Let’s have a thought experiment. Let’s pretend that there were an organization called Anabaptists Are Americans. And let’s say that this group’s whole raison d’etre is, purportedly, to advocate for an end to Government disenfranchisement of Anabaptists. Because, you see, if you refuse to sign up for Selective Service (the Draft!) you lose benefits and open yourself up to prosecution. Nevermind that that their Conscientious Objector status can be availed – they still have to register. And since part of the Anabaptist creedo is that we will neither fight nor train for war, then forcing Anabaptists to register with Selective Service effectively denies their US citizenship.

Now, lots of people would say, “Ummmmm, no. It doesn’t deny their citizenship, it’s a policy that we can change, but, if anything, it AFFIRMS their citizenship.” But that’s not good enough for Anabaptists Are Americans. They DEMAND, not ask for, not suggest, not propose, DEMAND that all Anabaptists be treated like Americans. And whenever people say, “But Anabaptists are treated like Americans,” AAA activists would say, then how’s about all the religious persecution against Anabaptists. Anabaptists are, per capita, the most persecuted religious group in modern European History and faced serious persecution in America and Anabaptists face Systemic Persecution in America TO THIS DAY.

And people say, “What! What persecution?” And AAA activists and apologists would say “forcing Anabaptists to fight in war, and btw, look at how many Anabaptists in Lancaster County, PA and how many in Holmes county Ohio don’t even own a TELEVISION! Clearly there is widescale oppression.”

AAA activists go on television and ask naysayers how they explain the lack of smartphones owned by Anabaptists in Lancaster. The disparity, the INEQUITY can only be explained by Systemic Persecution. And if anyone is foolish enough to say, “but how can you prove Systemic Persecution is even a thing,” the AAA activists point to the lack of Smartphones owned by Anabaptists in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania as PROOF of Systemic Persecution.

If this sounds like a textbook example of Question Begging that any 5th grader with a primer on Logic ought to be able to identify, take heart. It isn’t. Because. Reasons.

And then, let’s say people wearing AAA shirts started, I don’t know, let’s pick a random, non-specific example…they started…burning down huge swathes of major cities. They came to parts of Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia demanding that people leave the property that was once owned by Anabaptists. Let’s say they started stopping traffic and then beating the piss out of random passers-by and robbing them, all while claiming to be AAA supporters.

And let’s say that noted officials within the Anabaptists Are Americans organization supported the arson and looting. Let’s say they were so bold, insane to suggest, I know, but they were so bold as to promote the banditry being committed as the agitation that is needed to bring about change. Anyone who refused to say the words Anabaptists Are Americans would be labeled as AntiAnabaptist…as persecutors. We’d call them Inquisitors.

And what if there was massive political cover for this? What if the New York Times put our a special edition called the 1527 Project. Stating that Western History REALLY began in 1527 with the murder of Felix Manz and was followed by the hundreds of thousands of Anabaptists who were murdered, as well as the Huguenots who were persecuted in France AND America. If someone says, but the Huguenots were not Anabaptist and they were not pacifist, AAA activists would just tell them that that’s Inquisitor logic.

Because, you see, all Western thought and rationality is designed to promote an Anti-Anabaptist platform that keeps power in the hands of Inquisitors. It’s all about Non-Anabaptist Privilege. Anabaptists threated Non-Anabaptist privilege in Europe and they were horrifically tortured and murdered and the same things are happening today. AAA activists point to the countless numbers of Anabaptists in prison because of Non-Anabaptists Privilege and power structures.

And let’s say that as all this goes on, murders skyrocket, cities are burned to the ground, riots abound, federal buildings are under attack, federal agents are blinded with laser pointers, children are murdered in roadblocks, bombs are thrown into buildings, highwaymen attack random vehicles, business are destroyed, people fear for their lives, and AAA advocates not only don’t care but promote these things because they constitute reparations and are the necessary pain which will bring about an end to Non-Anabaptist Privilege and finally convince everyone that Anabaptists Are Americans.

What would you call AAA? Would you call them terrorists? Cause the US Criminal Code would! § 2331 of the US Criminal Code defines Domestic Terrorism thusly:

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—

(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

(B) appear to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

So, if AAA actively engages in violence to promote a political agenda on US soil, we would call Anabaptist Are Americans a terrorist organization. And we would call those who support their agenda either supporters of terror if not outright terrorists themselves.

The simple fact of the matter is that when you advocate violence, particularly violence against civilians, to effect a political end, you are advocating terrorism.

Now, you might say, “but Anabaptists Are Americans is a loose network of groups and it’s grassroots and there really isn’t an overarching command and control.” And? What’s your point?

As a Mennonite, if someone started committing highway robbery in the name of Dirk Willemsz, I would say that that person knows nothing about Anabaptism and is a disgrace. And if people who were noted leaders in the AAA movement refused to decry the violence, I, as an Anabaptist, would condemn the whole organization. Because, here’s the thing. If you let someone use your car to commit terrorism, and you know they’re going to commit terrorism beforehand, that makes you an accessory before the fact, and you’re liable, equally liable, for that terrorism.

If there are leaders in the Anabaptists Are Americans organization that don’t like people using the AAA logo and shouting “Anabaptists Are Americans” while committing banditry and arson and other acts of terror, wouldn’t it be entirely reasonable to expect them to say…something…anything? And wouldn’t we interpret the silence of the stereotypically dour looking bearded men, who we all know constitute the presbytery of Anabaptists, as tacit, if not outright approval, of acts of terror? We would, wouldn’t we? Just the same way that we would interpret silence from President Trump as consent if a bunch of people wearing MAGA hats attacked a black gay actor in Chicago. Thank God that never happened, but we would, wouldn’t we? In fact, we CONSTANTLY demand that people, especially people on the political right, denounce the extreme right wing, the racial nationalists. Because to NOT denounce is viewed as tacit consent.

In the same way if Anabaptists Are Americans were to not only REFUSE to denounce terrorism, but to actually advocate it, we would say that Anabaptists Are Americans is a terrorist organization. You cannot give cover for, and aid and abet, and condone, and advocate terrorism and not be a terrorist. If you’re an accessory before the fact, you’re a terrorist.

OK. Now that we all agree, let’s just change the letters from AAA to BLM.

Next time we’ll talk about how this terrorism is being justified.