Christians questioned war response in 1812, too
ST. CATHARINES, ON—For the 1812 Bicentennial Peace Committee, the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 is an opportunity to remember the very different ways Christians took a stance against hostilities.
The peace committee was formed to bring together three historic peace denominations—Mennonites, Quakers and Brethren in Christ—to commemorate their common history.
Historian Jonathan Seiling, chair of the committee, has been researching the varied ways Christians took a stance against the conflict.
He explains the three denominations were granted explicit exemption from militia service and instead required to pay a militia tax worth about two month's income. While Mennonites and Brethren in Christ often paid the taxes, many Quakers refused—facing jail time and in some cases death behind bars due to harsh conditions.
"Christians didn't all respond the same," he says. "They were often faced with very difficult decisions—not choosing between good and evil, but choosing between varying degrees of evil."
Those staying on their farms could expect officers to conscript their horses and wagons, and even conscript people to haul supplies or house soldiers. Seiling says his research has uncovered a host of stories of peaceful resistance, including a Mennonite man in Waterloo who dismantled his wagon so it could not be used, and women who expressed their neutrality by feeding soldiers on both sides of the conflict, despite being charged as traitors.
"These were acts of religious conviction," he says. "They were people who wanted peace and saw this war as one which was devastating for everybody."
Seiling is preparing to publish a book based on his research later this spring. The peace committee is commemorating peaceful resistance with historical plaques in places of significance. They are also holding a series of events over the coming months, and have set up a blog to look at the wider issues remembering the War of 1812 raises about Christian responses to hostilities and military conflicts.
"There was diversity then and there is diversity now," he says, "and we still face difficult situations. Rather than idealizing a single view point, experience or response, what we're trying to do is look at what unites us."
There can also be great diversity between Christians who support military conflict, adds Colonel Gerry Potter, president of the Military Christian Fellowship of Canada. In both 1812 and today, Christians struggled how best to pursue peace in the face of military conflict.
Potter has an ancestor who served as a loyalist captain in the War of 1812, before going on to be ordained as a Baptist minister after the war, and planted two churches in Nova Scotia.
He is careful to draw the distinction between remembering the War of 1812, and celebrating.
"We shouldn't celebrate the War of 1812," he says "The War of 1812 was a war against our neighbours. There were cases of neighbours fighting against neighbours, friends against friends. It was a terrible time. Ask anyone coming back from the recent conflict in Afghanistan. Conflict is a terrible thing."
Potter says that many Christians both in and out of uniform question how Canada does, and should, respond in various conflict situations.
"We question the decision to act and we question the decision to do nothing," he says. "We are human, so we think, we wrestle, and we consider. Especially for people of faith there are times we may have questions of conscience about things we are asked to do."
Potter has been in the military for 35 years, and is now commanding officer of a military support unit to Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), as part of the Department of National Defence. He has counselled many military personal as they try and figure out how God would have them respond to various conflicts and situations. He's also had his own moments of "crisis" when he's asked, "God, what is your will for me here and now?"
"The Lord tells some to leave the military and some to stay," he says. "Our walk of faith is unique to each individual, and that's how our Lord is. He is very personal and we each have our own walk of faith to go through.
"My advice has always been to trust in what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. Otherwise you will live with regret. You've got to have integrity with your faith, as the Lord leads you, whether you are in uniform or not."
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