Bunny Trails

[ohio jones]

San Diego used to be populated by a band of about 4,000 Indians, and indeed it still is populated by a band of about that number.

It's fascinating how we can go for months at a time without so much as mentioning native Americans, then suddenly they show up in multiple threads on the same day. Let us ponder that for a moment.

[Sudsy]

The "classy" wealthy folks are more likely to avoid what they consider gaudy displays of wealth. It's considered to be in better taste to signal wealth with a simple suit made out of superior cloth and by a high-end tailor than to wear a flashy suit. The same principle seems to apply regarding vehicles.

The traditions held by the old order Mennonite groups are likely to come into and go out of fashion throughout the years, but it really doesn't bother most of them because they aren't basing their traditions on the current fads. I assume that you are familiar enough with automobiles to recognize that despite the color similarities, the vehicles at the Weaverland church are simpler than those at the Academy Awards.i

My point is that the RELIGIOUS focus on black as a car color is really a response to the roaring 20s, a century ago, when GM first started mass producing colored cars after Dupont developed reliable paint coatings that could produce bright metallic yet colors on cars. Colored cars were marketed in the 1920s as fancy and an extravagant luxury https://www.consumerreports.org/consume ... oring-now/ and some plain churches mandated black in response to all that explosion of color. A century later, car color no longer has any relationship to the fanciness or extravagance of cars, the fanciest ones are mostly colorless black, gray, and white. But you still have some plain churches focused on car color as a signifier of "plainness" 50 years after the concept lost meaning. This is just one of many possible examples of how some Mennonites continue to fight century-old battles long after they have lost all meaning.

These are the current color options for the $110,000 Mercedes S-Class which is the most expensive production sedan on the market today and presumably the least-plain: https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/class ... an#gallery



You can get it in four separate shades of black: Black, Magnetite Black metallic, Ruby Black Metallic, and Obsidian Black Metallic, in addition to several shades of white, gray, and silver. Obviously car color is no longer a signifier of extravagance when it comes to cars.

By contrast, the very cheapest new car on the road (and presumably the most plain) is the Chevy Spark which comes in a variety of bright jellybean colors because they are marketed towards young people not rich people.



Which of these two cars would Jesus be most comfortable in?

Neither. He would likely pile in with His disciples into a Honda Accord as Acts 2:1 it says they were 'all in one accord'.

[Sudsy]

Would be nice to turn off 'Current Events' like we can 'Politics'. One worldly topic after another to argue about. I really doubt early Anabaptism would be concerned over such things outside their mission. YMMV.

[Robert]

Would be nice to turn off 'Current Events' like we can 'Politics'. One worldly topic after another to argue about. I really doubt early Anabaptism would be concerned over such things outside their mission. YMMV.

I moved this to bunny trails and wanted to respond here.

It is easy to see that what sections a topic is in. It lists it in the description as shown below.



While it might be good for you to have only the sections you want, then others would not want some of them. All it takes is looking at the forum sections something is listed in and just ignore it and move on. This way, you control what you you want to participate in instead of others deciding for you or you deciding for others.

[ken_sylvania]

Would be nice to turn off 'Current Events' like we can 'Politics'. One worldly topic after another to argue about. I really doubt early Anabaptism would be concerned over such things outside their mission. YMMV.

Are you asking for an internet filter of some kind? For some reason I thought you didn't believe in them. Maybe I've got you mixed up with someone else...

[Sudsy]

Would be nice to turn off 'Current Events' like we can 'Politics'. One worldly topic after another to argue about. I really doubt early Anabaptism would be concerned over such things outside their mission. YMMV.

I moved this to bunny trails and wanted to respond here.

It is easy to see that what sections a topic is in. It lists it in the description as shown below.



While it might be good for you to have only the sections you want, then others would not want some of them. All it takes is looking at the forum sections something is listed in and just ignore it and move on. This way, you control what you you want to participate in instead of others deciding for you or you deciding for others.

So, why were we given individual control to not see the Politics forum. Sorry, I'm missing something here. I could have done likewise regarding Politics, yes/no ?

[ohio jones]

So, why were we given individual control to not see the Politics forum. Sorry, I'm missing something here. I could have done likewise regarding Politics, yes/no ?

Of course you could have. Why didn't you?

If Robert set up a No Current Events group, you'd have to leave the No Politics group to join it. And if you didn't want to see either, he would also have to create a No Politics And No Current Events group. And then someone would want to filter out MennoLight (with or without Politics and/or Current Events), since we are supposed to be serious all the time. The combinations and permutations are not quite infinite, but setting up and managing all of that would be cumbersome. Not to mention we would have to police the content of each thread to make sure it doesn't get out of bounds, and set up a whole warren of bunny trails and briar patches to yeet the errant posts to.

[Sudsy]

So, why were we given individual control to not see the Politics forum. Sorry, I'm missing something here. I could have done likewise regarding Politics, yes/no ?

Of course you could have. Why didn't you?

If Robert set up a No Current Events group, you'd have to leave the No Politics group to join it. And if you didn't want to see either, he would also have to create a No Politics And No Current Events group. And then someone would want to filter out MennoLight (with or without Politics and/or Current Events), since we are supposed to be serious all the time. The combinations and permutations are not quite infinite, but setting up and managing all of that would be cumbersome. Not to mention we would have to police the content of each thread to make sure it doesn't get out of bounds, and set up a whole warren of bunny trails and briar patches to yeet the errant posts to.

Yes, OJ, you're right. I'll try to handle my disappointments better. I just think we can be a better light in this world if we truly practised separation of the church and state. I guess my understanding of this is quite different than some. Time for another break and think about the positives versus the negatives for being here.

Sorry.

[ohio jones]

Time for another break and think about the positives versus the negatives for being here.

The positives of your being here far outrank the negatives, IMO. Maybe we could get a raised hand vote on that?

But if you must take a break, please post once more to round out the season, and hurry back.

[Robert]

Yes, OJ, you're right. I'll try to handle my disappointments better. I just think we can be a better light in this world if we truly practised separation of the church and state. I guess my understanding of this is quite different than some. Time for another break and think about the positives versus the negatives for being here.

Sorry.

OJ did a good job of describing the difficulties of setting up so many limits. It is much easier for each to limit themselves. Personal/individual responsibility is also an Anabaptist trait.

I do not completely disagree with your perceptions. The challenge is how do we regulate and control everyone's posts? It becomes a real struggle to judge. It is hard enough to moderate the few times come report others for disrupting threads and such. Since this is a free site and no one is paid to moderate, I fear loading down the moderators with more burden would be unfair and cause burnout.

This means that there will be more freedom of posting, but the flip side is you are free to post on the topics and areas you enjoy. Please do so. I appreciate your comments and posts. I am not where you are or see things as you do, so it is very beneficial to me to hear them. I do not want echo chambers. I, and all of us, need to hear conflicting views. We are adults. We should be able to handle it.