Ethno-religious group since the 16th century; a communal branch of Anabaptists
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About the Guest Matthew Gross is a Hutterite. Hutterites are very open-minded, but still cherish their community values. Matthew is a generational pig farmer, with an open mind towards technology and productivity. At their farm they are currently using PigFlow as a means to run a more efficient operation. Hutterite's have always embraced technology as […]
Over a period of 8 months, Ronnie Shuker set out to play hockey in every province and territory in Canada. The resulting book is called "The Country and The Game: 30,000 Miles of Hockey Stories". It's less a chronicle of his quest for ice time, and more of a journal about the characters he encountered at arenas, motels, bars and mancaves across Canada for whom hockey is no mere game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I talk with economist Robin Hanson about a) how much technological change our society will undergo in the foreseeable future, b) what form we want that change to take, and c) how much we can ever reasonably predict.Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University. He was formerly a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford, and is the author of the Overcoming Bias Substack. In addition, he is the author of the 2017 book, The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life, as well as the 2016 book, The Age of Em: Work, Love, and Life When Robots Rule the Earth.In This Episode* Innovation is clumpy (1:21)* A history of AI advancement (3:25)* The tendency to control new tech (9:28)* The fallibility of forecasts (11:52)* The risks of fertility-rate decline (14:54)* Window of opportunity for space (18:49)* Public prediction markets (21:22)* A culture of calculated risk (23:39)Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversationInnovation is Clumpy (1:21)Do you think that the tech advances of recent years — obviously in AI, and what we're seeing with reusable rockets, or CRISPR, or different energy advances, fusion, perhaps, even Ozempic — do you think that the collective cluster of these technologies has put humanity on a different path than perhaps it was on 10 years ago?. . . most people don't notice just how much stuff is changing behind the scenes in order for the economy to double every 15 or 20 years.That's a pretty big standard. As you know, the world has been growing exponentially for a very long time, and new technologies have been appearing for a very long time, and the economy doubles roughly every 15 or 20 years, and that can't happen without a whole lot of technological change, so most people don't notice just how much stuff is changing behind the scenes in order for the economy to double every 15 or 20 years. So to say that we're going more than that is really a high standard here. I don't think it meets that standard. Maybe the standard it meets is to say people were worried about maybe a stagnation or slowdown a decade or two ago, and I think this might weaken your concerns about that. I think you might say, well, we're still on target.Innovation's clumpy. It doesn't just out an entirely smooth . . . There are some lumpy ones once in a while, lumpier innovations than usual, and those boost higher than expected, sometimes lower than expected sometimes, and maybe in the last ten years we've had a higher-than-expected clump. The main thing that does is make you not doubt as much as you did when you had the lower-than-expected clump in the previous 10 years or 20 years because people had seen this long-term history and they thought, “Lately we're not seeing so much. I wonder if this is done. I wonder if we're running out.” I think the last 10 years tells you: well, no, we're kind of still on target. We're still having big important advances, as we have for two centuries.A history of AI advancement (3:25)People who are especially enthusiastic about the recent advances with AI, would you tell them their baseline should probably be informed by economic history rather than science fiction?[Y]es, if you're young, and you haven't seen the world for decades, you might well believe that we are almost there, we're just about to automate everything — but we're not.By technical history! We have 70-odd years of history of AI. I was an AI researcher full-time from '84 to '93. If you look at the long sweep of AI history, we've had some pretty big advances. We couldn't be where we are now without a lot of pretty big advances all along the way. You just think about the very first digital computer in 1950 or something and all the things we've seen, we have made large advances — and they haven't been completely smooth, they've come in a bit of clumps.I was enticed into the field in 1984 because of a recent set of clumps then, and for a century, roughly every 30 years, we've had a burst of concern about automation and AI, and we've had big concern in the sense people said, “Are we almost there? Are we about to have pretty much all jobs automated?” They said that in the 1930s, they said it in the 1960s — there was a presidential commission in the 1960s: “What if all the jobs get automated?” I jumped in in the late '80s when there was a big burst there, and I as a young graduate student said, “Gee, if I don't get in now, it'll all be over soon,” because I heard, “All the jobs are going to be automated soon!”And now, in the last decade or so, we've had another big burst, and I think people who haven't seen that history, it feels to them like it felt to me in 1984: “Wow, unprecedented advances! Everybody's really excited! Maybe we're almost there. Maybe if I jump in now, I'll be part of the big push over the line to just automate everything.” That was exciting, it was tempting, I was naïve, and I was sucked in, and we're now in another era like that. Yes, if you're young, and you haven't seen the world for decades, you might well believe that we are almost there, we're just about to automate everything — but we're not.I like that you mentioned the automation scare of the '60s. Just going back and looking at that, it really surprised me how prevalent and widespread and how serious people took that. I mean, you can find speeches by Martin Luther King talking about how our society is going to deal with the computerization of everything. So it does seem to be a recurrent fear. What would you need to see to think it is different this time?The obvious relevant parameter to be tracking is the percentage of world income that goes to automation, and that has been creeping up over the decades, but it's still less than five percent.What is that statistic?If you look at the percentage of the economy that goes to computer hardware and software, or other mechanisms of automation, you're still looking at less than five percent of the world economy. So it's been creeping up, maybe decades ago it was three percent, even one percent in 1960, but it's creeping up slowly, and obviously, when that gets to be 80 percent, game over, the economy has been replaced — but that number is creeping up slowly, and you can track it, so when you start seeing that number going up much faster or becoming a large number, then that's the time to say, “Okay, looks like we're close. Maybe automation will, in fact, take over most jobs, when it's getting most of world income.”If you're looking at economic statistics, and you're looking at different forecasts, whether by the Fed or CBO or Wall Street banks and the forecasts are, “Well, we expect, maybe because of AI, productivity growth to be 0.4 percentage points higher over this kind of time. . .” Those kinds of numbers where we're talking about a tenth of a point here, that's not the kind of singularity-emergent world that some people think or hope or expect that we're on.Absolutely. If you've got young enthusiastic tech people, et cetera — and they're exaggerating. The AI companies, even they're trying to push as big a dramatic images they can. And then all the stodgy conservative old folks, they're afraid of seeming behind the times, and not up with things, and not getting it — that was the big phrase in the Internet Boom: Who “gets it” that this is a new thing?I'm proud to be a human, to have been part of the civilization to have done this . . . but we've seen that for 70 years: new technologies, we get excited, we try them out, we try to apply them, and that's part of what progress is.Now it would be #teamgetsit.Exactly, something like that. They're trying to lean into it, they're trying to give it the best spin they can, but they have some self-respect, so they're going to give you, “Wow 0.4 percent!” They'll say, “That's huge! Wow, this is a really big thing, everybody should be into this!” But they can't go above 0.4 percent because they've got some common sense here. But we've even seen management consulting firms over the last decade or so make predictions that 10 years in the future, half all jobs would be automated. So we've seen this long history of these really crazy extreme predictions into a decade, and none of those remotely happened, of course. But people do want to be in with the latest thing, and this is obviously the latest round of technology, it's impressive. I'm proud to be a human, to have been part of the civilization to have done this, and I'd like to try them out, and see what I can do with them, and think of where they could go. That's all exciting and fun, but we've seen that for 70 years: new technologies, we get excited, we try them out, we try to apply them, and that's part of what progress is. The tendency to control new tech (9:28)Not to talk just about AI, but do you think AI is important enough that policymakers need to somehow guide the technology to a certain outcome? Daron Acemoglu, one of the Nobel Prize winners, has for quite some time, and certainly recently, said that this technology needs to be guided by policymakers so that it helps people, it helps workers, it creates new tasks, it creates new things for them to do, not automate away their jobs or automate a bunch of tasks.Do you think that there's something special about this technology that we need to guide it to some sort of outcome?I think those sort of people would say that about any new technology that seemed like it was going to be important. They are not actually distinguishing AI from other technologies. This is just what they say about everything.It could be “technology X,” we must guide it to the outcome that I have already determined.As long as you've said, “X is new, X is exciting, a lot of things seem to depend on X,” then their answer would be, “We need to guide it.” It wouldn't really matter what the details of X were. That's just how they think about society and technology. I don't see anything distinctive about this, per se, in that sense, other than the fact that — look, in the long run, it's huge.Space, in the long run, is huge, because obviously in the long run almost everything will be in space, so clearly, eventually, space will be the vast majority of everything. That doesn't mean we need to guide space now or to do anything different about it, per se. At the moment, space is pretty small, and it's pretty pedestrian, but it's exciting, and the same for AI. At the moment, AI is pretty small, minor, AI is not remotely threatening to cause harm in our world today. If you look about harmful technologies, this is way down the scale. Demonstrated harms of AI in the last 10 years are minuscule compared to things like construction equipment, or drugs, or even television, really. This is small.Ladders for climbing up on your roof to clean out the gutters, that's a very dangerous technology.Yeah, somebody should be looking into that. We should be guiding the ladder industry to make sure they don't cause harm in the world.The fallibility of forecasts (11:52)I'm not sure how much confidence we should ever have on long-term economic forecasts, but have you seen any reason to think that they might be less reliable than they always have been? That we might be approaching some sort of change? That those 50-year forecasts of entitlement spending might be all wrong because the economy's going to be growing so much faster, or the longevity is going to be increasing so much faster?Previously, the world had been doubling roughly every thousand years, and that had been going on for maybe 10,000 years, and then, within the space of a century, we switched to doubling roughly every 15 or 20 years. That's a factor of 60 increase in the growth rate, and it happened after a previous transition from forging to farming, roughly 10 doublings before.It was just a little over two centuries ago when the world saw this enormous revolution. Previously, the world had been doubling roughly every thousand years, and that had been going on for maybe 10,000 years, and then, within the space of a century, we switched to doubling roughly every 15 or 20 years. That's a factor of 60 increase in the growth rate, and it happened after a previous transition from forging to farming, roughly 10 doublings before.So you might say we can't trust these trends to continue maybe more than 10 doublings, and then who knows what might happen? You could just say — that's 200 years, say, if you double every 20 years — we just can't trust these forecasts more than 200 years out. Look at what's happened in the past after that many doublings, big changes happened, and you might say, therefore, expect, on that sort of timescale, something else big to happen. That's not crazy to say. That's not very specific.And then if you say, well, what is the thing people most often speculate could be the cause of a big change? They do say AI, and then we actually have a concrete reason to think AI would change the growth rate of the economy: That is the fact that, at the moment, we make most stuff in factories, and factories typically push out from the factory as much value as the factory itself embodies, in economic terms, in a few months.If you could have factories make factories, the economy could double every few months. The reason we can't now is we have humans in the factories, and factories don't double them. But if you could make AIs in factories, and the AIs made factories, that made more AIs, that could double every few months. So the world economy could plausibly double every few months when AI has dominated the economy.That's of the magnitude doubling every few months versus doubling every 20 years. That's a magnitude similar to the magnitude we saw before from farming to industry, and so that fits together as saying, sometime in the next few centuries, expect a transition that might increase the growth rate of the economy by a factor of 100. Now that's an abstract thing in the long frame, it's not in the next 10 years, or 20 years, or something. It's saying that economic modes only last so long, something should come up eventually, and this is our best guess of a thing that could come up, so it's not crazy.The risks of fertility-rate decline (14:54)Are you a fertility-rate worrier?If the population falls, the best models say innovation rates would fall even faster.I am, and in fact, I think we have a limited deadline to develop human-level AI, before which we won't for a long pause, because falling fertility really threatens innovation rates. This is something we economists understand that I think most other people don't: You might've thought that a falling population could be easily compensated by a growing economy and that we would still have rapid and fast innovation because we would just have a bigger economy with a lower