Fleeing electricity, Mexico Mennonites seek new home
15 OCT 2018
AFP / HERIKA MARTINEZ
A Mennonite man rides a scooter in a cotton field in the Sabinal community in Mexico's Chihuahua State -- Mennonites do
not use cars or any kind of mechanical mode of transportation
And now, this deeply traditional, tight-knit community is divided between those who want to stay in Sabinal, their far-flung, dusty village, and those who soon will load their wagons, hitch up their horses and move to a new, even more remote home.
"When the power lines arrived, they decided to go," says Sabinal resident Enrique Friesen, 37, who for his part plans to stay, with his wife and eight children.
"They don't want electricity -- just horses. They say electricity is a sin."
The Mennonites of Mexico are the descendants of strictly conservative Protestants whose denominations emerged out of the 16th century Reformation in Europe.
More:
https://www.afp.com/en/news/3954/fleeing-electricity-mexico-mennonites-seek-new-home-doc-19q8zc1
LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142179122
= new reply since forum marked as read
(both are descendants of the Anabaptists) and with them it's not that they shun all electricity, it's that they shun THEIR using it in 'their' home and businesses although some groups are allowed by the elders to have generators and/or alt electric like solar, 'they' just can't be tied to grid ("the world"
.
Some groups are more strict then others too so there's a bit of variation.
Our local Mennonite families use power and are somewhere between the various local Amish groups and we 'English' in that they'll use electric and gas powered vehicles and wear plain but more colourful clothes than the local adult Amish's black/dark blue and white.
