Wagler Wisdom

Actually, a plane does not have a rear view mirror,  if it would ,you would not want to watch it . That is how we went to spend our last 8 days in Florida by.

Buying super-cheap tickets is fun , especially if one gets to really use them months later. We purchased and paid for them the last week of November-2011 . With taxes, $175 covered 2 round trip tickets between GSP and Punta Gorda, Florida, (Inside the plane seats , too).

Our main destination was Sarasota , also Ft Myers , about 90 miles down the coast from there.

The Mennonite enclave there in Pine craft , Sarasota , has got to be the most unique Anabaptist centered gathering place around.

Some types of more lenient Amish , All and any flavor of Mennonite , even Holdermans ,and Coveralls-and denim bill-cap wearing Sleeping preacher folks are seen wandering the streets there , from exactly 6AM to 9PM every day.

3 wheeled bikes are the approved way to get around on , renting out for about $5 a day . About every thing is within walking distance , if one chooses that way .

The several supposed ”Dutch” and ”Amish cooking” restaurants there ,shamelessly prostitute the Amish name to make $$$ on, with the only Amish-owned and operated restaurant there going by the unlikely name of ”Olaf’s Ice Cream Shop”. Not only do they serve homemade Ice Cream , but Pizzas too.

We ate once at the Huge ”Dutch heritage” Restaurant complex . Serve yourself was the method , with a very well stocked salad table , even 2 colors of pickled eggs on it.

The food on the self-serve bar was plentiful ,if not overly tasty . The Waiters and waitresses very efficient, friendly, and business-like . The whole place feels like a well oiled money machine , and must be for the owners of it. A bit of Ohio in Florida, perhaps.

We preferred the  smaller ‘Yoder’s ‘ restaurant down the street for it’s sit-down service , and hot just -off- the -griddle food. The wait staff there had a somewhat harried air about them that may mean they are short-staffed , or perhaps over whelmed by personal problems,or both , and it’s showing.

We walked into there one morning at about 8 O’clock with no waiting at all . Most of the time one sees a line of folks out the parking lot waiting to eat there. We suppose that should not be a problem , as there is not much to do there for many but eat and walk about.

To be continued

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Plain & simple thinking may just make one simple , or it may make one a wise  old person, with enough of it ,as it can accumulate…

Simple-mindedness can grow with  ”under a shell”  type of thinking , with little or no  Biblical basis. A good thing to avoid in the New Year…

Newer items of interest  & possibly wisdom always at the top of the page …

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17 So what or who is in a Cult ? The world’s foremost expert on Cults , Dr Margaret singer (1926-2003)

”If a religion weakens ones spirit and personal religious growth , it is a cult , If it strengthens one’s personal experience , that  can be true religion ”. End of quote

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16.This week’s Time,Feb13 issue, has an intriguing small note on a new Mexican photojornalist’s upcoming book ,”Las Majeres Flores”. The compiler befriended and photographed ,and somewhat described Mexican Mennonite Women’s lot in the Northern Mexican areas, over a two year period . It is all in Spanish ,except the pictures.         Feb 05-12

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15. The Great Uncle Sam’s Tax refund check sweepstakes is now in full swing . A single person or a couple with a child or two that make 10K-12k ,(Minimin wage) per year are now looking at a ‘refund’  check for 5-8 K. That is good. What is not good is that it is almost always all gone in a week or two . Payday lenders have been lending against these checks for months. Landlords, too have patiently waited on them . It is noted ,too that lots of renters move right now , it is called take-and- run, till next year’s check. ….Jan 31-12

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14. Political junkies are astounded at the ongoing Republican Primary . This is the most interesting saga ever . Even better then 1984 when Stompin’ Gary Hart was on a roll , winning little states like Maine before he self destructed  dramatically……Jan 26-12

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13. Mitt Romney , the leading Republican contender for President , has not had a Job for years , but still made over 21 millions last year on investments. Maybe we need to put him in to plug the deficit in Federal USA spending. The USA has spent almost 5 trillion dollars more then it brought in over the last 4 years . That is over 150 million dollars borrowed every hour of every day , that supposedly needs to be paid back some day . Wow, and Wow again ……Jan 25-12

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12 The fungicide in the Brazilian Orange Juice in the news now. It seems to be a politically sponsored thing . The Florida O.J. Folks who reported them on this ,had always used the same thing too , until 09 , when they went on to something milder , and failed to renew the yearly request (and permit) to the EPA to use the stuff ,for Oranges.

A lot of other USA fruits like apples , peaches etc. still are sprayed with exactly the same stuff , and legally in the USA. Makes one about want to go organic.At least wash the fruits real good…….Jan 21-12

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11.Wow , that big boat is not going anywhere . The biggest passenger ship to ever go down , is laying on it’s side near Italy , in shallow waters. After seeing a photo of the boat Captain , we hope the authorities thought of giving that chap a breathalyzer test. Jan 15-12

On a related note , the worst ever Known Shipwreck loss of life was the ”Wilhelm Gustloff’ a German refugee ship loaded with over 10.000 people , about half  of whom were children . In 1945 a Russian sub torpedoed her and she went down with approx. 9500 lives lost .

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10.  we in the mainland USA are having a very mild winter , so far . Not so in Alaska , they are having an extraordinarily harsh winter .   And why would anything but Polar bears live in Alaska in the Winter ? Jan. 10-12

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9. So you feel like Bungee jumping ? Watch the video of the “Australian girl falls in bungee cord break in Africa sky news” on Dec 31-11. She miraculously survived.

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8. Just because it’s on EBay does not say it is a good deal . We were recently looking for a Werner 22 ft multi-ladder . EBay has one for $299 plus shipping . Our local Lowe’s store has the exact same item for $169 .

Also a 50 ft round-type drain snake . Online for $75. At Lowe’s for $26 .

Some folks ship Harbor Freight tools with a mark-up on Ebay.

