What is the Church to Say? Letter 2 of 4 to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF

In a few short months the American government will start to fulfill its campaign promises to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. The responsible cabinet members have already been appointed. By early Spring 2025, Mennonite pastors/leaders who supported Trump will need to speak and address the matter in congregations. It will be difficult to find words. How can they prepare?

Sometimes a template from the past is helpful. To that end, I offer my summary of a text by retired Mennonite pastor and conference leader Gustav Kraemer. (There is a nice entry on him in the Mennonite Encyclopedia (GAMEO).

My summary is faithful to the German original, 1938. With only a few minor changes, it could be useful. Adaptations are mostly underlined, with the key at the bottom of the post.

------

Retired [American] Pastor and conference leader [__] was invited by the Mennonite congregation [__] to speak on Mennonites and [America]. He structured his talk along the [MAGA] platform. He was preaching to the converted: “We” Mennonites, should have nothing less than deep gratitude and praise for the [President] who answered the call “to lead our people out of the darkest night and into the light of a new morning.”

Under the previous administration, millions of [Americans] were unemployed, without hope and destitute, Pastor [__] reminded the congregation. But now the economy is strengthening and [Americans] have work again. With the new [President], we have been spared the “hellish chaos of the radical left.” And [America] will no longer be taken advantage of by its enemies on the world stage either. We are strong again because of our [President] and his faith in a higher justice, in destiny, and in the [American] people, according to Pastor [__].

But [MAGA] is much more than a political and economic movement, the retired denominational leader told the congregation. It is a social and cultural movement in which virtue and values are rooted in [America]—the wellspring of the health and renewal of our families and people. Once again, young men will be trained to be clean, honest, hard-working, healthy, and close to nature. Our young [American] women too, rich or poor, will be not shy away from the high calling of motherhood. New maternal health regulations are designed “to promote” healthy childbearing in [America] and keep out “bad genes.” With the new [President], [America] is a new community of destiny with equal rights and responsibilities to the benefit of all hard-working [Americans].

The [swamp] is already being [drained]. Arts and media funding is being purged, no longer “dependent on the praise or ridicule of [woke] media bandits” or subject to “the defilement and devastations of perverse demons.” It will reflect the cultural heritage of all [Americans].

Our Mennonite divisions and our differences as [American] Christians too are yielding to the common destiny and goal of renewal in line with the [MAGA] platform, namely, to “defend the freedom for all religious denominations, provided they do not endanger the existence of the State or offend the concepts of decency and morality of the [American] way of life.”

In his address, Pastor [__] recognized that [undocumented immigrants] and their families are now being excluded from the new [America]. He reminded his listeners that any revolutionary movement like [MAGA] must take risks—in doing so, some errors will certainly be made. However, judgements should only be passed on the basis of the goals, highest desires, program, and direction of the [MAGA] movement. It is within that broader context and in view of the great crisis that [America] was facing under the previous regime that the “[undocumented immigrant] question” must be understood, according to Pastor [__]. In this regard the international media criticism of [America] has been one-sided for years; [Americans] suffered and no one said a word in the main-stream media. But now, suddenly, “if [undocumented immigrants] are somehow impacted,” they “know how to scream” according to what one [immigrant] told the pastor, and the “world press” takes notice. Again, no one highlighted the suffering [Americans] endured because of the [undocumented immigrants], many of whom are criminals.

Of course, there are “decent and base elements” in every community, including with the [undocumented immigrants]; “personal hatred against individual [undocumented immigrants]” cannot be what this about for Mennonites. Pastor [__] refused to endorse the claim that “every [undocumented immigrant] is a demon.” No, no! Nonetheless, the “fate” of individual illegal [immigrants] must be seen within the larger developments, intentions, and goals of [MAGA]. Its platform is not [anti-immigrant], according to Pastor [__], but [illegal immigrants] are crippling [Americans] and our businesses. Like “parasites,” [undocumented immigrants] have choked us economically. Whenever [undocumented immigrants] take a job, real [Americans] lose. [Illegal immigrants] have shown hatred and contempt towards all of us. They will do whatever it takes to suck benefits from [America]. [American]-Christian "idealism" once extended safety and hospitality to [undocumented immigrants], “but unfortunately without the desired results.” That our [open border] has been abused and misused is well-known, according to the pastor; the complaints and cries of those who [entered illegally] are full of political lies and “impudent mockery of all that is [American] and Christian.”

