A faction of MC USA's call to abolish the police

[Josh]

Mennonite Church USA has decided to publish an official "Abolition Curriculum", taught by Melissa Florer-Bixler, pastor of Raleigh Mennonite Church. You can view the course material (it is being published as a "virtual course", as many churches similar to Raleigh Mennonite Church are not having in-person church services or classes) here.

I think it would be interesting for those of us here on MennoNet to view some of this curriculum and evaluate its message. We talk a lot about politics here on MennoNet, and particularly how it intersects with Anabaptist theology. Some of us (such as myself) think Anabaptists should not get involved in political movements. Others (you know who you are) keep very strongly proclaiming that to be Anabaptist or even to be a Christian, one needs to ally one's self with very specific social and political movements.

Let's start with the "pre-work". This church curriculum asks us to watch this TED talk and then listen to this NPR radio program:

The urgency of intersectionality

American Police

I took a brief hiatus from my normal convictions against watching TV and listening to the radio to watch and listen to these two things; after all, this is "the Mennonite church" publishing these things as official church curriculum, right alongside the Sunday school booklets. I invite you to do the same, and then come back here and discuss.

[Ken]

Honestly, I would tend not to view some MCUSA pastor as an expert on policing of any kind.

[appleman2006]

We may see some things differently Josh but I have a feeling that on this one we would come out very close to the same place.

[Josh]

Rev. Florer-Bixler is just the facilitator. The curriculum is built with input from a variety of "experts", both within the denomination, and with outside resources.

This is MC USA's most significant work, made with a panel of well-credentialed experts, on the topics we keep hearing about over and over on MennoNet. So I think it's worth taking a look at this curriculum and seeing just what the experts end up saying.

I will refrain from stating my opinions/conclusions until we get through all the course material.

[Valerie]

Rev. Florer-Bixler is just the facilitator. The curriculum is built with input from a variety of "experts", both within the denomination, and with outside resources.

This is MC USA's most significant work, made with a panel of well-credentialed experts, on the topics we keep hearing about over and over on MennoNet. So I think it's worth taking a look at this curriculum and seeing just what the experts end up saying.

I will refrain from stating my opinions/conclusions until we get through all the course material.

I wonder if they realize that some of the people that were allowed us about defunding the police have done a 180 on that position. For example the mayor of seattle, and Washington DC both now want to increase police a year later they realized it was a bad idea to defend the police

[temporal1]

Honestly, I would tend not to view some MCUSA pastor as an expert on policing of any kind.

If i recall, when seattle was on fire in 2020, you were encouraged by local MCUSA support and involvement there.
You thought it was great, A good time.

At least one thread from that time exists, i have not reviewed it. It may be in this one:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2917&hilit=seattle

i’m near seattle right now.
This is my first visit where we will not visit the city. The local stories are now of how bad things are there, warnings not to go.
It was bad enough before the summer MONTHS of 2020.

Political activists made a big mess. Now everyone has to pay the price of their poor behaviors and choices.
NOT 1 APOLOGY.

[Josh]

The writers of this curriculum are well aware and involved in political trends and activism, and they just released this curriculum, so yes, what has happened in Seattle is exactly what this curriculum has in mind.

But let’s get back on topic to talking about the content of the course itself.

[Robert]

The urgency of intersectionality

She is being quite selective of the information she is sharing about these victims. I find her quite misleading.

[Bootstrap]

Rev. Florer-Bixler is just the facilitator. The curriculum is built with input from a variety of "experts", both within the denomination, and with outside resources.

This is MC USA's most significant work, made with a panel of well-credentialed experts, on the topics we keep hearing about over and over on MennoNet. So I think it's worth taking a look at this curriculum and seeing just what the experts end up saying.

I would never use this course for anything, and I don't think it represents "what the experts end up saying" - experts have a wide variety of opinions. It certainly does not represent my own views. I don't know that I would take a Sunday School class as the official doctrine of MC-USA, either.

This was written by people in one particular faction of MC-USA, I would consider them activists who are particularly political and liberal. I wish MC-USA had not published it. I don't know what happens to MC-USA in the coming years.

[Szdfan]

Rev. Florer-Bixler is just the facilitator. The curriculum is built with input from a variety of "experts", both within the denomination, and with outside resources.

This is MC USA's most significant work, made with a panel of well-credentialed experts, on the topics we keep hearing about over and over on MennoNet. So I think it's worth taking a look at this curriculum and seeing just what the experts end up saying.

I would never use this course for anything, and I don't think it represents "what the experts end up saying" - experts have a wide variety of opinions. It certainly does not represent my own views. I don't know that I would take a Sunday School class as the official doctrine of MC-USA, either.

This was written by people in one particular faction of MC-USA, I would consider them activists who are particularly political and liberal. I wish MC-USA had not published it. I don't know what happens to MC-USA in the coming years.

I would also be careful interpreting this curriculum as denominational doctrine. This past spring the Constituency Leadership Council rejected a resolution called “Justice in the US Legal System” and prevented it from being sent to the Delegate Assembly for consideration this summer.

https://www.mennoniteusa.org/news/clc-r ... solutions/

Charlotte Tsuyuki Lehman, pastor of Reba Place Church in Evanston, Ill., and Stephen Lamb, associate pastor of Living Water Community Church in Chicago, presented this resolution. Written by Zachariah Begly of Reba Place Church and Elizabeth Reimer of Lombard Mennonite Church in Illinois, it calls congregations to support 10 commitments, including learning about the injustices in the U.S. criminal legal system, speaking with and learning from former prisoners, supporting the families of the incarcerated, learning how the U.S. legal system has been shaped by racist assumptions and advocating for reforms such as ending cash bail and mandatory minimum sentencing.

“While we felt that this does advance our vision of MC USA’s Renewed Commitments, we were not able to reach consensus on whether this should be sent to the Delegate Assembly,” said Ryan Koch, moderator of Mountain States Mennonite Conference, on behalf of his breakout group. “Some felt that further study was an appropriate way to move forward. Some also felt that the resolution needs more vetting and additional sources, and some wanted law enforcement to be part of the process.”

I recall from Facebook that this last sentence — including law enforcement — REALLY angered the activist wing of MCUSA.