population, but apparently that's not true.If the population falls, the best models say innovation rates would fall even faster. So say the population is roughly predicted to peak in three decades and then start to fall, and if it's falls, it would fall roughly a factor of two every generation or two, depending on which populations dominate, and then if it fell by a factor of 10, the innovation rate would fall by more than a factor of 10, and that means just a slower rate of new technologies, and, of course, also a reduction in the scale of the world economy.And I think that plausibly also has the side effect of a loss in liberality. I don't think people realize how much it was innovation and competition that drove much of the world to become liberal because the winning nations in the world were liberal and the rest were afraid of falling too far behind. But when innovation goes away, they won't be so eager to be liberal to be innovative because innovation just won't be a thing, and so much of the world will just become a lot less liberal.There's also the risk that — basically, computers are a very durable technology, in principle. Typically we don't make them that durable because every two years they get twice as good, but when innovation goes away, they won't get good very fast, and then you'll be much more tempted to just make very durable computers, and the first generation that makes very durable computers that last hundreds of years, the next generation won't want to buy new computers, they'll just use the old durable ones as the economy is shrinking and then the industry that commuters might just go away. And then it could be a long time before people felt a need to rediscover those technologies.I think the larger-scale story is there's no obvious process that would prevent this continued decline because there's no level at which, when you get that, some process kicks in and it makes us say, “Oh, we need to increase the population.” But the most likely scenario is just that the Amish and [Hutterites] and other insular, fertile subgroups who have been doubling every 20 years for a century will just keep doing that and then come to dominate the world, much like Christians took over the Roman Empire: They took it over by doubling every 20 years for three centuries. That's my default future, and then if we don't get AI or colonize space before this decline, which I've estimated would be roughly 70 years' worth more of progress at previous rates, then we don't get it again until the Amish not only just take over the world, but rediscover a taste for technology and economic growth, and then eventually all of the great stuff could happen, but that could be many centuries later.This does not sound like an issue that can be fundamentally altered by tweaking the tax code.You would have to make a large —— Large turn of the dial, really turn that dial.People are uncomfortable with larger-than-small tweaks, of course, but we're not in an era that's at all eager for vast changes in policy, we are in a pretty conservative era that just wants to tweak things. Tweaks won't do it.Window of opportunity for space (18:49)We can't do things like Daylight Savings Time, which some people want to change. You mentioned this window — Elon Musk has talked about a window for expansion into space, and this is a couple of years ago, he said, “The window has closed before. It's open now. Don't assume it will always be open.”Is that right? Why would it close? Is it because of higher interest rates? Because the Amish don't want to go to space? Why would the window close?I think, unfortunately, we've got a limited window to try to jumpstart a space economy before the earth economy shrinks and isn't getting much value from a space economy.There's a demand for space stuff, mostly at the moment, to service Earth, like the internet circling the earth, say, as Elon's big project to fund his spaceships. And there's also demand for satellites to do surveillance of the earth, et cetera. As the earth economy shrinks, the demand for that stuff will shrink. At some point, they won't be able to afford fixed costs.A big question is about marginal cost versus fixed costs. How much is the fixed cost just to have this capacity to send stuff into space, versus the marginal cost of adding each new rocket? If it's dominated by marginal costs and they make the rockets cheaper, okay, they can just do fewer rockets less often, and they can still send satellites up into space. But if you're thinking of something where there's a key scale that you need to get past even to support this industry, then there's a different thing.So thinking about a Mars economy, or even a moon economy, or a solar system economy, you're looking at a scale thing. That thing needs to be big enough to be self-sustaining and economically cost-effective, or it's just not going to work. So I think, unfortunately, we've got a limited window to try to jumpstart a space economy before the earth economy shrinks and isn't getting much value from a space economy. Space economy needs to be big enough just to support itself, et cetera, and that's a problem because it's the same humans in space who are down here on earth, who are going to have the same fertility problems up there unless they somehow figure out a way to make a very different culture.A lot of people just assume, “Oh, you could have a very different culture on Mars, and so they could solve our cultural problems just by being different,” but I'm not seeing that. I think they would just have a very strong interconnection with earth culture because they're going to have just a rapid bandwidth stuff back and forth, and their fertility culture and all sorts of other culture will be tied closely to earth culture, so I'm not seeing how a Mars colony really solves earth cultural problems.Public prediction markets (21:22)The average person is aware that these things, whether it's betting markets or these online consensus prediction markets, that they exist, that you can bet on presidential races, and you can make predictions about a superconductor breakthrough, or something like that, or about when we're going to get AGI.To me, it seems like they have, to some degree, broken through the filter, and people are aware that they're out there. Have they come of age?. . . the big value here isn't going to be betting on elections, it's going to be organizations using them to make organization decisions, and that process is being explored.In this presidential election, there's a lot of discussion that points to them. And people were pretty open to that until Trump started to be favored, and people said, “No, no, that can't be right. There must be a lot of whales out there manipulating, because it couldn't be Trump's winning.” So the openness to these things often depends on what their message is.But honestly, the big value here isn't going to be betting on elections, it's going to be organizations using them to make organization decisions, and that process is being explored. Twenty-five years ago, I invented this concept of decision markets using in organizations, and now in the last year, I've actually seen substantial experimentation with them and so I'm excited to see where that goes, and I'm hopeful there, but that's not so much about the presidential markets.Roughly a century ago there was more money bet in presidential betting markets than in stock markets at the time. Betting markets were very big then, and then they declined, primarily because scientific polling was declared a more scientific approach to estimating elections than betting markets, and all the respectable people wanted to report on scientific polls. And then of course the stock market became much, much bigger. The interest in presidential markets will wax and wane, but there's actually not that much social value in having a better estimate of who's going to win an election. That doesn't really tell you who to vote for, so there are other markets that would be much more socially valuable, like predicting the consequences of who's elected as president. We don't really have much markets on those, but maybe we will next time around. But there is a lot of experimentation going in organizational prediction markets at the moment, compared to, say, 10 years ago, and I'm excited about those experiments.A culture of calculated risk (23:39)I want a culture that, when one of these new nuclear reactors, or these nuclear reactors that are restarting, or these new small modular reactors, when there's some sort of leak, or when a new SpaceX Starship, when some astronaut gets killed, that we just don't collapse as a society. That we're like, well, things happen, we're going to keep moving forward.Do you think we have that kind of culture? And if not, how do we get it, if at all? Is that possible?That's the question: Why has our society become so much more safety-oriented in the last half-century? Certainly one huge sign of it is the way we way overregulated nuclear energy, but we've also now been overregulating even kids going to school. Apparently they can't just take their bikes to school anymore, they have to go on a bus because that's safer, and in a whole bunch of ways, we are just vastly more safety-oriented, and that seems to be a pretty broad cultural trend. It's not just in particular areas and it's not just in particular countries.I've been thinking a lot about long-term cultural trends and trying to understand them. The basic story, I think, is we don't have a good reason to believe long-term cultural trends are actually healthy when they are shared trends of norms and status markers that everybody shares. Cultural things that can vary within the cultures, like different technologies and firm cultures, those we're doing great. We have great evolution of those things, and that's why we're having all these great technologies. But things like safetyism is more of a shared cultural norm, and we just don't have good reasons to think those changes are healthy, and they don't fix themselves, so this is just another example of something that's going wrong.They don't fix themselves because if you have a strong, very widely shared cultural norm, and someone has a different idea, they need to be prepared to pay a price, and most of us aren't prepared to pay that price.If we had a healthy cultural evolution competition among even nations, this would be fine. The problem is we have this global culture, a monoculture, really, that enforces everybody.Right. If, for example, we have 200 countries, if they were actually independent experiments and had just had different cultures going different directions, then I'd feel great; that okay, the cultures that choose too much safety, they'll lose out to the others and eventually it'll be worn out. If we had a healthy cultural evolution competition among even nations, this would be fine. The problem is we have this global culture, a monoculture, really, that enforces everybody.At the beginning of Covid, all the usual public health efforts said all the usual things, and then world elites got together and talked about it, and a month later they said, “No, that's all wrong. We have a whole different thing to do. Travel restrictions are good, masks are good, distancing is good.” And then the entire world did it the same way, and there was strong pressure on any deviation, even Sweden, that would dare to deviate from the global consensus.If you look about many kinds of regulation, it's very little deviation worldwide. We don't have 200, or even 100, independent policy experiments, we basically have a main global civilization that does it the same, and maybe one or two deviants that are allowed to have somewhat different behavior, but pay a price for it.On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were PromisedFaster, Please! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Micro Reads▶ Economics* The Next President Inherits a Remarkable Economy - WSJ* The surprising barrier that keeps us from building the housing we need - MIT* Trump's tariffs, explained - Wapo* Watts and Bots: The Energy Implications of AI Adoption - SSRN* The Changing Nature of Technology Shocks - SSRN* AI Regulation and Entrepreneurship - SSRN▶ Business* Microsoft reports big profits amid massive AI investments - Ars* Meta's Next Llama AI Models Are Training on a GPU Cluster ‘Bigger Than Anything' Else - Wired* Apple's AI and Vision Pro Products Don't Meet Its Standards - Bberg Opinion* Uber revenues surge amid robust US consumer spending - FT* Elon Musk in funding talks with Middle East investors to value xAI at $45bn - FT▶ Policy/Politics* Researchers ‘in a state of panic' after Robert F. 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There's a reason EVs won. - Popular Science* America Can't Do Without Fracking - WSJ Opinion▶ Robotics/AVs* American Drone Startup Notches Rare Victory in Ukraine - WSJ* How Wayve's driverless cars will meet one of their biggest challenges yet - MIT▶ Space/Transportation* Mars could have lived, even without a magnetic field - Big Think▶ Up Wing/Down Wing* The new face of European illiberalism - FT* How to recover when a climate disaster destroys your city - Nature▶ Substacks/Newsletters* Thinking about "temporary hardship" - Noahpinion* Hold My Beer, California - Hyperdimensional* Robert Moses's ideas were weird and bad - Slow Boring* Trading Places? No Thanks. - The Dispatch* The Case For Small Reactors - Breakthrough Journal* The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Future of Work - Conversable EconomistFaster, Please! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. 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Due to their belief in God's kingdom as the only legitimate form of governance, Jehovah's Witnesses do not participate in political activities, such as voting in elections. They refrain from saluting the flag of any country or singing nationalistic songs, which they believe are forms of worship. There are about 8.6 million Jehovah's Witnesses. Source: Jehovah's Witnesses Don't Vote. It's not just young voters sitting it… | by Becky Troup | Sep, 2024 | Medium Different Religions That Do Not Vote The Christadelphians, the Amish, the Hutterites, and the Exclusive Brethren reject politics on the grounds: Christ's statements about His kingdom not belonging to this world means that earthly politics can or must be rejected. Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_rejection_of_politics
Devin, Sarah, and Tim, visit the Kartchner home on the Andersen farm for dinner before Devin and Jordan sit down for the podcast.Jordan talks about growing up in Idaho, shares memories of grandma and grandpa, cousins, and then tells us how he met his wife.Devin shares memories that he collected from Jordan's siblings and father, Richard. Jordan talks about living with the Hutterites, and visiting the tarahumara people, and then Devin shares a personal memory of visiting the Kartchners when he was as teenager.Devin asks Jordan about his favorite movies before sharing some of his own, and they discuss the importance of storytelling and stories in general. Devin shares why he loves stories and collecting stories from his cousins before the end of the episode.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/my-99-cousins/donations
Cameron and I had a very enjoyable and uplifting conversation about his life in the Hutterite colony. I can see a lot similarities between Mennonites and Hutterites, but there's a fair share of differences as well! One conclusion is sure... both groups need to come to Christ in faith and accept salvation by grace!
