(by James E. Brenneman)div>
[scripture refence here]

May 6,2008, Indiana residents have played a significant role in the Democratic presidential race. It has been a long time ' at least 40 years ' since voices in this great state in the country's heartland have had such influence and were so valued.

As a Christian liberal arts college in northern Indiana that is rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition of peacemaking, global citizenship, and servant leadership, we at Goshen College have been much more apt to be skeptical and cynical about partisan politics. But I am seeing an enthusiasm on our college campus for this election like never before, and even a sense of awe that our voice is desired to be heard. We have just launched a Web site (www.goshen.edu/election2008)click highlight for video link focused on faith and politics, with various perspectives from members of our campus community.

Recently, CNN even visited to interview a group of our students, all first-time voters, about how their faith impacts how they may vote (to air tomorrow, May 6, between 6-9 a.m.). One of our students, Sheldon C. Good, a junior from Pennsylvania, later expressed in his blog, "I have a unique worldview to offer, and politics can be an avenue to voice such a perspective. 'In fact, I've never in my life felt like my thoughts mattered and were valued so much before.' " Each of the students articulated a commitment to the college's core values, particularly what it means to have a Christ-centered view of the world. Each expressed excitement about voting in these elections.

Such an enthusiasm for voting hasn't always been the case among Mennonites who have often lagged behind other citizens at the voting booth, reluctance partly due to a history of persecution by governments, opposition to warfare and military service, and a commitment to Christ over country. Ours has always been a conscience and values-based approach' one we believe, now more than ever, has value for the world.

Voting our conscience is a privilege rooted in Christian scripture. The Apostle Paul, a Roman citizen, outlined this principle in 1 Corinthians 14:29-30: "Let two or three prophets speak; and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to someone sitting nearby (in the gathered congregation), let the first person be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged."

In this passage lies one of the central principles of the Protestant Reformation: the right to dissent, the right to express one's opinion, the right for a community to decide for themselves, and in this case, how to relate to the medieval theocratic church-state establishment.

A small group of Christian university students called Anabaptists/Mennonites used these principles to demand the freedom of individuals to assemble voluntarily and decide together what the will of the community was to be. Roman Catholic leaders and most Protestant Reformers couldn't accept such radical notions of "free choice" in worship and life, even the absolute right not to believe, and the total separation of church and state.

I pause every time I hear politicians and others claiming that our God-given right to vote freely has been "won" by soldiers on the battlefield fighting and killing others for these freedoms. I pause because 480 years ago, it was these nonviolent Christ-followers who believed that in order for complete freedom of expression to be truly free, those opinions had to be formed in an environment without coercion. Some 250 years before it came to be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and accepted by nearly every Western democracy since, the idea of separation of church and state and freely voicing one's conscience was defended through martyrdom by these early Mennonites. These early Christ-followers refused to kill for a right that they believed was given to them by God as stated in scripture.

I will vote my conscience in the May 6 primary and in the Nov. 4 general election, not because my vote may ultimately matter, though it might. I will vote my conscience, not because that vote has been secured by violence. Rather, I will vote based on Goshen College's Christ-centered core values of compassionate peacemaking, passionate learning, global citizenship, and servant leadership. And I will vote my conscience in solidarity with my Anabaptist/Mennonite foreparents who thought such a freely expressed vote of conscience was in keeping with biblical precedent and died defending that God-inspired principle.

As U.S. citizens, we may not always be sure whether to vote Democratic or Republican, but we should in every case vote our conscience. And in this election, I believe those who do will help create a better world.

Dr. James E. Brenneman is an Old Testament scholar and the president of Goshen College, a Mennonite college in Indiana. Brenneman, who has a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, spent 25 years in Los Angeles as a pastor with an interest in ecumenical conversations before returning to Goshen College as president in 2006.

Filed Under: Goshen College, Indiana Primary