Human rights integral part of Mennonite history - a consultation

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WINNIPEG, MB—Mennonites generally use words such as compassion, care and community when discussing actions to alleviate poverty, improve health care and promote peace and social justice.

While recognizing that human rights language does not fully express a Christian response to human needs, speakers at a Winnipeg consultation suggested that Mennonite churches and agencies, including MCC,  adopt human rights as a framework for responding to human need.

The consultation,  New Lenses? A Mennonite Look at Human Rights, was sponsored by the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, in cooperation with MCC, Canadian Mennonite University and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

Through lectures, stories and small group discussions the consultation examined historical and theological reflections around the issues of human rights. The consultation concluded with a suggestion that a working group be formed to show how an issue could be presented using a human rights framework.

Although Mennonite churches and MCC don’t have official statements on human rights Mennonite historian Royden Loewen said Mennonites have a long history of negotiating with governments to advocate for human rights. This history, unfortunately, also includes violations of  human rights.

Loewen, chair in Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg, said contracts negotiated between Mennonite church leaders and the governments of Russia, Canada and Mexico prior to mass migrations to these countries show church leaders were petitioning governments to recognize human rights.

In addition to negotiating for religious freedom, educational freedom and exemption from military services church leaders also negotiated other rights. One of these rights was exemptions from government laws pertaining to inheritance laws and property rights.

Historically, these negotiations pertained to protecting the rights of Mennonites. Loewen said it is not surprising that when Mennonites left the isolation of rural communities and moved to cities in the 1950s many adopted a wider perspective of human rights.

“ They began to make the plight of others their political concern,” he said. “They turned from seeking rights for their own group and turned into advocates for the poor and maltreated, for marginal people, for folks whose right to a life of peace had been trampled on.”

While some Mennonite churches have their own advocacy programs, many Mennonite churches look to MCC to confront governments and work towards justice and equality for all people.

An Ontario lawyer, Tim Wichert, said Mennonite advocacy is focused primarily on working with governments in United States and Canada. He suggested advocacy be expanded to include international governments and agencies and that people from Mennonite churches be actively involved at the decision making level within international agencies.

“While advocacy at the national level is important, there should be greater attention to the international system,” he said. “On the one hand, the rights developed at the international level set standards for all to achieve. At the same time, these international standards simply remain goals unless they are incorporated into national policy. So there is a need to persuade governments which have agreed to international standards to put them into practice.”