I would suggest that it is not conservative anabaptism that is "harmed" by either education or by mission work, but rather it is the old cultural traditions that are "harmed". At least my own experience does not line up with this idea, which is often suggested or stated on this forum - that these involvements make a person less "conservative". I didn't go on for a masters, but I have a BA, some graduate course work, and I was involved in missionary work for 18 years, and among non-Mennonites to boot. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in what people here call 'conservative anabaptism', but actually came into it AFTER all of the education I mentioned, and continued in it throughout my missionary involvement. (It was actually the pursuit of higher education that led me to traditional anabaptism - in the sense of belief & faith practice, not in the cultural sense.)cooper wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:28 pmConservative Anabaptism has a cultural heritage that is really valuable and has deep flaws. It's hard to have one without the other. The Achille's heel of conservative Anabaptism is that it can't withstand sustained contact with people in the outside world. Inviting insiders into the church is an essential part of Christianity. This puts conservative Anabaptists in a double bind.Marylander wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:51 pm It's also curious to me why plain dressing Mennonites are opposed to higher education but aren't opposed to mission work when the latter was equally detrimental to the Mennonite church.
It would be helpful for me in understanding what is being discussed in this topic if the cultural aspect was separated from the 'anabaptism'. But after 40 years of contact with the conservative Swiss Brethren culture, I realize that these two things are hopelessly intertwined. It seems that any member of that culture that attempts to separate the two is merely written off as a "liberal", or at best as a "progressive", which is also a 'dirty word'. I suppose this is why missionary work is considered 'harmful' - because doing good mission work requires cultural knowledge, the ability to stand back & evaluate one's own culture in light of the differences between it and the other cultures with which one comes into contact. I also think that this "seeing one's self" can lead to the strengthening of one's faith, and the determination to live it out.
