More Consequences and Failures of Christian Conservatism – Chapter 10

Chapter 10 of the book:

The Failure of the Great Amish and Conservative Mennonite Dress Experiment

Why Christian Conservatism Isn’t the Answer and What to Do

Some of the consequences and failures of Christian conservatism have been absolutely horrific. Sexual abuse of innocent children is a horrific consequence, but there are other horrific consequences that we will look at in this chapter. When we as human beings try to “improve” upon God’s ways, we end up with negative results and consequences that we never expected were possible.

This chapter focuses on Amish and conservative Mennonite groups. In doing so we are looking at them as a case study. We will see how Christian conservatism’s focus on holding to the past and adding church rules to the Bible results in many more failures and consequences than we would expect.

Are you looking for something more than just the same old concepts, interpretations, explanations, and perspectives you have heard regurgitated over and over again? This website will give you some new insights and things to think about. You may not agree with everything you read, but Biblical Research Reports will stimulate your thinking. Our goal is to help you to formulate in your own mind what is Jesus’ truth as you look at the research we share on the various subjects facing the Church.

When I was part of the Mennonite Church, I never imagined it possible that there could be so many consequences in Christian conservatism. I thought being conservative was being Biblical and right. But when we make what seem like harmless additions or changes to Christ’s commands in the New Testament, the consequences are huge and far reaching. The Christian conservative dress experiment has resulted in a number of other significant failures and consequences:

A False Gospel in Christian Conservatism – The Mennonite Deception of Bait and Switch

The conservative Mennonite church has taught a false Gospel and deceived many through the use of a bait and switch technique.  I was deceived by this method and perpetuated it, not realizing I had been deceived by the process. This bait and switch technique is something that stood out to me after reading two books, one by Sharon Spring, Behind the Covering, and the other by Trudy Metzger, Between 2 Gods. These two women shared, in some ways, similar life stories of growing up in the Mennonite church and then being rejected by the church. The church’s actions toward them resulted in them turning their back on the church and on God and living a life of wickedness for a number of years before turning back to Christ.

The thing that stood out in reading these two books is that the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ was presented by each of their Mennonite churches simply and mostly correct; repenting of sin and giving one’s life to Jesus and living for Him. But as soon as they became a Christian, the bait and switch process changed the gospel message from following Christ alone, to following the church and its dress regulations and other manmade details. Conservative Mennonite churches often prevent new believers from being baptized immediately. The new believers have to wait until they have gone through instruction class which among other things teaches them how to follow the church and to follow the details of its manmade rules and dress requirements so that they can be a good church member. In order to be baptized, they are also required to become a member of the church and obey its rules. They cannot be baptized unless they also join the church and become a member and agree to follow the church’s dress and other manmade regulations. A person needing to follow church dress rules in order to be a Christian and be baptized is a false gospel which is implemented utilizing the bait and switch technique. It is a subtle deception. According to the Bible, a person is to be baptized after they believe on Jesus Christ, not when they agree to follow manmade church rules.

Behind the Covering – a World of Difference, by Sharon Spring

Sharon Spring was a member in my home church when I was a boy. Our church was not in a Mennonite community. It was a mission church located in the suburbs of Washington DC. Sharon was excited about becoming a Christian and living for Jesus. But as soon as she became a Christian, she had to start wearing a conservative Mennonite covering. On Sundays she had to wear a cape dress to church. It became traumatic for her when she went to school that fall and the other kids in school made fun of her – “Hey, you with the white net, there’s no running in the halls” and laughter as she hurried to her first class in Junior High school the first day. One of the boys in school would make unkind comments about her covering. One day he asked loud enough for the rest of the class to hear, if he could use her net to go fishing. He would also toss spit balls at her in class, trying to hit her covering.

Several years later, Sharon was denied communion by the bishop because the deacon thought she was not dressing properly. Unbeknownst to him, she had just rededicated her life to Christ. The bishop never talked to her about her relationship with Christ before he denied her communion. What followed was very sad. Sharon, her brother and her sister all turned their backs on the church and on Christ because of the injustice that Sharon had received. A teenage girl from the community, in anger, took off her covering as she left the church that Sunday and stomped on it on the front porch. The church attendance dropped from about 50 to 25 or 30 as a direct result of that incident with a number of the young people turning their backs on Christ. They had experienced the delusion of following a false gospel.

Trudy Metzger was excommunicated and no one was to eat with her as if she had committed a vile sin and not repented of it. Her offences were watching TV at someone else’s house, not attending her home church, and listening to gospel music with instruments. The violations of the church’s rules were treated the same as if she had turned her back on Jesus and was deliberately living a life of wickedness. She had not turned her back on Christ. Because of these actions of the church, Trudy turned away from Christ, because she had no one to support her as a teenager. Being excommunicated, she could no longer really associate with anyone who had been in her circle of Mennonite friends and family. In realty, because of being excommunicated for disobeying man-made commands and not Christ’s commands, her church is responsible for pushing her toward living a life of sin.

Between 2 Gods – A Memoir of Abuse in the Mennonite Community, by Trudy Metzger

The actual conservative Mennonite gospel is following the teachings and rules of the church in the exact way that that particular church interprets following Christ. When a church’s rules are more detailed and specific than Christ’s commands, the manmade rules in effect supersede Christ’s commands. If a person commits to following the church rules, they in effect put following the church first and Christ second.

God tells us the seriousness of following rules of the church or of a preacher is that we become their servant rather than Christ – “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey…” (Romans 6:16). It is important that we do not follow rules, regulations or standards of man. Many conservatives are following a false gospel because they have become servants of man rather than of Christ through the teachings that they are obeying.

Conservative Mennonites view a committed Christian as one who is attending church and following the church’s rules. Church attendance shows that the person is still following the church even if they are living in hidden sin such as sexual abuse or pornography and the leaders know about it. If questioned, they would deny that following the church is first, but the true belief comes out in their applications and “guidelines”, and how they talk about others. The question that is usually asked is not, “Are they a Christian and following Christ?”, but “Are they going to church?” Going to church is the single most important spiritual indicator to many conservatives because of their false gospel of following the church.

Kevin Brendler in addressing the false gospel of conservative Mennonites, writes: “I thought the conservative Mennonites were NT Christians, whose lives and ambitions would be very similar to the original Anabaptists, particularly in their zeal to proclaim the Gospel. However, what I learned, much to my disappointment, was that contemporary Mennonites are almost completely invested in an identity that has nothing to do with original Anabaptism nor the NT Scriptures, and they have almost no interest whatsoever in the propagation of the Faith. Custom was held as authoritative, I discovered, while the Commission to win the lost was disregarded. Consider the following: if the plain coat, the cape dress, a particular kind of headcovering and beard, as well as the Sunday morning white shirt and separate seating were somehow outlawed, then the Plain people would feel and believe that their Christianity was under attack. They would experience such a hypothetical ban as a direct assault upon their Christian faith. And yet, and yet… none of those things bear any necessary relation to the New Testament. God does not command any of them in the NT Scriptures. Each of those practices and Mennonite priorities could be thrown into a trash bin tomorrow without the slightest loss to true Biblical faith and religion. What does all of this mean? It means, honestly, that the Plain people have built their identity upon sand…

 “If the Plain people were simply an ethnic group making no Christian claims then we might speak of Mennonite culture as “interesting” or maybe “wonderful.” But as it is, the Plain people’s claim to represent Christ and His Kingdom to the world, and they do so in ways that grossly misrepresent Christ and the true concerns of His Kingdom. Mennonites have substituted their own customs for the pure Word of God and raised those customs to the level of Christian identity. They impose Mennonite cultural norms upon those desiring to join Christ’s church. This is unacceptable. In truth, it is intolerable.