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7. All you ex-Aylmerites , Look up ”RCAF Station Aylmer No 14” on Utube. The commander of this base took film of the fliers training there in World War II .(This is 3 miles west of the Current Aylmer Ontario amish Colony) Over 4100  fighter pilots from the British Commonwealth trained on Harvard aircraft there , before going off to Europe . 26 students and 12 instructors  died there in training accidents , 11 are buried in the local cemetery .

Base Commander Irwin returned there to a Memorial dedication in 1983 , and as a flight of old Harvard war-birds roared over in a salute , he dropped over dead of a heart attack.

I’ve never  since seen those huge fluffy Clouds , like they have around the great lakes  up there , they are on the film ,too , from the early 40′s……Jan 09-12

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6. Dwight Eisenhower was elected USA President in Nov. 1952 . He had only let himself be persuaded to Run 5 months earlier , The Democrats and Republicans both wanted him for their Nominee.Compare that to today’s marathon run , lasting years and years each time.

A slight problem arose when it was discovered Eisenhower never had a Birth Certificate filed in his own name. It was filed in Oct. 1952 , one month before the Election . (Sounds familiar ?)

He had 6 brothers , each to whom the Nick-name Ike was given . (Fat Ike, Little Ike, big Ike , Etc) . His Nick-name at home was Ugly Ike.

The most famous US army General in World War Two , he never saw action in his entire military career.  He was a terrific manager , and used those skills very well in his presidency , A cold analytical thinker , with no known close friends , He made a very great President.

And what about all those ”I like Ike ” buttons, with the huge grin ? A brilliant marketing ploy , indeed.   Jan 08-12

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5. “As a tree falls . so will it lay” . The second most quoted meaning from a Bible verse in Amishland is taken out of Ecl. 11-3.

And what is the most quoted Bible verse  in Amishlands ? Phil 2-12 .. ”Working out our salvation with fear and trembling “‘.  All quoted in German language , of course.

And what is the most quoted , misused , and misinterpreted verse in the rest of Christianity, one hears it almost every day in Church gatherings if discussions arise.  ? Matt. 7-1 .. ”Judge not ,,,,,,,,” .    Jan 06-12

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4. President Obama is vacationing in Hawaii . His Republican Opponents are slugging it out trying to figure out which of them is to oppose him next fall . Almost the entire news media , and White House press Corps treat our Pres. Obama  about like a King and rarely pose any meaningful questions to him , just fawning admiration. After all , this President did win a Nobel Peace prize , just for ”giving people hope”.

They used to savage President Bush almost every day , with tough questions , and who can forget the ”off the record” photos and videos of him in odd postures , like when they were getting him ready for speeches , etc. ?

It looks like Mitt Romney , the Mormon .

Whether he can win , or not , we shall see .Pres. Obama is a really nice guy ,and all … After all, the nation is not all like California , where it is now not viable for a republican to win any state-wide contest .Dec 31-11

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3. We were looking up the Amish Family Life magazine online. They of course have no On-line presence, being Amish .

A Christian ,Perhaps Anabaptist company called Scroll Publishing ,Sells about all the Pathway products , and has a very accurate write-up on the Amish Pathway folks , including it’s magazines . We notice they also offer about all of David Bercots’ books , too. They have a lot of worthwhile products and projects , and are upfront that they are only selling, not representing, Pathway products. At least there is a good  On-line presence for them .

We did not see any of Frank Viola’s books offered , the ones we have mentioned several times on here. Perhaps it is because he is not Anabaptist oriented , like Bercot is.

We have read several of Viola’s books , and can say they will stir one’s thinking .

Back to the Amish Family Life monthly Magazine , It was originally set up to be called the ”Family Circle” , back in 1968 , until someone pointed out to them that there was already a national magazine by that name , available at all supermarkets , etc. We suppose they had never noticed that .  Dec 31-11

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2.Texting on the cell phone is a never ending thing , it seems like . Perhaps it may be a good tool to keep in touch , but there are boundaries to it .

You probably should not do it in Church , certainly not as you are trying to carry on a conversation with a real person on the side , and not when you are driving .

one of the above activities may cause a loss of friendships , and one may cost your , and or other’s lives . Dec.30-11

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1. We are sitting here eating a seasonal concoction , an old fashioned fruitcake . The Fruitcake has a well deserved reputation of something that is perhaps an ordeal to eat . Once a year is enough, at Christmas  , is the thinking .

There is the old joke about that there is only one cake in the whole country , people keep passing it from one to another hoping someone will eat it ……Then it is gone .

The ones you buy at the store , the ones you send for , even the ones at the bakery ,almost always have the same characteristics. Too dry, or  too crumbly, over-baked , or perhaps the ”fruity”  things taste funny . or the whole thing has a reminder of cardboard chips to it .

But the one we are eating just now is absolutely superbly perfect , and will age out well .

And who baked it up ??   Dear Wife Lynda did , of course . Dec.29-11

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We recently ran across an article online by Peter Hoover .. ‘Radical Anabaptists part one”, a fairly lengthy 6 part writing about the Life and times and Spiritual quests of  Harry Wanner .

Over the last 50 years or so there have been  a shadowy  group of seeking Anabaptist , that constantly were on the move .Mostly from Amish backgrounds .Often moving perhaps from Pa. to Ky. ,to Tennessee , to Belize and then perhaps Michigan . And then start the moving all over again.Lobelville Tennessee is sort of a center for them  . All in the long quest to find someone to be ”enech” , or unified with . The so called unity hardly ever lasted more then a week or a month . At one time in Belize there were 7  factions among 11 households there, among that set of believers .

No modern conveniences allowed , certainly not cars and often no motors at all allowed , continuously seeking that elusive peace ,and or. perfection. Women in these settings are often treated like dirt or as things to own and use, not as people. Each man as a little private dictator, is the way to be ,seemingly.Weird.

Peter Hoover’s background is from this rather eccentric group setting, Although he has embraced modern media technology , and is a good writer . He  lives in Australia at a place called ”Rocky cape” , in an Anabaptist Commune .If that setting is in a dictatorial role , we do not know.

