Quote from: Laurry on February 16, 2009, 08:17:14 PM
Come on, Simone...how can you be so sure that there aren't any Mooninite Mennonites? Besides, I can only be funny so often, and I've already used up the next 2 (OK, 4) year's quota already.
Mea culpa. How can I forget, it was only 2 years ago that Mooninites brought Boston traffic to a halt. There was nothing wrong with your humor, just my cultural education. Nonetheless, I did completely forget them.
It was just your talk of food, clothing, and hair that triggered Mennonite in me. I have long been impressed that despite a history of violent suppression and discrimination against them, they produced a religion of non-violence. I have a copy of the Mennonite Community Cookbook and several Amish cookbooks which evidence a strong tradition of excellence in baking. I have bought break-front jeans, suspenders, and black broad-brimmed hat from a store in southern Indiana that caters to the Amish, known for their longish hair and full beard.
My finest academic paper was written for a graduate-level class in farm management when I was working on my dairy degree. I contrasted the practices of Amish farmers and Jewish farmers with those of the average US farmer, and concluded that in order to advise a farmer, one needed to take into account the values and culture of that particular farmer. And in the sense of full disclosure, I should say I used to write book reviews for the Provident Bookfinder, a publication of the bookselling arm of the Mennonite Publishing House.
With profound and unfunny apologies,
S