Kelly Hofer - From Hutterite to HeathenDivorced: Hutterite ChristianityMy guest today is fellow Canadian, Kelly Hofer, who is a visual content producer in Calgary, Alberta. Kelly grew up on a Hutterite colony in Manitoba. At age 19, Kelly made the difficult decision to leave his home on the colony due to his sexuality and to pursue art as a career.Kelly now works in the mediums of Photography, Film, Wearable Tech, Electrical Engineering, Furniture Design, and other experimental art forms. Today, Kelly shares about growing up and leaving his family and culture and how he helps other gay Hutterites today.FIND KELLY:https://www.kellyhofer.comhttps://www.instagram.com/kellyhofer/Support this podcast on Patreon (starting as low as $2/month) and get access to bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie Thanks to my newest patrons: Marie, Mary, and Peter. Every dollar helps.Subscribe to the audio-only version here: https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcastFollow Janice and the Conference on Religious Trauma on Social Media: Mastodon: JaniceSelbie@mas.toTwitter: https://twitter.com/divorcereligionTwitter: https://twitter.com/Wise_counsellorTwitter: https://twitter.com/ComeToCORTFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligionTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular, mental health clinician.Support the show
By Walt HickeyWelcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Zach Weinersmith, who with his wife Kelly Weinersmith wrote the brand new book A City On Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?, which is out this week. I loved this book. I've been looking forward to it for years since they announced it, and I loved their previous book, Soonish. It's an in-depth look at what exactly it's going to take to get a permanent human settlement on another world. Zach and Kelly investigate not just the physics problem of getting people and material there, but also the long-term social, legal and biological issues inherent in this kind of venture. It's an amazing read, and it's available wherever books are sold. Beyond A City on Mars, Zach can be found at his iconic webcomic, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, and you should check out his other books, which include Soonish and Bea Wolf, his children's book adaptation of Beowulf.Remember, you can subscribe to the Numlock Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. This interview has been condensed and edited. Zach, thank you so much for coming on.I'm excited to talk about space nerd stuff.Boy, are you. You have written a book called A City on Mars. You ask all sorts of really exciting questions throughout the book. It is not just a book about the physics of getting to Mars, which I think a lot of people fixate on. It is a book about sociology. It is a book about how communities work. It is a book about all sorts of different exciting things. Your research process was incredibly thorough. I guess just before we dive in, what was it like to write this thing? What was it like to report it out and dive into the science?Oh man, it was kind of awful. And you know what it was? I think when you do pop science, there's this fantasy you have of, "What if I got a topic and I was out ahead of other people and it was really controversial and awesome." And you'd think that would be romantic and be like a montage. But we were so anxious, because we felt like we were really going against a lot of strongly held views by smart people. And when you do that, you feel like you really have to know what you're talking about so that you can stand your own when they are going to come at you.And so the result of that, and our just general dorkwad-ery, was that there was just a ton of primary and technical source reading, which is awesome. Actually, it's like what I do in my free time, as a boring person. But when at some point I was reading a hundred-something pages a day of hard stuff and like you roll out of bed and you're like, "What? I have to read 50 pages of seabed international law to understand that!" It was brutal. I mean absolutely wonderful kitchen table conversations during this time, but it was tough.Yeah, a lot of it is very compelling because again, you've had some of the finest minds that our society's produced consider what it would take to get us into space and stay there. And that I imagine has got to be a lot of fun. But then you also, you really consider all sides of this, man. You've got sociology, but you just mentioned you have the law.There's a lot of legal precedent when it comes to these interesting spaces that are not owned land but nevertheless are important. Do you want to walk people through the structure of the book and what angles you take and how you dive in?So we ended up artificially separating it into six sections, which hopefully I can actually remember, because we fussed a lot with the structure; this is a book that, as you say, goes from lots of angles. There were lots of options for how to structure it and we actually originally had it as we'll go through orders of magnitude from one person to 10 people, then 100 people. And it just turns out, I learned that sociologists don't believe there are actual meaningful, emergent obvious things different between a hundred and a thousand people where you can be like, "Okay, here's what happens now."We ended up instead saying, "We're going to start off with what it does to your body." So that's like sex and reproduction, that's physiology, what space does to your body, and then also psychiatry stuff which was nontrivial. Then we move on to the place you might actually put that body. Ideal spaces are probably the moon or Mars, and especially Mars is probably best, which we could get into.Then we move to how you might keep that body in that place from dying. That is to say, habitat construction. How do you build a facility in one of these places? Where might you go and what are the future goals there and the problems you need to solve. But mostly having to do with energy and shielding and also making food and oxygen and consumables.And then at that point, we dive into the law and sociology. So then we go to a brief rundown on the "cynical history," we call it, of outer space. And the basic point of that is to position you to understand that human spacefaring is almost always purely political. It's about making declarations as a superpower and showing up other countries.That prepares you to think about how the space law as we have it is. So we go into how the law actually works, which a lot of geeks think doesn't matter, they don't think international law exists, but it does. We know it constrains the behavior of countries and people. From there we get into some sociological questions. We'll talk about this a little more later; the sociology was at one point quite extensive, and the editor was like, "You just can't do this to readers. This is just too much," so we cut it down to looking at company towns as a potential model, and a couple other things.Then we close out with some questions having to do with the future, in the sense of what numbers are we talking about to avoid too much inbreeding, to have economic autarchy — that is to say, being able to survive the death of Earth.Then finally what would happen in the case of space war and how to think about the idea of space war. Yeah, so we're really trying for every angle. I could tell you, we did still leave out stuff. There was stuff we had to cut, but we tried to be as thorough as possible.I'm so glad that you brought up the "cynical history of space," because I thought that that was just such a very thorough look. Space is one of the most romanticized things. I think that's one reason that again, this topic is so compelling, is that we just have so many stories that we tell each other about space and its role and there's a fundamental yearning to it. There's a fundamental ambition to it. You could tell a lot of stories set in space, and we have.Whereas the cynical history of space was really just bringing things down to as brass tacks as possible. It was turning this romance into the physics and politics that it truly is, and I really appreciated it. Do you want to dive in a little bit on that, a brief cynical history of space?Yeah, I'd love to. So it's funny. There's a power law, I can say this for your audience. There's a power law for what space stuff is about. So it's like 90 percent of all space books are about Apollo 11, in particular, where we landed on the moon. And then 90 percent of what's left is either Apollo 8, where we first went around the moon, or Apollo 13, where everything went wrong and there was a movie about it. And then down from that, it's everything else.There's a subgenre in all this that is the political history. There are only a couple books about this, and they're mostly more scholarly because I guess regular people just don't want to read about the sort of geopolitical theory about why countries do this sort of thing. What's funny is that in those fields, and people who study the law and history, if you said, "Hey, Kennedy went to space as a purely political act," it would be like saying, "I know how to tie my shoes." It's just the most obvious thing in the world.But if you say that to a space geek, it's like you're poking something beautiful. But we have the evidence! I mean you never know what's in a person's heart, but we know, there's evidence that after Sputnik Kennedy thought space was stupid. We really only did that big speech to Congress, which sometimes gets conflated with the one at Rice. He only did his big speech to Congress basically saying, "Give me a huge pile of money," after Bay of Pigs.And then very shortly after, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and he was of course, a Soviet. So Kennedy looked like garbage and he knew it, and he was a smart PR operator. So we have private transcripts of stuff he said basically saying, "There's no reason to do this." He uses the phrase, "I'm not that into space." He just says it very explicitly, "We need to show them that we won." And that's it.And his own science advisor, I don't think we put this in the book, but my recollection is, Jerome Wiesner, his science advisor, refused to go along with the idea that this was about science. He was not cool with it. So there's just very robust evidence that this was politics all the way down on both the American and the Soviet side. That unfortunately the great mass of the public around the world overestimates the importance of rocketry to the dominance of nations and their technological capacity. Whereas, I think you could easily argue that the U.S. was ahead the whole time in everything that mattered, but people are just beguiled by rocket technology.Again, part of this is some stuff that I've read, but it seems like a lot of people's mentality about space is derived from Disneyland and a lot of sci-fi aesthetic stuff.Yeah, it's that. I have an older brother as a poli-sci professor and he said when he gets students and he says, "Who's the best president ever?" They still to this day often say, "Kennedy." And when you ask them why, they cite a speech or something, which is not afforded to any other president! Any other president, it's like, what did they do? But with Kennedy for some reason — probably because he was assassinated while young and handsome, and there's this sort of legend about it — people are like, "Well..." Here's the history of space: Kennedy said, "We go to space because we're amazing and we need new frontiers." And so we went and that's it. And you want to come in and say it was about politics, how dare you.Readers might recognize you from your book Soonish. A City on Mars you wrote with your wife, Kelly, as you did with Soonish. One carryover from Soonish that I really dig in this book is that you kept the Nota Benes, which are chances to dive in on perhaps things that are a little offbeat, but fun elements. I really love all of them.The one that I really enjoyed the most that felt very relevant to the next step of this conversation is Antarctica and violence around it. We have a place that is very inhospitable to human life that we send people to occasionally, where sometimes people do crimes, and it is called Antarctica. And that is the best indication of what might be the situation in space.So there's a little bit of a nuance to this. Sometimes when people work in space psychiatry, space psychology, they'll say one of the things that's important is, "Did you know one time a guy got stabbed in Antarctica for spoiling novels?" And then there's another famous story where, as the story goes, there were two Russians at Vostok station having a chess match and one killed the other or attacked him with an axe or something. So they banned chess.And so both of those stories, actually, they're not really true. They got passed around the internet all day and all night. I think the one about the chess thing is just not true. Or at least, we couldn't find evidence. We talked to a guy who had been at Vostok station for a long time, he's a Russian guy. And he was like, "I'd never heard of this or about the chess ban." And it also just utterly smacks of Russian stereotyping.A hundred percent, yeah.Right. There's no dancing bear or whatever, but it's pretty close. The story about the spoiling novels, the novel thing was just a weird detail it was fixated on. It was more like the guy was just hazing him and bullying him for a long time and finally went too far and the other guy stabbed him. And it's sort of a bit more of a conventional stabbing story.Our perspective, and there's reasonably robust data on this, is actually that in Antarctica where it is dark and cramped and awful and somewhat space-like, you actually don't get a higher rate of psychiatric problems. Maybe even there's some evidence it's lower. That's probably to do with the fact that people are screened before they come and they're probably somewhat self-selected.But that doesn't mean you get to just be like, "Don't worry about it." Right? Because it has been the case in Antarctica that we've had to handle murders. There have actually been murders. There's one that's well-documented where a guy accidentally shot another guy during an altercation having to do with raisin wine. Which, I hadn't by the way heard about raisin wine, but it's I guess a sort of low-quality homemade wine.It'll bring a new meaning to the phrase “moonshine” if we pull that off in space.This is a whole funny thing that we would joke about, and we talk about making food in space. We found a quote by Andy Weir of The Martian who wrote the foreword to a book called Alcohol in Space, which is actually a quite wonderful book, what you would think. And he says, "Mark Watney, the star of The Martian, would not have made vodka because why would you waste all those potatoes?"But we actually, if you look into the history of biosphere, the place where people stayed for two years in confinement to see if you could do this? They were starving, and they still made alcohol. I love that story. It's like they're literally losing 10 percent body mass, but they still made the worst quality wine out of bananas or raisins. Humans are a problem.Is that the case for a lot of this? Humans are the problem with space travel?I think the way I would say it is, humans are the problem, but in that they're humans. Because people tend to think like, "Oh, you'll go mad in space." Or whatever. And there's just no evidence of that extreme thing. It is just that they're going to be humans. So on Earth, when you're a human, you expect all sorts of basic services. Some humans, from time to time, have acute psychiatric problems or whatever, and they need to be taken care of. And this is just usually not imagined when people talk about sending a thousand people to Mars.Let's talk about where to, right? You have an entire chapter where you talk about Mars, you talk about the moon, you talk about a rotating space station, which is not the worst option. Then you talk about some other options, too. Why don't you walk us through, give us a little tour of the buffet here and where you come down as the angle?The deal is, the solar system is really, really big. Space is really, really big. But the places you might maybe sort of survive on are eeny, weeny weeny.Mercury is basically a nonstarter. It's way too hot and it's actually fairly hard to get to because you have to drop toward the sun and then carefully get into orbit.Then you've got Venus, which is incredibly hot, high pressure, and has sulfuric acid clouds. There are weirdly a couple people who still think it would be good. Their argument is, and this is true, it's a very thick atmosphere, so you should almost think of it as something like a fluid. There's a place in the atmosphere that does have Earth-like temperature and pressure and carbon dioxide. When you're in this mode of like, "Well, does it literally have the elements of existence and maybe sounds compelling?" I think it's crazy, but it does have its people.Then you have Mars, which is the place. Basically, it has Earth-like elemental composition. It has an atmosphere, although it's quite thin. But it's an atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and carbon and oxygen are both nice things to have.Then beyond that, of course, there's Earth and there's Earth's