We enjoy his writings , though one notices that he admires Hutterites and their culture , and is somewhat affiliated with a Hutterrite  group in the USA Midwest. That he admires these wandering Stars , that spent perhaps all their lives searching and searching for someone to ”unify” with ,  raises several questions .

Harry Wanner is the subject of his 6 part article , with a lot of names of other such minded seekers too.  Nicolas Stoltzfus,brothers Harold and Victor Stoll, Albert Stoll , Joe J Millers, and many others of like goals if not minds are mentioned.Seeking and moving , the ever elusive “unity ” being just out of reach , seems the norm here.

Harry Wanner had 22 children , married twice . We never met him ,though we have met most of the others mentioned. Knowing some of the Background history  and information on him and those he was around , gives one pause.

Much of that thinking is basically selfish . ”My interpretation , and application of scripture is ground zero , for everything”. Treating those whose views are not exactly as one’s own like trash seems to be part of it ,too. Re-baptizing oneself or one another seemed rather the norm, from time to time .

On the subject of Hutterites , it is our observation that about all the attributes of a cult are found in the way they operate now. We used to visit a Group of them that later went totally to nothing as a group , in Bright, Ont. Called ‘Community farm of the Brethren”, founded in 1940 , they did well until their leader , an avowed dictator , died in the early 1960′s .He once made one of his defeated Rivals live in a Pig-pen there on the colony.(Peter Hoover lists this Leader in his Cloud of Witnesses section, as an inspiration) .

They were all such nice folks , and they all worked very hard like Amish  do, from about age 14 on up. (Note .We desire first hand historical information on this ,on or off record),

Several Factions developed among the Bright, Ont . colony, to where they lived separately on the same compound , but were not on speaking terms. One faction even marched around the other every evening, singing and praying , somewhat like Joshua and the Israelites marching around Jericho.

Sometime in the  1980′s , the young people of  there rose , and said “Enough is enough ”. They ended up selling everything and splitting the money , it was a well to do crowd .They all assimilated into neighboring Churches and communities very well. Maybe some Hutterites get along better then that ,at least on the surface .

Jan 17-12

The  small  town of Stutthof  Poland (West Prussia), was mostly known as a fertile farming region until 1939 . It was also the largest German speaking Mennonite conclave in the World up to that time .It was from here that they had spread into Russia well over a century before. By 1935 the colonies in Russia had all been dissipated by Stalin’s purges ,while  the Polish Mennonite colonies were in their zenith.

Names like Loewen, Peters ,Shraader , Riemer , Wiebe , Klassen,Wall, and Fehr proliferated in the region in the 1930′s . Not Polish names at all , but Mennonite ones.

In 1939 the Nazi Regime  in Germany  was looking around the newly overrun area to establish a ”Resettlement” camp.  They chose Stutthof , in a rural secluded setting, on the edge of this oldest of Mennonite settings . The Mennonites mostly were opposed to it , but were promised lots of jobs , building it .

Today, The somewhat little-known Stutthof Extermination Camp site , is a memorial , to the at least 70 thousand peoples exterminated there that were registered ,and  perhaps that many more that were not registered , but died there , many in the most brutal fashion imaginable . Until recently , the Memorial was not even written up in English . The gas chamber and the crematorium are still displayed there .

Only in the past 20+ years has the story evolved , from records lost in the ”cold war” . The meticulously kept German records are still there , in microfilm now , all the expenses paid out to local people , and all.

Mennonite contractors built almost all the buildings there ,with the supplied slave labor , Mennonite sawmills supplied much of the Lumber , And as the War continued to drain the German manpower pool , Several   dozens of  Mennonite Men , and a few Mennonite women appear to have joined the SS, as ethnic Germans, to be guards in the Stutthof region concentration camps. Some of them were as brutal as they come , and in the SS corps that was quite bad .

Stutthof is also known as a   Nazi concentration camp where some bodies were rendered to make ”Pure Jewish soap” in neatly packaged and labled bars.(This is controversial among historians)

Local farmers , including Mennonites , hired squads of  inmates to help with the harvests , paying the SS for that .  Most , though not all Mennonites were kind to them , giving them food , and not working them too harshly. (As in making them work 12 hours a day , instead of just 8 hours).

Jews were the main target of the Camp Interments , also Gypsies ,captured English servicemen , and about anyone with a physical handicap. It is hard to imagine that kind of brutality taking place , especially that normally peaceful Mennonites sometimes joined in it .

When the Red Army liberated Stutthof Concentration camp in Jan. 1945 , it was the last one to be liberated . They found it almost empty , except for a hundred or so poor souls who had hid when the camp was evacuated by the SS. The last 4000 internees had been marched to the nearby sea , 2 miles away ,the week before , into the water, and all machine-gunned to death . There are allegations today that the local population helped herd this last ”March into the water”.

The Red Army had a rather unique method to deal with any SS solders they found in these situations anywhere close to the concentration camps  . They were always executed on the spot . If anyone was found in the vicinity with any German Army connection , they were executed too . so it would not have been a good idea to even wear military shoes or overcoats , even if they were salvaged . They did immediately  hang a number of guards they caught there in the vicinity , including several women SS guards.

The free Polish came in and conducted 3 sets of trials among which there were a number of local Mennonite men that had been involved as guards at that particular camp. One Fritz Peters , a Mennonite man , was tried and duly hung . The rest of the Mennonites on trail at that time got prison sentences , mostly in the 5 year range for their war crimes against humanity .It is believed that between 25-30 stood trial .

The MCC (Mennonite Central Committee)  sent Plattdeutsch speaking representatives into that area to help displaced Mennonites the next year . They were able to help a number of them immigrate to Canada and to the USA , through their Menno-pass program , which sometimes bypassed regular channels .

In The Mid 1990′s Some of the World’s Nazi-hunting Organisations approached the MCC about accountability on who all they gave Menno-passes to in the late 1940′s . It is unfortunate that it appears that several War-Crime monsters posing as peaceful displaced Mennonites escaped through their perhaps inadvertent  help .

