Two hundred years ago, in 1812, groups of Christians in the Niagara Peninsula and other parts of Upper Canada, refused to participate in the hostilities between the British and the Americans. These Christians, from three denominations, (now known as) the Quakers, the Brethren in Christ, and the Mennonites, all sought conscientious objector status from the government. They had been promised this option when they first arrived in Canada as immigrants.
What was it
like to be peaceful in a world at war? What did that position cost them, in
terms of their standing in the community? Were there dissenting voices even
among these peace churches? How did being peaceful Christians in war-full times
play out in the lives of women and men of that time?
As Canada and
the United States begin to commemorate the War of 1812, how do we as modern-day
peacemakers respond? How are our beliefs the same or different? What is our relationship to our governments
in this current war-full time? There are so many questions: we hope this blog
will be a place of lively discussion and dialogue.
Greetings "War Resistance in 1812":
ReplyDeleteI’m very happy to see this blog on War Resistance in 1812.
I’m very interested in the issue of how our society’s views of certain historical events can make our society more prone, or less prone, to go to war.
In that light we should also look at how this current “war-full” society is now commemorating Remembrance Day. There’s a very interesting website on this closely related issue called...
Remembrance Day For All....
....including ALL OF those who want peace, as we remember Canada's wars.
The link to that site is RemembranceDayForAll ....DOT CA
Sincerely,
Boyd Reimer (grandson of John C. Reimer, one of main founders of the Mennonite Heritage Village museum in Steinbach, Manitoba.)
Glad you've found this blog! I share the same interests in thinking about how we "remember" war. It's easy to romanticize war when it's in the past. Also easy to forget those who also made sacrifices in order to RESIST participation in war.
ReplyDeleteI hope this blog and other venues help us come to a good way of "remembering" the war of 1812 and on-going wars.