Letters to the editor

US President Clinton, in response to the horrific tragedy in Denver, directed these words, in particular "to all the children of America": "Violence is wrong. We must do more to reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and to resolve their conflict with words, not weapons." I have a simple question: Why are violence and weapons wrong in America, but right against former Yugoslavia?

Wayne Northey, (E)
Langley, B.C.

Living out peace and community

Thank you for your many articles and news items. Living in New Brunswick, I miss the times I had growing up in "Mennonite" communities out West. Although there are many things that could be called "stifling" about my upbringing, I enjoyed the living out of peace and community values. These were lived out by my parents, extended family and church friends. It seems that as we grow more in cities that promote individualism and "my rights", we are less able to daily live out the peace and community Jesus called us to.

In a recent meeting on the reconciliation and healing of Canada's wounds, I found myself thanking God for my upbringing. I remember saying one day as my dad and I drove past the Catholic church in our town, "There are no Christians in that church, are there?" Dad rebuked me, saying, "There are Christians in that church, but, just like some people in the MB church, some are not living as Christians." In another small town we lived in, my parents were very involved in community projects that included all the churches and all kinds of people. Because of my dad's work, we often had people from many lands and ethnic groups in our home. I learned to know people as individuals, not groups. Maybe that's why I've kept moving to experience different individuals in other countries and other parts of Canada.

In the last month or so I've had to talk about my beliefs as people state that the Yugoslavian intervention is a "just" war. I stated once that as a journalist goes into the middle of a war to report, maybe I should go into war bringing aid and reconciliation. I might be killed, but is that wrong? That's why I enjoyed the articles in the April 2 issue on forgiveness. God is a just God, but a message more people need in this time of "my rights" is that my God is a loving and forgiving God.

Ruth Kroeker,
Moncton, N.B.

In response to Walter Unger's plea for Mennonite Central Committee to aid the former Soviet Union (Letters, Apr. 2): This is already happening. In 1998, many shipments were sent, including clothing, shoes, layettes, bedding, soap, health kits, sewing kits, school kits, canned beef, milk powder, beans, rice, cereals, medical supplies, and towels, valued at $1 million. Shipments continue in 1999, and prayers go with them for safe arrival and delivery. The constituency responds generously to requests for relief and has not forgotten the people of FSU.

Helen Rose Pauls,
MCC Executive Committee,
Chilliwack, B.C.

Clinton apology not enough

During more than 30 years of writing a column in this periodical, I have benefitted much from readers' comments. Exchanges and challenges refine and improve ideas.

Marvin Dyck (Letters Mar. 5) responded to my Jan. 8 column re President Clinton "punished in any serious manner". He noted that Clinton has "asked three pastors to meet with him weekly" and for months he has been "apologizing at every turn". He concludes, "Is the President's public repentance and creation of a godly accountability group not enough?"

My reading of the situation is that it is not enough. I know of no court which will dismiss a charge because of an apology or the creation of a blue-ribbon accountability group. Serious misdeeds require serious consequences. If an apology is not enough to avoid getting a speeding or parking ticket—and I know of no instance where it has been—then surely it is not enough to excuse President Clinton's incredible exploitation of women, his adultery, his abuse of the highest office in the land and his lying to his cabinet, the country and the world. Moreover, Clinton only apologized when he could no longer hide the truth by lying.

Another reader drew to my attention a book entitled Judgment Day at the White House (Eerdmans, December 1998). In it is an essay entitled, "Declaration Concerning Religion, Ethics, and the Crisis in the Clinton Presidency". This document has now been signed by 190 professors, including our own Elmer Martens, from seminaries and other Christian schools. I find myself in agreement with its assessment. I quote a few excerpts:

"We protest the manipulation of religion and debasing of moral language. . . . We believe that serious misunderstandings of repentance and forgiveness are being exploited for political advantage."

"We fear that the religious community is in danger of being called upon to provide authentication for a politically motivated and incomplete repentance that seeks to avert serious consequences for wrongful acts. While we affirm that pastoral counseling sessions are an appropriate, confidential arena to address these issues, we fear that announcing such meetings to convince the public of the President's sincerity compromises the integrity of religion."

"We challenge the widespread assumption that forgiveness relieves a person of further responsibility and serious consequences. We are convinced that forgiveness is a relational term that does not function easily within the sphere of constitutional accountability. A wronged party chooses forgiveness instead of revenge and antagonism, but this does not relieve the wrong-doer of consequences. When the President continues to deny any liability for the sins he has confessed, this suggests that the public display of repentance was intended to avoid political disfavor."

This perceptive analysis is on the Web site: www.moral-crisis.org.

John H. Redekop,
Abbotsford, B.C.

Jim Coggins writes that articles published in the Herald "should conform to the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith and be biblically and doctrinally sound" (Editorial, March 19), but is the Confession of Faith itself always biblically and doctrinally sound? I am disturbed that well-rounded discussion of faith issues is being suppressed in the name of MB orthodoxy. Coggins feels "unorthodox" letters must be "corrected". These do not seem like the words of someone who wants to encourage spiritual growth and openness in the MB community.

For the Herald to have integrity as a voice of Mennonite Brethren believers, it must make more of an effort to reflect both the diversity and the commonality of the MB community.

W.T. Dale Enns, (E)
Nakatsugawa, Japan

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