August 28, 2007
Proposed Canadian human rights museum fuels Mennonite debate
by Gladys Terichow
How does the Mennonite faith community understand and promote human rights? How does society talk about injustices—how does the church talk about injustices? How and when do human rights and the Anabaptist-Mennonite faith intersect?
These and other questions on human rights create “dynamic tension” among people of the Mennonite faith, said Kenton Lobe, chair of the Mennonite Committee on Human Rights.
This committee was formed in 2006 to help Mennonite churches, MCC and other Mennonite organizations assemble shared ideas and recommendations for the development of exhibits and programs in the proposed Canadian Museum for Human Rights to be built in Winnipeg.
To take this discussion beyond “surface layers” to an in-depth exploration of the intersection of human rights and the Anabaptist-Mennonite faith, the committee has organized a six-session course that will be offered on a monthly basis, beginning in September, at Canadian Mennonite University.
This course, Human Rights Through A Mennonite Lens, will be taught collaboratively by theologian Paul Doerksen, a history and Bible teacher at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, and human rights attorney, Ismael Muvingi, who is also an instructor in Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College.
Lobe said the Mennonite faith community has much to contribute to conversations about human rights and injustices, stemming from its work in Canada and around the world with vulnerable peoples in conflict situations, who have been displaced, or who are facing hunger.
Mennonite churches have a long history of working on issues of food and hunger through MCC and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. “In a world of abundant food, more than 800 million people are hungry—an affront to God and to basic human dignity, as well as a violation of the internationally agreed upon human right to food” said Lobe, who represents the Canadian Foodgrains Bank on the Mennonite Committee on Human Rights.
Mennonites also have their own personal stories of injustices that were experienced at the beginning of the Anabaptist movement, again in Russia/Ukraine, and more recently in Indonesia, Congo, and Colombia.
“As a faith community we need to decide what we want to say about injustices and how we want to say it, particularly when talking to government” said Lobe, explaining Mennonites generally talk about injustices using biblical language, not human rights language.
“It’s similar to learning another language,” he said, explaining human rights language can articulate what should be done, but it doesn’t provide a theological basis for why it should be done.
Increasingly, human rights language is the “common language used in political conversations” and learning this language provides opportunities for Mennonite churches and organizations to engage in dialogue with governments about their obligations and responsibilities to their citizens.
The first widely-recognized statement of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was signed by Canada and other nations in 1948.
“The nations of the world came together to craft a common language outlining the basic human rights of all people,” explained Lobe. “Their intent was to ensure that the dignity of all people and the needs of the most vulnerable, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or religious conviction, would be respected by individuals and by nation states.”
This declaration emerged from the experiences of inhumanity that occurred during World War II. Human rights in Canada are also protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.
Participants in the six-session course will explore these legal documents and how the Mennonite faith community intersects with the principles, attitudes and language of these documents in its life and ministry as the church.
This continuing education course is the second major event organized by the committee. In January the committee organized a consultation that examined historical and theological reflections around the issues of human rights.
Members of the committee represent Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, Canadian Mennonite University/Menno Simons College, MCC Canada and MCC Manitoba. The committee also has members who do not represent organizations but are interested in issues pertaining to human rights.
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