moon. The moon is great, but it's very low in water, it's carbon-poor, and humans are made of carbon as there are things we like to eat. So the moon is good as a place to launch from, but not for building a permanent settlement unless you're really going to ameliorate it.Then beyond that, you've got the asteroid belt. A lot of people think it'd be great to live in asteroids, but actually asteroids are typically rubble piles. They're dusty rocks that are kind of drawn together. They're actually quite distant from each other. It's not like in Star Wars where you're dodging big potatoes, and you actually usually can't see one from another. They're quite sparse and beyond that—Wow.It's extremely sparse. Then going further out, you just have the gas giants where there's not even a surface to land on, and the icy planets. And then there are a couple moons, there have been here and there proposals for landing on Titan, but you're talking about extraordinary distance and all sorts of other problems.So really, it's the moon or Mars, which have a combined surface area smaller than Earth, and they're both just awful. The reason we say the moon is cool is because it's always the same distance, and the distance is not too far. It's about two days by rocket, but there's almost no water on it, contrary to what you might've heard in articles in Bloomberg about this trans-lunar economy we're supposedly going to build. The surface is made of this really nasty stuff called regolith that probably damages equipment, and may cause health problems.The main appeal of Mars is basically that it has Earth-like days, it has access to water, and it has some atmosphere. So all the stuff is there to not die, which is really not true anywhere else.So it's the best option that we've got. But it doesn't sound like it's necessarily a great option.No, and it's also, unless some exotic technology comes along, it's six months in, about a year stay, six months back. There's a long period where you're there and you cannot go home because Earth has raced ahead of you around the sun.Oh wow. There are a lot of fascinating problems that present themselves. And again, one thing that I love about your and Kelly's work is that you really just talk to a lot of really smart people. You do a lot of the in-depth research.One thing I have to ask you about is that you actually published an article in space policy: To Each According to Their Space-Need: Communes in Outer Space. I just love that this is the depth to which you did it, where you did get a scientific paper out of this one, too.We did! Yeah. And I should say that that scientific paper had many more jokes and illustrations in it when it was in the book. It was originally a chapter.We worked with two other guys. One was Ran Abramitzky, who's a big deal sociologist, who is the kibbutz and commune studies guy, and then John Lehr, who's the absolute expert on how to write communes. We did this paper together. The reason it got cut from an earlier version of this book is, we were like, "Let's look at tons of sociological models." All that's left from that is company towns. The basic feeling from our editor, which I think was correct, was, "Each one of these models is starting your audience over in a completely new topic. It's just too much to ask for a pop science audience."But communes are really interesting. People often want to talk about stuff in space society, but usually you can't do science on it. So you can't be like, how should we form society? That's hard. But if you start with, well, what if it is a company town, then you can say stuff, because we know stuff about that structure.One structure — and a lot of this is due to Ran Abramitzky — we know a lot about is communes. He did this book called The Mystery of the Kibbutz, and the mystery is how did you actually get humans to behave communally for about a hundred years? He actually does a standard, delightful neoclassical economic analysis of how they manage human incentive structures to get people to behave in a basically communal way.What's absolutely fascinating is when you look throughout history going back hundreds of years throughout communes, they converge on the exact same sets of problems and the exact same sets of solutions. Hutterites, who are this very— certainly by my standards — very sort of patriarchal, old world Anabaptist religion, they will shun you and shame you if you fail to do certain communal things.But if you go to the surviving hippie communes? Amazingly, they do the exact same stuff. They do it in a hippie way, but they still do it. And so it's just astonishing. So if you say, "Oh, space is going to be like a commune," you can really do some cool stuff. I mean, I don't know if it will be, but you can at least say we can do some deep analysis and we can read primary literature. It's just really cool.It is cool because again, finding experiments is hard because everything that would involve an experiment here is either drastically immoral or extremely expensive. It is cool that for company towns, there's a huge economic record of that. You have an amazing chapter in the book about that. And I dig this article because it's just cool how much terrestrially really we do have to work with here.It's amazing. One of my absolute favorite things. For a numbers audience like yours, this is really cool. A lot of people are into space stuff. Would it be better to have a religious community, because they're going to need to be sort of cohesive? It's set in a hand-wavy way, but you can actually compare secular versus religious kibbutzim. You actually find that the religious ones have a measurable – like quantifiable with shekels, like with money – difference in retention ability.You can actually kind put a number on religion as a retention, at least in this context. I don't know, maybe Anabaptists are better than Jews at retaining people, or maybe worse. But it's amazing and it's not trivial, but it's also not huge. It's not like an order of magnitude, but it is a real difference. People are more willing to stay. This is less true for Jews, but in Anabaptism, like if you leave the commune, you go to hell in Hutterite Anabaptism. So that's probably quite motivating. But yeah, just amazing that you can put a number on something like that.I mean that's the thing, man; if you leave the commune on Mars, you do go to Mars.That's right. You die. You do die very quickly. Yeah, but that's interesting because that adds to the analysis, because a classic commune problem is when people can get opportunity elsewhere, they do. But if you die, if you go outside, that's probably different.I would be in total violation of all journalistic principles if I did not ask you about the possibility of space war. What did you find on this matter?We try really hard not to be too speculative. The way we did it is, we talked about short-term, medium, long-term, right? Short-term, people talk about space war. It probably won't happen, basically because there's no reason to do it. Without getting too in-depth, there is some cool analysis about space weapons you can look up. Space weapons sound awesome and they are awesome. I will say, guiltily, there are some zany designs from the Reagan era for these pumped X-ray lasers that were going to blast the Soviets. Crazy s**t.I'm a simple guy. If you call it a "Rod from God," you have my attention.Totally. But the basic problem: All of us already have nuclear weapons. Insanely, if Russia decided they wanted to nuke Washington, I don't know, we do have defenses and stuff. But do they get the advantage from setting the nuke in the space before firing it? I think the answer is probably no. It does get there faster, but it's also totally exposed while it's up there. It's probably in low Earth orbit. It's constantly pissing off everyone on Earth while it's up there. And at the end of the day it saves you some number of minutes. It might be as much as 20 or 30 minutes. I'd have to look at it. But we're talking about just a slightly accelerated doomsday situation. There's only a really narrow set of circumstances for you to actually want this stuff, and it's really expensive and hard to maintain.So short-term, probably not going to happen.For space settlements, a space settlement would probably never want to make war on another space settlement or on Earth because it would be so easy to destroy. I mean, you're talking about survival bubbles in the doom void. One EMP and it's toast; one big hole and you all die. It's just, you're so vulnerable and also so dependent on Earth, it's unlikely. So in a Heinlein scenario where the moon is like, "We're going to mess you up,” it's like, "No." All Earth would have to do is hover some nukes over your base and blast the electric system and you're gone.So the more interesting question we got into, I thought, was we talk about this as a long-term issue.On Earth, there are different theories on this, but there's this question of, why don't we use gas weapons typically? Why don't we use bio weapons typically? And there are sort of cultural theories, but maybe we just decided not to. It depends on how cynical you want to be about humans, whether you believe that or not.But part of why we don't use these weapons is that they're unpredictable. So there are like these horrific cases from World War I where people try gas weapons, and the wind blows, then it just goes right back at them. Of course, with bio stuff, it's even more obvious how that could go wrong. It's also true, by the way, that part of why we don't test nukes anymore is because we started finding radioactive byproducts in babies' teeth, which is pretty motivating for most humans.But if you're down two separate gravity wells? If it's Mars versus Earth? You can drop this stuff and there is no risk of blowback.So the only reason we bring that up is basically because a lot of space geeks say, "We need to colonize Mars to reduce existential risk." But we don't know that the equation adds up to a reduced risk! There are many ways it could add up to increased risk.When we're not sharing the same atmosphere all of a sudden things go back on the table.Right. Yeah, exactly.The book is called A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? It is great. I really loved your book Soonish and when you announced it, I was really, really intrigued that this was your follow-up to Soonish. Because Soonish is all about technologies that are just on the horizon. And when you announced this, I was like, "Well, clearly there was something left over in the reporter's notebook going into that."Exactly.And so I guess I'll just ask, what was it like moving on to this next topic and how soon-ish would you say this stuff is?Oh, man. Well, I would say I have set back my timeline a little, having researched it.I mean, part of why we got into this in the first place is we did think it was coming relatively soon, and was awesome. And it was surprising the extent to which advocates were not dealing with the details. So the project ended up becoming like, we're going to actually get into the primary literature about all these questions.My view is, I doubt we have a settlement, meaning people are having children and families on Mars; certainly not in my lifetime. What I would add is that it's almost certainly undesirable for it to happen that quickly because not enough of the science is in. It would be morally quite dubious to try to have children in these places with the lack of science we have.But to be slightly uplifting, I have two directions on it. One uplifting direction would be, well, you never know. Maybe AI's going to take all our jobs in two weeks and we'll just tell it to take us to Mars and we'll be fine. I don't know. I mean there's some world in which 30 years from now there are fusion drives and advanced robotics and everything I'm saying sounds quaint. And then maybe it does happen.The other thing to say, though, is a lot of the stuff we need to do to make this possible and safe is stuff that would be nice to do anyway. So without getting into it, it would be nice to have a legal framework on Earth where war wasn't a serious possibility, or a thing that's currently happening in many places at once. Because in space, there's lots of stuff going fast. And if you get a world where there are millions and millions of tons of spacecraft going at high speeds, that's a dangerous world with our current geopolitics. So we need to solve that if it can be solved.Yeah. I loved how much of the book wasn't just the physics. It was really exciting to see that it's not just can we or how would we, it's should we and what will happen?Yeah, the law to me, I mean we really tried to add some sugar to it because everybody does not want to read international law. We have all these great stories. There's this story about the times like Nazis showed up in Antarctica to heil a penguin. They actually heiled a penguin. I love this story.Oh no.Yeah, yeah, yeah. The penguin apparently was not impressed, but—Rock on, penguin.It's a funny story, but it matters so much. I think a lot of people are reluctant to get into it. But for me, gosh, it's amazing. Most of the planet Earth is regulated under commons established in the middle of the 20th century. The whole world changed in a 30-year period under these new international law frameworks. And it's like nobody cares or knows. I want a T-shirt that says, "THE RULES-BASED INTERNATIONAL ORDER IS NOT PERFECT BUT IT'S PRETTY GOOD." And you really come to appreciate it. I hope people get that reading our book.Amazing. Zach, you write Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, one of my favorite things. You've been at it for so long, and it's such an admirable project. You've written the book Soonish, which if people have not already gotten, they should get. The new book is A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. I could not love it any more. Where can folks find the book?They can find it at fine bookstores everywhere. Or if you go to acityonmars.com, there are a bunch of purchasing options listed.All right, thanks for coming on.Yeah, thanks for having me. It was fun.If you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Get full access to Numlock News at www.numlock.com/subscribe
This episode delves into the history of the hygiene hypothesis. What do we know about different exposures changing risk for asthma and allergies, and do these exposures have the same protection for autoimmunity? · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:18 · Hygiene hypothesis 0:33 · Allergic rhinitis (or Hay fever) 2:32 · Pollen and the allergy skin test 8:58 · Exposure and cleanliness 10:22 · Allergic rhinitis and Cree Native Americans 11:51 · Appendicitis 13:10 · Family size and asthma 14:36 · Rural versus urban populations 17:41 · Dust 18:31 · Children, day care and infections 22:43 · The “old friends” theory 28:29 · Farming and allergies 30:07 · The Amish and the Hutterites 33:02 · Mice, dust and asthma 34:47 · Thanks for listening 37:40 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at rheuminationspodcast@healio.com. Follow us on Twitter @HRheuminations @AdamJBrownMD @HealioRheum. References: Emanuel MB. Clin Exp Allergy. 1988;doi:10.1111/j.1365-2222.1988.tb02872.x. Flohr C, et al. Clin Exp Allergy. 2010;doi:10.1111/j.1365-2222.2009.03346.x. Genuneit J. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2012;doi:10.1111/j.1399-3038.2012.01312.x. Karvonen AM, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019;doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2019.07.035. Perkin MR, et al. Front Allergy. 2022;doi:10.3389/falgy.2022.1051368. Rantala AK, et al. Epidemiol. 2020;doi:10.1097/EDE.000000000001163. Sangrador CO, et al. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2018;doi:10.1016/j.aller.2018.03.006. Stein MM, et al. N Engl J Med. 2016;doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1508749. Strachan DP. BMJ. 1989;doi:10.1136/bmj.299.6710.1259. Weber J, et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;doi:10.1164/rccm.201410-1899OC.
We sign off with Kelly Hofer sharing his experiences with our Anabaptist cousins, the Hutterites. Kelly has been in several documentaries and has built a career on photography since leaving his Hutterites Colony in 2012. https://www.kellyhofer.com/ or check out Kelly's book: https://tinyurl.com/KellyHbook Hosted by Mary Byler and James Schwartz Funded by The Misfit Amish & Patreon Subscribers Art by BJK Music: Army of Angels used under a creative commons license from Canva
Reformation divisions arose quickly. By forsaking practices like infant baptism, the Anabaptists were branded as rebels, to be martyred by the hundreds. In this message, Pastor Lutzer identifies the three streams of Anabaptism: Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish. The movement still shapes our view of the relationship between church and state. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/172/29
Reformation divisions arose quickly. By forsaking practices like infant baptism, the Anabaptists were branded as rebels, to be martyred by the hundreds. In this message, Pastor Lutzer identifies the three streams of Anabaptism: Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish. The movement still shapes our view of the relationship between church and state. This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.
