Pioneers of Liberty


"Who were the Anabaptists? Radical reformers - Church planters - Peace activists - Pioneers of liberty" - From an advert for an online course in the Anabaptist Mennonite Network Newsletter, Summer 2024

Are you pro this side, or another side is normally a subtle way of asking who you are against rather than who you are for. People are good at knowing who they are against. Sadly, less able to see what they are for. 

I have long held that all true pacifists should protest all sides of all wars. All combatants have blood on their hands no matter how justified they think that is. Pacifists can not take sides with anyone other than the civilians, victims, and aid workers. God is no respecter of persons, and neither should we be.

Perhaps we should be more like the early anabaptists, who actively loved both Catholic and Protestant warring factions. Many of both sides hunted them without mercy. As a result, many anabaptists were drowned or burnt at the stake across Europe for standing by gospel teachings and a nonviolent ethic. Nonetheless, they stood up for righteousness in an age of unrighteous religious intolerance. Their example shines on through the ages and speaks of a better way to both live and die. These were the early pioneers of liberty!


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