The peaceful are often not tolerated in war-thirsty America

Former President George W. Bush was famous for saying, “You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.” This was Bush's rallying cry while raising money and recruiting soldiers for his wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which he saw as wars against terrorists.


When the president starts saying things like this, American Mennonites, Amish, and other Christians with peace beliefs start to worry. Will we need to react to a society less tolerant of us?


Former President Bush was expressing that he was a so-called “realist,” a theory that all countries are in a perpetual war for dominance over all other countries. President Bush thought that to prevent more terrorist attacks, America only option was assert its dominance in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. The President of the United States thought everyone had to wage war. There were two sides in his mind: the Americans and the terrorists. Peace Christians wouldn't kill for America, so in the mind of President Bush they were no different from America's new military enemy, the terrorists.


Former President Bush was also expressing disdain for “constructivists”. Under the previous administration there was a place in America for peace Christians and other constructivists who were working towards a future without war. But that ended under President Bush. To President Bush, there was no tolerance for peaceful solutions, peaceful ideas, or peaceful people. Only war. And there were only two sides.


Most Mennonites made it through Bush's wars without having to compromise their beliefs. There were limits on what President Bush could do at the time; he did not have the legal authority to round up all the young men and force them to kill or go to prison, like what happened in the U.S. before 1975.  But drafting young men and forcing them to kill has happened in the United States. It still happens in other countries. It could have happened under Bush. And it could happen in the United States again.


Instead of forcing young men to kill in the U.S. Military, the bellicose statements of President Bush just changed American culture in disturbing ways, in the mind of American Mennonites. Bush's rhetoric enabled American men to express their masculinity by posturing in support of America's total war on terrorists/Iraq/Afghanistan. Everyday Americans were emboldened to reject the peaceful, to reject the “constructivists.” Yellow ribbons on cars demanded that everyone “support the troops.” Flags popped up as a symbol of a macho nationalist anger. Pro-nationalist songs were sung. Pro-military ceremonies were held in town squares and sporting events. September 11th became a day of support for America's military and America's wars abroad. Bush was promoting the militarization of American society.


Mennonites did not voice support America's global war on terrorists when society became militarized. To the newly angry and blood-thirsty Americans, Mennonites had been placed in same category as America's enemies. By the President.


Mennonites became outsiders when America caught war fever.


Mennonites are sometimes tolerated in America. Sometimes we are not.

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