While Pastor [__] knows and respects many [Americans] whose parents or whose spouse is an [undocumented immigrant], and while he feels very sorry for their individual lot, he also understands that this “hard battle” to remove and expel them is necessary. The tone of this does not suit him; the “sound” of deportation does not make “for beautiful, harmonic music,” but it is necessary. At first, the new [anti-immigrant] laws “appeared very brutal and unjust to me too, but later I could appreciate that … in the ordering of this world, which of course is God’s order … we live as members of a community, in both good times and in bad.” And in this case too, the children are punished for the sin of the parents “to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7). The pain of exclusion will fall upon the decent and innocent individuals as well. [Undocumented immigrants] have sinned against a nation that offers hospitality. Again, the Mennonite pastor stated, he really is “very saddened for individuals” impacted, but what is necessary for [America], and the “private happiness” of the [undocumented immigrant] are two very different things. “Great floods engulf the guilty and the innocent alike in the life of a people,” the retired conference minister reminded the congregation. But in the case of [undocumented immigrants], it is mostly “evil seed sown that is now being reaped.”

This should be an important reminder to Christians who tend to focus piously on their own souls and the afterlife, and who define “kingdom work” very narrowly. Rather, we all do well to see in the intentions and work of our federal troops what they are really doing: “casting out demons” and creating space and form for the good, "just as Jesus did."

--Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

This is my summary of Pastor Gustav Kraemer’s text Wir und unsere Volksgemeinschaft (We [Mennonites] and our National Community). It was well received by the denominational chair, Elbing Pastor Emil Händiges, who recommended it to all churches.

I have only changed a few words from my original summary of the German (square brackets: Jew / undocumented immigrant; Nazim / MAGA; Führer/ President; Germany/America, etc). It is, however, faithful to the German text.

At the time, Kraemer was Pastor Emeritus of the Krefeld Mennonite Church. He delivered the guest presentation at the Heubuden Mennonite church in West Prussia, on January 25, 1938 in advance of the fifth anniversary of Hitler’s seizure of power (Jan. 30). It was published by the Krefeld congregation later in the year in time for the "Fifth Annual German Mennonite Gathering.” Here is the German original: https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/books/1938,%20Kraemer%20Wir%20und%20unsere%20Volksgemeinschaft/.

---

To cite this page: Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, "What is the Church to Say? Letter 2 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends," History of the Russian Mennonites (blog), November 14, 2024. https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-is-church-to-say-letter-2-of-4-to.html

Comments

What is the Church to Say? Letter 1 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accuarte and carefully considered. ~ANF American Mennonite leaders who supported Trump will be responding to the election results in the near future. Sometimes a template or sample conference address helps to formulate one’s own text. To that end I offer the following. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Mennonites in Germany sent official greetings by telegram: “The Conference of the East and West Prussian Mennonites meeting today at Tiegenhagen in the Free City of Danzig are deeply grateful for the tremendous uprising ( Erhebung ) that God has given our people ( Volk ) through the vigor and action of [unclear], and promise our cooperation in the construction of our Fatherland, true to the Gospel motto of [our founder Menno Simons], ‘For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.’” ( Note 1 ) Hitler responded in a letter

What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out. The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags. First, your congregational by-laws. It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the Heub

What is the Church to Say? Letter 3 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Mennonite endorsement Trump the man No one denies the moral flaws of Donald Trump, least of all Trump himself. In these next months Mennonite pastors who supported Trump will have many opportunities to restate to their congregation and their children why someone like Trump won their support. It may be obvious, but the words can be difficult to find. To help, I offer examples from Mennonite history with statements from one our strongest leaders of the past century, Prof. Benjamin H. Unruh (see the nice Mennonite Encyclopedia article on him, GAMEO ). I have substituted only a few words, indicated by square brackets to help with the adaptation. The [MAGA] movement is like the early Anabaptist movement! In the change of government in 1933, Unruh saw in the [MAGA] movement “things breaking forth which our forefathers in the

Russian and Prussian Mennonite Participants in “Racial-Science,” 1930

I n December 1929, some 3,885 Soviet Mennonites plus 1,260 Lutherans, 468 Catholics, 51 Baptists and seven Adventists were assisted by Germany to flee the Soviet Union. They entered German transit camps before resettlement in Canada, Brazil and Paraguay ( note 1 ) In the camps Russian Mennonites participated in a racial-biological study to measure their hereditary characteristics and “racial” composition and “blood purity” in comparison to Danzig-West Prussian, genetic cousins. In Germany in the last century, anthropological and medical research was horribly misused for the pseudo-scientific work referred to as “racial studies” (Rassenkunde). The discipline pre-dated Nazi Germany to describe apparent human differences and ultimately “to justify political, social and cultural inequality” ( note 2 ). But by 1935 a program of “racial hygiene” and eugenics was implemented with an “understanding that purity of the German Blood is the essential condition for the continued existence of the

