Over here at Faith in Public Life.org, is a reprint of a Tooley article from The American Spectator, in which Tooley smears a Mennonite couple who protested an Army recruiter who was working in a public library (who thought that was a good idea?). Tooley's sole complaint was that the couple are prominent in Mennonite activist circles. Apparently, this is wrong for some reason Tooley doesn't define; Christian pacifism is erroneous on its face, obviously.
The end of Tooley's article is worth reading in whole:
Though Christ could get angry too, His own encounters with soldiers of His day were more hospitable than the Coils angry fracas with the recruiters at the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library. Traditional Mennonites once and usually still believe that they witness to their peaceful faith through quiet example, not loud confrontations that impugn the motivations of others.
Doubtless the wider Religious Left will salute the Coils' more aggressive interpretation of Mennonite pacifism. "Good for our Mennonite brother and sister!" enthused Chuck Gutenson at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky. Himself a pacifist, the Methodist professor quoted Jack Nicholson in saying the military recruiters obviously "couldn't handle the truth" and wanted to deny the Coils' "freedom of speech."
Of course, the free speech and beliefs of the military recruiters and the young man who was interested in their offer seems not to merit respect from the Coils' supporters. And the old dignity that used to accompany traditional Christian pacifism becomes even more of a fading memory, as angry and more belligerent successors replace it.(emphasis added)
As someone writing from a supposedly religious, indeed Christian perspective, one would have thought Tooley would be a little more respectful of the traditional Mennonite pacifism and more recent activism in support of these beliefs. As for the "dignity" Tooley speaks of, the Coils were not undignified; far from it. They merely flashed cars with anti-military phrases through a window, and protested when they were quite rightly upset that their First Amendment rights were violated when asked to cease. As for the "rights" of the recruiter, I fail to see how they were in any way violate due to the Coils' actions. Why, however, should that in any way be a part of a supposedly Christian analysis of the situation? The issue was state coercion against the peaceful, legitimate protest, based upon religious beliefs, of state action the individuals in question found wrong. Tooley's apologia for the state and attack upon Mennonites should disabuse anyone who had any lingering questions that he lacks even a fundamental grasp of Christian principles.
May I suggest a different name for his group? The Institute for Know-Nothing Dogmatism and Fascism.
