Cheering Hutterite women & Olympics

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/torch/news...er?cid=rsstgnm

I don't know much about the Hutterites which many live in Mid-west Canada. Parts of their religious beliefs remind me of the Old Order or Conservative Mennonites. (ie. their strong beliefs in pacifism which means no war draft/enlisting in war effort).

While on one hand it seems unusual that they are cheering on the Olympics relay race, it's not totally unusual. Probably many of the women have played baseball and ice skated in their youth (if they don't still play now) in their long dresses. Maybe some even rode a bike or still do.

I'm only going by personal knowledge of some Mennonite women that I know well for a long time and stories I've heard from them about traditional Mennonite women and how some find little ways to "break" out of conventional notions we might have about physical activity, physical labour, etc.

And I suspect these women's enthusiasm would be no different than women in strict face cover for Islamic beliefs. Human physical achievement in sport (with no drugs and no violence) is respected.

My mother was raised Mennonite in a little community in central Kansas. SHe is now in her mid 80's. She loved sports and her mother allowed her to play baseball with the boys of the community and participate in any other sports that she wanted to do.

Of course, the Hutterites are from the same basic tenents as the Mennonites, but much more restrictive. Basically, they are different sects of the same religion where some sects allowed more modern things and the others did not (I know this is a simplistic description, but in reality, not too off a description).

I've seen Hutterite women hiking the Grand Canyon; so they are not non-athletic people. It is hard work to work the farm without modern conveniences.

I'm glad they were able to participate in this celebration of sport!

spoke

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Originally Posted by spokewench

My mother was raised Mennonite in a little community in central Kansas. SHe is now in her mid 80's. She loved sports and her mother allowed her to play baseball with the boys of the community and participate in any other sports that she wanted to do.

Of course, the Hutterites are from the same basic tenents as the Mennonites, but much more restrictive. Basically, they are different sects of the same religion where some sects allowed more modern things and the others did not (I know this is a simplistic description, but in reality, not too off a description).

I've seen Hutterite women hiking the Grand Canyon; so they are not non-athletic people. It is hard work to work the farm without modern conveniences.

I'm glad they were able to participate in this celebration of sport!

spoke

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Hutterites more restrictive than the Old Order Mennonites? :confused: Old Order is pretty strict, since it's the black buggy and horse transportation method and even not turning the clocks for time clock changes twice per year. My conservative Mennonite friend, her husband came from an Old Order sect and he also worked for an Old Order biz where the employees had to go by a clock that wasn't in sych with the non Old Order Mennonite world. Abit confusing. :o

Yes, agree that hiking is pretty 'kosher' to them. It's a recreational sport or to spend a great vacation without man-made amusement of movies, tv, nightclubs, theatre which is shunned. My friend does this alot with her hubby when they go vacationing elsewhere. She still wears her floral dress to her knees, pantyhose with runners to walk around.

I did hear via same friend of a Mennonite woman living out in the rural area where she painted barn silos. She wore pants underneath her dress. It worked even though some of the elders disapproved.

Agree that different sects have different interpretations and practices of adapting or not adapting to certain technologies, human activities, etc.

I live just maybe 50 miles from Amish country. We have a fair number of (sorry I don't know the name of the sect) Mennonites who drive cars, etc., but since the Old Order Amish tend to stay close to their own communities, we rarely see the few local Amish outside of their buggies.

So I was a little surprised this summer when I did a bike tour in Amish country, that there were maybe 8-10 Amish who participated - both men and women. The women rode the metric century on heavy upright bikes in their long skirts. Some of the men had moderately high performance road bikes that they rode in their homemade pants and shirts. It was cool to see. :)

I was not talking about Old Order Mennonites. Didn't even know there was a sect that called themselves old order Mennonites. The community of mennonites that my Mom was raised in allowed use of mechanized farm machinery, cars, even tvs when they became available.

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Originally Posted by spokewench

I was not talking about Old Order Mennonites. Didn't even know there was a sect that called themselves old order Mennonites. The community of mennonites that my Mom was raised in allowed use of mechanized farm machinery, cars, even tvs when they became available.

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A generic term that I've been using, but from a Mennonite scholarly source:
http://www.grebel.uwaterloo.ca/mao/a...fonds/VIII.htm

Conrad Grebel College is one of the church colleges that is part of the University of Waterloo, same university that is known incubating high tech innovations in engineering, computers, etc. (This is where Blackberry started...) It is a Mennonite-based church college. I grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo. The history of Waterloo County, post native-Indian settlement, started alot with the Mennonites. That's why alot of the old street names downtown core of both cities, have German names (Erb St., Weber St., Shantz, etc.). I grew up seeing black horse and buggies sometimes in downtown Waterloo and Kitchener. Certainly when one went to the Waterloo Farmers' Market, they went shopping there or some sold their produce there.

I brought my Mennonite friend over to the Mennonite archives /library that was at Conrad Grebel. She was blown over how much historic stuff they had.

She is probably something like what your mom was...but her group does not watch tv. She wears white net cap over her hair bun all the time. She told me that the origin of covering hair was in accordance to Corinthians, but I forget the Biblical section number. :o:rolleyes: I've known her for a long time. Heck, I was honoured to be her first non-family passenger when she bought and drove her first car prior to her marriage. :)

She and hubby run a "wholesome" (her words) used books bookstore out of their house, meaning books on certain subjects. She and hubby drive out to the Old Order Mennonite homes and sell their used books. Laura Ignalls Wilder books (Little House on the Prairie series) is popular with Old Order Mennonite parents/children in her area.

For the K-W area, I have been told by 2 different sources (well, 15 years ago) there are 10 different sects of Mennonites and Amish. Source was a doctor and schoolteacher who each had Mennonites as part of their client base. Even my good friend doesn't know them all. She's taken me out on car drives in the country in her area and we end up passing by compound living areas where it is neither Mennonite nor Amish but some sort of totally unrecognizable denomination or obscure Christian sect I've never heard of.

Out of respect for her, I have attended several Mennonite church services of her group. The women sit on one side and the men on the other. Only men are allowed to preach or lead the service.

But you know, I realize there are the contemporary Mennonites that dressed like "everyone else" and hence, indistinguishable, and university-educated, etc. Across the street from the house I grew up in, was a Mennonite church. Several of our neighbours went to that church.

Interesting Oak, about the participating mennonite women in dresses, cycling for that distance. That's great. They probably had a great time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutterite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mennonites
I think Mennonites vary a bit. I know in Lancaster County. PA some Mennonites can have Tractors with no tire wheels , but no car since it would make tempting to go to town and get all worldly;)

I grew up w/i 30 miles of a Hutterite community. They use state of the art equipment and are the largest most modern farmers and poultry producers in the area. They drive vans, large pickups and overall are very 21st century.

They are old order mainly in their dress and communal style of living but definitely not in their business practices.

Some Mennonites in Pennsylvania (and probably elsewhere) drive cars, but only black ones. The head coverings (black or white) signify if a woman is married or not. That's the extent of my "knowledge" on the subject, but I find it very interesting.