[amc] Fwd: Soldier Saints and Patriot Pacifists - highlighting St. Martin of Tours (his feast day is today)
- From: "Ray Gingerich" <rjgingerich@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Milwaukee Mennonite" <milwaukee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:26:21 -0800
More thoughts on Veteran's Day.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Clair Hochstetler, Goshen, Indiana <clair.hochstetler@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Nov 11, 2007 12:25 PM
Subject: Soldier Saints and Patriot Pacifists - highlighting St. Martin of
Tours (his feast day is today)
To: menno.org.peace.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Soldier Saints and Patriot Pacifists -- reflection for Veteran's Day (in
the U.S.A.)
(I was tipped off today by a chaplain colleague from Maine, Scott Dow, who
alerted me to an excellent reflection piece that appeared Thursday on the
"God's Politics" blog. It was authored by *Logan Laituri* a six-year Army
veteran with combatant service in Iraq during OIF II and experience with
Christian Peacemaker Teams in Israel and the West Bank. He is an active
member of Iraq Veterans Against the War <http://www.ivaw.org/> and currently
resides in Camden, New Jersey, in an intentional Christian community called
Camden House, where he continues to seek ways to wage peace wherever he
goes. He blogs at courageouscoward.blogspot.com and his latest entry is
another facinating read in itself. )
"This Sunday the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Martin of
Tours, one of the first saints not to be martyred. In fact,
St. Martin was one of many to be beatified who, by today's standards, would
be identified as a conscientious objector - an individual
verifiably opposed to "war in any form." At one time a Roman centurion,
Martin came to a "crystallization" of conscience, laying down his sword and
declaring, "I am a soldier of Christ, it is not permissible for me to
fight." It has been speculated that in 1918, Nov. 11 was chosen as Armistice
Day in part due to St. Martin, who is especially the patron of soldiers and
chaplains. It is curious to consider that this Christian soldier in fact
thought it more Christlike to return to the front lines unarmed than with
the sword the empire placed in his hands.
David Thoreau, an inspiration to another saintly Martin (
http://www.thekingcenter.org) who believed that a creative, nonviolent
minority could serve the state by resisting it with the intention of
improving it. Could this in fact be the embodiment of service to the state
Paul speaks of in Romans 13? After all, he and St. Martin both were
imprisoned for their beliefs*"
Read Logan's entire piece at: http://go.sojo.net/ct/z1qpe011QYqm
Clair Hochstetler
Goshen, IN
--
Center for Strength-based Strategies
Ray Gingerich, Associate
5631 Bentwood Lane
Greendale (Milwaukee), WI 53129
phone (512) 569-7111
email rjgingerich@xxxxxxxxx
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"Change is possible when I stop trying to become that which I am not and
become that which I am." Frederick Perls
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