To Rachel Waltner Goosen, whose historical overview in The Mennonite meticulously recounts John Howard Yoder’s true legacy, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your literary piece is masterful. But as I read your article on this quiet Sunday morning, I find my hands shaking, my heart beating faster, and I’m unable to read clearly…36 years later. My story began in Pennsylvania. I was born into a long line of pious, hard-working and church-going Detweilers, Old Order Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonites. I went to the local Mennonite Church 2 to 3 times a week for all of my childhood and young adult life. I was baptized in the church. So why did reading this particular article about a Mennonite church theologian affect me so profoundly? After all, I have now been a practicing attorney in the State of California for 28 years. I graduated from one of the top law schools in the country. I have a B.A., a J.D. and an L.L.M. I have been the lone prosecuting attorney in 52 jury trials. I have prosecuted murderers, rapists, molesters, kidnappers, elder abusers, and many, many criminal offenders over the years. Why was I shaking and feeling sick to my stomach […]
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