General Conference Mennonite Church - Political Involvement

Political Involvement

Mennonites in North America originally avoided political involvement if possible. This began to gradually change among General Conference Mennonites. Immigrants from Russia were slow to become citizens citing reservations over implied responsibilities, specifically military service. Those that began the naturalization process did so to participate at local polls and in national elections. In the United States, the Mennonite vote was split among the major political parties until 1940 when it predominantly favored the Republican Party. Philanthropist Jacob A. Schowalter (1879–1953) was an early Democratic Party officeholder but it would be two decades before academics and church leaders began emphasizing social justice and peace-related ideals that more closely aligned with the Democratic Party, with a corresponding shift in voting patterns.

One of the first Mennonites to become politically involved was Peter Jansen (1852-1923) a sheep rancher from rural Beatrice, Nebraska. Upon arriving from Russia in 1873, he met with President Grant who was interested in the proposed immigration of Mennonites from Russia. Jansen was impressed by the contrast between the pomp and glitter of Russian officialdom and the practicality he found in Washington. From that point, Jansen took an interest in politics and supported causes he felt would better his adopted country. He participated in county and state Republican conventions. Jansen was elected alternate delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention and was a delegate-at-large to the 1896 convention that nominated William McKinley.

Jansen did not seek political office for himself, but in 1880 his neighbors elected him justice of the peace. Later he served as Nebraska state representative and then state senator. He turned down nomination for Governor of Nebraska because of the position's requirement to enforce the death penalty. In 1900 President McKinley appointed Jansen as one of twelve commissioners to the Paris World's Fair. In 1901 he represented Nebraska at the state funeral of McKinley.

One reason for early alignment with the Republican Party was self-interest in keeping commodity prices high. The Daniel Unruh (1820–1893) family produced grain and wool in Turner County, South Dakota. As a result of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894 the price of wool was so low that it just covered the cost of shipment to Chicago. As with other Mennonite farmers, Unruh's sons became strong supporters of high tariffs favored by the Republican Party.

By 1900 General Conference Mennonites were regularly voting in national elections. Pastor Andrew B. Shelly (1834-1913) openly and proudly wore the Republican lapel. His son was the district attorney and chairman of the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Republican Committee. Shelly was rumored to have told his congregation to vote for Theodore Roosevelt in the 1908 presidential election. Shelly denied this in a front-page article in the Quakertown (Pennsylvania) Free Press.

The influence of evangelist turned politician Gerald B. Winrod among Kansas Mennonites in the 1930s is indicative of a shift toward right-wing patriotism that gained popularity among Mennonites at that time. The influence of Christian fundamentalism and corresponding wariness of modernism combined with Mennonite self-reliance produced an anti-Roosevelt reaction by 1940 that put General Conference Mennonites solidly behind Republican candidates for several decades.