Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
Ernie
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Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by Ernie »

Can anybody help me learn which Anabaptist conferences, or constituencies allow people who are part of the church to serve in law enforcement and/or the military?

If you can also point me to documents that make allowance for certain things or prohibit certain things, that would be great.
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Josh
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by Josh »

The most obvious one is MB US since there are a couple news articles about it.

Anecdotally, FEC does but I can’t find any official policy statements.

Anecdotally, MC USA has members who are police officers, but I also can’t find an official statement of this.
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Ernie
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by Ernie »

I found this in the FEC statement of faith.

ARTICLE VII - ATTITUDE TOWARD STRIFE AND MILITARY SERVICE
We believe the teaching of Scripture enjoins believers to love their enemies, to pray for
their persecutors and to overcome evil with good. They are instructed to make every
effort to live peaceably with everyone. (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:18, 12:21)

We do not believe it is God's will to promote strife among individuals, groups, classes, or
nations. Because of this principle and in the light of the historic position of the
Fellowship of Evangelical Churches opposing the bearing of arms in military service and
law enforcement, we uphold our Christian youth who, because of their faith and
conscience, choose to express the law of love uniformly in personal, social and civil
relationships and to seek exemptions from or alternatives to combat service. (Romans
12:20)

We also respect the right of individual conviction and recognize that various positions
will be taken on military service and law enforcement. Therefore, we support those who
choose to serve in agencies of civil government, such as the military or a police force,
because civil government is recognized as God's servant. (Roman 13:4)
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Josh
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by Josh »

Ah, the FEC did indeed adopt a statement similar to US MB where they affirm two seemingly contradictory positions.

I vaguely remember meeting someone in an LMC congregation who was a cop, but it’s been a while.
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temporal1
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by temporal1 »

If it has not been done, a list of, or a place for, commonly used forum acronyms might be useful? :)
In “Announcements and Introductions” category?

Possibly with a glossary of sorts?

Some acronyms have double or multiple uses.

Just thought. Does GAMEO have such references?
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steve-in-kville
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by steve-in-kville »

The COB we attend made it a test of membership years ago. Recently it has allowed for exceptions as far as military service goes. Since there are so many diverse fields available that do not involve combat, the standards were loosened. Example being: USCG rescue swimmers, rescue helicopter pilots, etc.

Not sure about law enforcement, though.
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temporal1
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by temporal1 »

steve-in-kville wrote:The COB we attend made it a test of membership years ago. Recently it has allowed for exceptions as far as military service goes. Since there are so many diverse fields available that do not involve combat, the standards were loosened. Example being: USCG rescue swimmers, rescue helicopter pilots, etc.

Not sure about law enforcement, though.
you tripped a memory. :)
formerly, on MD, there were several who were active first responders, including firefighters, EMT, etc.

these are gov employees, but they do not bear arms. there may still be a forum presence, of mostly lurkers (?) Ernie is asking about bearing arms in this thread (?) .. how is the matter of being employed by government (which is responsible for law enforcement+military) dealt with in these cases? does “not bearing arms” provide for these exceptions?

the forum has/had some members who formerly bore arms in gov/military, but, from memory, i believe each one of those left those experiences behind when they became CO.

Ernie, i’m pretty sure you could readily recall these members?
(this may be too far away from what you’re wanting for this thread.)
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JimFoxvog
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by JimFoxvog »

Looking at A Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective ( http://mennoniteusa.org/confession-of-f ... esistance/ ) I find these clear words:
As disciples of Christ, we do not prepare for war, or participate in war or military service.
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steve-in-kville
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by steve-in-kville »

Law enforcement is something I'm on the fence on, I will admit. I volunteer with a local search & rescue team and many of us carry a pistol while on search details, but that's more for critters than people. In fact, in light of recent events in our nation, the chief encourages we pack heat!
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Neto
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Re: Anabaptists Serving in Law Enforcement and the Military

Post by Neto »

Is registering for concealed carry the first step toward a military stance?
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