Poll: Concealed Weapons among Plain Anabaptists?

[Judas Maccabeus]

Some of it could be personal situations that are unique. Most conservative mennonites live in very low crime rural communities with at least decent police response times. Now let's say that one lives in a place with homocides rates well above inner city detroit and police response rates of two hours and you have a wife and several young daughters. The view point could be very different if mennonites lived in that situation.

A lot of Mennonites live quite close to dangerous areas with high crime, including Cleveland (#2 for robberies in the entire country and #3 for rape), Tulsa (#4 for burglaries), and plenty more live overseas in places that are even more dangerous. (Pablo Yoder wrote a book which detailed him getting repeated robbed when he lived in Central America.)

Now let's say that one lives in a place with homocides rates well above inner city detroit and police response rates of two hours and you have a wife

Detroit is #3 for murders, with the only contenders for the #1 and #2 spots being St. Louis and Baltimore, and yet there is a conservative Mennonite church right in Baltimore (complete with one of their members posting here on MennoNet).

If we're willing to consider smaller-sized cities, York, PA is worse than Detroit, yet there's also a conservative Mennonite church there. (In fact, there's two, if you count the C. M. C. York & Adams Cos. church that meets there once a month.)

Moving right along, there's Dayton, Ohio, which has a notable German Baptist presence right on its outskirts including a breakaway group of Old Brethren who farm within the city limits near Drexel.

I’m from Baltimore, and even if you signed the application for a pistol permit, you would likely forfeit your membership. You would therein state you were intending to use it for self defense. I know of no one who has a pistol, much less carries one. And to church?..?....?

Now there are a fair number of long guns, to reduce the surplus deer population. I am more than ok with this. I have even heard (not seen) someone popping off rats with an air gun. Plenty of targets there.

I am shocked that someone from KMF answered the poll and said they carried a weapon. Sooner or later someone is going to notice it, I would not wish to be that person.

J.M.

[ragpicker]

Cuz there ain’t no room for a pistol packin’ Mennonite.

Seems like it oughta be made into a country song.

[RZehr]

Maybe you could write a hymn about that instead of country song.

[twinpines]

Some of it could be personal situations that are unique. Most conservative mennonites live in very low crime rural communities with at least decent police response times. Now let's say that one lives in a place with homocides rates well above inner city detroit and police response rates of two hours and you have a wife and several young daughters. The view point could be very different if mennonites lived in that situation.

A lot of Mennonites live quite close to dangerous areas with high crime, including Cleveland (#2 for robberies in the entire country and #3 for rape), Tulsa (#4 for burglaries), and plenty more live overseas in places that are even more dangerous. (Pablo Yoder wrote a book which detailed him getting repeated robbed when he lived in Central America.)

Now let's say that one lives in a place with homocides rates well above inner city detroit and police response rates of two hours and you have a wife

Detroit is #3 for murders, with the only contenders for the #1 and #2 spots being St. Louis and Baltimore, and yet there is a conservative Mennonite church right in Baltimore (complete with one of their members posting here on MennoNet).

If we're willing to consider smaller-sized cities, York, PA is worse than Detroit, yet there's also a conservative Mennonite church there. (In fact, there's two, if you count the C. M. C. York & Adams Cos. church that meets there once a month.)

Moving right along, there's Dayton, Ohio, which has a notable German Baptist presence right on its outskirts including a breakaway group of Old Brethren who farm within the city limits near Drexel.

Living 20-30 minutes plus away from a dangerous part of town means nothing. Most wealthy people live closer to the hood then you'd find in just about any mennonite church yet those wealthy people feel just safe and deny and they'd never venture over to the hood. Now if one lives in the inner city, that's different. I asked a hypothetical. The situation actually exist but I don't want to give to many details in case it was actually a problem for them then.

[ohio jones]

Seems like it oughta be made into a country song.

Don't take your guns to church, son
Leave your guns at home, Mose
Don't take your guns to church

[Josh]

The people in York are centred in the worst part of town.

The people in Baltimore, well, it’s a nice part of Baltimore... but it gets dicey if you go a few blocks.

[Ken]

The people in York are centred in the worst part of town.

The people in Baltimore, well, it’s a nice part of Baltimore... but it gets dicey if you go a few blocks.

What does that have to do with being Anabaptist? You either believe in non-violence or you do not. If Mennonites are arming themselves because they live in "bad" neighborhoods then I fail to understand what makes them uniquely Mennonite and not ordinary Baptists or Methodists or whatever other mainstream protestant denomination they resemble.

This thread started out talking about how conservative Mennos needed guns in their trucks because of "wild animals" and now it is because they live in "bad" neighborhoods?

[DrWojo]

Maybe you could write a hymn about that instead of country song.

So I tried my hand at ‘spoofing’ an old Steeles’ song:

“ . . . I don’t have to rewrite a Country song,
To keep weapons out of Church,
I don’t have to carry a Switchblade or Glock
I’m not ashamed of who I am —
You see, the first time I’m threatened
I turn the other cheek, but be careful
‘Cause I am keeping track!
I don’t have to rewrite a Country song
To keep weapons out of Church.

Let me start out by sayin’ I don’t have
an axe to grind,
I’m not mad at anybody out there —
But I have an opinion through the words of this
Song; there’s something I would like to share —
When we become a Mennonite our institutions
are clear
Come apart and be separate says the Church
We’re not called to emulate, duplicate or
imitate
Anything like packin’ the heat!

Well, I suppose there are those that disagree
and this I know
Their intentions and their heats are pure
So don’t ask if I’m carrying
Unless you’re good to know
The truth however it comes out
But I don’t have to rewrite a Country song
To keep the weapons out of Church . . .”

[Judas Maccabeus]

The people in York are centred in the worst part of town.

The people in Baltimore, well, it’s a nice part of Baltimore... but it gets dicey if you go a few blocks.

We have had at least one robbed with a weapon. I have been robbed, although not since I joined the church.

Actually, to be honest, white people are seldom robbed in Baltimore these days. It is well known that most youngish white people do not carry much money. Many carry only small change. It appears that the most popular targets were Chinese students and Hispanics. Many of these people do not have bank accounts and carry large amounts of cash. It was a problem among the Chinese students we used to work with. It reinforced their racist stereotypes.

J.M.

[Judas Maccabeus]

You all DO know that bringing your guns to church has strong racist overtones dating to the antebellum period.

J.M.