Within the religious conscientious objector communities , cooperation with an agency such as the OWI was normally highly suspect . The historic peace churches – Mennonites , Amish , Hutterites , Quakers , and Church of the Brethren – have typically had a problematic relationship with the modern nation-state . Members of these groups have not objected to being citizens , unless citizenship required military service , jury duty ( which could result in violent coercive power and possible death penalty cases ), or voting ( which supported state violence ). They were not anarchists : they paid taxes and supported government functions that did not require their direct participation in activities that violated their religious consciences . In supporting war , members of these churches might risk removal from their congregations , isolation , and shunning . For instance , in the same month that the Zimmerman family participated in the filming of Farmer at War , OWI photographer Marjory Collins visited a former animal trap factory in the Lancaster County community of Lititz , Pennsylvania , where workers were now making “ armorpiercing bullet cores and other war essentials .” Among the workers Collins photographed was a young man named Raymond Newswanger , described in the photo ’ s caption as “ a Mennonite , about thirty , . . . [ who ] hopes his church won ’ t find out he ’ s doing defense work . Most Mennonites are farmers , and Newswanger used to be .” 14
The caption for Collins ’ s photo is instructive . By carrying a gun — or even working in a munitions plant — Newswanger violated the teachings of his church . According to the government , however , he had already been “ doing defense work ” long before he took a job in a 14
Captions for photographs LC-USE6-D-004655 and LC-USW3-011777-D , FSA / OWI Collection , Prints and Photographs Division , Library of Congress , Washington , DC .
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