No offense

Sojourners Magazine, May/Jun 2003

It's ironic that peace often brings strife. In November 2002, Dana Schmucker wrote to the editor of The Goshen [Indiana] News to say that she was sick and tired of the "local pacifist rhetoric" and the lack of support she felt for her son, who is a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan. A day later, Schmucker received a call from local pacifist and Goshen College peace and conflict studies professor Carolyn Schrock-Shenk asking if the two women could meet.

Over coffee they learned that both are mothers of sons; both share religious connections; both want peace. They decided to write another letter to The Goshen News-this time from both of them. "I will respect and understand in a new way. those who want to prevent this war," said Schmucker. "I would ask them to remember our sons right thing and who are risking their lives to do so."