Description
Mennonites were among the first settlers of the Shenandoah Valley and remain a distinctive culture in Virginia. Descendants of Swiss-German Anabaptists, they have struggled to maintain core doctrines of pacifism, non-conformity, community, and simplicity through 275 years of war, schism, prejudice, prosperity and increasing pressure to assimilate. The paradox of a people of peace whose identity has been defined by war and violence lies at the heart of this study. Mennonite identity and doctrine were forged in Reformation Europe, when more than 5,000 Anabaptists were put to death in the 90 years following the sect's founding in 1525. Indian raids drove early Mennonite pioneers from the Shenandoah Valley. Civil War era Mennonites were imprisoned, driven into hiding, and forced to flee. Retribution for their pacifist views during World War I led Mennonites to a central role in creating the Civilian Public Service program for World War II conscientous objectors. After Vietnam, Mennonite pacifism evolved into a vigorous emphasis on social justice and conflict resolution. There are internal paradoxes as well. They are a people grounded in communitiy whose history is littered with the remnants of schism, division and conflict, from the Amish schism of 1693 to the bitter 1901 split with the Old Order "horse-and-buggy" faction in Rockingham County. Virginia Mennonites have struggled over racial attitudes and the role of women.
