Walter Klaassen, U.S., 1988: It was in Kansas that I first realized how strongly ethnic Mennonites are--[such as] the Mennonite Historical Library, the annual Mennonite Folk Festival. I began to notice these things mainly because the woman I married was not a Mennonite. She said Im afraid that if being a Mennonite means to share in this ethnicity, I wont make it in. What can you do with a maiden name like Strange among Friesens, Goerings, Epps and Schrags? [Ethnic] Mennonites are often quite unaware of how exclusive they can be without intending to be so. It also occurred to me how un-Anabaptist this was, for Anabaptists had argued in the 16th century that nothing but faith in Christ and the readiness to follow him qualified a person to be a member of the church. [Why I am Mennonite, Herald Press, p. 149]
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:29:30 +0000
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