For Anabaptists, isn’t talking about unjust laws engaging in politics?

It is true that Anabaptists have always stressed that the Kingdom of God is not merely a new and improved version of the kingdoms of the world. God does not call Christians to grab as much worldly power as possible to run society as much as possible. No, we are called to seek an entirely different kind of power—the power of self-sacrificial love, as illustrated on the cross—to change the world in a radically different kind of way.

At the same time, we are called to love and care for all people, paying special attention to those who are marginalized and oppressed by the world’s systems. Indeed, following the example of Jesus, our call is to locate ourselves in other people’s marginalization and oppression, making their pain our pain.

While we do not try to position ourselves as experts on running society, we must lend our voice to the collective pain of oppressed people and ask what can be done to rectify this unjust situation.

The line between where our collective hurt ends and where partisan politics begins can be blurry, but it’s important Kingdom people try to discern this line. For example, we believe that all white Christians are called to enter into solidarity with black and brown people and to lend their voice to the conviction that it’s time to eradicate systemic racism from our judicial system and police forces. Does this mean that there is a distinctly “Christian” opinion about how to do this? Does it involve defunding and/or dismantling the police department? Or are there other ways of bringing about a more just system? On this and related questions, people have differing opinions, whether they are Christian or not. We encourage Christians to be passionate in pursuing justice for the marginalized and oppressed while also remaining humble about any ideas on how exactly to do this.