Sam & Melissa react to a Hutterite Colony from the National Geographic Docuseries "American Colony: Meet the Hutterites" as well as other YT sources. Current Hutterite Vlogger @gisellewaldner9406 : https://www.youtube.com/@gisellewaldner9406 If you or someone you love has left polygamy and needs assistance, please reach out to "Holding Out HELP" at 801-548-3492 or visit their website at www.holdingouthelp.org At Growing Up In Polygamy our mission is to "Create compassion for communities that have been marginalized and abused by their leaders, and to empower those who have left by giving them a platform to share their stories with the world." If you would like to DONATE to this cause you can do so here: https://donorbox.org/growing-up-in-polygamy New website is now up! www.growingupinpolygamy.com Please feel free to reach out to us! growingupinpolygamy@gmail.com PO BOX 753072 Las Vegas, NV 89136 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/growingupinpolygamy/support
Welcome to another episode of Steady at the Wheel, in this episode, we discuss Jaxon’s recent experience as an auctioneer at a benefit for a school where the cast of Yellowstone offered some incredible experiences. We talk about the Hutterite culture in Montana – customs, farming techniques, and the value of their community lifestyle, and then we get into livestock hauling in our industry. There are about as many ways to handle livestock as there are producers, but if you want to get into livestock hauling as a trucking career, you better first get a job somewhere that handles livestock, or you’re going to have a horrible time. We end with stories of gratitude and how thanking the people you interact with as a trucker goes so far as to make life much easier in your travels. The Steady at the Wheel podcast is hosted by brothers Jaxon and Luke Allen. They grew up in the 80s, driving truck with their dad, Russ "Rooster" Allen, in his old cabover freightliner - hauling hogs from Fairfield MT back east to South Dakota. Trucking was a family business and the brothers worked and rode alongside Rooster during every season of the year from age 2 through high school and beyond. From scabbed knuckles that wouldn’t heal to dangerous near-misses with boars and hogs, to breathing soybean and straw dust, what may seem harsh to some was just the way it was back then and the boys are who they are today because of it. Tune in to future episodes of Steady at the Wheel to hear great old-school stories, entertainment, news, education, and mentorship aimed at a trucking industry audience. Discussion points: Jaxon was an auctioneer at benefit for a school in Darby MT Some of Yellowstone cast offered an enormous package at the auction with time on set and lunch! Issues with the show Yellowstone and its MT representation Award given to female truck driver 4 million miles incident-free – her tips Hutterites, Amish, and Mennonites Hutterite customs, farming, lifestyle The Fall Run, cattle breeding, time frames and the market How can someone get into the business? A dental patient asks Luke to arrange for him to donate his body to science Livestock handling as a trucker - cattle, sheep, goats, etc. Small kindnesses to truckers and expressing gratitude If you are interested in hauling livestock, you must work with them somewhere, handling first Get in touch with us on our socials, we want to hear from you! Resources: Steady At The Wheel Podcast Instagram Jaxon Allen Instagram Jaxon Allen Website Wild Wild West Youtube Email Jaxon and Luke
This week, we (sorta?) field questions from our audience, except those that Titus doesn't like. Dru edits out the stuff that is especially egregious - so what's left? The cult of domesticity, Hutterites, small businesses, and a bit on the end of Acts. If you listen very closely, you might just hear a cry for help. Reach out on FB at: facebook.com/thatjesuspod. Or even message/WhatsApp Dru's burner phone at 218.353.1725 Check out the latest on Patreon: patreon.com/posts/outtakes-gun-in-67703471 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thatjesuspodcast/message
We're nearing the end of March, but keeping the episodes packed with great information on things to see and do in and around Elkhart County. First off, get to know Jerry Beasley, executive director of Menno-Hof. He explains the mission behind the cultural center located in Shipshewana where you can see and hear the Amish-Mennonite story through multimedia presentations, historical environments and colorful displays. Jerry helps explain the differences between Mennonites and Hutterites, how their communities are based on Anabaptist and talks about one of their most popular exhibits, the Tornado Room. Then we chat to Courtney Franke, mill manager at Bonneyville Mill County Park, located in Bristol. He explains the history and heritage behind the Mill at Bonneyville, the process of making flour at the mill and how you may just be greeted with the smell of freshly baked goods when you visit. And finally, we learn more about Earth Day from Jeff Zavatsky and Annie Klehfoth from the Elkhart Environmental Center. They tell us about various Earth Day activities they have planned for the entire month of April.
In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Freedom of religion is closely associated with separation of church and state, a concept advocated by Colonial founders such as Dr. John Clarke, Roger Williams, William Penn, and later Founding Fathers such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. The way freedom of religion is interpreted has changed over time in the United States and continues to be controversial. The issue was a major topic of George Washington's Farewell Address. Several American states had their own official state churches both before and after the First Amendment was passed. Illegal religion was a major cause of the 1890 thru 1891 Ghost Dance War. Starting in 1918, nearly all of the pacifist Hutterites emigrated to Canada when Joseph and Michael Hofer died following torture for conscientious objection to the draft. Some have since returned, but most Hutterites remain in Canada. The long-term trend has been towards increasing secularization of the government. The remaining state churches were disestablished in 1820 and teacher-led public school prayer was abolished in 1962, but the military chaplaincy remains to the present day. Although most Supreme Court rulings have been accommodationist towards religion, in recent years there have been attempts to replace the freedom of religion with the more limited freedom of worship. Although the freedom of religion includes some form of recognition to the individual conscience of each citizen with the possibility of conscientious objection to law or policy, the freedom of worship does not. Controversies surrounding the freedom of religion in the US have included building places of worship, compulsory speech, prohibited counseling, compulsory consumerism, workplace, marriage and the family, the choosing of religious leaders, circumcision of male infants, dress, education, oaths, praying for sick people, medical care, worshiping during quarantines, use of government lands sacred to Native Americans, the protection of graves, the bodily use of sacred substances, mass incarceration of clergy, both animal slaughter for meat and the use of living animals, and accommodations for employees, prisoners, and military personnel.
In this essay Dan Ziegler explores the hermeneutic behind the unique set of convictions that define conservative Anabaptists (Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, Brethren, and related groups). We non-conformed Anabaptists are just regular folk, no more astute or intrinsically spiritual than our neighbors. So, what drives the uniqueness of the conservative Anabaptist faith? "I have been working on that question for 35 years now - ever since my wife and I, as young seekers, left the evangelical faith tradition to become Mennonites. Now, after decades of immersion in Anabaptist beliefs, culture, and history, I believe I have come to understand what is behind Anabaptism. It is a hermeneutic - a simple, yet profound approach to understanding and applying Scripture. "
This episode is also available as a blog post: http://donnyferguson.com/2020/12/15/how-woodrow-wilson-persecuted-hutterites-who-refused-to-support-his-war/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/donny-ferguson/message
Julian is a friend I met in the community around Paul VanderKlay. He is a Hutterite from Canada who has recently taken upon himself to learn more about the Trinity. We discuss the connection between belief and practice, trinitarian education, the historical connections between Hutterites and Unitarians, primitivism, Schleiermacher, Fred Sanders, Michael Reeves, Karl Barth, Jordan Peterson, evangelical identity, cardinal sins, Michael Polanyi, tacit belief, the difficulties of interpretation, Bart Ehrman, proper Christian cultural engagement, Neoplatonism, Alister McGrath, the Bible Project, and just who is this Jesus? The conversation ends abruptly due to connectivity issues, but we hope to resume it again soon.
Audio recording Sermon manuscript:This Lent season we have considered baptism by answering the fundamental questions of our catechism: What is baptism? What benefits does baptism give? How can water do such great things? and What does such baptizing with water indicate? Here, at the end of our series, we will take up a topic that is important, especially where we live, because churches are divided on the question of whether infants should be baptized. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and perhaps a couple other smaller confessions have their babies baptized. The great many church bodies that originated in Great Britain, such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians; as well as others such as the Evangelicals, the Hutterites, the Amish, and many others, either do not baptize their babies at all, or they mean something different than we do when they baptize. Baptism is said to be a mere sign or a kind of dedication, or initiation into the community. It is not seen as the bestowal of forgiveness, life, and salvation. So first, let me say a little something about controversies in general. Whenever an article of faith becomes controversial, Christians talk and write about it. By God’s grace this can open up new understanding for us. It also can reveal those who are not genuine Christians so that they can be marked and avoided. Controversies can be good, therefore, by increasing knowledge and understanding on the one hand, and by purifying the church of false teaching on the other. However, controversies also can have many negative effects. This is why the apostle Paul warns Christians to avoid useless controversies. Controversies can draw out all the evils of the old Adam—pride, anger, triumphalism, party spirit, and so on. Plus, as the controversy goes on, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry writes a book about it, so that the material to be learned grows and grows. It can get to the point where there is so much stuff that has been said, and everybody wants to put their little twist on it, that we might just want to give up. While this is an understandable reaction, it is not good. Remember what I’ve told you several times before: God’s revelation to us is clear and simple. He says things like: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Go baptize in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism saves you. It is not God’s truth that is complicated. The devil’s lies are complicated. He always basically says what he said at the beginning: “Did God really say…?” Then, when the lies are complicated and sophisticated, it can take a lot of effort to get things straight again. Think of a ball of yarn. Originally it is wound in such a way where it comes off simply and easily. But if someone comes and makes hay with it so that it gets all tangled, then it can be quite a task to sort that stuff out again. Of course it’s easier to just chuck the whole skein of yarn and buy a new one. The devil would like us to do that with God’s revelation too. He’d like us to believe that it is too complicated and full of contradictions. Might as well chuck it and believe some other creed. This inevitably means, though, that you end up believing in some other god instead of bearing the cross of the true God. With infant baptism we are dealing with something that has been tangled over the past 500 years. There is a lot that we could talk about. We certainly won’t deal with even a tiny fraction of the stuff that has been written about it. What I want to try to do is apply the most fundamental teachings of the bible to the situation. The argument goes like this: Baptism saves. Babies need to be saved. Therefore babies should be baptized. Let me say that again: Baptism saves. Babies need to be saved. Therefore babies should be baptized. I do not intent to spend much time at all on the first part of the argument, that baptism saves. We’ve been looking at that for four weeks. I hope it is clear to you that baptism is not just plain water, but a washing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit. I hope that you are convinced by the apostle Peter that baptism is like the ark that saved Noah. Let’s spend more time on the second part of the argument, that babies need to be saved. A lot of folks have a hard time with this. Babies are cute. They don’t seem to have the same calculating power and capacity for evil that adults do. We don’t hold them responsible for the things that they do, and rightly so. There’s plenty of time for instruction and discipline later on in their lives. Since we don’t hold them responsible for their actions, it doesn’t seem like God should hold them responsible either. But we should not come at these things with our own feelings and assumptions. We should understand these things according to God’s Word. God’s Word tells us that Adam and Eve fell into sin and that this changed them and all their descendants. They became sold under sin. All people were born with what we call the “old Adam.” That is what we inherited from him just as surely as we might inherit our eye color or hair color from our parents. David says in the psalm that we recited tonight, “I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” All people are under the power of the devil until they are born again as children of God through baptism. God’s Word also tells us God’s Law. It is by the keeping of God’s Law that a person is righteous. It is by the breaking of God’s Law that we know that we are sinners. Let’s take the summary of that Law and apply it to little children. Jesus summarizes the Law when he says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Does an infant, even with its limited capacities, love the Lord its God with its whole being? Does an infant love others? What I found with our baby is that she was pretty clever at getting what she wanted, even if it meant that Mom had to be woken up in the middle of the night. But it can be kind of hard to tell this kind of thing with a baby since its ability to communicate isn’t very sophisticated yet. How about with toddlers? Do they love the Lord their God with their whole being? Do they love others as themselves? I’m sure we’re all aware of the common reaction that a toddler might have to baby sister or baby brother showing up. They’ve been known to try to shove the baby off of Mom’s lap. So since little children are declared to be sinners by God’s Word, and since little children have not and cannot keep God’s Law, it is obvious that they are sinners who need to be saved. Baptism saves. Babies need to be saved. Therefore babies should be baptized. This is a solid, fundamental, spiritual truth that cannot be denied. It is as fundamental and solid spiritually speaking as the many needs that have to be met physically. We could do similar arguments in the physical realm: Food nourishes. Babies need to be nourished. Therefore babies should be fed. Clothes provide warmth. Babies need to be kept warm. Therefore babies should be clothed. We do not wait for babies to say please or thank you. If they could talk, they probably would. They might very well say, “Pardon me. Sorry to bother you, but could you provide me with a bit of milk?” So also, spiritually speaking, having been informed by God’s Word about their condition, they might very well confess that they were born in sin, born in bondage to Satan with all his works and all his ways. But they would like to believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and be made into children of God. Put yourself in the baby’s shoes. When you are hungry, don’t you like being fed? When you are cold, don’t you like being made warm? When you are burdened with sin don’t you want to be forgiven? Don’t you want to know that God has made you his beloved child and promised you his Holy Spirit? Why would you deny that, then, to a child? What would you say of someone who didn’t feed or clothe their child? Aren’t they abusing that child? So isn’t it spiritual child abuse to deny eternal salvation to them by withholding the gift of baptism? I know that claim upsets people. Maybe we’d all like to pretend that this is no big deal. It makes our lives easier that way. But perhaps the accusation hurts because it’s the accusation that’s true that cuts the deepest. Of course I understand that people do not do this intentionally. A person would have to be the devil himself to knowingly withhold baptism, knowing that it gives salvation to someone who needs to be saved. People don’t baptize their children because they do not believe, or they have been falsely taught. But then it is our responsibility to help them see clearly. Again, wouldn’t we do this with physical things? If some poor soul thought that a baby didn’t need milk, wouldn’t we tell them otherwise? We aren’t playing games here. This is not a hobby. Without being born again, no one can see the kingdom of God for the simple reason that they do not belong there and would not even be happy there. According to our first birth, our birth from Adam, we belong with the devil. But God, in his mercy, planned for our salvation before the foundation of the world. He intended to redeem us by the holy, precious, innocent suffering and death of his only begotten Son. He intended us to receive this and be made his disciples by being baptized according to Jesus’s own word at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Nowhere, not in a single, solitary passage, does God say that we should not baptize babies. If anything, the opposite is very strongly implied. You heard tonight how Jesus became angry (something that happens only a couple times in the Gospels) when the disciples were trying to keep the kids away. He rebuked them sharply. Children are loved by Jesus and he saves them. “Do not hinder the little children coming to him,” he says. Jesus says, “Baptize all nations.” Surely, babies are included in nations, aren’t they? In our first reading, Peter’s great sermon at Pentecost, he tells the Jews that this salvation is for them and for their children. After he preached, 3,000 people were baptized into Christ. The basis for baptizing infants is not just one obscure passage in a hidden book. It is front and center and at the heart of the Christian Gospel. Babies are human beings just like us. The same logic that applies to us also applies to them. Their hope of salvation is the same as ours. They, together with us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, believe that baptism saves. They know that they need to be saved (just as they, in some way, know that they need food and clothing). Therefore, they thank God that they were baptized in their childlike way. As Jesus says, “Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants the Lord has ordained praise.” And if someone hasn’t been baptized, then let us sing baptism’s praises. Do not mothers sometimes do this with some new food or clothing that they’ve come across? They talk to other moms about why it’s good. Let’s do the same thing with baptism, which meets our great spiritual need.
