Eastern Mennonite’s Liberty Ridge Farm

[barnhart]

How common is it for Anabaptists to use "Liberty" in naming institutions.

[Jazman]

i haven't listened to the podcast in quite some time. but the first 2 seasons, or maybe 3, i listened to them all.
there was only one episode that i really liked, and felt was worthwhile to listen to. this one had a story of redemption as the focus. it touched on the abuse, but went on to discuss how she over came it, and how she was able to redeem her relationship w her dad. (i think it was dad).
if they were all like that, i'd be a huge fan of the show.

but they aren't. at least in the beginning, there was a lot of what i felt was mockery from the producers. and most of the stories from when i listened, felt like they were intended for shock value only. maybe because i've never heard of those types of issues, and if so, maybe the shock concept was needed. but that mockery just turned me and at some point, i had enough.

it also got to the point, where, what a person fills their minds with, is what they focus on. and i didn't like that i was starting to have such a dark mindset.

I listened to some and found them interesting, and troubling but not always believable, particularly some details... Some pretty astounding claims, with little to no evidence or corroboration. This got tiresome...
And the title is misleading... it's not about 'plain people'... it's about adoptee's experiences in plain culture - or non-menno background children's stories in plain culture... btw that angle is something of a window of understanding; it's a podcast rife with problems, but maybe one could learn something from it? (Maybe more useful for family counselors/psychologists etc?)

[Ken]

i haven't listened to the podcast in quite some time. but the first 2 seasons, or maybe 3, i listened to them all.
there was only one episode that i really liked, and felt was worthwhile to listen to. this one had a story of redemption as the focus. it touched on the abuse, but went on to discuss how she over came it, and how she was able to redeem her relationship w her dad. (i think it was dad).
if they were all like that, i'd be a huge fan of the show.

but they aren't. at least in the beginning, there was a lot of what i felt was mockery from the producers. and most of the stories from when i listened, felt like they were intended for shock value only. maybe because i've never heard of those types of issues, and if so, maybe the shock concept was needed. but that mockery just turned me and at some point, i had enough.

it also got to the point, where, what a person fills their minds with, is what they focus on. and i didn't like that i was starting to have such a dark mindset.

I listened to some and found them interesting, and troubling but not always believable, particularly some details... Some pretty astounding claims, with little to no evidence or corroboration. This got tiresome...
And the title is misleading... it's not about 'plain people'... it's about adoptee's experiences in plain culture - or non-menno background children's stories in plain culture... btw that angle is something of a window of understanding; it's a podcast rife with problems, but maybe one could learn something from it? (Maybe more useful for family counselors/psychologists etc?)

The episodes I listened to seemed either to involve "seeker" families who sought out conservative Amish or Menno churches, or adopted children who had bad experiences in conservative Menno families.

Perhaps there is an issue with some aggressively authoritarian and patriarchal men who seek out CA fellowships because they think it validates their authoritarian tendencies towards things like abusive corporal punishment? All the stories that I listened to were about outsider families let by abusive men who bounced around from group to group and not about ethnic Mennos with generations in the faith. Perhaps conservative churches need to be on guard against welcoming in these types, and perhaps they already are.

The adoption and foster child issue also seems problematic. The other stories I heard were about troubled foster children being passed around within the church either formally or informally. That also seems problematic. But without actual statistics one has no way of knowing whether this is a more problematic issue in conservative churches than in society generally. There are neglected and abused children everywhere.

I didn't listen to that many episodes. I listened to a few while walking the dog. But I don't remember a single story involving an ethnically Menno traditional nuclear family. They were all stories of outsiders bouncing in, out, and through the conservative Menno culture.

My conclusion was that this PP podcast is highlighting an issue that is more peripheral to plain society than at the center of it. And that it sounds like some plain churches might be attracting the wrong kind of people as outsiders.

[Josh]

Perhaps conservative churches need to be on guard against welcoming in these types, and perhaps they already are.

Generally speaking, conservative churches are already on their "guard" enough when it comes to outsiders. I'm not sure more guard is necessarily called for.

[JayP]

Does anyone know the develop of this story?

I cannot find ANYTHING in the press and those in the ministry of Eastern that I know won't discuss it at all.

[ken_sylvania]

Does anyone know the develop of this story?

I cannot find ANYTHING in the press and those in the ministry of Eastern that I know won't discuss it at all.

After discovery and depositions the boys all withdrew their claims. The last of the boys withdrew his claim rather than give a deposition. One of the pieces of evidence that turned up was a letter he had written after he left the farm, where he pretty much said he wished he had listened to what they had tried to teach him there and told the boys that things were a whole lot worse where he is now compared with at the farm.

As usual, the press ignored it after their breathless initial reporting in which they basically acted as a mouth piece for the plaintif's lawyers.

[cooper]

After discovery and depositions the boys all withdrew their claims. The last of the boys withdrew his claim rather than give a deposition. One of the pieces of evidence that turned up was a letter he had written after he left the farm, where he pretty much said he wished he had listened to what they had tried to teach him there and told the boys that things were a whole lot worse where he is now compared with at the farm.

As usual, the press ignored it after their breathless initial reporting in which they basically acted as a mouth piece for the plaintif's lawyers.

Calling it human trafficking seemed a bit of a stretch. However, my understanding is Liberty Ridge did make changes to their program as a result of this. I heard they no longer work with boys under the age of 18.

[ken_sylvania]

After discovery and depositions the boys all withdrew their claims. The last of the boys withdrew his claim rather than give a deposition. One of the pieces of evidence that turned up was a letter he had written after he left the farm, where he pretty much said he wished he had listened to what they had tried to teach him there and told the boys that things were a whole lot worse where he is now compared with at the farm.

As usual, the press ignored it after their breathless initial reporting in which they basically acted as a mouth piece for the plaintif's lawyers.

Calling it human trafficking seemed a bit of a stretch. However, my understanding is Liberty Ridge did make changes to their program as a result of this. I heard they no longer work with boys under the age of 18.

That is correct, as due to the attention the state started asking them to make a bundle of changes to their progam including specific educational requirements for the mentors and staff and basically get the facility accreddited.

[Josh]

After discovery and depositions the boys all withdrew their claims. The last of the boys withdrew his claim rather than give a deposition. One of the pieces of evidence that turned up was a letter he had written after he left the farm, where he pretty much said he wished he had listened to what they had tried to teach him there and told the boys that things were a whole lot worse where he is now compared with at the farm.

As usual, the press ignored it after their breathless initial reporting in which they basically acted as a mouth piece for the plaintif's lawyers.

Calling it human trafficking seemed a bit of a stretch. However, my understanding is Liberty Ridge did make changes to their program as a result of this. I heard they no longer work with boys under the age of 18.

That is correct, as due to the attention the state started asking them to make a bundle of changes to their progam including specific educational requirements for the mentors and staff and basically get the facility accreddited.

That’s a shame, as now boys under 18 won’t be able to get the help they need.

[ken_sylvania]

Calling it human trafficking seemed a bit of a stretch. However, my understanding is Liberty Ridge did make changes to their program as a result of this. I heard they no longer work with boys under the age of 18.

That is correct, as due to the attention the state started asking them to make a bundle of changes to their progam including specific educational requirements for the mentors and staff and basically get the facility accreddited.

That’s a shame, as now boys under 18 won’t be able to get the help they need.

I don't think the state cares about that.
And the Feds definately don't care - they're more concerned about the fact that the farm wasn't paying it's volunteer mentors minimum wage plus overtime.