To those of you making fun of Mennonites:

[KarenInMA]

How are you any different than the freepers making fun of a Muslim's attire?

Oh, and a little bit about them: http://www.mennoniteusa.org/mennos/index.html

"Mennonites are known for their peace stand, taken because they believe Jesus Christ taught the way of peace. Many members choose not to participate in military service."

[tinfoilinfor2005]

1. thinking...thinking...Nope. Never made fun of one Mennonite in my life.

Course I never knew any, but I doubt I would have made fun. Not my style.
Thanks for the article...very interesting and informative.
And BTW before I forget, Welcome to DU! :)

Edited because my fingers just can't type the right letters tonight.

[KarenInMA]

3. Thank you. It's in response to this thread:

Some people probably didn't know who they are, but they aren't the enemy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4081794&mesg_id=4081794

[hootinholler]

16. Well, I have to admit that the

UberRetro Dragwear coment brought a smile.

But I already know that I'm a sick twisted individual. I know a number of mennonites and they are all honest hardworking nice people.

-Hoot

[Just Me]

23. Um, are you cherry-picking to characterize towards an agenda?

:shrug:

Seriously. Plucking some stupid string from, literally, hundreds of thousands, to assert this crap,...is so,...ummmm

DIVISIVE!!!! :grr:

ALL OF US GET SLAPPED OR SLAMMED FROM TIME TO TIME. WE ARE RESILIENT ENOUGH TO DEFLECT/IGNORE/HANDLE THE SMALL SHIT AND REACH OUT TO EACHOTHER IN SPITE OF OUR DIFFERENCES.

Meanwhile, you bring to everyone's attention a thread, one thread,...to do what? To accomplish what?

To,...ummmm,...divide us?

We are far more tolerant of uniquenesses, far more inclusive than any group.

I believe we are ATTACKED because of our inclusivity and our strength towards causes which are common to all humanity. That's what I believe.

[rug]

2. Good reminder, good link.

[uppityperson]

4. Exactly. Please be tolerant and openminded of peaceful people

I don't care if people dress or act differently IF they do not push their beliefs on me. Period. Oh, or IF they do not hurt other people. Or things. But other than that I really don't care and have better things to do than make fun of them. Thank you.

[acmejack]

5. who's making fun of mennonites?

link to example, please? It would be nice to have a little context. Thanks

[KarenInMA]

6. mennonites wear "silly" clothing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4081794&mesg_id=4081794

[Amaya]

7. I wasn't making fun of Mennonites

I was making fun of Bloomers

what? is that bad?

[Union Thug]

10. And all I said was that Pilgrims would love it..

and that no self respecting amish woman would be caught dead in the bathing suit. Neither of which are untrue! ;-)

Now those bloomers...grrrrrrroooowllll..HOT HOT HOT!

That website single handedly cost my workplace a lot time today!!!! Thanks to DU!

[bloom]

14. I like bloomers.

and I like Amelia Bloomer.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mcscajun]

11. Christian Anabaptists - peace-loving people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mennonite

[ovidsen]

9. A nice reality check!

There were Mennonite families where I once lived in rural upstate NY. They epitomize kinder and gentler. And I'm kind of surprised anyone here would mock them.:shrug:

[seabeyond]

12. having taken a busty 11 year old girl shopping for clothes

i am totally empathetic. to dress here without creating an image of a slut. the clothes for little five year olds are horrible. tshirts put filth sayings and arent i hot, i am boy crazy tshirts feeding sexuality at a way to young age. i wouldnt chose those outfits, but.......i totally respect anyone choosing to dress more modestly. not an issue at all. and not something to make fun of, you are right. (we are a better people than that) (diversity is our strength) i see women and children dressed like this around my community. so not an issue

thank you for bringing this awareness. just all this stuff feeds into the division, we so protest.

[Dora]

13. Thanks for this

I did see the post that inspired you to post this. It bothered me when I saw it this afternoon, and when I read most of the responses this evening I was stunned at the trigger-happy glee with which so many of us decided to mock another population.

I would think that "freepers" have given us enough insult ammo that we could refrain from picking on the clothing a very few of our extremely modest fellow citizens choose to wear.

Making fun of someone for modesty is thoughtless. I hope that thread dies overnight.

[kestrel91316]

15. Mennonites = true Followers of Christ ..................

right-wing fundamentalist "christians" and dominionist types = Christofascists

Mennonites, Quakers, Brethren, Amish are all pacifists even though they are socially conservative in many respects. They are not the enemy. Rude comments about what they wear are juvenile and mark the commenter as a dedicater Freeper.

[Maple]

17. As I recall

the thread, I understood it was posted on the freeper site as an example of what women 'should' wear.

All women.

Overtones of 'The Handmaid's Tale' and all that.

I think that biased the conversation from then on.

[marions ghost]

18. this is totally ridiculous

people were making fun of the CLOTHING. Just because Mennonites wear something similar does not constitute a ridiculing of Mennonites.

If I laugh at the clothes that George Washington wore, I am not insulting George Washington or his beliefs.

This old-fashioned clothing DOES look funny to a culture that promotes the skimpiest possible clothing for women. It could easily seem like wearing a Burka to those who wear a lot less. The conversation that went on was commenting about clothes and culture, not disparaging Mennonites or their beliefs.

Will due respect you are missing the point entirely. If you simply want an excuse to talk about the views and non-military ideas of Mennonites, then that's fine.

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. I do know

that the Mennonites make the best damn strawberry shakes on the planet. They come down to Dade Co. FL for the winter (or at least they used to) and grow strawberries and run a bakery. One of the major attractions is their strawberry ice cream and shakes. Damn now I'm hungry.

[Bluebear]

20. That site doesn't even mention Mennonites, just saying.

The whole thread started in reference to a freeper post that said ALL women should dress like that. And the fashions are pretty uninspired, to boot.

[expatriate]

21. As I said on that thread,

which was a real shockeroo on a supposedly liberal forum, considering the outrage that gets expressed here anytime someone posts about a dress code for school or work, and how people say that they should not be judged by the clothes they wear, but for the people they really are, that thread was obnoxious.

The word "Quaker" was used several times derogatorily. I'm going to try to be charitable and assume that those who did so know nothing about the beliefs of Quakers. Maybe they're not the snappiest dressers in town, but their peace-loving beliefs are what they should be judged by.

Hope that thread sinks like a stone.

[American in Asia]

22. I'm with you on both counts...

Another part of the Quaker belief system I admire is the emphasis on cooperation over competition. Oh, and the belief that each person should look inside and find their own truth and way. Hmm - what else - the Quaker colleges stress turning out good global citizens, who are well-informed and want to work for peace, cultural understanding, environmental action, and many other admirable goals.

[fujiyama]

24. .

[Technowitch]

25. Locking

The thread being referred to has in fact been locked.

The proper channel for raising these kinds of objections is to Alert on them. Please keep that in mind.

Thank you,
Technowitch
DU Moderator