Etiam non princeps sed usque ad genua, Principis Pacis!
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)
Mennonite is not Amish. They are both offshoots of the Anabaptist movement. Something like the difference between Conservative and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, with the Amish being the Ultra-Orthodox.
I agree, even after having it all explained to me.
..so
...We should shun him !!
“Not to sound dense, but if he’s a Mennonite, what’s he doing on a tractor? Wouldn’t a horse-drawn vehicle be more appropriate?”
Mennonites use tractors, with a proviso:
The tractors cannot have _rubber_ wheels.
Hence, the “steel wheels”, which are quite usable for “field usage”.
I’m not a Mennonite myself, but I will _guess_ that this restriction is to restrict the tractor a device that is “limited” to field work only, and not a “road worthy” vehicle (such as a car might be with rubber tires). This permits the Mennonite to have a mechanized vehicle while not having one which gets too “close” to a motor vehicle of the outside world.
The problem is that now and then, to get from the barn to the field, you have to drive over a paved road...
The degree to which Amish and Mennonites use technology varies with the judgement of their local bishop (yes, they have bishops). Some technology is not used because of a strict prohibition on participating in money lending from either side — thus anything that cannot be paid for at the time of purchase is not permitted since it is considered to be borrowing to use a good or service and pay for it later. (If you ever see an Amishman or Mennonite on a cell phone, it’s sure to be a pre-paid phone.) Otherwise it’s up to the local bishop to decide which technology violates the injunction “be ye not conformed to this world”. Hence, the “black bumper Amish”, whose bishop decided that the internal combustion engine was no more worldly than a horse and permitted his flock to drive cars, so long as they were the cheapest model, black and had no chrome, but are otherwise just like their horse-drawn carriage riding coreligionists.
Why revert stick to hunter-gathering? A lot of cutting edge technology went into horse bridals, collars, yokes, reigns, harnesses, etc not to mention plows and other implements.
Yes they would, but things like tractors and electric milking machines are used in food production, so they rationalize it that way. Tractors are now often seen being used as transportation instead of the horse drawn buggy.
Telephones used to be prohibited, don't know if they still are, but in any case they could talk on one, just not dial or pick it up. Very good people but like observant Jews that find ways around the rules like hire some kid to turn the lights or TV on or change a channel, or have timers on everything. I had a friend once that got a jay walking ticket because he couldn’t press the walk button. Me, just a sinner, saved by Grace. No brag, just fact. Quote from, Guns of Will Sonnett