 |
|
|
|
 My Faith: Why I don't sing the 'Star Spangled Banner'
By Mark Schloneger, Special to CNN I choose to belong to a strange tribe. Goshen College, my alma mater, made national news this month when its board of directors decided that the “Star Spangled Banner” would not be played before athletic events. As could be expected, the decision was met with confusion and contempt. Wasn’t this just another example of our traditional values being trampled by the unrelenting march of political correctness? What sort of ingrates object to our nation’s anthem, anyway? Fluffy-headed campus philosophers? Lazy latte-sipping liberals? The decision not to play the national anthem reversed last year’s decision to play it for the first time in Goshen College’s 116-year history. That, too, caught the media’s attention. It also caused widespread concern and confusion among the college’s students, professors, alumni, supporters and, yes, donors - many of whom felt like playing the anthem compromised the college’s Christian values. Goshen is a small school in northern Indiana that's owned and operated as a ministry of Mennonite Church USA. I am a Goshen graduate, a longtime member of the Mennonite Church and the pastor of a Mennonite congregation. Mennonites live in countries all over the world. Though we speak many languages, have different ethnic origins, and express our faith in diverse ways, we all claim the Anabaptists in 16th century Europe as our spiritual ancestors. The Anabaptists agreed with most of the ideas of the Protestant Reformation but felt that reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin didn't go far enough. Anabaptists rejected the practice of infant baptism, for instance, believing that water baptism should be reserved for believers who confess a faith in Jesus. Because they understood the exercise of state power to be inconsistent with the church’s identity and mission, Anabaptists also advocated for the strict separation of church and state. This then-radical stance was prompted by both theology and necessity: Anabaptists had the distinct notoriety of being tortured and killed by both Catholics and Protestants wielding the power of the state against them. Instead of compromising their core convictions about what it means to follow Jesus, thousands of Anabaptist men and women adhered to their freedom of conscience even as they were mocked by neighbors, burned at stakes and drowned in rivers. Although there certainly are diverse viewpoints among individual Mennonites today, we continue to advocate for the strict separation of church and state. Most Mennonite churches do not have flags inside them, and many Mennonites are uncomfortable with the ritual embedded in the singing of the national anthem. That’s because we recognize only one Christian nation, the church, the holy nation that is bound together by a living faith in Jesus rather than by man-made, blood-soaked borders. To Mennonites, a living faith in Jesus means faithfully living the way of Jesus. Jesus called his disciples to love their enemies and he loved his enemies all the way to the cross and beyond. Following Jesus and the martyrs before us, we testify with our lives that freedom is not a right that is granted or defended with rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air. True freedom is given by God, and it is indeed not free. It comes with a cost, and it looks like a cross. It’s a strange tribe to which I belong, and sometimes it’s hard to be strange. We struggle to be inclusive in our welcome yet passionate in our identity. Our desire for acceptance, for approval, is strong, and we don’t always live up to the convictions that we set before us. We must repent of that, for the world cannot know of its brokenness and hopelessness without a people who show a holistic way of life. The world cannot know that there is an alternative to violence and war without a people of peace making peace. The world cannot know that the weak and the vulnerable are cared for by God without a people practicing an economy centered on sharing and mutual aid. The world cannot know the unsurpassable worth of human life without a people who consistently work to protect it - in the fetus, in the convict, in the immigrant, in the soldier, and in the enemy. These convictions do not reflect ingratitude or hatred for our country. Rather, they reflect a deep love for the church and a passionate desire for the church to be the church. Mennonite beliefs and practices seem bizarre to some and offensive to others. But it’s life in this strange tribe that keeps me faithful to what I believe. I love my country, but I sing my loyalty and pledge my allegiance to Jesus alone. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mark Schloneger. soundoff (4,360 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91Post a comment
Next entry »Faces of Faith: Explaining Mormonism
« Previous entrySacred Spaces: Inside a Hindu temple
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
|
|
|
© 2010 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Help | Advertising Practices
Editor's Note: Mark Schloneger is pastor of Springdale Mennonite Church in Waynesboro, Virginia.
I am not Mennonite, but have felt this same way when pledging my allegiance to the flag and this great country that I love. My allegiance is to the triune God. I could leave this country, although it would be hard. We could change the flag, although it would feel strange. But I cannot renounce my faith in God and my allegiance to Him. I am so glad to read of someone else who feels the same way!
Do what you want. It's a free country and it's free because of the "bombs bursting in air and the rockets red glare". Also, those bombs and rockets are how you are able to practice any religion you want. So do what you want but "DON'T FORGET" your freedom didn't come for free.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I am also a christian, served most of my adult life in the US Army, patriotic, but believe that God is the only person to whom I should pledge allegiance. I cannot pledge allegiance to any country that make laws that are contrary to the God's word. This does not mean that I do not love this country. I do and I'll fight for it to protect my freedom to speak the word. Nevertheless, it is not a christian nation as many believe. It was not founded on christian princiiples but on religiious beliefs about God. When you view and treat another human as 1/3 human, enslave another human being, and think that you are superior to another ethnic group, then it cannot be claimed that it was founded on godly principles.
This is now the second writing you have done that I have read. The first was about saluting the flag. I LOVE THIS!!!!! There is only ONE kingdom we should be focusing on as believers: the Kingdom of God! Thank you for saying this! I am glad to be an American, but my allegiance, heart, mind, and soul belong to God alone, and not to a country made by the hands of men. God, please soon, thy kingdom come!
the amish considered the menonites to liberal and broke away
so far so good! i didn't hear Denver's KBPI employees enter the Mennonite Church in Waynesboro, Virginia and playing " THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" on a bugle and trumpets as it happened with Colorado Mosque in response to Mahmoud Abdul- Rauf's refusal to stand for the National anthem
We don't care about your faith or your reasons for not singing the national anthem. That's the beauty of this country. Shut your yap and consider yourself lucky!
Religion is psychotic. The End.
Is it just me, or did everyone miss the hidden message? The only reason Nidal Malik did what he did was that he held his faith above his country, and above his fellow soldiers. Same situation here, and this frank sincere testimony is, frankly, scary. The fact that other people think this much devotion is exemplary, is even more scary.
It is rather frightening, but it also depends on what you interpret as your "faith" – if your faith includes killing innocents, or even killing fellow soldiers who are not engaged in a way with Muslims, but with extremists – yeah, you're a nutjob. If your faith includes non-violence while holding your Christianity as the "nation" you belong to, above constantly shifting country lines, boundaries and political ideologies your home nation can comprise of, I have a bit more sympathy . I am descended from Quakers, Huguenots and Mennonites – people who had to flee their mother countries to survive in an foreign land. My mother's family comprises of Mennonites who escaped religious and political persecution in Russia. They had lived there for decades, but the political landscape turned against them – would you vow allegiance to a political system that believes you are better off dead? That's where Mennonites are "coming from". Nations are NOT forever – they fall and change. It is our IDEALS and fighting non-violently for those ideals that can make nations continue to be equal and humane, and it doesn't have to be nationalist in nature – it can be humanist instead. Personally I'd like to take religion out of the equation entirely, and just be humanist, but that is where Mennonites find their cohesive unifier – let them continue to do so, if at the end of the day, it makes them better people. If only all religions took "non-violence" so seriously as a tenant of their faith.