High Crimes and Misdemeanors: Mennonite Murders, Infanticide, Rapes and more

To outsiders, the Mennonite reality in South Russia appeared almost utopian—with their “mild and peaceful ethos.” While it is easy to find examples of all the "holy virtues" of the Mennonite community, only when we are honest about both good deeds and misdemeanors does the Russian Mennonite tradition have something authentic to offer—or not. Rudnerweide was one of a few Molotschna villages with a Mennonite brewery and tavern , which in turn brought with it life-style lapses that would burden the local elder. For example, on January 21, 1835, the Rudnerweide Village Office reported that Johann Cornies’s sheep farm manager Heinrich Reimer, as well as Peter Friesen and an employed Russian shepherd, came into the village “under the influence of brandy,” and: "…at the tavern kept by Aron Wiens, they ordered half a quart of brandy and shouted loudly as they drank, banged their glasses on the table. The tavern keeper objected asking them to settle down, but they refused and

Simple Refugee Wedding: My grandparents (1931)

My father was born less than a year after these 1931 wedding photos. Jacob Fast and Helen Janzen had been in Paraguay less than 8 months—see the MCC telegram—and tragedy had already struck both refugees families. Jacob’s first wife and a daughter became victims of the epidemic that ravaged the new colony of Fernheim in those first months. He was now a widower at age 39—with an infant and other children without a mother. Helene was single and 29 years old. Her mother too had died from the same epidemic; her father was partially crippled. They had come from southern Ukrainian community of Spat, Crimea; Fast was from Ural Mountains area in Russia where South Russian Mennonites had created a “daughter colony” a generation earlier. Each had siblings who fled to Moscow in 1929 with them and who were accepted by Canada in 1930. My grandparents however were rejected—she was a single woman with frail parents; he was a man with an ill child. Perhaps in contexts like these the falling-i

“Operation Chortitza” – Resettler Camps in Danzig-West Prussia, 1943-44 (Part I)

In October 1943, some 3,900 Mennonite resettlers from “Operation Chortitza” entered the Gau of Danzig-West Prussia. They were transported by train via Litzmannstadt and brought to temporary camps in Neustadt (Danzig), Preußisch Stargard (Konradstein), Konitz, Kulm on the Vistula, Thorn and some smaller localities ( note 1 ). The Gau received over 11,000 resettlers from the German-occupied east zones in 1943. Before October some 3,000 were transferred from these temporary camps for permanent resettlement in order to make room for "Operation Chortitza" ( note 2 ). By January 1, 1944 there were 5,473 resettlers in the Danzig-West Prussian camps (majority Mennonite); one month later that number had almost doubled ( note 3 ). "Operation Chortitza" as it was dubbed was part of a much larger movement “welcoming” hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans “back home” after generations in the east. Hitler’s larger plan was to reorganize peoples in Europe by race, to separate

Volendam and the Arrival in South America, 1947

The Volendam arrived at the port in Buenos Aires, Argentina on February 22, 1947, at 5 PM, exactly three weeks after leaving from Bremerhaven. They would be followed by three more refugee ships in 1948. The harassing experiences of refugee life were now truly far behind them. Curiously a few months later the American Embassy in Moscow received a formal note of protest claiming that Mennonites, who were Soviet citizens, had been cleared by the American military in Germany for emigration to Paraguay even though the Soviet occupation forces “did not (repeat not) give any sanction whatever for the dispatch of Soviet citizens to Paraguay” ( note 1 ). But the refugees knew that they were beyond even Stalin’s reach and, despite many misgivings about the Chaco, believed they were the hands of good people and a sovereign God. In Buenos Aires the Volendam was anticipated by North American Mennonite Central Committee workers responsible for the next leg of the resettlement journey. Elisabeth

"Anti-Menno" Communist: David J. Penner (1904-1993)

The most outspoken early “Mennonite communist”—or better, “Anti-Menno” communist—was David Johann Penner, b. 1904. Penner was the son of a Chortitza teacher and had grown up Mennonite Brethren in Millerovo, with five religious services per week ( note 1 )! In 1930 with Stalin firmly in power, Penner pseudonymously penned the booklet entitled Anti-Menno ( note 2 ). While his attack was bitter, his criticisms offer a well-informed, plausible window on Mennonite life—albeit biased and with no intention for reform. He is a ethnic Mennonite writing to other Mennonites. Penner offers multiple examples of how the Mennonite clergy in particular—but also deacons, choir conductors, Sunday School teachers, leaders of youth or women’s circles—aligned themselves with the exploitative interests of industry and wealth. Extreme prosperity for Mennonite industrialists and large landowners was achieved with low wages and the poverty of their Russian /Ukrainian workers, according to Penner. Though t

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog