{"id":31455,"date":"2017-01-17T08:18:28","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T13:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=31455"},"modified":"2017-01-17T08:19:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T13:19:10","slug":"can-silent-mennonite-education-important-now-ever-says-executive-director-mennonite-education-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/can-silent-mennonite-education-important-now-ever-says-executive-director-mennonite-education-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"‘How can we be silent?’: Mennonite education is more important now than ever, says executive director of Mennonite Education Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlos Romero is Executive Director of Mennonite Education Agency. This article originally ran in the January issue of The Mennonite<\/a> magazine, focused on education.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember living in a more polarized time than today. No matter how you view the results of the presidential election, its aftermath has underscored those disagreements. Fear and hatred of \u201cthe other\u201d and acts of oppression, cruelty and violence that grow from this seem to have become normal.<\/p>\n

I wish I could say the people and institutions of the church are immune from these forces. We like to think we are separate, but in fact we are greatly influenced by negativity in our culture.<\/p>\n

I have experienced this negativity. It\u2019s happened to me in the past and recently as well.<\/p>\n