A Constantinian Shift at Goshen College?

The Mennonite posted an article which I submitted to them on their web site. They chose the title "John Howard Yoder's 'irresponsibility'?" even though only 1/3 of the article deals directly with Yoder. There is so much more to be discussed surrounding this issue. I hope one that gets some exposure is the "worship" aspect. What I mean is this: The act of facing the flag during the anthem and placing the right hand over the heart ought to be seen as an act of worship. What other acts do we do or postures do we assume that are totally "non-rational"? When God is worshiped, people will stand for scripture reading, bow their heads, close their eyes, lift their hands, cross themselves, etc. These are all "toward God." I submit that something similar is happening when the anthem is played and people face the flag and place their hands over their hearts (according to the law). Is this not worship "toward the nation"?
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What's this about?

This blog is intended to be a space where we post our thoughts on things from a Mennonite-theological perspective-mainly peace and war, church and state/world, the "simple" theological/political topics we love to shoot the breeze over. We have been influenced by persons who learned under John Howard Yoder and believe that what the church needs is a renewed commitment to an "evangelical witness" which is public, social, pacifist, service-oriented and egalitarian. By "evangelical," we do not mean "American, politically conservative"; we mean we believe we have been given "good news" (gospel) to share with the world. (Sometimes the world will help us understand what "good news" means in a particular situation.) On the other hand, by "public, social, pacifist," etc, we do not mean "American, politically liberal"; we mean to point to a way of living modeled by Jesus Christ as shown in the New Testament. This is something that is visible, not simply tucked away and hidden in the hearts of the faithful. It leads and is an example through service, not through domination.

We will be cheating and recycling some of our seminary papers here (hey, we paid to write these things!). I have already posted one (a first-year effort). Hopefully we can share our best work, and hopefully all of it can spark some discussion and thought amongst the readers (all 2 of you).

Watch this space...

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