Mennonite Weekly Review

In early August, I will leave the Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office after serving as director for 13 years. Cindy and I will move to Amman, Jordan, and serve as co-MCC representatives for programs in Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Palestine.

I am delighted with the appointment of Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach as the next director. Rachelle served capably on the Washington Office staff from 1998 to 2003 before leaving to acquire a master of divinity degree. She will bring fresh energy, vision and leadership.

These years on Capitol Hill have passed quickly. One would like to point to successes — more just and compassionate U.S. policies, for example — but, in many ways, things seem much worse than when I began working in the Washington Office in 1994:

• U.S. military spending has skyrocketed from $250 billion in 1995 to a proposed $644 billion for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, when including costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• U.S. foreign policy has become more heavily reliant on military force as the tool of choice: troops to Haiti (1995), missile strikes in Iraq (1996), missile strikes in Sudan and Afghanistan (1998), bombing in the Balkans (1999), war against Afghanistan (since 2001) and war against Iraq (since 2003).

• In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the United States has compromised its commitment to civil liberties and human rights — at home and in the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. This, coupled with the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq, has caused the U.S. image in the world to suffer.

• The tone on Capitol Hill has become more partisan and shrill, leaving precious little space for meaningful dialogue and problem-solving.

On the positive side, the United States has been chastened by the “go-it-alone” experience in Iraq. We can hope it is learning to be a more mutual and responsible global partner as a result. The United States has also taken positive steps in providing debt relief to some of the world’s most highly indebted countries. And there seems to be a growing bipartisan awareness of the importance of caring for the environment, God’s creation.

One of the challenges of working in Washington has been to hold in tension the biblical themes of human responsibility and God’s sovereignty.

On one hand, God has given humans the responsibility to care for the earth (Gen. 1:28-29, Psalm 115:16) and for one another (Luke 10:25-37). You have “put all things under their feet” declares the psalmist (Psalm 8:6). “Let justice roll down like waters,” urges the prophet (Amos 5:24). These are weighty reminders that the human family cannot simply sit on the sidelines and expect God to take care of or fix things.