Jonas Smucker Hartzler

“ Worldly Insecurity Another lesson which the war should have taught every one is that of worldly insecurity. Peo ple were depending largely on the freedom and in dependence of the country, prosperity was enjoyed by humanity at large, peace societies were organized and were growing strong, and people thought that a great war was an impossibility; but the war has taught us the truth that so long as we are in this world we may expect difficulties between nations and that so long as people have false notions as to what constitutes national honor, so long wars will not be unknown. ”

“ It is perfectly natural that people who held that it was a Christian duty to help win the war should claim that the conscientious objector was absolutely in the wrong, and especially so if he was a religious objector. ”

“ The war has developed a ferocity and inhumanity which would have been thought impossible a few years ago. We have had to consider the spectacle of the most educated, advanced nation in the world perpetrating the most frightful horrors, crashing through an innocent country with awful brutalities, and this justified by her statesmen on the plea of military necessity. ”

“ I did not regard the order (given me) as a lawful order, because I could not obey it without violating the dictates of my conscience and the plain teachings of God's higher law. I did not disobey the order in a wilful and obstinate manner but as quiet ly and respectfully as possible. Guilt signifies the doing of wrong. In declining to do the military work (given me) I did no more than to act in accordance with my conscience and deep religious conviction, and hence I did no wrong. ”

“ While it seems to us very wrong that a government (or individuals in it) should have the right to prosecute any one who faithfully teaches the members of his flock the Bible as he understands it and as God has called him to do, and that officers in the employ of government should try to compel young men to do what they actually believed to be wrong, it is a comfort to know that those remaining true to their convictions and to God, though they were compelled to suffer, are doing so for Christ's sake. ”

“ To willingly take up any activity so vitally a part of the war was simply to endorse the whole military affair not by the service rendered, but by willingly becoming a part of the military establishment. ”

“ Is it not selfish and un-Christlike to be willing to enjoy the benefits of a religion without making an earnest effort to have others to enjoy the same benefit? It is a real problem for us to educate our people to the need and so lay the matter upon their hearts that they will do much more for the spreading of the Gospel than has been done to this time. ”

“ Germany had a superior army, England must have a superior navy. France had her possessions in Africa. Russia must get a part of China, especially Manchuria, and thus it goes on almost indefinitely. The real cause for the war was in these things, much more than in the murder of a man and his wife by a young anarchist. In addition it should be remembered that constant military training and study in the intrigues and strategies of war create a desire to try the practicability of such knowledge. The thought of superiority creates a desire to show it to others. ”

“ Our people have at all times refrained from voluntary enlistment for service in any form under previous military laws, and for us now to accept service under the military arm of the government, would be equivalent to a denial of the faith and principles which we have held as vital to our spiritual well- being and eternal salvation. ”

“ Right living is always needful, but never more so than when, as then, Satan seemed to be taking everything by storm. The darker the night, the brighter the light shines and the more it is appreciated by the lost and weary traveler. May the lessons on right living, as taught by the war, not .soon be forgotten. ”

“ Every worker who has returned, remained on the field longer than his agreement required. The Near East Relief organization has in many ways shown its appreciation for the particular service rendered by our workers, as well as for the generous support given the work by our people. Our men seem to have filled a needed place in the Relief program, and a lasting work has been accomplished. ”

“ The principles of peace and opposition to war have been deeply implanted into the very life-blood of every true Mennonite through four cen turies, and to violate this now would rob them of a sacred religious principle, giving them a guilty conscience before God. Their unfriendly attitude toward war is not founded upon disloyalty to government but upon the conviction that the Gospel of Christ is a Gospel of peace and that "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword." ”

“ Menno and Nonresistance On the question of nonresistance, Menno said, "O beloved reader, our weapons are not swords and spears, but patience, silence and hope, and the Word of God. With these we must maintain our cause and defend it. Paul said, The weapons of our war fare are not carnal ”

“ As to noncombatant service: all branches of service have one purpose; viz., to make the whole system a strong er organization of terrorism, destruction, and death. While I would not have been directly killing any one, I would have been doing a man's part in helping another do the act, and lending encouragement to the same. To support a thing and refuse to do the thing supported is either ignorance or cowardice. To refuse to go to the trenches and still give individual assistance to another doing so, is either an improper knowledge of the issues at stake or downright fear to face the bullets. ”

“ Sorrow fills their hearts, but it is the sorrow of pity and forgiveness. No words of bitterness, no spirit of hatred is heard or seen. Rather the prayer of the Master is manifest, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." ”

“ Nothing has a more wholesome effect than to have a work for every member and every member doing that work. If the Church wants a deeper work of grace in the home congregation, if she wants less of selfishness in short, if she wants Christ fully established she must have a greater interest in the salvation of the lost world. If your son or daughter wants to go to other lands to carry the Gospel to the lost, are you ready to lend encouragement from the first? ”

