The strangeness of these joint writers has nothing to do with Mr. Mastriano’s particular background rather than the reality of his candidacy; his willingness, stated in a prayer to God, to “Hold on to the power that the Constitution and you have given us”; his regular offer his military service; his enthusiasm for militarism and revenge Mr. Trump; and his skepticism about separation of church and state. This would be unremarkable if we were to talk about support among ordinary missionary voters. But for Anabaptists, it’s exactly that “walking in the dark” we’ve been essentially avoiding.
And this change is not unique to Pennsylvania; Amish communities within the Amish . community Michigan and especially Ohio in the past six years. It’s also not unique to Republicans. The biggest surprise of my seven years in a Mennonite Church USA congregation was how fast, eager many of my autocrats were engaged in political activism. There, politics is often pro-social justice, anti-Trump progressivism – a far cry from Mastriano’s culture-war Republicanism. But the increased rush into politics is strikingly similar.
That politicization is limited to my local church, but to the broader denomination, political involvement Seems to be on an unshakable rise. At a denominational convention in 2018, I was startled by how much political content I had. Ours confession of faith look to God for real justice, but in conference after session, justice seems to be a major political hope, often constrained, express or implied, to vote to remove Mr. Trump.
i’m not alone in observation this variation between left and right Anabaptists. America’s Mennonites are feeling the “seduction of political participation,” noted Anabaptist scholar John Roth, lament that often their “political witness… is essentially consistent with the partisan divides of the broader culture”. The American Mennonite Church Denomination Discussion Around the 2020 Election simply hypothesized get involved in politics and in 2020, Mennonite pastors across six denominations handle increased political polarization in their churches.
Political organizations have also taken notice, and in some cases are actively encouraging the Amish and Mennonites to penetrate deeper into political territory. Like The Washington Post report in 2019, Republican activists identified Amish and other theologically conservative Anabaptists as potential new members of the party, even founding a project called Amish PACs to recruit choose voters for Mr. Trump. Political Action Committee, raised about $200,000 for the 2020 election and reported raised about $31,000 for this cycle, bought billboards and advertisements in local periodicals. At first, many Amish people opposed the idea of voting, but “since 2016, every year, it gets a little easier,” an Amish PAC official told The Post. “I think the behavior is finally changing.”
Increase the number of new registered voters from Amish-heavy Lancaster, Pa., in 2020 recommend him true, even if the numbers are still modest. In 2016, researchers estimates, about 1,000 Amish vote in the county out of about 15,000 eligible voters. However, there is the possibility of significant differences in close elections. And while it’s hard to get a solid number of potential Anabaptist voters, they easily run into the tens of thousands in a few key states.
Data from Elizabethtown College’s Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies for Children bringing Pennsylvania’s Amish population north to 84,000, with another 80,000 in Ohio, and these numbers do away with more distinct but traditional Mennonite groups. It is the theologically conservative factions – those most likely to vote Republican – that see a rapid rise: Pennsylvania’s Amish Population nearly as twice as in the past two decades. However, it is still relatively rare today for the Amish to actually vote.