They were especially irked that MCC had helped a Jacob Riemer , born 1918,to escape Europe with a Menno-pass . For 45 years he proclaimed his total and complete innocence , while living in New York  State . In the early 90′s , after The Russians released all the records , enough evidence was found  for the US government to strip him of US citizenship and to deport him back to Russia . In 2005 he had exhausted all his appeals , and was days away from being deported , when he died a natural death in the USA.

The very worst example of the ”Mennonite turns into a monster war criminal ” in the Stutthof  area ,was of a rather meek  natured farmer Named Heinrich Wiens.  Born in 1906 , he signed up to be a member of the SS in the mid 30′s  . In his application to join up with the special program to join the SS Guards , He noted that he was a ”Lover of God”.A rather risky thing to put down , one would think.

Perhaps he had a few reservations about the whole thing . Within a short while all reservations must have been swept away . Perhaps Wiens discovered he just loved brutalising and murdering helpless peoples. Over the next several years he graduated from being a guard to joining a mobile killing squad , the kind where a buses’ exhaust killed the occupants . He was promoted up the ranks until he commanded his own personal  killing squad . He was directly responsible for many , many thousands of murders ,in the area and to the East .

He faded away and disappeared sometime in late 1944 , and was never heard of again ,anywhere . Not even by his family. The Russians and Americans kept a close look-out for him for several decades . It was not believed he had that much money that he could have escaped that way , he was more interested in killing helpless people then in money.

The conclusion most investigators have come to ,over the years ,is that he probably died in some muddy ditch in 1945  , rolled over by a Russian tank perhaps , and left to rot like the animal he had become . No one knows . Being born in 1906 , surely he has met his maker now.

Most Mennonite men, in Poland and Russia that joined the SS were never brought to justice , in this life. They were not military men , but almost always  solely recruited to kill ”undesirables”.  This is not the story that has been put forward by most writers since then , that seek to show the peaceful, blameless side of the Russian and  Polish Mennonites during the war.

to be continued…

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1.On new Year’s Night , Just go to Bed and get some sleep , it is a long year ahead . Staying up late will just tire one out the next day , the first day of the year ….

2.Our Country will survive , (unless the Lord returns) , and there is no use to worry about that . ….

3.A fair percentage of all Tradesmen are scamsters , and always have been . That is why it is so important to build a working relationship with your Plumber, carpenter , car repair shop etc.

We recently heard of a Roto-rooter man who wanted $1400 to unplug a sewer . A painter who asked 22K to paint a house ..Somehow ,they never get ahead , even with an occasional sucker.

4. This is for the men.Never ever Climb into a septic Tank , or into a sewer manhole , for any reason . A lot of the poison but odorless gases stay down , and can kill you in seconds.

5.The louder a preacher shouts , usually the less he has to offer.

A New exhaustive study published recently online,”Preachers who are not believers ” by Daniel Dennett & Linda LaScola, shows there  may be more  unbelievers behind pulpits , then are before it ,and that  is rather sobering . None of their studied preachers mentioned were Anabaptist , but we think the thing would apply there too..

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These Rainy , (but not snowy) December days make for reading times . So much information out there , not just on-line , but in old fashioned book form , too.

We are slowly working our way through Leroy Beachy’s ”Unser liet”‘ , his compilation of Anabaptist history he has called ”The story of the Amish.”

We would note here that if Jacob Ammon’s historic efforts took place Around 1700 A.D. (Give or take a dozen years either way ), That would mean that Amish history started rather late in the Anabaptist movements.

The last execution of an Anabaptist in Switzerland took place in 1614, in Holland about a dozen years earlier . Long before anyone was known as “Amish “.

There is an old Wagler story, we have heard since our youth , about a group of Waglers that arrived in Ontario, Canada , in the early 1800′s . Someone pointed them the general direction that the ”Amish” lived at .

The newcomers were confused , as they had never heard that description of themselves , until in America , to refer to themselves as Amish .

The ”Ausbund” the well known Anabaptist compiled Hymnal used to today by most Amish  , and the ”Martyrs mirror” , the tome of the persecuted ,had been around for generations before Jacob Ammon, founder of all things known today as ‘Amish”,  did his work .

We would wonder if one in Twenty Amishmen today would know that, that no Amishmen were ever burned at the stake of fire , for his beliefs ?

The final 2 months of the Year are upon us , Holiday times are and can be a blessing to all. It is estimated that over 90% of Anabaptist are passive folks, and feel good about it  . Well , you will note that we do not intend to run with the flock on that one. If Amish ways are too hard , and “English”"  ways too modern , why not go somewhere in between ?

Latest items always at the top ,

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20. Wendy’s is now overtaking Burger King in fast food sales ……Wendy’s is for sure a better deal , and seems like better food , then either Mcd’s or Burger-king .And they have about a thousand less stores .too, then Burger King.

But we would still prefer “Cracker Barrel” , That feeder of the common man, (with a job).

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19.today ,Dec 19-11 we bought cheaper gas . The per gallon price is not as important to us as exactly how many gallons go in the tank from a $20 bill . We haven’t been able to pump over 7 gallons for that money for quite some time .7.007 gallons ,to be exact. ($2.82 a Gallon.)

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18.We yesterday teased a dear niece , who is obviously , rather pointedly pregnant.

”The next time you eat watermelon, just spit the seeds out ” , was our clever remark.

Her rather quick  reply .”I happen to be pregnant , what is your excuse?”……Now that is meddling …

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17. Thanksgiving is past , but we can still be thankful , for all things.

In the Medical field , appendicitis, diabetes, even gall stones meant a painful death , not that many decades ago. Sure , the medical procedures are ridiculously expensive and all , but we can expect to pay for progress . A small cut while shaving could mean death from infections , until the “miracle’ drug , penicillin came in the early 1940′s.

We can still remember a time when older folks fought to keep from going to a hospital for any reason, because a hospital was just thought of as  a place to go and die . And it was , too.

