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Let’s talk about the Amish and the Mennonite communities. First, actually,
let’s discuss what they’re not. They are not people who simply reject all
forms of technology. After all, the plow is technology. It’s millennia old,
but its novelty was never the concern. The only concern that these
Anabaptists have is whether something supports their community, or harms it.
Does it please God, or does it pull you away from Him? Vehicles, for
instance, are not the issue. It’s whether that vehicle will be used to take
a driver away from their family and community. If it’s being used to
transport their wares to buyers, they’ve never had a problem with it, but
that is why they held onto the horse and buggy for so long, because it would
have been an impractical form of escape. Their way of life has changed over
time, but their goals and principles have not. Work within the community,
serve God. It’s a pretty simple concept. While religion has all but died out
in the galaxy, the Anabaptists have persisted, and that’s because their
beliefs inform their practices to a degree that other religions and sects
could never have hoped to replicate. Sure, if you were Catholic, you went to
service once or twice a week, and you performed your rituals. And maybe
every night you prayed over your bed. That’s all well and good, but you
didn’t live Catholicism. You just did things here and there, and
while your convictions could inform your behavior in general, they couldn’t
necessarily survive across the generations, because children come up with
their own relationship to God. That was usually encouraged, but it was also
the source of religion’s ultimate fading from the world, because people
focused less and less on it, and it became less vital to how they lived
their lives, and the choices that they made.
Anabaptists were always different, because God lives at the core of their
ideals, and their daily patterns. In the past, the Anabaptists were
able to maintain their practices by having a symbiotic relationship with
society in general. They sold us their goods, and used our payment to
support their communities. Centuries ago, however, currency disappeared from
modern society, as we transitioned to a post-scarcity economy. A new
relationship was developed to prevent the Anabaptists from going extinct.
Instead of selling what they make to us, they barter it. In return,
we give them whatever they require to survive, be it medicine, protection,
transportation, etc. We don’t ask for a certain amount of goods in order for
them to get a certain amount of return. It’s not simply symbolic—their
customers benefit from the human touch and the craftsmanship, which is hard
to find these days—but it’s not perfectly ratioed either. We take care of
them regardless of the price. If one community gives us ten chairs one
month, but can only make five chairs the next, we still give them whatever
they need. That’s not us being generous. That’s how we operate internally
anyway. We don’t ask a whole lot out of our citizens, so why would we ask
anything out of these fine folk? Over a century ago, some of the Anabaptists
decided that they wanted to found a new community on Castlebourne. They
wanted to start from scratch. Till new lands. So Castlebourne made room for
them. You can’t visit Anadome, and gawk at them. I’m here as an
anthropologist, to educate you on what this community is all about. Click
below for my full report.
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