Mennonite attitudes toward political parties and authorities
have differed widely among the many groups in the Mennonite
mosaic and within the more than 50 countries to which Mennonites
have scattered. Mennonite attitudes have reflected both the
Anabaptist teaching that governments are ordained by God to
maintain order and the teaching that government authority is
limited and not to be obeyed when it contradicts the will of God
(civil disobedience). Modern warfare and the Mennonite refusal
of military service have provided the focus for the shaping of
Mennonite attitudes in the modern era of nationalism and
militarism. Mennonites generally have not shown a preference for
either liberal or authoritarian systems, but have honored any
government which offered them toleration and autonomy. Thus
Mennonites gave their deference and appreciation to the tsars of
Russia, to the dictator Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay, but also
to the liberal democracies of the United States and Canada and
to the "secular state" progra