Every tax season, we face anew the reality that almost one-quarter of the taxes we pay contribute to a war machine that brings death and destruction across the globe.
Mennonites have responded to this unsettling fact in creative ways throughout the years. Some of us have withheld paying part or all of our taxes. Others of us have paid ours, but with unease. (Learn more about how Anabaptists have responded to paying taxes.)
This year, the Peace and Justice Support Network and Mennonite Mission Network are offering the "I Choose Peace" Fund as another creative way to be faithful to Jesus even as we live under governments determined to wage war.
The "I Choose Peace" Fund is a way to offset the taxes we pay that support war by giving to peacemaking organizations. Money donated to the "I Choose Peace" Fund will be distributed to peacemaking organizations and projects across the world.
Recipients of the fund include:
Mennonite Mission Network global partners working for peace.
Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world.
ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles that equips leaders in Korean- and Asian-American churches and communities to serve in ways that promote unity, justice and peace toward reconciliation.
National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, an organization working to move forward legislation that would allow peacemakers and pacifists to designate our tax dollars away from military spending and toward humanitarian efforts.
Peacemaking is an ongoing effort, a daily decision to Choose Peace. Donate today to the "I Choose Peace" Fund!