Are Plain Catholics Anabaptists?

[MaxPC]

Max, is part-time "hobby" farming sufficient, or is full-time farming a cultural expectation?

Part-time farming or ranching is sufficient. The Back to the Land movement from which we sprang focused upon moving away from populated areas into the rural settings. Likewise we continue that expectation. For us, it fosters prayer and family focus.

Over the years we have been approached by a number of dreamers who, when they finally bought acreage hit the reality wall that it is both isolated and it is hard work. They return rather quickly to the suburbs and cities. In the past 30 years or so we have been asking how long they have been farming or ranching. If they can make it through 8-10 years and still prefer to live in that manner, they are good candidates for Plain Catholicism.

[Josh]

An 8-10 year proving time? Not even Farm Credit needs that many years Schedule F returns, nor does even the strictest Amish or Hutterite church require 10 years of proving.

[Josh]

Max, is part-time "hobby" farming sufficient, or is full-time farming a cultural expectation?

Part-time farming or ranching is sufficient. The Back to the Land movement from which we sprang focused upon moving away from populated areas into the rural settings. Likewise we continue that expectation. For us, it fosters prayer and family focus.

Over the years we have been approached by a number of dreamers who, when they finally bought acreage hit the reality wall that it is both isolated and it is hard work. They return rather quickly to the suburbs and cities. In the past 30 years or so we have been asking how long they have been farming or ranching. If they can make it through 8-10 years and still prefer to live in that manner, they are good candidates for Plain Catholicism.

Could you comment on how people who live full-time in RVs are accepted into Plain Catholicism? As far as I know, you can’t drive an RV around the country full time and also tend to a farm or ranch. (A window box in the kitchen might be possible.)

Most people I know who enjoy RVs dwell in suburbs, sometimes with their extended family dwelling in an RV in their yard or driveway.

[ohio jones]

Max, you've said you have been "part of the scientific community for more than 60 years." You've posted about faculty meetings that took place as recently as 15 years ago, and old faculty colleagues that you keep in touch with. Was your college or university in an isolated rural location, or did you return to the suburb or city for that involvement?

Other than hunting and fishing with the grandkids, I'm having trouble locating anything you've posted that indicates any sort of farming experience, connection with the land, or rural life. The old farmers I know IRL are full of stories, and if they posted 6000 times on a forum like this, that would be reflected in their subject matter.

How long have you been farming or ranching? If you made it through 30+ years of isolated farm life and then preferred to live in an RV, does that make you a good candidate for Plain Catholicism?

This new information just doesn't seem to fit with what you've posted in the past.

[Josh]

One way to detect a farmer is that they'll tell you how bad their losses were from farming. Yes, there are good years, but all they do is make up for the bad years. And in your good years you have a lot of expenses for things like brand new trucks, combines, tractors, and so on.

[Neto]

One way to detect a farmer is that they'll tell you how bad their losses were from farming. Yes, there are good years, but all they do is make up for the bad years. And in your good years you have a lot of expenses for things like brand new trucks, combines, tractors, and so on.

A person can make it w/o all of that stuff, at least there was a time when you could, when farmers helped one another with harvest, etc. My grandpa farmed rented land from 28 or 29 until 37, when he bought the farm where all but my dad and a couple of the other older children were born, and where my dad grew up. This was western Oklahoma, dust bowl era. After he paid off the farm (a quarter section, 160 acres), he bought another 80 acres from the neighbor's farm. He had a car already before he & grandma married, but only ever owned 4 cars his whole life, plus one used farm pickup, which he bought with money he got from selling shale to the county road department. Farmed with horses until the late 40's, and when they first moved there in 37, they did without electricity until they could afford to pay for it. He may have had an older tractor before he bought the one I remember.

OK. I guess that doesn't sound like the kind of life people now-a-days want.

[Josh]

A person can make it w/o all of that stuff, at least there was a time when you could, when farmers helped one another with harvest, etc. My grandpa farmed rented land from 28 or 29 until 37, when he bought the farm where all but my dad and a couple of the other older children were born, and where my dad grew up. This was western Oklahoma, dust bowl era. After he paid off the farm (a quarter section, 160 acres), he bought another 80 acres from the neighbor's farm. He had a car already before he & grandma married, but only ever owned 4 cars his whole life, plus one used farm pickup, which he bought with money he got from selling shale to the county road department. Farmed with horses until the late 40's, and when they first moved there in 37, they did without electricity until they could afford to pay for it. He may have had an older tractor before he bought the one I remember.

OK. I guess that doesn't sound like the kind of life people now-a-days want.

Indeed, nowadays when a farmer is telling me he can't make any money, I usually just assume his net worth is in the millions.

[JimFoxvog]

-We are a tiny group within a 2 Billion strong church membership.

What is the source of the 2 billion figure, Max. Are the figures I've read just outdated? For example:

Total Number of Catholics
There are an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, according to Vatican figures.
https://www.scripturecatholic.com/how-m ... the-world/

[ohio jones]

Here is a list of 17 New Catholic Land Movement farms from Kevin Ford's site, including his own:

http://newcatholiclandmovement.org/nclm-farms/

Where can I find a similar list of Plain Catholic communities?

There has also been an overt effort to discredit faith groups by both the government and private sectors. One infamous example was the derogatory “documentary” about Bruderhof in the UK. It was less of a documentary and more of a tabloid type effort.

A similar effort in the US was pushed about 15 years ago in which a network did an alleged “reality show” on the Hutterites; frankly it was a hit piece and it stopped when the Hutterites hired legal help. I am told that the same network contacted some of our Plain Catholics who, knowing the nature of dishonest programming, promptly turned the network down.

You might try the producers at the National Geographic Channel; apparently they can locate Plain Catholics where our efforts have failed.

[Soloist]

You might try the producers at the National Geographic Channel; apparently they can locate Plain Catholics where our efforts have failed.

They could just be very private and anti-evangelical, sort of like the “Milk drinkers”… you have to be born into them to know about them. The National Geographic producer left them clearly.