So , some things do get better , with time and knowledge……Dec.19-11

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16. The crazy beard-cutting Amish Bishop has run up against something he cannot handle , the federal government .  He has all the Amish Women he desires , all the money he wants , which may have affected his thinking some.

His 700 acre spread is smack-dab in the middle of that shale oil frenzy in Ohio, He recently reportedly banked a check for a cool $2 million from that.    What would an Amishman do with $2  million Bucks?  He’ll need to spend a good bit of that on lawyers , now.  Dec 14-11

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15.    A couple of sayings that can make sense …….

a.  Life is too short to put up with dial-up Internet service.

b. If you are not comfortable inviting those you meet during the week , to attend Church with you on Sundays , you may be wasting that day.

c. Time proves out most arguments, also tends to put them in perspectives.

d.Good fences make for good Neighbors.

e.A clever person, in the final analysis , seems clever only to oneself.

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14. Cell phones are here , and take over some folk’s whole life. We do not intend to be one of those. We spend about 400 minutes a month , mostly 1-2 minute calls .

Last month we suddenly realized we were about out of plan minutes ,the Verizon folks were calling , reminding us of that . A check on-line , at the Plan ,showed that one of our phones was doing 2-3 hours a day of active time . Whoops, we had ”loaned’ one of our cellphones out to an unemployed man who also is a tenant .

That was fine , though it is in the past tense now . That rates right up there with people asking to use one’s phone ,”Just for a quick call ”. We do this about every day , and will continue to do that , though the callbacks get frustrating .

Just a few minutes ago I got a call from an unknown man asking to speak to an “Ed”.  At those times we resort to what has to be the worst put-down in Southern phone etiquette . I firmly ask ”What can I help you with ?”

That has got to be the rudest phone question imaginable if asked of  an acquaintance. But is acceptable with an unknown caller .

We do hear the Northerners tend to do that to each other , to save time  ,they say.   Dec.06-11

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13. The Old German Baptist Brethren , had a major split in 2009. The splitees call themselves the ”New conference Old German Baptist brethren” .

Yeah , you guessed it , it was mostly over the Internet and having E-mail access . The biggest Invention in the past several hundred years is splitting up plain groups all over . The ”old” , remaining group is giving it’s members 3 years to get entirely rid of all and any Internet influences , including E-mail . That should be interesting to see a try to  unravel that influence, once they have it . Dec.03-11

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12. They are camping out in the rain in Greenville SC to try and enroll their children in a new-fangled ”magnet” school . Some are planning to stay in tents 4 days to get a crack at it for their  children. Rich and poor , famous and unknown  , they all have the same goal,to get their kids in a better school . Our own Christain Schools  are not always the answer , as they can rot from within like a rotton fruit , too , If God does not stay in the center of it . Nov 28-11

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11. Really mild and balmy weather has been had here over Thanksgiving week . We heard several concerns over this weekend that folks have stacked up huge woodpiles , and worry that there may be no real cold weather this winter . Just wait , it will come , though hopefully not as long and lingering as last years’.   We even had a whole tramatizing week of snow last Jan  1-7. That was the most snow we had in 10 years.In SC

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10. Those of our relatives interested in and  related to my Grandfather J K Wagler , and Great Grandfather Christain Wagler , may care to check back to the July 2008 article archive on that subject , as we have just now added a few pertinent details onto the comment section there. Nov24–11

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9. This past weekend Nov-18-20, we attended a series of meetings held at a local BMA (Biblical Mennonite Alliance) Church . Paul Emerson , One of their most senior Pastors , was the featured speaker . It was about the many different Bible translations , and how they should effect us . Paul Emerson is planning to go on to Elnora , Ind , to be the principle of the BMA Bible School there. We believe he will do well there .

Paul is a very Slow -speaking , but well studied up speaker who shuts down right on time or earlier . He is also not at all redundant . (As in repeating one’s point over & over & over in so many slightly different ways, perhaps to kill time , almost all slow religious speakers tend to do that ,).

We have never before noted this particular combination in an Anabaptist speaker , and very much enjoyed hearing him ..

Nov 23-11

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8. A thing of interest to all you ex-Aylmer folks , A time-capsule of Aylmer-Amish  info is found by typing the following into google ……..”Recent Amish immigration to Ontario By Joseph Stoll Oct 1966” .

A thorough scholarly look at all Amish settlements in Ontario at that date . We do not know who is putting this material online , but are confident it is not the author.    Nov22-11

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7.The Amish are modernizing in lots of ways . At least the ones in Daviss County Ind, are. Cell phones are a must . L.E.D. lights on buggies make them very visible , and top buggies are in too . The biggest thing we noted was the lighting in houses . LED lights hooked up to regular house wiring and switches , hooked to banks of batteries and solar panels ,supply lights throughout the house . Now if they could just invent a buggy that runs on solar power, they could get rid of the dumb horse for good.

Motor generators are out , but anything solar is in , so that may be only a matter of time . We have always despised horses , since you-know-when.

We at one point paid a very short visit to Worthington Ind. ,just 30 miles north of  there , to talk to our niece a bit. The Amish group there is in the process of switching from buggies & horses to driving cars . We assured them they would not regret it . It will not solve all problems , but will surely open up a lot of options . We feel sorry for them in this transition time because they are being beset by spiritual violence from some other Amish , who now boldly pronounce them as ”Gone to nothing” ,and treat them accordingly . Thankfully ,the Davies Co. Ind. Amish would not generally act like that .

We were at an Amish store in Worthington ,watching a soon to locally be extinct buggy rattle by . I asked the Amish girl behind the counter …”What are you going to do with your horse & Buggies?”…

“We’re going to sell them” was her immediate reply ..Ah, smart girl indeed.

The big news up there in Southern Indiana now is the I-69 Interstate being built through there now. One Amish friend told how he got up very early in the morning to sneak a horse & wagon load of something across No-man-land of Interstate work to a Nieghbor’s place . A supervisor caught up with him ,and kindly inquired where he wished to go . After helping him across , the Construction Supervisor just off-handedly mentioned that next time he may want to consider using the Roads….

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6. we spent the past few days in Southern  Ind. at My Uncle Ben Yoder’s Funeral . We had a great time catching up with past friends , Also enjoying some great foods from Southern ind. Amish Country. These folk don’t go in much for casseroles and such fare , They prefer real meat and potatoes stuff.

We checked in at the Gasthof hotel in Montgomery Ind , And I could not resist ordering  up a ”Beef Manhattan ” Right off the in-room menu. They don’t serve that in the South . A stacked tier of Bread, mashed potatoes, beef and gravy. I think that was also the last food we bought , and we were stuffed from then on throughout our 3 day visit. Even the Funeral food was delicious. Food is a serious matter up there.

So are urban legends . A good but a bit under-informed friend tried to explain to me why railroad rails are exactly as wide apart as they are . Something about horses and wagon trains and Roman Chariots being that same width apart. And parts of the space shuttle , too .

I checked on the “‘urban legend” sites , and that particular tale rated up there pretty high . Come on , folks , 99% of those stories are easily debunked ..Nov.13-11

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5. And now , our take on toilet flappers . (That is the roundie thing-ama-gig that pulls up when you push down on the handle to let the water flush out ). They need to be replaced every few years . We had always got by by buying a baguette full from Lowe’s for about a dollar each . They worked fine , even if they come from China , until just recently . The Chinese have apparently cheapened them to the point where they no longer work keeping water in the tank . We now get the Corky brand , made in USA , about $4 each , and they work fine …

We are constantly repairing toilets . We will check the supply line, the tank bolts, the flapper, and then finally the wax seal, in that order .that takes care of 99% of problems.     Nov.09-11

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4.The big news of the day  is that former performer Micheal Jackson’s Doctor is found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter for supplying Medicines that supposedly killed the ”Man? with a fake nose”.

I didn’t follow the story very well , before or after the death of the so called Star . it would seem that almost any Medical Doctor could be put in jail if it is a Jailing crime to make mistakes with medicines. Let’s just say it is a slow news day . Nov 08–11

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3.Climate Change seems to be happening in some form. We remember when they warned us that the World was going into another Ice Age , Winter all year round . Now, most Scientists tell us we will all be getting hotter fast . With all of Science , we do not know whats to come in the future , hotter or colder .

There are now about 7 Billion Humans on the Planet , and that is a lot of folks . Some horrifying disease or perhaps War will cut that number down in the future , If the Lord tarries ….Nov 1-11

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2.Probably  the World’s most savage people are , guess again , the People of the island nation of Japan .Modern historians are still studying What all took place in 1940-45 , when the entire nation of Japan reverted to a savagery unequaled in modern history , for a so-called civilized Nation .. Turns out it is a recurring thing , that Japan is noted for . In about 1600 A.D.  Japan almost annihilated the Korean peninsula populations . To show the Home folks how well they were doing , The Japs shipped back to the Home empire up to a million sets of enemy ears , noses and heads too. They buried many of these in a large Mound with a shrine on top of it . There are several of them ,and  are up to 60 feet tall and a hundred yards wide . Known as Mimizukas they are still  there , neatly mowed and kept up , and an embarrassment to today’s ‘peaceful” Japanese folks ..Or are they ??

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1. About once a year we keep track of major league baseball , at world series time,of course ……The St. Louis Cardinals pulled  out the win , after an unbelievable game 6 where they faced total loss twice by a single strike …..Almost reminds me of the Pittsburgh Pirate’s unlikely series win in 1979 …

The old Ford F150 , 1993 model year, groaned but would not turn over this AM in 30 degree morning chill. Yes , we have been noting the last week or two that morning starts are a bit iffy . Until now it has always started .

We tend to buy Advance Auto stuff , not that it is so good , but that there always is a store close by no matter where one is . We had an unfortunate experience several years back with an Exide Top – of the line battery , that needed warranty attention . The original seller had gone out of business , and other Exide dealers failed to help out on it .

Advance has a ”Gold” battery that with all the fees and core charge and all taxes comes to about $140 or so .

Son-in-law Mark Stolzfus had mentioned to me a while back that Advance Auto stores always has on-line deals worth checking out . We checked on-line and sure enough , a $20 on-line shopping coupon applied to this battery . And whoa, something much bigger was there too. Until Dec. 12 , a $50 coupon on future purchases applied too, on this particular battery , E-mailed to you and good for 21 days after that . Thanks ,Mark, for the tip.

Wow , a full 50% off in a round-a-bout way . We purchased it with Paypal , drove the 5 miles to the store to pick up the waiting battery order , and were through with it ………….

Continuing the Winterising of the Ford F150 , our hearer core had given out some time ago , and since heat is not a factor in summer , we simply by-passed the heater for then , until a month ago. We purchased the heater , and considered the installation options . We decided to do it ourselves , knowing the Ford F150 heat core  is notoriously tough to do . It is deep in the dash behind the cubby-hole , and requires major dismantling to get in and out of there . Major-Major.

We did it the Shortcut way . After the Cubby- hole was removed , we used a screw-driver , pliers , a UT knife, and a saw . The wires , and the main-brainy thing , we did not cut , but everything else was fair game . A rather quick installation , we must say , and the heat works fine ,looks fine too , looking down , though there is no directional control at all for the hot air , a rather minor glitch on an older truck …………..

And why are we driving a somewhat tired 18 year old truck for our main work Vehicle ? Well , let us just say it replaced the 1978 Ford F150 some years back . Fords are Tough , the 93′ somewhat resembles Uncle Jess’s truck in the ”Dukes of Hazard”.  The truck is all white , somewhat dulled by age . Having a different color hood , or a door or so with different color would perhaps carry that idea too far .

My clientele seems to appreciate us not driving fancy new trucks , that seems to hold true throughout the South ,not to drive expensive work trucks. Many of the Yank Mennonites that have in the past immigrated South have done that , bought shiny monolith monster trucks that roar a lot and look expensive . A good many of them are now waiting on tables and punching time cards , come to think of it .

Today ,December 14th , we are well into the Holiday season . Almost all work projects are grinding to a halt . If one prefers not to do something just now , ”We’ll look at it after the Holidays ” , will do it just fine . That can mean up to Jan. 15th or so …….

Now is also a good time to take stock of whatever is important to oneself , Whether it’s one’s weight , or accomplishments , or lack of them ,or nothing at all . Almost everyone in the South takes off a few days , or weeks , or whatever they can swing , in time or financially from their jobs . And start some serious decorating and cooking up of foods of all kinds .

Our daughter last night achieved something we always wanted to do but never have quite managed to find time for . And what was that ?  Ringing the Salvation Army Bell in front of the little red kettle , to raise the change and small bills for their works. Ah, maybe next year , Ho-Ho-Ho.

One of the most astounding things we have found ourselves in this past year is that we now find ourselves the owner-operators of an old fashioned Single-wide Mobile home park ,often as not referred to as a ”Trailer park”. .

We’ve about always landlorded a handful or two of houses  . Over 20 years ago we permanently washed our hands of ever , ever , owning or renting out a trailer , especially single wide ones ,and all the problems they tend to entail with them. and we have faithfully abided by that , until this year , that is .

How this came about , is a bit complicated . An Investor friend held a note to the property , and in this economy it came about that the ”Trailer Park” ripened up to an ownership situation. The hunt for a partner to run the thing ended up at our door .

Twice we rejected the Idea of being involved in it quite vigorously , and with good reasons . The 3rd time was the charm , we suppose , or perhaps the hot summer heat dissipated the oxygen in the air around us , making rational thought hard.

It is a rather small Park , 28 spots in all , about 16 of them producing income when we took it over.  There was one burned out hulk , 3 unclaimed trailers of unknown ownerships , and 2 vacant park-owned ones badly needing repairs ,too.

The previous Park owner had somewhat let things slide , and what seemingly kept the Park habitable was the presence of a number of long term trailer owners who leased the lots only , and were very nice folks to get to  know  .

One older leaser mentioned to me that he had been living in the same spot there for 42 years .  He noted that mostly it had been in his ”newer ”’mobile home . Further conversation revealed that it was a 1975 model year home..

Our first job there was to put up an attractive covered Bulletin Board , which also was the location of the metal lock box for rent collecting.  ”Checks only, No cash allowed ”,was printed up prominently .

We were warned by several Park residents that ”They’ll hook a car and chain to it the first night and bust it open to make sure no cash was in it”.

The ”They ” they were referring to were  several functional druggies who purportedly lived in  there. (Folks who drugged , but still were able to hold jobs).

We were tempted to put a lot of iron and heavy wire mesh all over it , but ended up just neatly bolting it to a post . The first month hardly anyone used the lockbox , but gradually use of it picked up . And no one has tried to bust it up ,yet.

We’ll branch off here and talk a bit about the  supposed hectic life of a Landlord . We keep our work phone on 24-7 , but rarely hear from any tenants except an occasional emergency , like water running where it shouldn’t be , which will happen anywhere .

Otherwise we never expect to hear from any tenants , and when we do we know almost 100% of the time it is an ”angle” call . We always try to act cheery and uncomplicated when we answer , but know that any tenant who calls has his or her very own good in mind . Always .

So, if you rent a house now , you can expect your landlord to sound  cagey and withdrawn when you call him or her.He is expecting a hook in the conversation somewhere .

We once rented a house in Florida several weeks from an old acquaintance . When we left I called her just to thank her again ,and all that. From her stiff phone demeanor you would have thought we had fired up the house or something like that . I’m sure she rushed over to check it out right after we left the place . I got to see the other side of the equation that time .

to be continued

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Amish settlements all over the USA have faced this question over the last  decades . The more conservative Amish have always tolerated , sometimes even touted the use of Tobacco .So ,shall we continue using it , or not ? That question has periodically been asked among themselves.

Those who have a Right-wrong equation about it, and things like that , or want to know if it is Biblical to use it , have moved away from it , if  rather slowly . Those to whom the Right or wrong question comes way down on the list if at all , still use Tobacco products , and claim to be Okay with it .

A side question arose quite quickly when the Tobacco use questions came up . How about the folks along the East Coast that raised it , and were Amish ?

All these questions came to a head in 1969 .(Admittedly a while back.) A new Amish Publishing house was just started in Aylmer, Ontario , called Pathway Publishers . They had a stable of very good writers of the Right -Wrong persuasion . In other words ,” I  will reason with you , point out how I am right and you are wrong , if you then do not agree with me I will try and Ban you ” type of thinking . That group of Amish, in Aylmer, Ontario ,have never been known for being very tolerant of diverse thinking. (They almost go berserk concerning Amish or Mennonites with Cars)

A then young Amish writer , and historian by the name of Joseph Stoll , published an article in the Amish Family Life Magazine in the August 1969 issue pointing out the evils of tobacco  use among the Amish.

It is a well written , and researched article that shows that the early Anabaptist , and even Jacob Ammon himself were on record as being against Tobacco use ,except for medicinal purpose. The article never mentions the Raising of the  leafy crop . Just how bad it is for one’s health , and the poor witness to ‘outsiders’. This particular article is almost always referred to in today’s media mention of tobacco use by the Amish . especially for what it did not mention , the cultivating of the stuff. A sort of Ground Zero about Tobacco & the Amish.

”There ,the Reasoning was out in the open ”, the  Aylmerites may have thought , ”surely this will make a difference , Amish everywhere will surely consider this and at least try quitting the poison leaf.”

The Postman is the center of most Amish interaction or question, and it took a while for the question to be presented by letters to the Lancaster Pa . Amish Leaders, and those of them with influence. “Why are you raising Tobacco , and making money off it’s use , when it is plainly shown (by us ) to be Wrong ?”

