank you and anyone else who supports this little resistance in that way :-)

[Rob A]

Thanks for doing this, Andy and Nekeisha. It's very important!

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

Well, just be sure to pass the word around to people who would be interested. It would be great to FAR exceed the measly little 300 emails they got in complaint that they refused the anthem.

Looking at the 100 names or so who have signed so far (within 24 hours), it is amazingly mostly non-Mennonites. They cannot say this is a "sectarian" Mennonite concern.

[victor]

If you listen carefully it seems there is another motive lurking in the background. This interview between the public figure that "outed" Goshen as Anabaptist raises the question of federal funding of the college. I think Brenneman and company realized that the cost of bad PR could ultimately include serious questions about federal funding. Is anyone ready to tell Anabaptist institutions that they shouldn't accept the tax dollars extracted by the government at the threat of force? (http://townhall.com/MediaPlayer/Audi...b-8c4061c4c188)

Even Brenneman argued against this decision just over a year ago (http://record.goshen.edu/2009/11/818...t-sports-games). Burkholder is convenient cover for more foreplay with our DC-based Empire.

However one recognizes that this is the same Anabaptist college President who, inspired by Obamaism, wrote, “I will vote my conscience in solidarity with my Anabaptist/Mennonite foreparents who thought such a freely expressed vote of conscience was in keeping with biblical precedent and died defending that God-inspired principle.” Brenneman acknowledged in comments exchanged on Goshen's website (http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a) that this was a severe distortion of the Anabaptist founders in the name of promoting participation in what our Confession of Faith calls the “violence-reliant state” (MCUSA Confession of Faith – Art. 23). However Brenneman never corrected this sentence in his original text.

The distortions continue...

[stefanwarner]

I listened to Brenneman's "Getting to Yes and Amen!" sermon. I was pretty disappointed but not surprised. When someone asks me about my church/Mennonites as a whole, I try to keep it simple by shortly explaining the origins of the Anabaptists and community/simplicity/peace(nonviolence) as three core principles in our theology. Obviously that is a very simplistic explanation but I don't feel the need to say what we are against. What we stand for should show what we are against ie individualism, greed, violence, etc. In a culture such as this, I can't find much to say yes to. This is my favorite hymn we sing at church. The text was written by Menno Simons. I think it is an appropriate response to Brenneman.



We are people of God's peace,
as a new creation.
Love unites and strengthens us
at this celebration.
Sons and daughters of the Lord,
serving one another;
a new covenant of peace
binds us all together.

We are children of God's peace
in this new creation,
spreading joy and happiness
through God's great salvation.
Hope we bring in spirit meek,
in our daily living.
Peace with everyone we seek,
good for evil giving.

We are servants of God's peace
in this new creation;
choosing peace, we faithfully
serve with heart's devotion.
Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace,
confidence will give us.
Christ the Lord is our defence;
he will never leave us.

[Porter Doran]

This Mr. Brenneman's starting to remind me of the latest head of the Bruderhof -- grandson of the founder -- who's converted the community into a corporation and financier, runs a law firm that invented the SLAP suit, and carries a loaded weapon. (More can be found here: http://perefound.org/archives.html.)

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

I don't know what has happened but for two hours now we are getting flooded with signatures by Goshen alumn. All at once. like 30 an hour for that past two hours (not all are confirmed, thus not all visible on the site, but we are getting a LOT).

[mountainguy]

What disturbs me the most is not only the playing of a national anthem on a mennonite college, but that they are doing it because some conservative monger (who is not a mennonite) told them to do so. Why is Mr Gallgher so interested in Goshen playing the national anthem? Have the mennonites told him how to feed his children, how to "#$%& with his wife, how to dress up, what to sing, how to pray, how to vote, etc etc etc? In my not so humble opinion this man is nothing but a gossiper.

[stefanwarner]

Originally Posted by Andy Alexis-Baker

I don't know what has happened but for two hours now we are getting flooded with signatures by Goshen alumn. All at once. like 30 an hour for that past two hours (not all are confirmed, thus not all visible on the site, but we are getting a LOT).

Man, I saw that. Its pretty cool.

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

5 days online: 400 signatures. Still not slowing down either. I think they expected Mennonites to let it pass quietly.

[Rob A]

Passing this on to my church- they're pretty conservative though, so I don't know what to expect.

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

Today we got lots of professors signing it. AKM Adams, William T. Cavanaugh, and others. Probably as a result of the Ekklesia Project link from their homepage. (They have a great image there, check it out)

Bad news:

On the heels of Goshen College’s recent decision to play the national anthem, a local Mennonite high school is now revisiting its own policy on not playing the national anthem according to an article in ysterday’s Elkhart Truth.

http://www.jesusradicals.com/the-anthem-sink-hole/

[GrahamS]

I see Joe Leichty's name mentioned in the Elkhart Truth article. I wonder what his take is on this. I don't know much about Leichty or Goshen, but I do recognize his name as the editor of the Journal of Religion, Conflict, and Peace. That journal published this article in their premier issue less than 3 years ago: http://www.plowsharesproject.org/jou...cle_list_id=11

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

Joe was on the committee that recommended they change the policy and himself voted to change it. He has verbally expressed support for the change to students.

Joe is the guy who hired me at Goshen when I taught there. I like him. But he's dead wrong on this.

[GrahamS]

The Mennonite has posted a column by Sheldon Good opposing the decision
http://www.themennonite.org/issues/1...ational_anthem

The email they sent out about it includes this
Editor's note: According to Nekeisha Alexis-Baker, 433 people signed a petition against the national anthem on the Jesus Radicals Web site as of Feb. 15. Also, the Facebook group, "Against Goshen College Playing the National Anthem" has 645 members as of Feb. 15."

The site itself doesn't seem to include this note.

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

You could post a link to the petition in the comments of course. We are now nearing 500 signatures.

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

600 signatures. And today, when we have gotten nearly 300 signatures, has not been dominated by Goshen alumni but has been a wide variety of affiliation.

In case people have not seen it though:

On the heels of Goshen College’s recent decision to play the national anthem, a local Mennonite high school is now revisiting its own policy on not playing the national anthem according to an article in ysterday’s Elkhart Truth.

http://www.jesusradicals.com/the-anthem-sink-hole/