In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Freedom of religion is closely associated with separation of church and state, a concept advocated by Colonial founders such as Dr. John Clarke, Roger Williams, William Penn, and later Founding Fathers such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. The freedom of religion has changed over time in the United States and continues to be controversial. Concern over this freedom was a major topic of George Washington's Farewell Address. Illegal religion was a major cause of the 1890–1891 Ghost Dance War. Starting in 1918, nearly all of the pacifist Hutterites emigrated to Canada when Joseph and Michael Hofer died following torture for conscientious objection to the draft. Some have since returned, but most Hutterites remain in Canada. The long-term trend has been towards increasing secularization of the government. The remaining state churches were disestablished in 1820 and teacher-led public school prayer was abolished in 1962, but the military chaplaincy remains to the present day. Although most Supreme Court rulings have been accommodationist towards religion, in recent years there have been attempts to replace the freedom of religion with the more limited freedom of worship. Although the freedom of religion includes some form of recognition to the individual conscience of each citizen with the possibility of conscientious objection to law or policy, the freedom of worship does not. Controversies surrounding the freedom of religion in the US have included building places of worship, compulsory speech, prohibited counseling, compulsory consumerism, workplace, marriage and the family, the choosing of religious leaders, circumcision of male infants, dress, education, oaths, praying for sick people, medical care, worshiping during quarantines, use of government lands sacred to Native Americans, the protection of graves, the bodily use of sacred substances, mass incarceration of clergy, both animal slaughter for meat and the use of living animals, and accommodations for employees, prisoners, and military personnel. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/law-school/support
Jack Gould tells the wonderful story of the progress of the gospel among the Hutterite colonies of Manitoba, Canada. Hutterites are religious group who share a common European ancestry with the Mennonites and Amish, differing with them in that they believe in sharing their possessions in common and thus living in ‘colonies'. Jack Gould has been labouring among the Hutterites for a number of years and here tells the thrilling story of souls being saved and lives being transformed. (Report The post The Gospel among the Hutterite Colonies (31 min) first appeared on Gospel Hall Audio.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bob Harden Show, celebrating over nine years broadcasting on the internet! On Monday's show, we discuss current world events including the kidnapping of 400 children in Nigeria, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, and global trends in the spread of Covid-19 with the Founder and Publisher of HistoryCentral.com, Marc Schulman. We discuss Woodrow Wilson's Presidency and the persecution of the Hutterites with the President Emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education, Larry Reed. We discuss this weekend's massive Russian hack of the federal government with former Barron's Washington Bureau Chief and author, Jim McTague. We have great guests lined up for Tuesday's show including our State Senator Kathleen Passidomo, author of “Greetings from Paradise,” Linda Harden, entertaining local guest commentator Boo Mortenson, and the Founder and President of Less Government, Seton Motley. Please join us live at 7 a.m. on my website, or you can access the show anytime on podcast platforms (iTunes, TuneIn, Spotify, and Stitcher) or in “show archives” on my website, www.bobharden.com.
August 13, 2020 MIKE KLEINSASSER, pastor of GraceLife Church of Richland Center, WI, who will address: “ONE MAN’s JOURNEY OUT FROM the HUTTERITES INTO The DOCTRINES of SOVEREIGN GRACE” Subscribe: iTunes TuneIn Android RSS Feed Listen:
Karen Briere of The Western Producer reports on the media focus on Hutterite colonies in Saskatchewan surrounding COVID-19 and what steps are being taken to reduce infection rates; Ed White of The Western Producer explains hog cut-out values and how some independent producers are fed up with the current pricing […]
Karen Briere of The Western Producer reports on the media focus on Hutterite colonies in Saskatchewan surrounding COVID-19 and what steps are being taken to reduce infection rates; Ed White of The Western Producer explains hog cut-out values and how some independent producers are fed up with the current pricing […]
OFF TO PLATTE, SOUTH DAKOTA : ADDRESSING COVID 19 IN HUTTERITE COLONY SCHOOLS : Though many of us are more familiar with Amish and Mennonite cultures, The Hutterites settled in the Northern Great Plains of the Dakotas. We, of course, have an equity obligation to teach their children and keep them healthy while learning. Superintendent Joel Bailey joins us for a discussion about his district. I am really looking forward to this show and want to thank Waterford Institute for setting it up. FREE TO EDUCATORS ... JOIN THE AMERICAN CONSORTIUM FOR EQUITY IN EDUCATION PreK-12 AT WWW.ACE-ED.ORG GREAT NEWS AND INFO ON EQUITY AND ACCESS . MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IF YOU WISH AND ENJOY YOUR INCLUDED SUBSCRIPTION TO OUR OFFICIAL JOURNAL "AC&E: ACCESSIBILITY, COMPLIANCE & EQUITY "
OFF TO PLATTE, SOUTH DAKOTA : ADDRESSING COVID 19 IN HUTTERITE COLONY SCHOOLS : Though many of us are more familiar with Amish and Mennonite cultures, The Hutterites settled in the Northern Great Plains of the Dakotas. We, of course, have an equity obligation to teach their children and keep them healthy while learning. Superintendent Joel Bailey joins us for a discussion about his district. I am really looking forward to this show and want to thank Waterford Institute for setting it up. FREE TO EDUCATORS ... JOIN THE AMERICAN CONSORTIUM FOR EQUITY IN EDUCATION PreK-12 AT WWW.ACE-ED.ORG GREAT NEWS AND INFO ON EQUITY AND ACCESS . MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IF YOU WISH AND ENJOY YOUR INCLUDED SUBSCRIPTION TO OUR OFFICIAL JOURNAL "AC&E: ACCESSIBILITY, COMPLIANCE & EQUITY "
Hosts: TJ, Jason, & Brett This week on the show: Segment One: Brett gives a little peek into his daily life. TJ's got big plans for the YouTube page (possibly including Brett's wife???), proclaims his innocence in video game shenanigans, & provides a rant about the current civil unrest. Jason admires a new super smart co-worker leading to discussions about home schoolers and Hutterites. Segment Two: FGS brings us a healthier, safer meth. HOT TAKES covers monkeys stealing COIVID laced blood, Denver PCC cancels (Could Salt Lake be far behind?). and Jason is the God of gun Knowledge during an impromptu quiz. Segment Three: REDDIT FUN offers up “What movie death scene is seared into your brain?”. Please also, if you can, help out our friends, The McClanahans, as they deal with recent medical issues and ensuing bills. Visit their GoFundMe page at: ttps://www.gofundme.com/f/supportthefightforlindsayssight Don't forget you acai berries courtesy of THE QUAD M SHOW.
I'm doing another round with channel veterans. Julian was one of the first conversations I had. We went all over on this one covering Jordan Peterson, postmodernity and James KA Smith, the conversation between Robert Wright and John Caputo that Julian sent to me. Vervaeke's religion that's not a religion, and a bunch of characters on the Discord server. Great fun. Julian's Blog https://coffeewithkierkgaard.home.blog/2020/04/18/the-patient-ferment-of-the-early-church-a-summery/ Political power in modernity post enlightenment Meritocracy Argue for your positions in this public, secular realm Apologists vs new atheist battle is a continuation of the culture wars Religious right pushing to get their version of politics by making arguments for the resurrection, etc. New alliance forming between new atheists and Xian apologists Post-modernists are subverting the rationality game Caputo Wright video https://youtu.be/-9R9h56PmQo We need to think about power in this conversation some more JBP has a blind spot when it comes to that, styles himself as being anti-political Individual over the collective. James KA Smith Introduction to radical orthodoxy https://amzn.to/2VJaesC John Vervaeke JBP and Vervaeke Post-modern critique of secularism Edward Docx Postmodernism is Dead Edward Docx http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/postmodernism-is-dead-va-exhibition-age-of-authenticism Rod Dreher Pilgrims vs Tourists https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/pilgrims-vs-tourists-zygmunt-bauman/ Chesterton Everlasting Man https://amzn.to/2VvF2xb Radical orthodoxy John Suk https://youtu.be/VZr8L7vP4IU Book of Bebb https://amzn.to/2YdzvwQ The patient ferment of the early church Hutterites to the Orthodox A Severe Mercy Van Auken https://amzn.to/2VKMmEW LIquid modernity David Bentley Hart, Universalism Jonathan Pageau Click here to meetup with other channel viewers for conversation https://discord.gg/2uUhZBK The link will prompt you to download the software for this free group messaging service. This link updates every 100 users so look for the most recent videos if this link doesn't work. If you want to schedule a one-on-one conversation check here. https://paulvanderklay.me/2019/08/06/converzations-with-pvk/ There is a video version of this podcast on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/paulvanderklay To listen to this on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-vanderklays-podcast/id1394314333 If you need the RSS feed for your podcast player https://paulvanderklay.podbean.com/feed/ All Amazon links here are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Amazon pays me a small commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through one of the product links here. This is is one (free to you) way to support my videos. To support this channel/podcast on Paypal: https://paypal.me/paulvanderklay To support this channel/podcast with Bitcoin (BTC): 37TSN79RXewX8Js7CDMDRzvgMrFftutbPo To support this channel/podcast with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) qr3amdmj3n2u83eqefsdft9vatnj9na0dqlzhnx80h To support this channel/podcast with Ethereum (ETH): 0xd3F649C3403a4789466c246F32430036DADf6c62 Blockchain backup on Lbry https://lbry.tv/@paulvanderklay https://www.patreon.com/paulvanderklay Join the Sacramento JBP Meetup https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-Jordan-Peterson-Meetup/ Paul's Church Content at Living Stones Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh7bdktIALZ9Nq41oVCvW-A
In this episode we discuss the Anabaptists. We talk about their early days, why they fought for adult baptism, and why the church and governments were not fans of their movement. We discuss the difference between the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites. We also discuss how the movement impacted the modern church. As always we are not experts, we just google this stuff. Hosted by Trevor Poelman and Damien Doepping This week’s episode is presented by Eternal Confidence, an interview series by Homesick Productions now available on Youtube. For more info and our references check out https://beliefitornot.wordpress.com/ Also follow us on twitter @beliefitornot, instagram @beliefitornotpodcast, or facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/beliefitornot/ Or email beliefitornotpodcast@gmail.com Support Belief It Or Not Brought to you By: The Sonar Network
Daily commentary on today's economic issues from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana.
Those darn Hutterites are at it again, peacefully raising turkeys in their communal society. Of course leftist radical vegan protestors can't let them get away with that! Radical animal rights activists seem to have no problem lying about their enemies - just wait till you get a load of what they claim the Hutterites have been up to...https://calgarysun.com/news/local-news/demonstrators-cry-foul-after-four-charged-in-turkey-farm-protestWebsite : www.radiobaloney.com Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzk18m2eP8NiT-rp_7Hu_PA/aboutBitchute : https://www.bitchute.com/channel/t3bYMIC3ygoL/Minds : https://www.minds.com/radio_baloney/?referrer=radio_baloneyDaily Motion : https://www.dailymotion.com/dm_e6b6b940dce04dec7af03b7ecb11a53aD.Tube : https://d.tube/#!/c/radiobaloney01Spreaker podcast : https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-richie-baloney-showSpotify : spotify:show:7dzAquhzWqc06eHEXEyUyEApple podcasts : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-richie-baloney-show/id1479355356?uo=4Google Podcasts : https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDAzNjc4MS9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVkPodcast addict : http://podplayer.net/?podId=2452790Castbox : https://castbox.fm/channel/id2360272
Powell and Pressburger decided to make a movie that would convince America to enter WW2. Powell and Pressburger made a movie that feels like the Tourist Board of Canada advertising to Nazis: “Canada is beautiful and you can kill dozens of us for months before you face any consequences.” Of course it is also a movie about the unity of the Commonwealth, not just Canada with the UK, but also the Inuit and other Indigenous Peoples, French Canadians, and Hutterites are all in this together, even if there is slight acknowledgement that Canada on the whole isn't trusting at least the Hutterites. A note of apology, Pat and Adam talk about the film in the film's terms and therefore quote the films use of “Eskimo”, but also we continue to use that term when talking about the scene in question. Eskimo is mainly seen as pejorative now and we both should know better. The scene itself is meant to be a rejection of prejudice, which makes our use all the more egregious.
Daily commentary on today's economic issues from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana.
This week we talk about the myth of conservative religious groups mandating that married couples have sex through a hole in a large sheet. The Amish, the Hutterites, Catholics, but especially Orthodox Jews have been the target of this dehumanizing myth. A serious conversation on the impact and history of this myth, with a few moments of brevity. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/strangereligionpodcast/support
This week is Anabaptism. We’ll discuss its origins, its practice, and why you shouldn’t assume someone is Amish.
