Mennonites, you martyrs

I read the articles in the “Martyrs” issue of the Center for Mennonite Writing Journal. One article by Kirsten Beachy tells a number of stories rooted in Mennonite history about martyrs who did dramatic things to as a demonstration of their faith. Another entry is a series of poems by Rhoda Janzen that explores both historic and theoretical aspects of martyrdom. Julia Kasdorf writes a review of the film Pearl Diver, which she says upholds sacrifice as “a supreme virtue.” Jessica Baldanzi's review of the memoir Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is maybe the least obviously relevant to the theme of martyrs, but Baldanzi seems to imply that the book is a modification (if not a rejection) of the traditional Mennonite memoir of hardship and sacrifice for some greater good. I like the mix of poetry, prose essay, and critical review in this issue; the essay approaches the theme of martyrs directly, the poetry symbolically, and the reviews provide evidence of martyrdom in current Mennonite culture. All of the entries are more modern, less dramatic takes on Mennonite martyr values, but they all seem to suggest that the concept of self-sacrifice as a virture is still alive and well in Mennonite culture.

One thing that struck me as I was reading these pieces was that our contemporary conceptions of martyrdom are very rooted in history, but we don't talk as much about martyrdom in theological terms anymore. In the Anabaptist stories from the past that Beachy relates, the characters are sacrificing their lives to stand up for their religious beliefs, so sacrifice has a distinct spiritual purpose. But in more modern Mennonite stories self-sacrifice has become a more community-oriented value that is not as directly inspired by faith. As Kasdorf puts it in her review of Pearl Diver, “The origins of a practice are so integrated into everyday life that they are not overtly conscious, and particular choices are made simply because they are what we do, who we are, or how it is.” Self-sacrifice has become so much of a cultural expectation in Mennonite communities that the act of martyrdom, which was originally done for the sole purpose of expressing one's faith, has now become somewhat detached from that faith. Beachy begins her essay by describing one modern form of secular Mennonite martyrdom: making do with used twist ties and sour milk. If you are Mennonite, you are expected to tolerate these less-than-perfect commoditites, but no one really thinks about that toleration as a religious act.

There is some degree of irony present as these authors discuss the theme of martyrdom. It seems that, in the modern version of martyrdom, the contemporary Mennonite seeks only to deprive him- or herself for the sake of humility. But by the act of writing, these Mennonite authors are drawing attention to themselves and their ideas, which destroys the anonymous humility that the modern conception of martyrdom strives for. In her poem “The Martyr Box” Rhoda Janzen writes, “Let them kill / you every day for / fifteen years. Slip / through the world / unseen, the ant that / wanders off the line. / To others, the grand / booboiseries of / Shakespeare—ambition, / lust, the marriage plot.” Clearly, though, Janzen herself is not slipping through the world unseen—she has in fact published a bestselling memoir and is trying as hard as she can to be seen. Since martyrs aren't physically dying anymore, the modern version of it requires Mennonites to be self-deprecating and avoid being too showy. But if this also means obscuring one's art—which can bring good and beautiful things into the world that are uniquely Mennonite—it seems more like senseless killing than martyrdom.