“ As a young man, life and its hopes and freedom and opportunities for service are sweet to me. I want to go out into the world and do my work and make use of what little talent I may have acquired by long and laborious study. ”

“ Lack of Uniformity in Camp Officials
Some officers in camp, like some boards, took matters into their own hands regardless of orders from Washington. The Secretary of War issued an order April 27, 1918, and reiterated it July 30, 1918, which reads,
"If, however, any drafted man, upon his arrival at camp either through the presentation of a certificate from his local board, or by a written statement addressed by himself to the commanding officer, shall record himself as a consci entious objector, he shall not against his will, be required to wear a uniform." ”

“ When thought in general was along lines of hatred, murder, and destruction; when the newspapers were full of everything that was bad about the enemy; and when deeds were represented as good or bad according to who did them rather than on the merits or demerits of the act, it was indeed needful that the Christ-life should shine out very clearly. Thus every act would not only point to a better life but would also be a rebuke to sin which seemed to reign unchecked. ”

“ And while there was always the barrier of language to their free intercourse, yet we are sure that the language of love and good will is understood every where, without regard to race, color, or creed, and no one can tell what the final result of the work will be. ”

“ It is the duty of every Christian to give due regard to government and its officials, never to speak evil of them, but to pray for them that they may be directed of God so that His people may live in the land to His glory. ”

“ The influence from the lives of our sincere young brethren has been woven by in visible hands into the very texture of our souls and into the life of the Church. We have come to under stand and appreciate each other and to "know Him" better by having witnessed His handiwork in these noble lives. ”

“ Reformers and Nonresistance Martin Luther's position on nonresistance was a very peculiar one. He held that the Bible taught nonresistance, and in ordinary life should be practiced; but that citizens of a country are obliged to fight at times. In other words, nonresistance is our duty as Christians, but as citizens we can not live up to the teachings of the Bible. ”

“ The Conscientious Objector Those who refused to take any part in winning the war soon found themselves branded as "yellow," "slackers," "cowards," "Huns," "pro-German," or something else equally unkind. The name (borrowed from England) used by the war department to designate the drafted men who took such a stand was, "Conscientious Objector," and at first was in tended to apply only to such as took this stand be cause they belonged to a Church which embodied nonresistance in its creed and because the men themselves believed that it would be wrong for them to have a part in carnal warfare. ”

“ Sixth, that so little did some of the officers know about true Christian conviction that they supposed it could be broken, just as stubbornness could in the obdurate, not realizing that when one had been made to go against religious convictions and better knowledge, a most serious damage had been done to character more serious than killing a man who remains true to his God and his conscience.
Seventh, that a willingness to accept noncombatant service as provided for by Government did not always prevent cruel treatment from those in authority. ”

“ And all this before fighting had begun, or a single drop of blood had been shed.... Talk about war purifying, ennobling, strengthening men! Talk about war instilling patience, sacrifice, heroism in the human heart! ”

“ There is nothing in my belief nor my creed that forbids me to rake grass seed. There is nothing in my creed and my belief that forbids me to do a number of other kinds of work in camp, but the thing that I objected to is, because this work and all other work under the military arm of the government has for its sole intent one purpose, that of taking vengeance and that of destroying life which thing has been taught against by our Church since it was founded in 1525. ”

“ The cause is easy to determine. Some one got an idea, then went to the Bible to get something to prove his point. People who follow this method of Bible study are not very apt to arrive at the truth. Study it, leaving out all preconceived ideas ; study to get the truth it intends to convey, not what you want it to convey. Most of the prophecies made in reference to the war, and especially those which were considered as based on some Scripture passage, failed to come to pass, not because the Scriptures were not true, but because some one wanted to make them say something which they did not say. ”

“ Indoctrination The Church needs to be ably, carefully, prayerfully taught. Theories as well as subjects that are not Biblical, should be banished from the pulpit. The place is too sacred and the time too short to present anything which is not deeply rooted in God's Word. Truth needs to be thoroughly expounded so that the hearer may grasp it. The preacher should have no hobbies. The people want to hear all that is necessary to salvation. If the Church is properly taught there is not nearly so much danger of her getting away from the truth. ”

“ Three and a half months previous to our arrival the American Red Cross had extended its work north from Jerusalem into Syria with headquarters at Beirut. Their workers had gone into these large cities and in the sub-districts into which the sur rounding area was divided and relief was organized. Industrial workshops had been opened where women and girls were employed at a minimum living wage. At one time three thousand were so employed in Beirut alone. ”

“ If the army would never kill a man, I can not see how a person could become a part of it, giving moral and material support to its maintenance and still retain a Christian character. The standards it upholds and the injustices it practices are unbelievable to a man who never saw them The only part that I can have in the army is suffering its punishments. ”

