My good friend and former colleague, Gregory Rake, wrote
this from Kolkata, India, and I post it with his permission.
Most of those whom I have known who were conscientious
objectors to war were either Mennonite, Quakers or Church of the Brethren. But there have been a few Lutherans and
others along the way, very few.
Growing up Lutheran in a rural community of Norwegian
ancestry in Minnesota, I never even knew about the peace tradition within the
Christian church. It was just a given
that I would "sign up" and do my military stint after high school. Vietnam changed my opinion on many
things. When we got to Vietnam and
worked with many Conscientious Objectors doing alternative service, we
learned the story of the long tradition of service in many places of need and
war by young men and women from the peace churches.
Thanks for your post on the possibility of war and comments from
others. In the early 70's I went through all of the doctrinal statements as a
young Lutheran applying to be a CO. There were Mennonites who guided me, but it
was my parents love for others and the message of Jesus that continually
directed my ways. Like you, I want the terrible situation in Syria to stop and
then I look around me in India and see so much violence every day. It is
violence based on caste, class, gender and whatever differences people find.
The violence results in hunger, maiming, rape and countless other
atrocities...and the answer when working on my personal position of faith
more than 40 years ago still seems relevant - you cannot fight violence with
violence. And while we will feel uncomfortable as bystanders, it should be a
call to get involved to stop the violence with peaceful actions wherever we are
and work against all kinds of violence that are far from us. Gregory
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