When a people group loses interest in history...

[Bootstrap]

What happens when a people group or subculture rewrites history to suit its present-day biases?

Don't most histories do that?

When we write Mennonite histories, don't they often project our current understanding back on people who were different from us?

Yes.

So how do we avoid doing that? I think all of us are highly motivated to let others see what we have learned from the New Testament, the early church, the Anabaptists ... yet we learn different things, things that sometimes contradict, all based on the same set of facts.

Over time, I have come to see differences in the New Testament church that they had to struggle with, differences in the early church on so many topics we care about, and differences that divided the early Anabaptists. I know who I agree with, and it's easy to see them as the "true" believers in each time.

But I wonder if this is one of the things that marks true believers. That we manage to be one even while we wrestle with strongly held beliefs and do not agree. Does God want to make us all think and act the same way, or does he call us to a unity beyond that?

[Ernie]

Don't most histories do that?

When we write Mennonite histories, don't they often project our current understanding back on people who were different from us?

Yes.

So how do we avoid doing that?

By caring about historical accuracy more than what we want to be true.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

What happens when a people group or subculture loses interest in their own history?

What happens when a people group or subculture loses interest in history, period?

What happens when a people group or subculture rewrites history to suit its present-day biases?

Such people are likely a diaspora, and their subculture will likely fade and they will assimilate into their host cultures over the course of generations.

So I guess a fourth question is, What about those who grow up as part of a host culture with a rich heritage, but don't even value that history?

Not much to say here. Most people don't "value" history. A real deep, meaningful study of history is something only a few nerdy people really enjoy, and society usually recognizes their value and assigns them a "historian" label. Their job is then to learn how to communicate that history in a way that is condensed for education and/or interesting for the layperson.

But societies have always had a great number of laypeople who had neither a need or desire to know or understand history. These people are just the worker bees of society. They don't have a great impact on society, except in cases like revolutions. But society functions just fine without EVERYONE having a firm grasp on history.

And this is true of subcultures too. Individuals can lose their grasp on history, but as long as the community somehow holds onto it, it can survive. It's the difference between your first question (asking about a plural people group) vs our follow up question (asking about individuals). I have always disliked history growing up, but I've become MUCH more interested in it recently. But last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

[Ernie]

Not much to say here. Most people don't "value" history. A real deep, meaningful study of history is something only a few nerdy people really enjoy, and society usually recognizes their value and assigns them a "historian" label. Their job is then to learn how to communicate that history in a way that is condensed for education and/or interesting for the layperson.

But societies have always had a great number of laypeople who had neither a need or desire to know or understand history. These people are just the worker bees of society. They don't have a great impact on society, except in cases like revolutions. But society functions just fine without EVERYONE having a firm grasp on history.

And this is true of subcultures too. Individuals can lose their grasp on history, but as long as the community somehow holds onto it, it can survive. It's the difference between your first question (asking about a plural people group) vs our follow up question (asking about individuals). I have always disliked history growing up, but I've become MUCH more interested in it recently. But last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

These are all good thoughts.

What I notice is that in some Old Order and Ultra-conservative settings that value history, you have the geeks and then everyone else on spectrum from there.
A few people know much. Lots of people know some. And basically everybody knows a bit.

In more progressive groups as well as the most isolated Old Orders, you have a couple geeks, a couple who know some, and all the rest no very little if anything.

[barnhart]

...last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

I have noticed he often says something like "we have failed to tell our story". What does this mean to you. What sort of stories should I be telling. I have stories about how my ancestors came to this country, how they faced resistance, how they faced war, how they came to live where they settled... Sometimes I feel this might be alienating to people with entirely different histories.

[Ernie]

...last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

I have noticed he often says something like "we have failed to tell our story". What does this mean to you. What sort of stories should I be telling. I have stories about how my ancestors came to this country, how they faced resistance, how they faced war, how they came to live where they settled... Sometimes I feel this might be alienating to people with entirely different histories.

I agree. Depending on how the stories are told.

I do think the spiritual heritage can be beneficial to anyone though. In general, I find that folks who were not born into Anabaptist homes take more interest in the Anabaptist story and adopt it as their own, as compared with many cradle Anabaptists who do not take an interest in their spiritual heritage. In fact, many Anabaptist historians were not raised Anabaptist.

[Ernie]

We have Chinese friends who recently converted to Christianity and they adopt the Reformed story as their own. I think this is a fairly natural response. When people's lives have been transformed, they love the heritage behind the people who helped them meet Jesus.

[joshuabgood]

...last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

I have noticed he often says something like "we have failed to tell our story". What does this mean to you. What sort of stories should I be telling. I have stories about how my ancestors came to this country, how they faced resistance, how they faced war, how they came to live where they settled... Sometimes I feel this might be alienating to people with entirely different histories.

I have always taken him to be referencing something like our story with regard to the American Rebellion as say told in Twas Seeding Time. We seem to have forgotten that we were not considered good patriots...and we didn't aspire to be them.

[Ernie]

...last night we watched Chester Weaver's opening message from this year's KFW, and I realized that I am nowhere near his level on really geeking out about history. Thank God for people like Chester. We can't all be like that. And that's why those people are absolutely essential!

I have noticed he often says something like "we have failed to tell our story". What does this mean to you. What sort of stories should I be telling. I have stories about how my ancestors came to this country, how they faced resistance, how they faced war, how they came to live where they settled... Sometimes I feel this might be alienating to people with entirely different histories.

I have always taken him to be referencing something like our story with regard to the American Rebellion as say told in Twas Seeding Time. We seem to have forgotten that we were not considered good patriots...and we didn't aspire to be them.

And that is the sort of thing that those who embrace Anabaptist heritage as their own were attracted to when they became Anabaptist. Meanwhile, cradle Anabaptists often retell the story of the patriots or are glad to listen to others tell THAT story.

[mike]

I have noticed he often says something like "we have failed to tell our story". What does this mean to you. What sort of stories should I be telling. I have stories about how my ancestors came to this country, how they faced resistance, how they faced war, how they came to live where they settled... Sometimes I feel this might be alienating to people with entirely different histories.

I have always taken him to be referencing something like our story with regard to the American Rebellion as say told in Twas Seeding Time. We seem to have forgotten that we were not considered good patriots...and we didn't aspire to be them.

And that is the sort of thing that those who embrace Anabaptist heritage as their own were attracted to when they became Anabaptist. Meanwhile, cradle Anabaptists often retell the story of the patriots or are glad to listen to others tell THAT story.

Yes exactly.