I think this is right. You'll have to pick your ambassadors of outreach to these veterans very carefully. Vets with PTSD especially can have a strong reaction against authoritarian personalities and people who come across as hostile. It triggers them.
I'm not sure what outreach to veterans by those with nonresistant/pacifist views has to do with triggering personality traits. The question of clashing worldviews is far more fundamental, and the idea of nonresistance is highly objectionable to many veterans. If God places veterans in our path and we have the opportunity to engage with them on issues of military service, the way we engage is important, though.
Numerous veterans have in fact discovered Anabaptist theology and sought out the Anabaptist community. I don't think Anabaptists should seek them out more so than any other particular group. But I agree that the way of Jesus has much to offer them.
Can you honestly say there are no authoritarian personalities among nonresitant/pacifist groups?
I don’t think vets would be any more opposed to authoritarian views than anyone else.
In my mind, military service gave me a profound different view of Christianity and what it actually means to “enlist” in service of the Lord.
Rules and regulations give security in a way, what is most troubling is when the same sort of corruption of “standards” happens in the church that happens in the military.
For years at this point, the US has been assisting and advising Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. It is interesting that now, the situation is reversed in relation to Iran.
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:19 am
I think this is right. You'll have to pick your ambassadors of outreach to these veterans very carefully. Vets with PTSD especially can have a strong reaction against authoritarian personalities and people who come across as hostile. It triggers them.
This is utter nonsense. Vets are people just like anyone else.
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:19 am
I think this is right. You'll have to pick your ambassadors of outreach to these veterans very carefully. Vets with PTSD especially can have a strong reaction against authoritarian personalities and people who come across as hostile. It triggers them.
This is utter nonsense. Vets are people just like anyone else.
The reality of vets having PTSD is something the average person doesn’t experience. They are really never the same if they encountered a very traumatic experience. I’m grateful none in my immediate family did, my son was in the navy when 9:11 happened. His ship was on its way home from a 6 month deployment then 9/11 happened & they turned around to go another 3 months. It didn’t change him but maybe affected his perspective. It did upset him to be on a ship sending off that which would destroy lives. He had some scary (from my mom‘s point of view) assignments.
I also remember Viet Nam that came home never the same- PTSD was bad for some, not most.
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:19 am
I think this is right. You'll have to pick your ambassadors of outreach to these veterans very carefully. Vets with PTSD especially can have a strong reaction against authoritarian personalities and people who come across as hostile. It triggers them.
This is utter nonsense. Vets are people just like anyone else.
Not so much. The military strongly indoctrinates one to see "enemies," we who know Christ have no humans that are enemies in the true sense of the word. Our enemies are unseen.
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:19 am
I think this is right. You'll have to pick your ambassadors of outreach to these veterans very carefully. Vets with PTSD especially can have a strong reaction against authoritarian personalities and people who come across as hostile. It triggers them.
This is utter nonsense. Vets are people just like anyone else.
Not so much. The military strongly indoctrinates one to see "enemies," we who know Christ have no humans that are enemies in the true sense of the word. Our enemies are unseen.
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:35 am
Can you honestly say there are no authoritarian personalities among nonresistant/pacifist groups?
There most certainly are. I would guess a similar percentage as among most other church groups.
I think you're right.
If you do happen to try to help vets that might have PTSD their spouses are also needing support too. Some of the Free Willers have churches close to military bases so they regularly have ministry with that group. Years ago I went to a retreat on ministry to those who have PTSD because of that. There was a lot of info on the condition but also on the needs of their spouses too.
God bless you if you decide to take on this responsibility. In my book veterans were a part of Jesus' ministry to everyone regardless of background. It takes a very laid back and patient personality to be able to reach some of them with PTSD and get them to trust the mentor/ambassador enough to feel safe.
1 x
Free Will Baptist <-> Anabaptist
”Try hard not to offend. Try harder not to be offended.” Robert Martz
JohnH wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:14 amSpeaking as an outsider, most ethnic Anabaptists shouldn't bother trying to relate to veterans.
JohnH wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 9:31 amVets are people just like anyone else.
to me, these two statements seem to be opposites.
0 x
Anything seems possible if you don't know what you are talking about. fb meme
You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm also entitled to ignore that nonsense. another fb meme
JohnL wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 3:02 pm
If you do happen to try to help vets that might have PTSD their spouses are also needing support too. Some of the Free Willers have churches close to military bases so they regularly have ministry with that group. Years ago I went to a retreat on ministry to those who have PTSD because of that. There was a lot of info on the condition but also on the needs of their spouses too.
God bless you if you decide to take on this responsibility. In my book veterans were a part of Jesus' ministry to everyone regardless of background. It takes a very laid back and patient personality to be able to reach some of them with PTSD and get them to trust the mentor/ambassador enough to feel safe.
As a boy, one of my dad's friends was a Vietnam vet. He was talented and extremely capable in rural farming skills like welding, diesel mechanic, electrician, etc... and once had his own dairy farm but the stress would trigger his untreated, undiagnosed PTSD which turned him to alcohol. He eventually lost the farm and his family and took a job with another farmer overseeing the beef cows because it was quiet, stress free with limited human engagement.
I remember him telling my dad about waking in the night to the sound of wild dogs attacking his dairy calves. He blacked out and didn't recover consciousness until it was morning and he found himself under the house aiming his rifle out of the foundation vents. Along side the house was a row of dead dogs laid out like soldiers waiting for body bags. That was when he realized he needed to sell the farm before he killed someone.
