Mennonite Weekly Review

Recently I met with a congressional office to deliver postcards from Mennonites calling for cuts to the military budget. The staffer listened politely and then said, “Well, you know that’s not exactly how people up here [on Capitol Hill] see things.”

Lyndaker Schlabach

His point was well-taken. “National security” gets talked about differently than any other part of the budget. Even the hint of potential budget cuts to the Pentagon prompts phrases like “doomsday scenario” and “catastrophic.”

There are plenty of practical reasons why the military budget can and should be cut, which analysts across the political spectrum now point out. Over the past decade, the Pentagon’s base budget — not counting war spending — has nearly doubled, taking valuable resources away from other priorities.

There are vast amounts of wasteful spending at the Pentagon, which cannot even pass an audit. Weapons systems regularly overrun their budgeted cost, sometimes by billions of dollars. A University of Massachusetts study showed that federal spending on education, health care and clean energy all produce more jobs per dollar than does military spending.

Behind the facts and figures lie some challenging questions that are rarely addressed. How much spending on “security” is ever going to be enough? Do weapons keep us safe or sometimes put us in greater danger? What about the impact on others around the world? Are they safer because of U.S. military might?

Why do we need to spend eight times more than any other nation on our military? If fear is the root of this spending spree, of what are we afraid? Terrorism? Enemy nations? Losing the “American way of life”? Is there also a belief that we’re somehow better than others and have the right to dominate them militarily?

These are uncomfortable questions. But until we address them we cannot get to the heart of why security spending continues to rise, even as our nation cuts spending on nearly everything else. As Christians, we can show through our words and our deeds alternative ways to find security.

We do not need to live in fear. We can work proactively for peace and security rooted in social and economic relationships that are just, thus making it much less likely others would want to lash out against us. God does not promise life will not hold risks or dangers. But we can trust that God will be present with us and can bring redemption out of difficult situations.

We do not need to consume infinite resources in a vain attempt to protect an American way of life. Given the vast disparities in wealth and power throughout the world, those of us who are the “haves” need to be much more aware of how U.S. military and economic policies are guarding our lifestyles, driving habits and purchases. We can live much more simply and sustainably, mindful of finite resources even as we celebrate God’s abundance and provision.

As I delivered the more than 1,500 postcards that have come in from Mennonites thus far, I discovered that a surprising number of congressional offices, despite the Pentagon’s “doomsday” language, are willing to consider cuts to the military budget. But it would be helpful if they would hear from more constituents the message that true security does not come from weapons.

To participate, click here. Free copies of an MCC U.S. Washington Office study guide on the federal budget are also available.

Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach directs the Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office.