THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

s our non-resistance a firm basis in Russia. Nor can our non-resistance be at all endangered through this; on the contrary, it is now particularly protected by the same. This law absolves us from everything related to carrying arms whereas other nationalities and denominations have been bound to it. What our service will be called and how one is to regard this? What do we care? Those are side issues. We have been legally recognized as nonresistant Mennonites and that according to military law. This recognition separates our service from the military administration and gives it a distinction which has to do with peaceful pursuits throughout. “I can not agree at all with those who suspect something unwholesome for us everywhere. I believe, rather, that the laws concerning us have been thoroughly thought through for our benefit and that they have taken our non-resistance into consideration even more than we ourselves are able to comprehend or evaluate. Indirectly not to come into contact with any military affairs is impossible because His Majesty the Tsar has to authorize all laws and ordinances no matter of how peaceable a nature they may be. Still he is and remains the highest military commander in Russia and the anointed person to whom we must render obedience and honor according to God’s explicit command. And this is how it is in every country, no matter what its system of government. “Russia has done everything it could for us— at least much more and in a wiser manner than one could ever have hoped. It has readily gone along with our concerns about non-resistance and our Confession of Faith as a whole. Naturally, in the interest of governmental justice, it could not take every desired convenience and many an idiosyncrasy that was voiced into account no matter what our wishes might have been. §280 606 THE STATE After all, should this country favor us unjustly now, then it might well show injustice in opposition to us at some other occasion. As long as we are so near to the heart of our Tsar and Tsarina that their gracious effusion over our people brings tears to our eyes— then things will go well with us in this land which has been so singularly blessed by God. To leave this country (at the very moment when God, through our gracious ruler, has provided a way of escape from our difficulty) would mean grieving our conscience (if we are to be Christian in every respect) and would be a crime against mankind as well as our own flesh and blood— and unjustifiable before God. What would Menno Simons not have given for such an asylum in his years as a fugitive? Oh, we Mennonites ought to be better acquainted with history. A knowledge of the past can make the present bearable for us and unlock the future concerning some things. Do not think, however, my beloved brothers that my confidence is dictated by a concern for carnal comfort! No, if I had wanted to pay attention to the flesh I would have left