“ In some burroughs half of the people were either murdered or imprisoned for their faith, but their only defense was the Gospel of Jesus Christ which they gave with earnestness to those who persecuted them. ”

“ Besides, mob rule never accomplishes permanent good. The very purpose of a mob is to perform some unlawful act and as a rule is made up in part of the worst elements in the community. Men are not normal at such times and one never knows what to expect.
President Wilson asked the people of this coun try to refrain from all mob violence, but in spite of the request during the drives for the Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, Liberty Bonds, etc., mobs were quite frequent. At first private homes, business places, and church buildings were daubed with yellow paint. ”

“ THE WORLD WAR The Seeming Cause Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." A dozen policemen meet a mob and a battle follows. Two of the policemen are killed. Several arrests are made, the newspapers give a thrilling account of the affair, the criminals are tried and executed, another account is given in the newspapers and the matter is soon forgotten. No one thinks of starting a war on account of the riot. ”

“ The Church needs to stand "four square" on the teachings of Eternal Truth. "Neither is there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Dying for country, for home, for wife and children, may be a seeming need, but it brings salvation to no man. The closer a church remained to the Gospel during the war, the more she is in a position now to win men back to the truth. ”

“ RELIEF WORK Causes War is always cruel. Killing and destroying property are its immediate aims. Cripples, widows, orphans, immense national debt, and enormous taxes are a few of the results which follow in its trail for many years, while some of the more immediate results are starvation, exposure, and epidemics. ”

“ On the contrary, the Church believes that we should obey magistrates, pray for our rulers and never speak evil of them, to "give honor to whom honor is due." Her teaching on nonresistance has always emphasized the duty of submission to the governments which provide us shelter, holding the single reservation that we should always remember that God's law is first and should be obeyed first, and that whenever these two laws oppose each other, "We ought to obey God rather than men." ”

“ Militarism has a few points in its favor, but it has charges enough against it, has proven a curse to humanity at large, has ruined lives enough for time and eternity to cast it into oblivion, never more to be resurrected. ”

“ Let humanity try the Gospel plan of looking toward the welfare of others as well as to its own and see how quickly these things change.
The problem of unrest is not so much a problem for the Church as a body as for the individuals composing that body. This spirit of unrest is destruc tive to the best interests of the home, the community, and the nation. It requires the spirit of Jesus Christ to help us to be patient, to show that we live above these things and for a better purpose. The darkness of the world is great, but the darker the night the more effective the light. ”

“ Second, while the Bible is the greatest defense that any one could have at such a time, it should be remembered that this same Bible teaches that, "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer per secution." It costs something to live the Christ life. ”

“ Most Mennonites hold that it is inconsistent for Christians to support war measures ; that there is really no such thing as "noncombatant" service in aid of war; but that the man who made the gun and the man who pulled the trigger, or the man who drove the team and the man who loaded the cannon, all of them having in mind the overcoming of the enemy by means of violence, share in the re sponsibility before God. ”

“ God has favored her as He has very few others in the last five years. We can show our apprecia tion in no better way than to carry the Gospel to His creation in other parts of the world. We have the young people to send and we have the money to send them. The fact that we hold our membership in that religious organization says to the world that we believe that she has the right doctrine, that salvation through Christ comes to those who accept that teaching, and that those who do not have Jesus Christ are lost. ”

“ She is a hated, bank rupt nation, and her children yet unborn will not live long- enough to see the nation fully recovered from the effects of the war.
That military training has proven a blessing to a comparatively small percentage of young men can not be denied, neither can it be denied that a much larger per cent have been injured very much morally and spiritually by the society of the army camp. ”

“ At once unrest and even riots are started. Strikes become the order of the day, and there is a general unrest. Creation of public sentiment, legislation, and what not are tried but without the desired results. Everything is tried except the right thing. ”

“ According to good authority one of the largest Protestant denom inations lost more than sixty-nine thousand members in 1919 in the United States. The war has taught many lessons and none more forcibly than the fact that it has a very damaging effect on the morals of mankind and that Paul stated a very significant fact in Galatians 6:7 "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The world is reaping, but if the Church does not put forth her earnest efforts to stem the tide her own existence will be in danger. ”

“ We should freely give our sons and daughters. We should encourage the young people of the Church to willingly give themselves. Instead of this many of the churches refuse to ordain young men so long as they are not needed for the work at home. How very different this is from the mind of Christ. The Mennonites have a very large percentage of their young people gathered into the Church, and many of them are active but could and would do much more if they were urged more. ”

“ The Church has more to do at her own door than she had before the war, and if she fails to gather in more of this outside element and raise it to the standard of a life in Christ, she must herself expert spiritual and numerical loss. ”