“Faithfulness to Christ is defined by the written Word of God alone. Adding to that Word equates to unfaithfulness no less than subtracting from the Word. So the Evangelical churches are unfaithful to Christ when they permit their women to dress immodestly, but the Plain churches are unfaithful to Christ when they require a cape dress as the only acceptable expression of modesty. The former is worldliness, but the latter is false religion!…

“Mennonite identity is what it is – unbiblical. But it will not change. And it cannot be reformed. Plainness is at the core, the very core, of conservative Mennonite identity, but plainness is of no concern whatsoever to authentic Kingdom life and expression. You can have Plainness or you can pursue the Kingdom of Christ, but you can’t have both. Plainness is not simply how one particular group of Christians has decided to give witness to Christ’s Kingdom. No, Plainness profoundly obscures and misrepresents the Kingdom. It does not obscure the Kingdom peripherally; it does so essentially. For the Kingdom of Christ does not consist of plain coats, cape dresses and acappella singing.

“It will not serve Christ and His Kingdom to make Plain churches more seeker friendly. If Mennonites are determined to preserve the creed of Plainness then they will continue to hinder the advancement of the Gospel. More is needed than a little tweaking here and there. What is needed is a new identity, a reworking, from the NT Scriptures alone, of what it means to be a loyal Christ follower, completely apart from the presuppositions of Plainness. What is needed is a new beginning.” (emphasis added)

http://dwightgingrich.com/is-radical-lifestyle-hurdle-for-seekers/#comments

Victory in Being Mennonite (the false gospel)

(To the tune Victory in Jesus)

I heard an old, old story, how to dress right for Jesus,

How to act right, how to live right, to save a saint like me,

The Mennonites, they gave me important modesty regulations,

Then I succeeded in their church and won the victory.

Chorus:

O victory in being Mennonite, that’s what saves us forever,

The dress code, the fear, that keeps us doing things right.

The exclusive club it gives us, keeps out worldly influence,

It plunged me to failure by disobeying Christ.

The real song, the real Gospel – Victory in Jesus

Chorus:

O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever,

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

Jesus alone is all we need for salvation, NOT Jesus + Mennonitism, or Jesus + Anabaptism, or Jesus + Calvinism, etc.

How disobedience to man made church rules is made the same as sin in Christian Conservatism

When a person is baptized or transfers their membership into an Amish or conservative Mennonite church they make a commitment to follow the regulations, standards, and guidelines of that particular church. The commitment is not just made to the church, but to God as well.

Since the new members make a commitment to God to follow the rules of the church, if a person breaks a rule or dress requirement, they are then said to be breaking their commitment to God. God is viewed as the enforcer of the commitment because it is implied that God will judge the person for breaking the church rules just as if they had sinned.

By using this technique, the church creates sins such as, but not limited to:

• Not wearing the cape dress, the plain suit, or Amish attire.
• Wearing a dress that is too short or too long, or having sleeves that are too short.

• Dressing “immodestly”.
• Women wearing pants or shorts.
• Playing musical instruments.
• Not wearing the Mennonite headcovering all the time.
• Owning a red car or a Cadillac.
• Driving a car.
• Wearing a wedding band

Christian Conservatism’s use of Shunning to enforce church rules

Shunning or excommunication and the threat of excommunication are used by some conservative church leaders to enforce the standards and regulations of the church to make everyone comply with them.

Shunning is based in part, but with additional church applications, on what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

Notice that God did not put in the list of things that a person should be shunned for – breaking manmade church rules, not wearing a cape dress, a woman wearing pants or shorts, not wearing a headcovering all the time, driving a car, playing musical instruments, etc.

Unfortunately, a member breaking the rules of an Amish or conservative Mennonite church usually carries stiffer penalties than committing any of the sins listed in the passage above that God said should be disciplined for. This is part of the false gospel, because it makes it more important for a church member to follow the Amish or Mennonite dress standards than to follow Christ’s commands. This is why so many sexual predators who continue to dress according to the church’s dress standards are allowed continue their sexual predation in the church.

The Mennonite and Amish historian Donald Kraybill writes this about shunning: “The Amish see a spiritual difference between church members and outsiders. Baptized members fall under the authority of the church; outsiders do not. At baptism, young adults, pledge on their knees to support the regulations of the church for the rest of their lives. This sacred vow before God and the gathered community is ratified in heaven according to Amish belief…”

“In Amish eyes the church is responsible to God to hold members accountable to their baptismal vows. Members who violate church regulations receive ample opportunities to repent. If transgressors confess their errors and accept discipline, they are pardoned and restored to fellowship. “Those who spurn the counsel of the church are excommunicated by a vote of the congregation. Drawing on several New Testament texts, the Amish, shun wayward souls, hoping they will confess their errors and return to the fold. Shunning does not cut off conversation, but it does employ rituals of shaming that prohibit eating with an ex-member, accepting rides in an offender’s car, or engaging in business with a transgressor.”

http://amishgrace.com/files/2013/10/Forgiveness-and-Shunning.pdf

The Exploring Amish Country website describes what shunning is like:

“Imagine that you have joined and then left the Amish Church and you have now been shunned.

“When you are shunned:

• “Amish members may no longer eat at the same table with you. This means that when you attend an Amish gathering like a wedding or funeral, you must sit apart from the Church members when food is served.
• “Members may not do business with you. This can be a real hardship if you buy from and sell to your Amish neighbors.
• “Members may not ride in your car. If you visit your family they are forbidden to ride with you, even though they are allowed to ride with their “English” (non-Amish) neighbor.
• “Members cannot receive anything from you. Friends and family can help you by giving you money or things that you need. But they are forbidden to accept anything from you.

“For example, if when visiting your Amish family, you want to serve a glass of water to your parents, you must leave it on the table for one of your younger siblings to give to your parents. Since your siblings are not yet members of the Amish church, they are not yet bound to the rules applying to shunning…

“Amish Shunning occurs after you leave the church. This means that you must first have voluntarily taken the vows of baptism and become a member of the Amish church…

“Therefore, the baptismal vows that you make before God and the congregation are viewed as a binding commitment to obey God and the teachings of the church for the rest of your life. Submission to the authority of the church is absolutely essential in preserving the Amish culture.

“There are two ways for you to leave the Amish church:

1. “Voluntarily – by deciding on your own that you no longer wish to lead the Amish lifestyle. By leaving the church after making a vow to follow and obey the church for a lifetime, you are breaking your vows.
2. “Involuntarily – when you break your vows of baptism by disobeying the rules of the church or flaunting the authority of your Amish leaders and refuse to confess and see the error of your ways, you will be eventually tossed out of the congregation. (excommunicated)

“Either way, you are now an ex-member and you are subject to Amish shunning.

“Young people who decided not to join the church and never took the baptismal vows and are not members of the church are not candidates for shunning. Only ex-members are shunned.”

www.exploring-amish-country.com/amish-shunning.html

The improper use of shunning as a means of power, manipulation, and social control is nothing new. God warned us in Galatians 4 that people will use that method to try to control us. The Greek words in the following verse that are translated “affect” means to have warmth of feeling toward. “They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.” (Galatians 4:17) What God is saying here is that a church group that is teaching error will show interest and care for you but not because they really care about you. They will hold shunning and shaming over your head as a means of social control so that you will be committed to their group. If a church group uses this type of social control, you know that they are not following Christ.

The practice of using shunning to enforce man made church rules is not commanded in Scripture. When church leaders practice shunning on a person who disobeys man made church rules, they in effect make themselves and church rules equal with God, because breaking their rules has the same discipline as sinning against Christ’s commands. It makes following church rules part of a false gospel.

Shunning as commanded in the Bible is only to be used when a person disobeys what Christ has commanded (committed a real sin) and refuses to repent.

For many in the conservative Mennonite church, baptism means that they have joined the church and will follow the church and its regulations, and “guidelines”.

The teaching of a false gospel is something that has happened since the beginning of the Christian Church. We need to be alert to those who pervert the gospel of Christ and not be deceived into following them. We are told: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.” (Galatians 1:6-11)

Parking an Amish buggy in a garage does not make it a car. In the same way, dressing Amish or Mennonite after one is baptized does not make a person a Christian. Requiring Amish, Mennonite, or conservative dress is NOT part of the gospel of Jesus Christ or of being a true Christian. It is part of a false gospel.

The Great Dress Experiment Requires Church Leadership to Have an Un-Biblical Leadership and Authority Structure

In order to enforce the Dress Experiment, conservative church leaders have to exercise authority and a leadership style that are in disobedience to what Jesus has commanded for leadership. Jesus commands church leaders in Mark 10:42-45: “… Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.  But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many”.

In this passage, Jesus tells us plainly that church leaders are not to exercise lordship or authority upon the church. Instead, they are to serve others as if they were a servant. They do not have God-given authority that must be obeyed and submitted to, as Mennonite and Amish leaders teach and practice. They do not have God-given authority to make dress rules and regulations and enforce them on the members of their congregation. As was pointed out from 1 Corinthians 11, the church leaders are not a part of an authority structure between God and men and women.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their leadership style and the authority that they exercised over the people. Unfortunately, it is the leadership style of the Pharisees that many Amish and conservative Mennonite preachers have followed. In many conservative Mennonite churches, there is a preacher’s bench behind the pulpit where the ministers sit – “the chief seats in the synagogue.” It is a status and authority symbol.

In many Amish and conservative Mennonite churches, the preachers assume authority, require submission and obedience to their leadership, give discipline to those who do not follow their rules, and expect honor much the same as if they were a “Father”. Jesus warned us about not viewing church leaders in this way. “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:8-9) These preachers know this passage and are not called “father” like Catholic priests, but that has not kept them from assuming authority and expecting honor that God has not given them. There is an unwritten rule that it is wrong to publicly speak out and criticize a Mennonite preacher.

Our obedience needs to be to Christ and His commands, not rules and regulations of the church and church leaders. Church leaders have not been given authority to make rules and regulations and impose them on their members, and then excommunicate or otherwise discipline those who break those manmade rules. God has not even given pastors the authority to make members of “their church”. As Christians, we are members of the body of Christ – the Church. Requiring membership in a manmade denomination or church organization in addition to the body of Christ is not part of Christ’s teaching or commands.

In Hebrews 13:17 God tells us: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” This sounds like God is commanding us to obey church leaders just like He has commanded children to obey their parents as in Ephesians 6:1: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” That is the wrong interpretation that Amish and conservative Mennonites have taken and that their church leaders have based their authority on. In Hebrews 13:17, a different Greek word is used that is translated “obey”. God is not commanding us to obey church leaders like they are our father.

• In Hebrews 13:17, “obey” is the Greek word peitho (Strong’s #3982)—“to convince or to pacify” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). It is different than the Greek word that is used in Ephesians 6:1. In Ephesians 6:1, “obey” is the Greek word hupakouo (#5219), which means to obey or take heed, or conform to a command or an authority.
• “Rule over you” is the Greek word hegeomai (#2233): “to lead, that is, command (with official authority); figuratively to deem, that is, consider:” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). This word is distinctively different than the word translated “rule over” in Mark 10:42 archo (#757) “to be first (in political rank or power): – reign (rule) over.” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). Mark 10:42 is what Jesus commands pastors not to do.
• God is not telling us in Hebrews 13:17 to obey the commands and rules of the preacher, but rather to work with the pastor, to follow his shepherd style leadership, and not be a burden to him.

It appears that the Catholic and Anglican churches’ structure and view of church leadership influenced the translators of the King James Version. A number of times in the New Testament they translate hegeomai (#2233) as “rule”, rather than “lead” when talking about church leaders. This has given Amish and conservative Mennonite preachers the misconception that they have authority over their people that they really don’t have.

The following is a drawing that appeared in the October 1930 edition of The Sword and Trumpet magazine. The Sword and Trumpet has been one of the main publications of the conservative element of the Mennonite church for many years. In 1930 it was edited by George R Brunk I, a strong proponent of the Mennonite dress experiment in the early days. The cartoon was drawn by Ernest Gehman with input from George R. Brunk I. Note the man (George R. Brunk I) with the sword and trumpet on the wall of the Mennonite Stronghold speaking out to defend regulation dress.

This cartoon is self incriminating when one evaluates it for what it really is.  It depicts warfare against those who dress and believe differently than they do. They are not actually taking a stand for Jesus as they would like to imply, but are defending conservative Mennonitism and the dress experiment. They have secluded themselves and built a wall and a moat around themselves to keep non-Mennonites and outside influences out. It depicts the four main pillars of the conservative Mennonite Stronghold upon which conservative Mennonite churches stand and which needed to be defended and fought to save.

1. The corner post upon which the other three pillars depend is “All Church Authority”. This is the church leadership exercising un-Biblical authority over the rest of the church and keeping everyone in line in the following three areas.
2. The Pillar of Regulation of Doctrine
3. The Pillar of Regulation of Conduct
4. The Pillar of Regulation of Dress

These are still the main pillars behind the Conservative Mennonite church and its Dress Experiment. The “wall and moat” making it difficult for outsiders to come in are not physical barriers around their church buildings, but psychological barriers that keep others from feeling like they can join them and really be a part of the “in” group. Notice that standing firm on the Word of God is not any of the pillars. The four pillars of the Dress Experiment are all manmade pillars. The verse reference at the base of the pillars, Psalms 11:3, says: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” implying that the commands of God are being destroyed, but in reality, it is only the commands of men – the regulations of the conservative Mennonite church – that are being destroyed.

Addressing the use of power by conservative church leaders, Joel Hartman,in the book, Power, Authority, and the Anabaptist Tradition, compiled by Benjamin Redekop and Calvin Redekop says this:

“Historically, two characteristics of Anabaptist culture have reinforced an emphasis on a strong and highly integrated sense of community such as we find among the smaller, more conservative Mennonite/Amish groups: (1) the importance of being nonconformed to the world – and therefore culturally distinct from the larger, surrounding society; and (2) the emphasis on unity and consensus in carrying out that witness of nonconformity. To maintain such a highly integrated and homogeneous culture requires considerable energy and effort by those in the community who are vested with the responsibilities of leadership. In other words, it requires a significant exercise of power.

“However, most Anabaptists have perceived the exercise of power to be a ‘worldly’ phenomenon. Historically, says Burkholder, Anabaptist/Mennonite have assumed that Christians can live together in community ‘without the exercise of power, that is, power in the form of compulsion and force.’ So power’s ‘reality is hidden under the deceptive cover of tradition.’ Thus hidden, it can be denied, even by those who are involved in exercising it. What is overlooked, of course, is that wherever there is a hierarchical social structure, power is inherently a part of the social reality – no matter how well hidden under the cover of tradition, no matter how much its existence is denied, and no matter how willingly those in the subordinate positions of the community submit themselves to it.” (p.115,116)

Some conservative preachers view themselves, sometimes subconsciously, as having a special connection with God in being able to determine God’s will and direction for a person or a family. The approval of the church leaders is understood by some as an important or essential step in determining God’s will and direction. If the approval by the preachers is not received, it is understood that it is not God’s will. It is part of the control that these leaders place on their people. Instead, as Christians we have direct access to God to be able to hear from God ourselves without having to go through the preacher. The reality is that a carnal preacher will often give wrong advice and direction. They think that they are speaking with wisdom, but they are speaking from themselves. It is not what God has given to them to speak. As a result, many people have followed the advice and direction of the preacher rather than Christ.

Christian Conservatism’s Worshiping of Preachers

The Dress Experiment has resulted in people putting the preacher on a pedestal and in effect worshiping him because of his position. This happens in many conservative Christian churches and church groups. There is often an unwritten understanding and expectation that people not say negative things about the preacher because of who he is. This has resulted in false teachings being taught and false teachers being accepted and not exposed for who they really are. Prophets in the church are silenced if they speak out to warn others with anything that is spiritually “negative” about the preacher.

God gives us an interesting warning in Colossians 2:18 where the word translated angel can also be translated “pastor”. “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels [pastor, or messenger], intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”

“Voluntary humility” – Amish and Mennonite dress and culture.

“Worshiping of pastors” – putting what the preacher says about proper dress and culture ahead of what God tells us in the New Testament. The result is valuing what the preacher says more than what God says.

“Things he has not seen” – no commands from God detailing their important dress and culture standards, but requiring them anyway.

“Vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind” – operating from the position that church members need to follow what he says about how they dress and their culture because of his position as preacher.

Christian Conservatism’s Nonconformity to the World – Example: Amish and Mennonite Culture Wars

The Dress Experiment can be described as Amish and conservative Christian groups engaged in a number of different culture wars. The use of the word “war” may seem at first to some in these nonresistant (pacifist) groups as being the opposite of what they stand for. But as you will see, they are very real cultural wars. These wars are fought over how to apply and maintain the details of their doctrine of nonconformity and separation from the world.

One culture war that they are waging is with society at large and fighting against the evils of modern society, or what they would call “the world” and “worldly” influence. In addition to the culture war against “worldly” influence there are also culture wars within churches over how they will define the culture of their particular group. Many church splits have been over cultural issues such as using the German language for worship services instead of English, the use of telephones, cape dresses, strings on the woman’s head covering, black cars, segregated seating of men on one side and women on the other in church, the desire to be more conservative or more liberal in dress or other regulations, etc.

Harold S Bender writing in 1956 says: “The problems related to the practice of nonconformity have caused much trouble in Mennonite history and have been major factors in schisms, particularly in Holland and the United States. It is notable that practically never has any significant Mennonite schism occurred over doctrinal questions. It was more often questions of discipline, particularly in relation to nonconformity, that led to breaks in personal and group relations. The Dutch schisms from 1560 to 1700 practically all involved major or minor aspects of nonconformity. In America the labels “progressive” and “conservative” as applied to different orientations in Mennonite groups usually refer to attitudes on nonconformity or separation from the world, although they also at times refer to methods of church work and forms of worship.”

http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nonconformity

One practical step in bringing unity in the church is that since most Amish and Mennonite church splits have been over cultural items, we need to abolish the culture wars. We need to stop following man and eliminate the doctrines, teachings, standards, and dress requirements of men, a church, or denomination; and follow Christ and His commands alone.

Illustrations of Amish and Mennonite culture wars

Why doesn’t this Amish man just hook up a tractor to his hay baler? There is even a skid loader right behind the mule on the right, moving the hay bales (you can’t put a front end loader on a horse or mule to move those big heavy hay bales). There are a lot of situations in Amish and conservative Mennonite groups that don’t make sense and look ridiculous to the outside person observing them. It doesn’t make sense until you realize that the tug of war between two cultures is being illustrated by this Amish farmer in Lancaster County, Pa, baling hay with an expensive, bright red, late model round baler powered by a diesel motor but pulled by horses. His Amish church is warring against modern “worldly” culture and trying to preserve their horse-drawn culture. This compromise retains their horse-drawn culture for now.

The war of cultures – the Amish preserving their horse-drawn culture in a modern culture of automobiles. The Amish view their culture as superior to modern culture and are fighting against change.

The war of cultures often puts Amish buggies in dangerous situations on the road. You can find them moving slowly on roads traveled by tractor trailers and at night on narrow, hilly roads with blind curves. The buggy is a light, flimsy “match box” on skinny wheels that is easily destroyed in a crash, providing very little protection for the occupants. It does not come close to meeting the modern (“worldly”) safety standards for automobiles – impact absorbing bumpers, air bags, rollover protection, seat belts, etc. It was designed for a culture without automobiles where it was a safe mode of transportation. Preserving Amish tradition has been put ahead of the lives and safety of people. On Judgment Day, will God hold Amish leaders accountable for the deaths of their people that died because they required them to use this unsafe method of transportation? Or, can church leaders make/enforce whatever rules they want without any accountability to God? “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” (James 3:1); “…for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account.” (Hebrews 13:17)

This picture was taken moments before the previous picture. The speed limit on this road is 45 mph. The hill is steep enough that you can barely see the top of the tractor trailer coming over the hill. Note the skid marks on the left side of the road. It is likely that a big truck came over the hill and found a slow moving buggy on the other side of the hill and a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, and had to lock up the brakes to avoid hitting the buggy. (And maybe it didn’t avoid hitting it!) Notice also that there is a steep bank on the other side of the road. The truck would have had nowhere to go to avoid hitting the buggy. Not only are buggies unsafe for the Amish to travel in, the use of buggies is inconsiderate of the other people driving on the road because they cause emergency situations and slow down traffic. The Mission to Amish People website has a section listing buggy accidents. They state: “Every year, cars and buggies collide on America’s highways, and, quite often, people end up in hospitals or get killed. We have listed many buggy accidents that have occurred across the United States since 2010.” A buggy crash happens on average about one every three days. http://www.mapministry.org/news-and-stories/amish-buggy-accidents-2

The culture wars often result in practices that seem illogical such as this picture. This man can use modern, late model equipment for his business, but he has to pull it to the job location with a tractor. He can’t use a truck to pull the trailer. Where is that in the Bible? His church has adopted a tractor-drawn culture for a horse-drawn culture, but is still at war with the modern automobile culture.

The tug of war between two cultures is illustrated by this elderly Amish woman mowing her lawn with an old fashioned push powered lawn mower. This is contrasted by the following picture.

The pull of modern culture has won this Amish woman over to using a modern gas powered lawnmower. But her Amish dress is still patterned after the culture of 200 years ago.

“Two Women with Contrasting Dress”, Mennonite World Conference, 1967 Mennonite Church USA Archives. Conservative Mennonites have resisted what they term the “worldly” and “immodest” dress of modern culture. Conservative Mennonites are waging a culture war of trying to maintain their distinctive dress which they view as superior to the dress styles of society around them. The conservative Mennonite woman on the left would likely view the way she is dressed as the model described in the Bible. However, knowing about the high rate of porn usage among Mennonite youth, the Mennopornite Syndrome, is the Mennonite culture war against immodest dress really working to prevent sin?

Photo:https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/8589126179/

The Error of Christian Conservatism’s Doctrine of Non-conformity

The doctrine of non-conformity to the world, which has given conservative church leaders a biblical basis to wage their non-conformity cultural wars, is based on a misinterpretation of Romans 12:2. As with many proof texts that are used to back up a teaching of man, the first phrase of this verse is used, “Andbe not conformed to this world”, and the context ignored. It says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:1-3)

 This verse and the surrounding verses say nothing about dressing distinctively or having distinctive cultural differences from the rest of the culture around us. It does not say, “Be not conformed to this world by dressing distinctively different from the rest of society.” Instead, God tells us that we are not to be conformed to the world in our thought processes, and beliefs of right and wrong so that we can discern what is God’s perfect will.

In 1 John 2:15-16, God defines for us what He means when He tells us to not love the world and the things that are in the world. Contrary to conservative teachings, it is not about cultural items. God tells us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.   For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” God defines the things of the world as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. A big problem with conservatism is that many conservatives who are not dressed like the world are still loving the things of the world in these three areas:

1. The lust of the flesh – the rampant sexual abuse and pornography addiction by many Dress Experiment participants.
2. The lust of the eyes – the problem of pornography and sexual abuse among many Dress Experiment participants and members of other conservative groups.
3. The pride of life – the pride of having a superior culture and dress by the conservative participants.

The view that their culture is superior is a contributing factor to the cover-up of sexual abuse by Amish and conservative Mennonite communities. They want to hide this major shameful failure of their culture. They want the world to view them as having the ideal culture to imitate.

The Amish, Mennonite, and conservative Christian cultural wars need to end.

A Nonconformist Shed for Amish people who practice nonconformity by driving horses instead of cars, at a Walmart in Holmes County Ohio, so that they can park their horse and buggy out of the weather and hot sun while shopping. The doctrine of nonconformity is focused on the negative of not conforming to certain things in society rather than on the positive action of the command: to follow Christ instead of people and to have one’s mind transformed.

Anabaptist or Christian Conservatism’ Eyeglasses Needed for Nonconformity

In order for a person to practice nonconformity as Amish and conservative Mennonites do, they have to look at life through the lenses of Anabaptist or Christian conservatism’s eyeglasses. No one, without any contact with these Anabaptist and conservative Christian groups, from reading the Bible alone, would likely come up with the same specific styles of nonconformity of dress and cultural practices that these conservative groups follow.

I am not the originator of the concept of Anabaptist or Christian conservatism eyeglasses. One of their own people, Paul Emerson, editor of The Sword and Trumpet magazine, writes about these special eyeglasses: “In order to properly practice Biblical nonconformity, it is probably best to imagine the putting on of a pair of eye glasses that filter everything through the Biblical Anabaptist perspective. This thought may aggravate some who are attempting to free themselves from what they call Anabaptist slavery. These are they who desire credibility within the larger evangelical community. The true disciple of Christ is exclusively desiring credibility with the Lord. Nothing else really matters. If, as we believe, Anabaptism is the correct perspective from which to see the world, said eye glasses are in order.”

www.swordandtrumpet.org/18-what-is-an-anabaptist-part-6

This quote is an illustration of one way pastors make following their false teachings the same as following Christ.  Paul Emerson states “The true disciple of Christ is exclusively desiring credibility with the Lord. Nothing else really matters.” This statement makes it sound like the Anabaptist details of nonconformity are the will of God and that following it is not done to please man. Terminology like this is often used by Anabaptist leaders that imply that their specific dress and culture is what it means to really follow Christ. In reality, an Amish or conservative Mennonite who dresses as their church requires and follows the other church regulations of nonconformity is actually following the teachings of men and getting their credibility from their church group, not from Christ. It is the opposite of what Emerson implies. Jesus has not commanded us to follow those details of nonconformity in dress or culture.

We tried to imagine what the Anabaptist or Christian conservatism’s eyeglasses might look like that Paul Emerson describes. The following picture of blinders on an Anabaptist (Amish) horse probably best illustrates them. Blinders keep a horse from seeing everything around it. The blinders only allow the horse to see directly in front of it where the Amish person controlling it directs the horse to go. This is similar to what Anabaptist/Christian conservatism’s eyeglasses do. As long as one looks at the nonconformity issue from the perspective of their group and their church leaders, they will come to the same conclusion of nonconformity as the rest of their group. The purpose of this book is to take off the blinders so that people can see the bigger picture of the errors of the nonconformity and other Christian conservative teachings and not just the perceived benefits of those teachings.

Anabaptist/Christian conservatism Eyeglasses – Paul Emerson states that Anabaptist eyeglasses provide their people with the correct perspective from which to see the world. The results of these Anabaptist/Christian conservatism eyeglasses are much like the blinders on this Anabaptist (Amish) horse – tunnel vision, or looking at things from “inside the box”, and not being able to see the bigger picture. We need to take off the blinders and get out of the Anabaptist “box” so that we can see things correctly from God’s perspective.

This picture is from an Electrolux gas refrigerator advertisement in 1931 when refrigerators for in the home were something new and were starting to gain popularity. The ad states: “Flying machines, horseless carriages – they had their skeptics. Every new idea and every great advance does.  Electrolux is no exception… you certainly owe it to yourself to see this remarkable refrigerator that has so greatly changed the old order of things.” This picture is an excellent illustration of Emerson’s Anabaptist eyeglasses. Conservative Anabaptists practicing nonconformity shy away from changes to their culture and hold on to the old ways.

I thought I was finished writing about Anabaptist/Christian conservatism eyeglasses. Then one night I had multiple dreams in which the main theme was someone promoting a product as being excellent and focusing only on its good parts, but in reality the product was not a good product. I woke up feeling like God was telling me something with those dreams. I realized that the dreams were an illustration of how Anabaptist or conservative blinders work. The focus of church leadership is put on the good aspects of the church’s teachings or rules and the consequences or bad parts are ignored. Church members are not supposed to question why a rule exists or if it should be followed.

God tells us that not everyone who has a desire to follow Him will see the truth. This happened to many of the Jews and Pharisees in New Testament times: “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear😉 unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.” (Romans 11:7-10)

Just because a person is a good Amish or conservative Mennonite does not mean that they will be able to hear God speak to them or to see what God has to show them. The Anabaptist/Christian conservatism’s eyeglasses that their church leaders have put on them, prevent them from seeing properly. This is not a new problem. God said way back in Isaiah’s time: “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.” (Isaiah 42:18-20)

Jesus told us that He purposefully spoke in such a way that those who had “blinders” would not be able to see what He was saying. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matthew 13:12-15)

Do you want to wear blinders and not be able to see all that God has to show you? Jesus does not force a person to understand or to follow Him. It is important that we ask God to remove the Anabaptist/Christian conservatism eyeglasses so that we can be healed of our spiritual blindness and can see to truly follow Christ.

An Attitude of Male Superiority in the Amish and Mennonite Cultures

The teaching of female submission and the example of authoritarian leadership by church leaders has resulted in an attitude of male superiority among many Amish and Mennonite males. Joel Hartman writes: “This inherent bias toward male superordinance manifests itself in numerous ways among more traditional Anabaptist groups, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood prior to marriage. Boys often appear very self-centered in their relationship to girls. This is frequently manifested at large gatherings and picnics, when adolescent girls are often the last to have access to foods, especially desserts. Boys will often overindulge or go back for second helpings even when they are aware that their overindulgence will deprive their female counterparts of a reasonable fair share. I have frequently observed this assumed superordinance manifesting itself during recreational activities, for example, during softball or volley ball games, when the males will dominate the play at the obvious expense of the girls’ participation.” (Power, Authority, and the Anabaptist Tradition p.127)

There is also an attitude of male superordinance (of higher rank, status, or value) in the courting relationship. Hartman says: “One might argue that inasmuch as the female in a traditional Anabaptist courting situation has the power to say No, there is equality. Even there, however, the courting proceeds in a cultural context in which the female is a passive partner. She cannot take the initiative in expressing interest or developing a relationship: she is dependent on the initiation of interest by the male.” (p.126)

In Amish and Mennonite communities, marriage is very much held up as a high ideal, and those that do not get married are often viewed as if they somehow do not fully measure up as having the same adult status as their married counterparts. Joel Hartman has some very interesting observations about marriage in these groups. “Marriage and family are overriding goals within the Anabaptist worldview, particularly among more traditional Amish/Mennonite groups. In these groups adulthood is not a matter of age but a matter of baptism, marriage, and parenthood. Success in life is often equated with having contributed to the perpetuation of the church and the society, not only through one’s personal work or contribution but also through producing a family of children who in turn produce families of children who grow up within the society.” (p.126 emphasis added)

Thus, a man receives recognition as an adult in these groups when he gets married and has children. This puts pressure on young men to get married at a young age and have families; often large families. They don’t want to miss out on having adult status in their community.

Joel Hartman tells a true, but very sad and tragic story of a young Mennonite couple whom he called Aaron and Sarah and how Aaron used his male supremacy to fulfill his own life goals as a man while ignoring the life of his wife. Aaron contracted HIV through a blood transfusion. He discovered he had HIV shortly before their marriage. Hartman tells us: “In light of this culturally conditioned tendency to dominate relationships with females, it is not surprising that Aaron refused to participate in the process of negotiation that could possibly result in his being deprived of attaining his culturally instilled life goals. Sarah had consented to marry him; now she should be subservient to him and his decisions. He refused to participate in the counseling sessions. He rejected the recommendation to put the decision to go ahead with the wedding on hold until they could fully consider the consequences of his recently discovered medical condition. He rejected the option of a celibate relationship and only very reluctantly agreed to use condoms in the forthcoming marital relationship. Even though his insistent behavior had a high probability of inflicting a life-threatening condition on Sarah, he was unwilling to surrender his superordinate position in their relationship. And since he refused to participate in the counseling sessions, all of the suggestions to bring some resolution to the situation were introduced by Sarah, contradicting the culturally expected dominance of the male within the relationship. Aaron’s insistence on controlling Sarah in the situation was legitimized by the traditional authority inherent in the male-dominate cultural expectations for the marital couple, even though, in this case, the marital relationship had not yet been formally established.” (p.127)

The attitude of male superiority and that Sarah should go along with the marriage was not just that of Aaron, but also that of some in their families and the church leadership as well.

Aaron and Sarah, several years after they were married, had a child. At the birth of the child, a blood sample showed that Sarah was HIV positive but the baby was not. Aaron’s heath began to deteriorate and when the child was about six months old, he died of AIDS – related complications. The child was found to be HIV positive at the age of three, probably as a result of breastfeeding. Hartman writes: “That Aaron contracted the HIV-virus through contaminated blood products is indeed tragic. Along with thousands of others in the larger society, he was a victim of a series of failures in the health-care delivery system. However, that Sarah should also fall victim to this terrible disease is also tragic, since it was in large part the consequence of the failure of the traditionally institutionalized authority within her culture to wield its power with respect to her just claims for life and well-being.” (p.125)

This attitude of male superiority is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Did Jesus view Himself as superior to us and that we should die so that He didn’t have to? No. Jesus laid down His life for us and died for us. He tells us men to follow his example with our wives. God tells us in Ephesians 5:23-25, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it…”

God tells us that the men are to lay down their lives for the women, not that the woman is lay down her life for the man as was the case with Aaron and Sarah and for many other Amish and Mennonite couples. In the Christian marriage there is not male superiority. If anything, one could argue that it is female superiority because of who should lay down *****their life for the other. The submission of the wife is not about a lord and servant relationship, but the establishing of who is the shepherd/servant leader of the team so that the most can be accomplished in life as the two work together to accomplish God’s will for their lives instead of two heads pulling the family in different directions and accomplishing little. 

Jesus told us: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  (John 15:13)

Men, we need to stand up for the girls and women who have been taken advantage of and end this Conservative Experiment. It has given sexual predators cover to do their wicked deeds and has created beliefs of male dominance which have made the females in many cases powerless to protect themselves from this horrible abuse. We need to lay down our reputations and speak out even though others may ridicule us and alienate us for not perpetuating the Dress Experiment.

Women, submission does not mean that you cannot speak out about these errors and injustices of the conservatism. It does not mean that you can’t stand up for those who have been sexually abused. You need to speak out, to plead, and to appeal. Do not give up if church leaders do not listen to you right away. Keep asking for justice, for change and for the church to follow Christ. Remember the story that Jesus told: “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” (Luke 18:2-5)

You may need to leave your church. If the church leaders kick you out of their church, keep pleading with them to change. If they kick you out of the church, they no longer have control over you or what you say. Speak out for the benefit of the women and girls that feel like they can’t speak out or who don’t have the courage to speak out and are suffering silently.

The Failure of the Great Amish and Conservative Mennonite Dress Experiment in Evangelism

Amish and conservative Mennonite churches have been growing, but primarily by having large families. Their strict and austere dress requirements and closed church communities are a huge stumbling block in preventing outsiders from joining them. These church groups lead very few people to Christ from outside their own group. Using distinctive dress and headcoverings as a “testimony” draws a lot of attention from non-Christians, but it does not win very many to Christ. Of the tens of millions of people that have traveled to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania each year for the last 50+ years to observe the Amish and Mennonites, and the millions more that know about the Amish and Mennonites and their dress and life styles, very few have joined the Amish and conservative Mennonites. Many of those that do join, do not stay. It is very hard for them to ever really fit in. The Dress Experiment has been a failure and major obstacle in those churches in bringing the lost from those outside their groups to Christ.

Some conservative groups do have mission outreaches in other countries where they make a few proselytes to their form of conservatism. Those who become Christians are taught that they need to put aside the dress of their own culture and dress according to the religious conservative culture. This is not what the Apostle Paul said he did. “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1Corinthians 9:20-22) 

It is wrong to add to Scripture and require of converts what God does not require in order to be part of a church fellowship. This situation also came up in the early church. In Acts we read that some Pharisees who were believers wanted the Gentiles to keep the Jewish law.

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:5-10)

“And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:” (Acts 15:23-24) 

“For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.” (Acts 15:28-290

It is similar to what Jesus said about the Pharisees. Matthew 23:15 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for how few people they were bringing into the Jewish faith. He also condemned them for making their proselytes two times more the children of hell. We hope that conservative converts are not two times more the children of hell like the Pharisees’ converts, but how many of their converts will also fall into pornography and sexually abusing children?

Driving horse and buggy, like this one in Holmes County Ohio, draws a lot of attention to the Amish and their lifestyle, but it does not attract people to Christ. Many of those tourists know that living the Amish life style is not the real way to follow Christ. Our lives need to draw people to Christ, not ourselves.

Amish and Mennonite lifestyles have made many people very wealthy from tourists looking at their lifestyle as an entertainment. The Amish and conservative Mennonite lifestyles are big business. An estimated 8.34 million tourists visited Lancaster County, PA in 2015 and spent $1.97 billion. And those figures do not count the tourism spending in all the other Amish communities across America. www.discoverlancaster.com/tourism/tourism-statistics.asp#sthash.iw5rGjaM.dpuf In comparison, there were only 25,000 tourists that visited Lancaster County in 1955. (http://amishamerica.com/tourism/)

As Christians, our lives should point people to Christ, not put us at the center of attention as a big money-maker, entertainment, and vacation destination.

The Empty Wedding Ring Fingers – The Failure to Give Testimony that “Marriage is Honorable in All, and the Bed Undefiled”

Amish and conservative Mennonites do not wear wedding rings, mainly because of the tradition of their ancestors and their interpretation of the instruction in the New Testament not to adorn with gold. But as the secret of sexual abuse unfolds, the empty wedding ring fingers are a testimony that the sanctity of marriage and the undefiled bed is not honored in many homes.

The subject of the wedding band is an important one for our generation to look at. There has been a lot of change in the world in the last 100 years. To have a rigid conservative stance of “don’t change” has consequences and implications that we don’t want to have. Living inside the conservative Mennonite “box”, there is a tendency for a person to continue to view things from the viewpoints of the past and not really see what one is actually doing and saying by what he does in today’s world.

The percentage of people in America who are married has significantly dropped in the last 50 years while the number of people living together has significantly increased. “In 2011, the Pew Research Center found that 51 percent of Americans were married, compared to 72 percent in 1960. However, rates of cohabiting couples are rising — according to private research company Demographic Intelligence, less than half a million couples were cohabiting in 1960, compared to 7.5 million in 2010.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/marriage-rate_n_3625222.html

Another article states about the rapidly growing number of children born out-of-wedlock: “If marriage affected only the two people who choose to wed (or not to wed), it would be easier to ignore falling marriage rates. But with them come rising out-of-wedlock birth rates. In 2010, 40.8% of all births were to unmarried mothers. Among Hispanics that figure was 53%, and among blacks 73%. In 1965 Daniel Patrick Moynihan, later a Democratic senator from New York, called for emergency federal intervention to aid in “the establishment of a stable Negro family structure”, and justified it in part by an out-of-wedlock birth rate among blacks of 23.6% — one third of what it is today.”  www.economist.com/news/united-states/21569433-americas-marriage-rate-falling-and-its-out-wedlock-birth-rate-soaring-fraying

Things are not the same as they were back in the 1960’s. When the general public sees two young people who have a child, but do not wear wedding rings, they cannot assume that they are married – an assumption that was much more likely to be accurate in 1960.

One day as I was reading in the Bible, a verse stood out to me that I had not seen in that way before. It said “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled” (Hebrew 13:4). As I read that verse, God impressed upon me the need in our culture today to honor marriage by wearing the wedding band. To not wear a wedding band in a society that does not honor marriage, testifies that marriage is not something that is honored. The wedding ring is a visible statement that a person is married. It is not just an American custom, but a world custom that is practiced in many countries around the world.

Amish and conservative Mennonites need to seriously look at their position of not wearing wedding bands, especially now that the immorality and sexual abuse in their groups is coming to light. For these groups to not wear wedding bands has greater implications than what it did 50 years ago when their parents or grandparents got married. Then it was a disgrace for couples to live together unmarried, and very few did so. Today it is common practice for people to live together and not be married. Fifty years ago, divorce was fairly rare. Today, if you see a man or woman by themselves with a child in the checkout line at the store, and he or she does not wear a wedding ring, you assume that they are divorced or the child was born out of wedlock. So, when Mennonites go to the store, what is their hand telling others who see them, and who are they identifying with – those who honor marriage or those who dishonor marriage?

I believe that to follow what God has said that “marriage is honorable in all“, it is important for married couples to wear wedding bands in the world in which we live today. At the same time, the church must not make a rule that married couples have to wear wedding rings. The church does not have authority to make manmade rules for Christians to follow.

I used to console myself when my wife and I did not wear wedding rings by thinking that people would understand because she wore a Mennonite headcovering. However, it still gave the impression to those that saw me, that I was divorced when I went someplace without my wife and I had one or more of the children with me. We have taken a strong stance against divorce and remarriage at Biblical Research Reports. I feel strongly that we must not give people even the slightest question that we might be divorced.

But in addition to that, my logic that people would understand because a Mennonite lady wore a headcovering was foolish also. There are different cults that have made the news, that did not honor marriage and were involved in all kinds of immorality, and shocked even non-Christians. With more and more news coming out about sexual immorality among Amish and Mennonites in recent years, for Mennonites to dress distinctively from the culture and then to not wear wedding bands can leave questions in people’s minds about what Amish and Mennonites believe about marriage. Most people today do not know what the Amish or Mennonites believe or what they stand for. Are they a cult? The Amish and Mennonite witness in the world has become very weak.

What about the command to not wear gold? “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” (1 Timothy 2:9)

“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel…” (1 Peter 3:3)

A young Mennonite couple, not wearing wedding rings, visiting Washington DC with their baby in a stroller. Half of all the adults in America are not married and 41% of all babies are born to unwed mothers. Who is this couple identifying with by not wearing wedding rings: those in society who are married or those who are living together unmarried in sin? This couple does, after all, embrace modern technology—he has a smart phone.

The word “adorn” means “to decorate” which is what jewelry is usually used for. Women, in particular, have always had a tendency to decorate themselves and it is women, that God is addressing here.

In light of what I shared about the wedding band, I believe we should view the wedding band today, not as an item of decoration, but as a functional item just like we view wearing a watch, eye glasses, a belt buckle, or buttons. From my observation, many outside of Mennonite circles view the wedding band as a functional item rather than decorative jewelry. Several years ago I attended a poultry processing course put on by the State of Maryland. One of the regulations is that no jewelry of any type is to be worn, including watches, when processing chickens. They made an exception for wedding bands. They recognized that the wedding ring is different from decorative jewelry. To require a person to remove their wedding band when processing chickens is the same as requiring them to hide their marriage identity and faithfulness to their spouse.

The commands given in I Timothy 2:9 and 1 Peter 3:3 do not state that a ring may not be worn. If they did, then wearing a wedding ring would be definitely wrong. In fact, they do not state that no jewelry can be worn. These passages are addressing the wearing of expensive jewelry and clothing.

As I looked at these passages again, one of the things that stood out to me is that braided hair is in the same list as the wearing of gold. Traditionally, the Amish and Mennonite churches have hypocritically applied totally different standards to the items in this list. Braided hair has been permitted or required for girls, but all jewelry has been strictly forbidden. Just as we view these passages as not saying that it is wrong to braid a girl’s hair, or that “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning… of putting on of apparel” does not mean that we should not wear clothes, we need to apply the same standard to the wearing of a wedding band. Most Mennonites do not forbid wearing watches or having pocket watches just because some people have expensive watches or pocket watches to make a statement, or because  watches are purchased in the jewelry department. Most do not forbid wearing metal belt buckles, or metal framed glasses. Neither should the church forbid people to identify that they are married just because the symbol is coated with gold.

Mennonites have drawn a hard line on not wearing the wedding band but have ignored how time has changed what the plain suit and cape dress really is – it is now expensive, custom clothing. When the Mennonite church first adopted the plain suit and cape dress, they were truly plain and low cost. At that time a lot of clothing was still handmade. But times have changed significantly. Few women outside of conservative Mennonite and Amish circles make all their own clothes any more.

The plain suit is no longer simple, less costly clothing. It is now an expensive, custom, handmade article of clothing. It is “costly array”. (I Timothy 2:9) I could not afford a plain suit when we were attending the Mennonite church. I have seen pastors stand in front of the congregation with their plain suits and cell phones attached to their belt, dressed at a cost of $900+ (counting the suit, shirt, shoes, the yearly cost of the cell phone, etc.). Hardly simple, low cost array.

The cape dress can also be “costly array” because it has to be custom made for each individual to fit her shape and size and the style required by her church. For those who do not sew, which is most women today, cape dresses can be expensive, especially for those who have low incomes. People can’t go to Walmart or most secondhand stores and buy them.

An Old Order Mennonite couple near Harrisonburg, VA. The Old Order Mennonites drive horse and buggies like the Amish do, but they farm with modern tractors and farm equipment that have rubber air filled tires. The married couples do not wear wedding rings.  With the sexual immorality and sexual abuse among the Amish and conservative Mennonite groups, and the empty wedding ring fingers are giving the opposite testimony of what we as Christians should have – that marriage is not honored and the bed is defiled.

Concluding the subject of the wedding ring, God gives us another command that we are to follow. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22 When a young Amish or Mennonite couple has a baby and they do not wear wedding bands in today’s world, it gives the appearance that they were or are involved in immorality. The appearance of evil is not the testimony Christians should have. We live in a messed up world in which people do not necessarily view Christians as good, moral people. Christians need to give a clear testimony that marriage is important to them; that “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled”. The Amish and conservative Mennonite position of not wearing wedding rings does not give that testimony. Neither does it follow the command “abstain from all appearance of evil”. Instead, the sexual immorality and sexual abuse among the Amish and conservative Mennonite groups, and the empty wedding ring fingers are giving the opposite testimony – marriage is not honored and the bed is defiled.

Genetic Disorders and Diseases among Amish and Conservative Mennonites

Some of the consequences of the Great Dress Experiment have been sad. One of them is the genetic disorders and diseases among Amish and conservative Mennonite children. The consequence of the Amish and Mennonite Dress Experiment on genetic disorders is one that has not been adequately understood and considered, and it is important that we look at it.

My wife and I have experienced firsthand the problems of genetic disorders. My wife’s father, an uncle, and an aunt were dwarfs; and a brother and sister were both severely mentally and physically handicapped. We understand the difficulties that go along with caring for those who are severely handicapped. My wife’s father and mother were second cousins and we attribute that as the probable cause of them having two handicapped children.

Marrying a fairly close relative is common among Amish and Mennonites. My parents were fourth cousins. In addition, we had a unique situation in which my father’s brother married my mother’s niece, which made my father an uncle to his own brother! As a result, my first cousin was also my aunt.

But it was not until I was studying for this book that I realized that the genetic problems among Amish and Mennonites come from a much bigger problem than just marrying a close relative. The problem does not originate with the couple that had the handicapped child, but it originates in the larger, closed, closely related religious group that they are part of.

Among Mennonite circles there is what is called “playing the Mennonite game”. Often when two Mennonites meet for the first time, they will see if the other person knows or is related to someone that they know with the same last name. There are certain last names that are associated with being Mennonite and those that convert into the Mennonite church are usually easy to identify because they do not have a “Mennonite” last name. People joke about playing the Mennonite game, but in reality, the Mennonite game is an indicator of how small the gene pool really is.

Amish and Mennonites have been aware of the problem of inbreeding by people marrying someone who is a close relative. But the bigger problem is that there is a small gene pool in the larger Amish and Mennonite community. The approximately 250,000 Amish today are almost all the descendants of a relatively small group of Amish immigrants who came to America around 200 years ago. The Amish tend to have large families and are one of the fastest growing denominations today. But in spite of there being 250,000 Amish, they are almost all related to each other within the last 200 years. For conservative Mennonites, the situation is very similar to the Amish.

The genetic problems that result from this type of situation in which a group of people are the descendants of a relatively small number of people is called the “founder effect”. The “founder effect” is also seen among some of the people in the rural Appalachian Mountains in America where there are communities where “everyone” is related.

The excellent article “Genetic disease is ravaging Lancaster County’s Amish” explains why the genetic disease problem is increasing:

“But while intermarriage guarantees the continuation of bad genes, the doctor said a phenomenon known as genetic drift is responsible for their prevalence. The term refers to the random rate with which these genetic defects or mutations are passed on from parents to children.

“Sometimes a mutation might be inherited by eight children in one family instead of the expected four, effectively doubling the likelihood of that mutation being passed on again.

“Drift affects populations with fewer founders more significantly, meaning it’s more problematic for Lancaster County’s Amish, with just 80 founders, than the county’s Mennonite community, with roughly 440 founders.  

“’The intermarriage part does amplify the problem but the biggest problem is the genetic drift which increases the frequency of the mutation in the population to the degree that you can have children born with this disorder even if their parents are eighth cousins,’ Puffenberger said.

“The Amish know the odds, but have an unwavering belief in God’s Will and the survival of the church, above all else. For those reasons, things are unlikely to change.” (emphasis added)

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/02/genetic_disease_is_ravaging_la.html  

The statement “The Amish know the odds, but have an unwavering belief in God’s Will and the survival of the church, above all else”, is sobering because they are ignoring the possibility that what they are doing is not God’s Will and that their religious practices are wrong in God’s judgment. While sickness and disease are not necessarily indicators that an individual has sinned or rejected what God has commanded, there exists a very real possibility that God is bringing judgment upon a religious group for disobeying His commands. It is important when we see patterns of sickness and disease arising that we evaluate what we are doing and ask: “Are we really following Christ as we should be?” Later in the book we will be looking at God’s judgment on Amish and Mennonites and on the United States as well.

The Dress Experiment has had a significant impact on reducing the gene pool among Amish and conservative Mennonites, even more than just the founder affect of 200 years ago. There have been many church splits and divisions in the last 200 years. Because each group has its own specific details of dress that identify them with their particular group, young people tend to look at young people from groups outside their own who dress with slightly different dress details as more liberal or more conservative. Those who are outside their group and who dress differently than their group are often not viewed as acceptable marriage material by their parents and by their church. They tend to marry within their church group or conference. By doing so, the gene pool within each Amish or Mennonite group or conference has become even more limited.

A CBS News article, “Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard”, states: “Over generations of intermarriage, rare genetic flaws have shown up, flaws which most of us carry within our genetic makeup but which don’t show up unless we marry someone else with the same rare genetic markers.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/genetic-disorders-hit-amish-hard/

An article about the Amish on the Religious Tolerance website states: “…intermarriage has brought to the fore certain genetic mutations that were present in the initial genetic pool (as they are in any population), making the Amish host to several inherited disorders. These include dwarfism, mental retardation and a large group of metabolic disorders.”  http://www.religioustolerance.org/amish5.htm

The Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite Genetic Disorder Data Base, which can be viewed on the internet, was created to serve as a resource to assist in research and diagnosis of genetic conditions in Anabaptist groups. It lists almost 200 different genetic disorders, many which are unique to Anabaptist groups. Each genetic disorder is listed with a short description and it identifies the group that it is most prevalent among – Amish, Old Order Mennonite, Mennonite, Old Colony Mennonite, or Hutterite.

http://www.biochemgenetics.ca/plainpeople/view.php

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3077314/

The National Institutes of Health website says about the study of genetics among Anabaptist groups: “The history of the Anabaptist groups makes them especially suitable for genetic research. They are socially isolated with little genetic inflow. Some groups keep extensive genealogical records… and can identify their founder populations. They have experienced many genetic bottleneck events caused by successive migrations over their history. Large families are common, with low rates of nonpaternity. They have a relatively high standard of medical care. The founder effect is quite pronounced in Anabaptist populations.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3077314/

For Amish and Mennonite families that have children with genetic disorders there is a unique clinic in Strasburg, Pa called the Clinic for Special Children that provides inexpensive genetic lab work and medical expertise to help those children. Dr Holmes Morton, co-founder of the clinic says: “Special children are not just interesting medical problems, subjects of grants and research. Nor should they be called burdens to their families and communities. They are children who need our help, and if we allow them to, they will teach us compassion. They are children who need our help, and if we allow them to, they will teach us love. If we come to know these children as we should, they will make us better scientists, better physicians, and thoughtful people.” https://clinicforspecialchildren.org/

Another clinic for genetic disorders among the Amish is the DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children, in Middlefield, Ohio. http://www.ddcclinic.org/ I encourage you to read their story and some of the stories of those who have been miraculously helped. You can read their informative presentation here:

http://ddcclinic.org/docs/2011ScrapbookFinal-web.pdf

There is also a YouTube video – Genetic Problems Among the Amish.

The best prevention for keeping these genetic disorders from happening in the first place is for Amish and Mennonite young people to marry outside the Anabaptist gene pool. That means abandoning the Amish and Mennonite Dress Experiment that excludes outsiders and putting a stronger emphasis on evangelism. It means putting a stronger emphasis on building Christ’s kingdom rather than preserving the Amish and Mennonite traditions. It means ending the core doctrine of Christian conservatism of “don’t change”.

The Next Chapter: Christian Conservatism – The Spiritual Danger