Comments on: Courtney Love and the Mennonite drug lords

By: Rev> Clint Martin

Rev> Clint Martin — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 05:02:59 +0000

I feel that if the Mennonite community did more to discipline the brethern who are involved in the drug trafficing, the paint colour could be changed and thee brush used could be a lot smaller than what it presently is.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Aug 2004 17:18:32 +0000

Are the Mennonites truly believers in God or do they use religion as an excuse to not obey the law and to not be held to the same accountability as the rest of Americans? If they have become drug lords and dealers, if they are willing to engage in practices that are illegal or unethical wouldn’t it elude to their God is money ?

By: Grant

Grant — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:02:26 +0000

Klaus, my apologies for errors of fact and omission. I was relying on the Saturday Night magazine article. I should know better. They are famously inaccurate. Thanks for sorting things out. Best, Grant

By: Klaus Epp

Klaus Epp — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:07:11 +0000

While I appreciated your analization of “systems” that may or may not lead to given behaviour (or fail to prevent it), you do a great disservice to the diversity of belief gathered under the Mennonite name as well as the Old Colony Mennonite name. The Old Colony is not a monolithic group–many varying groups within it. Furthermore, to say the bad choices of a few is symptomatic of the whole is to paint with the same broad strokes as to say because a terrorist is a Muslim all Muslims are terrorists and therefore we have a “systems” problem.

The Mennonites you claim have been in America for 125 years have actually only been in Mexico for about 80 and in Canada for 45 before that. However, most ethnic mennonites in America can trace their roots in America back 300 yrs–swiss mennonites.

My point (who knows ) Before painting, find a more nuanced color and a smaller brush.

keppiii