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Articles : Editorial

Fact, fiction and the truth

Telling fact from fiction can be hard in a world of guile and spin. Truth’s elusiveness is nothing new.

Crossing abortion’s battle lines

Recent confirmation hearings for two Supreme Court nominees yielded little information about their views on specific issues, including abortion.

Retracing a journey with friends of faith

Important streams in the history of Mennonite missions and the encounter between Mennonites and their Native American neighbors will converge at a gathering in Clinton, Okla., in several weeks.

Gift of peace for the whole body

The biblical image of the church as a body with many parts can fit a big or a small scale. It can refer to the role of an individual within a congregation, or it might describe how a denomination fits into the wider Christian movement.

When secrecy avoids accountability

Revelations that President George W. Bush ordered secret wiretapping and surveillance of Americans by the National Security Agency — ostensibly as part of the war on terror — raise serious moral questions. Chief among these is whether the president legally can steer past the judicial system and order such surveillance of e-mail and phone transmissions without warrants being issued — warrants that observers say would be quickly forthcoming if sought.

Blessed are the everyday givers

Giving in 2005 contrasted two kinds of charity. Disaster responses got showers of blessings. Everyday ministries went begging.

Quotes from 2005

Truth, finding that of God, requires a long journey of constant curiosity.
— John Paul Lederach, peacemaking expert, at the inauguration of Hesston (Kan.) College President Howard Keim

Now we see, and believe

Seeing is believing. It’s also knowing and caring. Visiting a place we’ve never been or meeting a person for the first time opens a whole new view. With firsthand experience, we know and care more deeply than we ever could from a distance.

Seeking peace must embrace risk

The Nov. 26 kidnapping of four Christian Peacemaker Teams activists in Iraq is a tragedy of a sort that was virtually bound to happen, especially if CPT is fulfilling the mission it has set for itself — literally, as its motto says, “getting in the way” for the sake of Christ and the cause of nonviolence.