A new faith in politics

Chicago Tribune: A new faith in politics

Young Mennonites join world of politics

GOSHEN, Ind.—At the east end of the giant Wal-Mart parking lot in this northern Indiana town of about 32,000, there's a metal-roofed building accommodating as many as 20 horse-drawn buggies. People in plain dress—flat black hats, white bonnets—can be seen around town.

Goshen is a population center for Mennonites and their religious "cousins," the Amish. Both are Protestant Christian faiths built on foundations of pacifism and keeping government, politicians and politics at arm's length.

The Amish remain non-voters who believe in the strict separation of church and state. However, some Mennonites, especially younger members such as those on the campus of church-founded Goshen College, are seeing an opportunity now to integrate politics into their lives in a way that furthers rather than diminishes their religion.

Emily Miller, for instance, is a 20-year-old sophomore social-work major from Waco, Texas, and—like 60 percent of the nearly 1,000 Goshen students—a Mennonite. Though her dorm room features the book bag and flip-flops you'd expect with any kid away at school, there's a sign on her door that stands out, considering where and who she is. It says: "Change We Can Believe In," and in smaller letters: "BarackObama.com." ...

And this is the part I'm still not getting. On the religious hand, these Anabaptists are saying the church needs to be separate from the world. On the political hand, they are voting for the candidate from the party that most desires to involve itself in every aspect of societal functioning. I still don't get the reconciliation between these two views.

Comments

[Mark Van Steenwyk]

Me either. :)