The Mennonite Game

When it just doesn't fit anywhere else.
francis
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by francis »

In my experience in attending Anabaptist congregations in non-Anabaptist-heavy regions, people often ask me my last name because they assume that visitors likely have Anabaptist ancestry (otherwise why would they come there, specifically?) and I don't think it's done out of disrespect, at least where I've encountered it. People want to know your faith background (especially if you're a young unmarried man like me,) if only as a means for small-talk, it's a curiosity in this day and age.
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Josh
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Josh »

In 1911, most people were adopting the fashions of the day, including what was being pushed by scientists then, like eugenics and blatant racism.

This is yet another reason it's good to keep the world at arms' length. It may end up looking very foolish and unbecoming for a Christian a few decades down the road.
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Valerie
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Valerie »

Erika wrote:
RZehr wrote:
Erika wrote: Since I've never seen or heard of people "display" or announce their former name in order to be more "acceptable", I find it hard to believe this happens often. And I would be very suspect of anyone that does that. Some one that does that obviously has a problem.

'We Sought and Found', complied by Russ and Wendy Boyd, Christian Light Publishers, 2015. Pgs.20, 47 & 48. You might also like to check out what a Mennonite Pastor had to say about so called 'Mennonite' names, pg. 139.
We had a lovely lovely woman on this forum years ago that passed away from cancer, but I remember her family had become Mennonite when she was young (she ended up becoming Orthodox Christian instead) but I remember her bringing up this 'last name' issue and how she never felt she fit in and said if her last name had been _________(fill the blank in with common Mennonite names) she would probably have fit in better- but it caused her to find the faith she felt at home.
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Neto
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Neto »

If someone wants to make a big deal about what your last name is in the church context, then they should be very concerned about all of the criminals & other non-believers who have that same set of last names. Just look at the police arrest lists in the newspaper here in the Holmes County area, and you will see what I mean.
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Congregation: Gospel Haven Mennonite Fellowship, Benton, Ohio (Holmes Co.) a split from Beachy-Amish Mennonite.
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Sudsy
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Sudsy »

Neto wrote:If someone wants to make a big deal about what your last name is in the church context, then they should be very concerned about all of the criminals & other non-believers who have that same set of last names. Just look at the police arrest lists in the newspaper here in the Holmes County area, and you will see what I mean.
There usually are 'bad apples' in every bushel. In our city we have a somewhat similar occurrence where teen Mennonites, mainly from the more traditional style Mennonites, hang out in our Tim Horton's parking lot on a Sunday afternoon but so far, I have not heard of what they were doing here in this town in Alberta. Amongst my teen Mennonite friends, 50 years ago, the problem guys were mainly into drunkenness and racing their pick up trucks. Today they have these parking lot hangouts and many have fun on their cell phones. As a Pentecostal we thought Mennonite youth were quite sinful on Sunday afternoons playing Sunday softball disrespecting the 'Lord's Day'. :lol: Strange where we judge each other on honouring God.

This was quite a situation a couple years back in Taber Alberta - http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/tabe ... ennonites/
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Josh
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Josh »

Valerie wrote:I remember her bringing up this 'last name' issue and how she never felt she fit in and said if her last name had been _________(fill the blank in with common Mennonite names) she would probably have fit in better- but it caused her to find the faith she felt at home.
Believe me, if someone wants to be Eastern Orthodox, they're going to not fit in as well if their last name is Smith instead of Manos.
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RZehr
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by RZehr »

Erika wrote:
RZehr wrote:
Erika wrote: Since I've never seen or heard of people "display" or announce their former name in order to be more "acceptable", I find it hard to believe this happens often. And I would be very suspect of anyone that does that. Some one that does that obviously has a problem.

'We Sought and Found', complied by Russ and Wendy Boyd, Christian Light Publishers, 2015. Pgs.20, 47 & 48. You might also like to check out what a Mennonite Pastor had to say about so called 'Mennonite' names, pg. 139.
Could you quote this or provide a link? I don’t have this book. I can’t really respond without knowing what is said and the context of it.
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Haystack
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Haystack »

Erika wrote:Update for 2017:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/abraham-h ... -1.3997697
There was a fella, with a so called Mennonite surname who had, "Abraham Wiebe, ordered kidnapped by Enrique Harms and tortured for two weeks in Mexico before being dumped in a lake in 1999. His body has never been found".
So, really, who WANTS to be identified as a Mennonite because of a so called 'Mennonite' name? As posts to this article shows, many consider North American Mennonites as less than desirable. I am a Mennonite, but these days I am glad not to have an easily identifiable Mennonite name. Who wants to be lumped, by name, with a bunch of people who, over the past 100 years have been Nazi collaborators, white Supremacists, and drug mules/ dealers? We need to remember we are all converts by faith, not by inheritance. Christianity is not in your genes, it's in your faith.
I agree with the bold. But it doesn't matter what your name is, people will do bad things. I'm sure at some point even someone with your name has killed, shocking I know. No sense in shaming those with Mennonite names because of a few bad apples.
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Sudsy
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Sudsy »

Christianity is not in your genes, it's in your faith.
I heard diarrhea runs in the genes. Or was that jeans. :? :)
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Hats Off
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Re: The Mennonite Game

Post by Hats Off »

Yep, Mennonites do bad things! My cousin, Glenn who has a Mennonite last name sits in jail, accused of killing his girlfriend and her daughter. I suppose I should rush to change my last name to something like Sokoloski to hide my link to anything Mennonite. Our local meeting house was featured in one of the latest television documentaries about Mennonite mules. The fact that it had absolutely nothing to do with the story is of no consequence - nobody connected with this meeting house has ever had anything to do with Mennonite drug smugglers

The Mennonite game will continue to be played by ethnic Mennonites regardless of Erika's opinion. It has nothing to do with pride; it is just an attempt to find common connections.
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