Jonas Smucker Hartzler

“ The Mennonites gratefully recognize the good will of our government in the enactment of six:h laws as offer continued protection and religious liberty laws which attracted our forefathers to this country and has been the occasion of constant joy and thanks giving to Almighty God.
Years have come and gone, and whatever the trials of faith may have been, today we stand on the threshold of a new era. The untried future with all its mysteries and opportunities lies before us. We review our past experiences and try to understand what this has meant to us individually and collective ly. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”