‘There Now” ,the Aylmer Amish writers must have assumed, their fellow brethren in Amish-dom would surely see the error in their way , and not only consider to stop using Tobacco , but surely not to raise the stuff too  .

They and their new-finagled ideas  did not even come close , if that was their goal .

In today’s conservative Amish settings , What is right or wrong or biblical is often not at all the most important thing in the Equation . If it is even in the Equation. Other things are thought much more important ….

Like , have we and our forefathers done this for generations , and does it not work well for us ?would we not dishonor our forbears by changing things now ? Does this help pay off our farms ? Does this keep us from being what we think of as Worldly ?   The right or wrong content of the question about a matter is thus not very important to a very large segment of Amish folks today .

We suspect that type of thinking would be mostly found with the same stricter Amish folks that would also not allow ”going to Florida in Winter times”. That would also include the ”Hardscrabble crowd” . Amish who have pretty well painted themselves into a corner . Not allowed to have a business, not allowed this and that , certainly no interaction with the ”World ” , many of those about do not survive financially today . They would not dream of giving tourists buggy rides at $10 a person for a 15 minute ride .

One big exception to the above is the Lancaster Pa. mainline Amish who do go to Florida in the winter, gladly interact to fleece the Tourists at home daily in every way imaginable  , And use any and all means to pay off their expensive farms , now as they did in 1969.And they absolutely love Money , as in $$$$ , love to quietly sack it up .

That said , they can be very helpful if a need arises that they believe in . In the  1800′s Lancaster co. pa Amishmen raised $60 K in hard cash to save the entire Amish-Mennonite  settlement in what is now  Kitchneer -Waterloo Ont. They had run into severe problems with their land titles.

So, having sacks of cash available does come in well sometimes. Back then it bought clear title to 60000 acres.This episode in Amish-Mennonite  history is little acknowledged by most Anabaptist historians , because the  desperate delegation from Canada had been turned down by all the other  major Amish-Mennonite Settlements , before they arrived in Lancaster Pa. , which was to be the last stop .

That part of the eastern Pa.  Amish and also Mennonite Psyche, their fixation on the hard cash life, may be due to a severe farm depression back in the 1880′s when a large number of  Amish and Mennonites  In Lancaster Co. lost their farms .. And they , and their Noch-comma never forgot  ,up to today.

Tobacco use today is still there , and the tobacco raising by Amish in Lancaster Co. and that area is much expanded today after quotas were abolished several years ago and it is a free market in it now. During the 1990′ s less and less tobacco was being raised by the Amish , some thought they were “seeing the light” . Now, however , when there is again money to be made from the Cancer plant they are flocking to raising it again. Beliefs, anyone ? Or is it all just for show , The “Monkey see, monkey do ” Thing ?   (That is an old saying , not one tailored just for Amish )

Back to 1969 , and the challenge by the Aylmerite writers , to Amish leaders in eastern Pa. to step up to the plate and do what was right , on the tobacco issue.

Well , they stepped up to the Plate , alright , In defense of their fathers , their father’s fathers on back  as far as they were in Pa. The ”What was good enough for them is surely now good for us” reasoning won a total victory with them .

Today’s Internet is a remarkable thing . Someone puts a snippet on there , a letter pops up that was written decades ago , and things come together , what happened and perhaps why . so it is with the Tobacco issue in 1969 and afterwards.

As the Amish Leaders and Thinkers of Lancaster co. Pa. were slowly banding together to address this bold challenge to them and their ways , even in 1969 it did not take them long to come to a consensus .

Not only did they reject the idea that the use and raising of tobacco products was not good or right , They as one turned and took a new look at these bold folks from afar who dared question them and their affairs. What they saw they did not especially care for .

One of the most influential Amish men in Lancaster County in the past 50 years was perhaps a man named Andy Kinsinger . Not a preacher , but a Hard working Print-shop man ,having a shop in Gordonville Pa. An uncomplicated man of impeccable character who said and did exactly as he believed . A really nice giant of a man , equally comfortable talking to lawmakers in the halls of Congress , as he was Chairing the dozen or so Amish Interests committees he was involved in . When you saw the back of an Amish man strolling out of the US Supreme Court Building , it was probably him .A really nice man to know , and surely one to reason with , the aylmerites in 1969 may have thought.

After soundly rejecting the challenge from afar to Lancaster tobacco tilling, It was the influential Andy Kinsinger who suggested they might need to look at some of the Aylmerites’ other Activities and ideas. In a letter , since archived, he noted that the School curriculum that the Aymer Ont  Amish Publishing house was even then putting out , was not so good , because it ”Contained bits of religion , and young children should not be exposed to religion in School , they may think it common and tire of it , they should get their religion in Church”. (Not an exact quote ,somewhat condensed)

The Pathway School books from Aylmer are Amish-Oriented , but with no pictures or drawings of people . They became quite poplar with the Homeschooling movement in the 1990″s and sold a pile of material to Non-Amish customers then. Today they would be somewhat dated for the Homeschoolers as that movement has matured , and a lot of better material is now available.

As for the Amish , their newest material now available is called “Study Time” , out of northern Indiana, A system that is set up to really teach children new things. That is very unusual in and of itself , to teach Amish children new things .

Andy Kinsinger was not a devious man , just a true “The old way is surely the only way ” practitioner.

So today , as in 1969 , as in 1949 , as in 1929 , most Amish School curriculum in Lancaster Pa . and that general area consists of reprinted spelling and math, and reading  books from the 19th or early 20th century . The exact same material used by their Fathers and Grandfathers ,and perhaps even their Great-Grandfathers . And it just so happened that the Gordonville Amish print shop was ,and still is the main supplier of all those ancient reprints of old school books.

Our point for this article is that there are many , if not most , so called Anabaptist that are living something that they have no particular belief in . This is not only found among Amish ,but also among Mennonite factions of all levels . Historically , this has washed itself out , come hard persecutious  times , and it will surely happen again .

Jesse Wagler Nov. 2011