This week is Anabaptism. We’ll discuss its origins, its practice, and why you shouldn’t assume someone is Amish.
Hutterites are taxed under section 143 of the Income Tax Act. Colonies are taxed as if they were a trust so the collective income of the community gets allocated to colony members who are 18 years of age and older Section 143 does not allow Hutterite colonies to allocate income to community members under the age of 18 while other farmers are allowed to do so. For example, a regular farmer can pay his child who is under the age of 18 up to $ 10,000 tax free, while Hutterites cannot. This is a arguably a disadvantage for Hutterite communities where both male and female young people usually join the colony workforce at age 15. It wasn't until 1997 that colonies were allowed to allocate income to their spouses while other farmers have had that ability for many years. Nor do they collect premiums from the Canada Pension Plan or receive social assistance. The income allotted to individuals gets reported on personal income tax returns and colony members pay taxes at the applicable personal tax rates. Hutterites contributes more than 2 billion dollars to the annual economy of Canada. Do they pay taxes? Yes, and the speaker will explain in more detail why they often pay more than their fair share. Speaker: Gord Tait Gord Tait, CPA, CA, is a Partner and Business Advisor with MNP, focused on client service delivery to over 300 Hutterite colonies in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grand Prairie, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Prior to joining MNP, Gord operated a family business working exclusively with Hutterite colonies. Gord began his career at MNP in 1999 as the Regional Managing Partner for Lethbridge. Under his leadership, the region experienced tremendous development, growing from 11 to more than 100 team members in only eight years. As former Director of Hutterite Services, Gord developed recruitment strategies, cultural awareness programs and focused on new products and services for Hutterite clients that go beyond MNP's traditional services. Gord is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Accountant (CA) who received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required
Hutterites are taxed under section 143 of the Income Tax Act. Colonies are taxed as if they were a trust so the collective income of the community gets allocated to colony members who are 18 years of age and older Section 143 does not allow Hutterite colonies to allocate income to community members under the age of 18 while other farmers are allowed to do so. For example, a regular farmer can pay his child who is under the age of 18 up to $ 10,000 tax free, while Hutterites cannot. This is a arguably a disadvantage for Hutterite communities where both male and female young people usually join the colony workforce at age 15. It wasn't until 1997 that colonies were allowed to allocate income to their spouses while other farmers have had that ability for many years. Nor do they collect premiums from the Canada Pension Plan or receive social assistance. The income allotted to individuals gets reported on personal income tax returns and colony members pay taxes at the applicable personal tax rates. Hutterites contributes more than 2 billion dollars to the annual economy of Canada. Do they pay taxes? Yes, and the speaker will explain in more detail why they often pay more than their fair share. Speaker: Gord Tait Gord Tait, CPA, CA, is a Partner and Business Advisor with MNP, focused on client service delivery to over 300 Hutterite colonies in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grand Prairie, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Prior to joining MNP, Gord operated a family business working exclusively with Hutterite colonies. Gord began his career at MNP in 1999 as the Regional Managing Partner for Lethbridge. Under his leadership, the region experienced tremendous development, growing from 11 to more than 100 team members in only eight years. As former Director of Hutterite Services, Gord developed recruitment strategies, cultural awareness programs and focused on new products and services for Hutterite clients that go beyond MNP's traditional services. Gord is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Accountant (CA) who received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required
Hutterites are taxed under section 143 of the Income Tax Act. Colonies are taxed as if they were a trust so the collective income of the community gets allocated to colony members who are 18 years of age and older Section 143 does not allow Hutterite colonies to allocate income to community members under the age of 18 while other farmers are allowed to do so. For example, a regular farmer can pay his child who is under the age of 18 up to $ 10,000 tax free, while Hutterites cannot. This is a arguably a disadvantage for Hutterite communities where both male and female young people usually join the colony workforce at age 15. It wasn't until 1997 that colonies were allowed to allocate income to their spouses while other farmers have had that ability for many years. Nor do they collect premiums from the Canada Pension Plan or receive social assistance. The income allotted to individuals gets reported on personal income tax returns and colony members pay taxes at the applicable personal tax rates. Hutterites contributes more than 2 billion dollars to the annual economy of Canada. Do they pay taxes? Yes, and the speaker will explain in more detail why they often pay more than their fair share. Speaker: Gord Tait Gord Tait, CPA, CA, is a Partner and Business Advisor with MNP, focused on client service delivery to over 300 Hutterite colonies in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grand Prairie, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Prior to joining MNP, Gord operated a family business working exclusively with Hutterite colonies. Gord began his career at MNP in 1999 as the Regional Managing Partner for Lethbridge. Under his leadership, the region experienced tremendous development, growing from 11 to more than 100 team members in only eight years. As former Director of Hutterite Services, Gord developed recruitment strategies, cultural awareness programs and focused on new products and services for Hutterite clients that go beyond MNP's traditional services. Gord is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Accountant (CA) who received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required
Highlights Help: 4th of july donation appeal video | @00:00 Feature: The Red Cross we know today | @01:45 Guest: Mike Shuster - The anti-war resistance “over there” | @11:00 War In The Sky: Louis Bennet | @15:30 Guests: Richard Rubin & Jonathan Bratten - General Robert Nivelle | @19:00 Feature: Keith Colley’s Mobile WW1 Museum | @26:15 Guest: Jerry Meyer bringing back Chautauqua | @27 :45 International: Many events in France last week | @33:00 And much more… ----more---- Please Help Hi listeners Before we get going today, I wanted to let you know about this special 4th of July thing we are doing - and that you can help with. As you know, we are totally donation supported, and so for the fourth of July, we got some friends to help us with a donation appeal video. Ambassador and former Senator Carol Mosely Braun, Secretary Leon Panneta, Google’s Vint Cert and General Barry McCaffrey are all in this 20 second video which we posted on our Facebook page. And here is how you can help us. We’re on Facebook at ww1centennial - so go to Facebook.com/ww1Centennial - the video is the first post - and share the video with your friends and let them know we need their help to build America’s WW1 Memorial in Washington, DC. So far the video has shared over 130 times - and each time it is shared we get a few more new donations. So if YOU can - please make a small gift to our WW1 Doughboys and even if you can’t - please share the video on your social media. It’s really about our remembering the war that changed the world. WW1 THEN - News From 100 Years Ago Looking back at WW1 100 years ago this week - we are going to follow just ONE of the many amazing stories This week we are following the story of the RED CROSS. The American Red Cross or ARC was Founded by Clara Barton in May of 1881, earning a historic role for serving people in need. When Europe was thrown into conflict in June 1914, the American Red Cross was a small organization still in the process of developing its identity and programs. In large part the American Red Cross we know today was forged by the “War The Changed the World” when the organization suddenly found itself deeply embroiled in the incredible upheaval, growth and expansion that was America’s war effort. The transformation began as we declared war in April of 2017. At that crucial time, and as with so many other things, Red Cross headquarters was reeling under the sudden projected demands on it - so in May of 2017, President Wilson appointed Henry P. Davidson - A successful New York banker to head a “War Council”, which was to direct the Red Cross. YUP - It looks pretty much like a US war effort takeover. So by the end of June - 100 years ago this week - Having just knocked it out of the park with the Liberty Bonds drive - the US government turned its sights on successfully wrapping up $100 Million fund drive from private donations on behalf of the Red Cross. Think about it - that is over $2 billion in 2017 being raised for a private organization with the direct support of the US federal government. Here is what it looked like 100 years ago this week in the pages of the Official Bulletin - the Government War Gazette headed by George Creel - America’s propaganda chief for President Woodrow Wilson. Dateline: June 25th, 1917 Headline: BELIEVE THE $100,000,000 RED CROSS FUND WILL BE RAISED A thousand American cities were striving today to boost the big Red Cross war fund to an even $100,000,000. With returns well over the three-quarters mark this afternoon, the War Council officers were confident that by the close of the day the Red Cross war fund would be In hand.” On the same day... [sound effect] Headline: "WAR IS BUT BEGINNING," LORD NORTHCLIFFE SAYS, IN OUTLINING TASK OF THE RED CROSS The story reads: “Lord Northcliffe, of the British war mission, who has been at the front and has seen at close quarters the actual part that the British Red Cross is playing in the gigantic world struggle, has given out the following statement relative to the work that the American Red Cross has before It : " If, as one of the leaders of the British Red Cross, I have a message of any kind to the American Red Cross, it Is one of congratulation on the devotion and enthusiasm for Red Cross work I find sweeping this vast continent. " He goes on to state: “The Red Cross must take up the burden of seeing us through and alleviating the horrors a ruthless foe has added to the usual sufferings of war. Adding: " One of the most Important of the new developments is the search for the missing and wounded.” The next day the drumbeat continues: [sound effects] Dateline: Tuesday June 26, 1917 Headline: 100,000,000 DOLLAR Red Cross War Fund is Oversubscribed The story reads: The Red Cross to-day issued the following statement: The Red Cross war fund of $100,000,000 has been raised. The even sum was passed some time during the night. Today's returns continued to boost the sum by the millions. Before noon the grand total was $104,000,000, with a prospect that $105,000,000 would be marked up on the big headquarters blackboard before night. One day later on Wednesday… [sound effects] Dateline: Wednesday June 27th, 1917 Headline: MILLIONS STILL BEING ADDED TO THE RED CROSS WAR FUND The Red Cross to-day issued the following statement: How much over $100,000,000 the war fund of the American Red Cross will go is purely a matter of conjecture. Taking into consideration all overlapping of subscriptions that may occur, the fund should be at least fifteen or twenty million dollars over the goal by July 1. The campaign officially terminated on Monday night, but hundreds of cities throughout the country have volunteered to go right on with collecting funds for the Red Cross. And on the same day [sound effects] Dateline: Wednesday June 27th, 1917 Headline: RED CROSS WAR COUNCIL ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR DEALING WITH PROBLEMS OF SANITATION The Red Cross to-day issued the following statement: Broad plans for dealing with the problems of sanitation and public health arising out of war conditions abroad and in the United States were announced to-day by the War Council of the American Red Cross. To provide expert advice for the council in dealing with these problems, the war council also announced the appointment of a medical advisory committee, composed of leading sanitarians and public health authorities of the country. And then on Thursday - the US State Department oversteps its bounds and the Red Cross pushed back - politely. [sound effects] Dateline:Thursday June 28th, 1917 Headline: RED CROSS SEEKS CHANGE IN BASE HOSPITAL RULING On June 20 the American Red Cross’ director general of the department of military relief, forwarded to the directors of all Red Cross base hospitals a copy of a letter received from the State Department - to the effect that - hospital units intended for service abroad should not Include persons of German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian, or Turkish nationality or birth, or American citizens whose fathers were born in Germany, Austro-Hungary, or allied countries.” The Red Cross goes on to explain that this type of policy may work in a country with very few people of foreign birth but in America, an immigrant nation Quote: “such unfair discrimination against some of our most patriotic and respected citizens is inappropriate”. Then on Friday the most interesting and intriguing Red Cross article of all: [sound effect] Dateline: Friday June 29th, 1917 Headline: MILITARY TITLES, RANK, AND UNIFORM WILL BE USED BY RED CROSS AGENTS IN WAR THEATER The Story reads: War Department Will Commission Representatives of the Organization to Facilitate Their Work in Service of Humanity—Appropriate Insignias to Be Provided. What a great topper for a week of stories about the Red Cross! Let me summarize: First The US government creates a War Council - appoints their man - Henry P. Davidson - and effectively puts him in charge of the Red Cross through this war council. Then the US government puts its imprint, endorsement and propaganda machine on a major multi-billion dollar (in today’s terms) fund raising campaign to fund a private humanitarian organization - generally managed by it. The UK government equivalent of our Henry P. Davidson makes a major support speech on the behalf of the Red Cross. The next day the official fund drive is ended but hundreds of local communities and cities just keep right on raising way more money than the original goal. The next day, the Red Cross starts making announcements about what they are going to DO for America and how they plan on doing it. On the same day - they push back on a US State Department ruling that basically bans all Red Cross volunteers of German, Austro-hungarian, Turkish or bulgarian descent. “Hey - These are loyal second generation Americans - what are thinking?” they reply in very polite terms. All this is capped off at the end of the week with an article that explains that military titles, ranks, and US uniforms will be used by the Red Cross in the war theater. The role and relationship of the Red Cross and the US government, and the interplay between the two at this dynamic time in history is a story I personally find amazing and yet another great example of the echoes we see today from the War that changed the world! Great War Project Now we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project blog. Mike’s post this week looks at the war dissidents in Europe including a great insight into WW1 literary figure Siegfried Sassoon. Welcome Mike. [Mike Shuster] “ANTI-WAR RESISTANCE IN THE EAST AND THE WEST” LINK:http://greatwarproject.org/2017/06/25/anti-war-resistance-in-the-east-and-the-west/ The Great War Channel And if you are into learning more about WW1 by watching videos, go visit our friends at the Great War Channel on Youtube - ww1 100 years ago this week from a more european perspective. [run clip from Indy] This week’s new episodes cover a variety of subjects including: -Hero or burden? - King Constantine of Greece -Greek rifles and pistols of WW1 -The Disillusionment of Lawrence of Arabia -Spain and the Spanish arms industry in WW1 The link is in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube. Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar War in the Sky: This week in our great war in the sky segment - we are going to tell you the story of Louis Bennet from West Virginia. The story comes from a letter received by his mother, Sallie Bennet - four years after Louis’ death in the skies over the western front -- a letter written by a German officer named Emil Merkelbach who fought against Louis at that fateful last battle that ended his life. Louis Bennett, was a Yale educated young man with big ambitions for his role in the war. He organized the West Virginia Flying Corps in early 1917 with the idea of training pilots to join the U.S. Army as part of a proposed West Virginia aerial unit. But the War Department rejected this idea and required that Louis go through the standard Army training program-- something he was not at all interested in. So he joined the British Royal Air Force, the best way he saw to get to the action as quick as possible. Louis only served for ten days before being shot down, but in those ten days he fearlessly downed three enemy planes and nine balloons. This earned him the distinction of being designated a flying ACE, becoming West Virginia’s only World War I ACE. Here is Merkelbach’s account of Louis Bennet’s final battle from the letter he sent to Louis’ mother Sallie - Although it’s a bit long, we are including the entire passage. “I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADMIRE THE KEENNESS AND BRAVERY OF YOUR SON; FOR THIS REASON I SHOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU THE FOLLOWING SHORT DESCRIPTION HIS FINAL BATTLE. . . . [music] I HAD BEEN UP IN MY BALLOON FOR SEVERAL HOURS OBSERVING, AND WAS AT A HEIGHT OF 1000 METERS. OVER THE ENEMY’S FRONT CIRCLED CONTINUOUSLY TWO HOSTILE AIRPLANES. . . . I IMMEDIATELY GAVE THE COMMAND TO MY MEN BELOW TO HAUL IN MY BALLOON AS I SAW [ANOTHER] GERMAN BALLOON . . . PLUNGE TO EARTH BURNING. AT THE SAME MOMENT I SAW THE HOSTILE FLYER - YOUR SON LOUIS - COME TOWARD MY BALLOON AT TERRIFIC SPEED, AND IMMEDIATELY THE DEFENSIVE FIRE OF MY HEAVY MACHINE RIFLES BELOW AND OF THE ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS BEGAN; BUT THE HOSTILE AVIATOR DID NOT CONCERN HIMSELF ABOUT THAT. . . . [HE] OPENED FIRE ON ME. . . . THE HOSTILE MACHINE WAS SHOT INTO FLAMES BY THE FIRE OF MY MACHINE GUNS. THE ENEMY AVIATOR - YOUR SON - TRIED TO SPRING FROM THE AEROPLANE BEFORE THE LATTER PLUNGED TO THE GROUND AND BURNED COMPLETELY. A BOLD AND BRAVE OFFICER HAD MET HIS DEATH. I HOPE THAT THE FOREGOING LINES, A MEMORIAL TO YOUR SON, WILL BE RECEIVED BY YOU LIVING— HE WAS MY BRAVEST ENEMY. HONOR TO HIS MEMORY. WITH RESPECT, EMIL MERKELBACH” Louis Bennett Jr.’s courage and skill clearly inspired those around him: From the enemy German army that buried him with full military honors, to his mother who went on to memorialize him across multiple countries, and finally to Emil Merkelbach, who was inspired to write a respectful letter four years after they had fought in the great War In The Sky 100 years ago. This story of Sallie Maxwell Bennett and her son Louis comes from Appalachian Magazine. The link is in the podcast notes. Link:http://appalachianmagazine.com/2016/01/09/german-soldier-writes-mother-of-w-va-soldier-he-killed-during-wwi-a-letter/ The Storyteller and the Historian with Richard Rubin and Jonathan Bratten We are going to close out “WW1 - 100 years ago this week” with the Storyteller and the Historian - Richard Rubin and Jonathan Braten We and the Great War Channel on youtube covered this quite a bit over the past month - so here is a great overview wrap up of French General Robert Nivell’s disastrous June campaign by the Storyteller and the Historian! [run opening] [run segment] That was - the StoryTeller - Richard Rubin and The Historian - Jonathan Bratten talking about Robert Nivelle. Be on the lookout for their monthly podcast which will feature a full one hour journey with these two great raconteurs. Links: richardrubinonline.com ww1cc.org/maine World War One NOW Activities and Events From the U.S. National WW1 Centennial Events Register at WW1CC.org/events - here is our upcoming “event pick” of the week: Mobile WW1 Museum Keith Colley’s Mobile WW1 Museum has a number of upcoming events this summer, including visits to New Orleans, Dover Delaware and Dallas. The Mobile Museum is a travelling collection of authentic artifacts from World War 1. The museum started out as a special event for Seniors at retirement Villages, and Assisted Living facilities. But since then, the word has gotten out, and Colley’s Mobile WW1 Museum gets booked nationwide not only in Senior venues, but Colleges, Schools, Special Guests of Museums, National Parks, Air Shows and other commemorative events. You can read more about Keith Colley’s Mobile WW1 Museum by following the links in the podcast notes, and reach out to Keith, who runs the Museum, if you’d be interested in hosting it! Check out U.S. National WW1 Centennial Events Register at WW1CC.org/events all lower case - for things happening in your area.. And if YOU have an event you’d like to include in the register - Look for the big red button and submit your own upcoming events - It’s not only a great way to letting the WW1 commemoration community know about it, but it also registers your event as a part of the national archival record of the WW1 centennial commemoration - You can also follow the links in the podcast notes. link:http://www.ww1mobilemuseum.com/tour-schedule.html http://www.ww1mobilemuseum.com/home.html http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/1353-five-questions-for-keith-colley-proprietor-of-the-mobile-wwi-museum.html https://www.facebook.com/WWImobilemuseum/ ww1cc.org/events Chautauqua Interview Did you ever hear of Chautauqua - The word "chautauqua" is Iroquois and means "two moccasins tied together" - At the turn of the previous century the term was aptly used to signify a unique American “gathering” that brought entertainment and culture into far flung regional communities, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America." Today - most of us know nothing about this American tradition - except our next guest - who is bringing Chautauqua back to Nebraska - with a WW1 theme! Here to tell us about it is "Jerry" Meyer, Historian at the Nebraska National Guard Museum. Jerry, welcome to WW1 Centennial News. [Jerry: Chautauqua is sort of like the circus coming to town - without the critters and the siamese twins - can you tells us about the history of it?] [Jerry - tell us about how your bringing this idea back in Nebraska with a WW1 theme...] Thank you! That was Gerald D. Meyer, Historian at the Nebraska National Guard Museum reviving an old American community tradition - There are links in the podcast notes about the events in Nebraska. http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2500-wwi-focus-at-chautauqua-event-in-seward-ne.html link:http://humanitiesnebraska.org/program/chautauqua/ http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/nebraska-city-seward-to-host-wwi-chautauqua-in-june/article_cd2c5cbd-6020-535d-9a4f-e3ac5df61164.html http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2500-wwi-focus-at-chautauqua-event-in-seward-ne.html Updates From The States Ohio From our Centennial partners in Ohio -- Camp Sherman lies nestled on the banks of US-23 just north of the city of Chillicothe. It was one of the many army training camps built in 1917 as we prepared to go “over there” and it was in fact, the largest WWI training camp in the nation. Camp Sherman is now a National Guard training facility, and it will be part of a nine-day commemoration in honor of its centennial--- and of the contributions made by all those who served in the Great War. The commemoration will last from July 1st to the 9th and includes guided tours of the military complex -- where the original firing range once stood… There will be re-enactments, fireworks, live firing demonstrations, and a historical film screening. Learn more by following the links in the podcast notes. link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2662-chillicothe-ohio-to-celebrate-camp-sherman-days.html http://www.campshermandays.com/ International Report Celebration of Music all across France In our International Report this week, we cross the Atlantic on the Queen Mary II to France commemorate the arrival of US troops. There have been many commemoration events across France - this past week, including, yes, the Queen Mary II sailing from St. Nazaire to New York City. Sailing alongside the Queen are four sailing crews manning the best multi-hull yachts in the world. The Queen Mary II was built solely for luxury - yet, at last report she is currently in the lead, dominating the powerful trimarans built for speed. This historic race was organized by the Mission du Centenaire, the French commission for the WW1 centennial, with support from the French Foreign Ministry. As a celebration of Franco-American friendship over the century, all of these ships are headed straight for the foot of the Statue of Liberty in New York City -- a fitting testament of the two nations’ alliance. Meanwhile in Brest, France -- members of the French military, including the French Navy Band, participated in an international military ceremony. Robert Dalessandro, the Chair of the US World War One Centennial Commission, and acting secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission - the ABMC, was on hand, to represent those organizations for these special moments. Brest, as we’ve noted in previous episodes, is where the famous Harlem Hellfighters first arrived in Europe. They left an impression on the city, most notably a legacy of Jazz excellence because of 369th incredible regimental band. Fittingly, a large music festival has been organized across France to celebrate musicians who fought in the war -- or created works in response to the war. Events are being held in Brest, Saint Nazaire, Issoudun [EE-SU-DUN], Nice and Chemins Des Dames, each with their own local focus and many incorporating remembrance of the American presence there 100 years ago. We put several links in the podcast notes about these varied events. Link:http://centenaire.org/fr/musique/fete-de-la-musique-2017-premiere-guerre-mondiale http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2665-ceremonies-in-brest-france-mark-the-centennial-of-u-s-troops-arrival.html http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2668-the-race-of-a-century-the-queen-mary-ii-sails-with-the-fastest-yachts-in-the-world-in-memory-of-world-war-i.html Spotlight Harley Davidson is one of the MOST iconic American brands of all time. Like a number of other companies - WW1 was a powerful shaping force for the company as these iron horses. Anoop Prakash, a Marine Corps veteran and director of U.S. marketing for Harley Davidson says “General John ‘Black Jack’ Pershing was convinced that using new technology like motorcycles would provide great agility and ease of use and durability in wartime. So we have had a long history since that time in serving the military… It’s been a continuous link in our history.” Today there are veteran founded motorcycle clubs and rides all over the country. Read more about the WW1 connection to Harley Davidson by following the link in the podcast notes. link:http://connectingvets.com/2017/06/21/harley-davidson-and-veterans/ Articles and Posts Remembering muted voices: WWI conscientious objectors It is time for our Articles and Posts segment - where we explore the World War One Centennial Commission’s rapidly growing website at ww1cc.org - This week in the news section you will find an article exploring the role of the conscientious objector during the conflict. Quakers, Mennonites, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Peace History Society scholars, and others have planned a symposium to covering the stories of the American Conscientious Objectors who resisted and dissented out of conscience in WWI. The conference will take place in October 2017 at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, MO. Read the whole story by visiting ww1cc.org/news or following the links in the podcast notes link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/2656-remembering-muted-voices-wwi-conscientious-objectors.html The Buzz - WW1 in Social Media Posts That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - what do you have for us this week? discussions in FB https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial/photos/a.290566277785344.1073741829.185589304949709/795394997302467/?type=3 An Overview of the AEF A facebook page we like provides an excellent in depth review of the AEF https://www.facebook.com/TheGreatWar191418/photos/pcb.1075123129286604/1075125302619720/?type=3 A Soldier’s Shell Shock PBS: American Experience shares a great video about Shell Shock in WW1 https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExperiencePBS/videos/10155421660539122/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE Thank you Katherine. Closing That’s all for WW1 Centennial News for this week. Thank you for listening! We want to thank our guests: Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog and his post about the anti-war resistance movements. Richard Rubin and Jonathan Bratten and their StoryTeller and the Historian wrapup segment on Robert Nivelle "Jerry" Meyer, Historian at the Nebraska National Guard Museum and his Chautauqua events. Katherine Akey the Commission’s social media director and also the line producer for the show. And I am Theo Mayer - your host. On this 4th of July weekend we want to send a thank you to everyone who has ever served - IN ANY CAPACITY - to create, maintain, protect and sustain this dynamic and quite remarkable country of ours. And as you celebrate the birth of our nation - we ask you to take - just a moment - between the burger and the beer - between the big game and the picnic - just stop for a minute. Yea… I’m asking you to give it a WHOLE MINUTE - and just reflect on how much of your world around you today was forged 100 years ago - It’s not the forgotten war - It’s war that changed YOUR world!! And I want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support. They have been the foundation for our organization, conversation, education and commemoration of this centennial. Thanks Colonel… Closing The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn on iTunes, google play, and tuneIn - search for ww1 Centennial News. Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial. Thanks for joining us again this week. So long. [music]
We're revisiting our 2012 interview with Robert Rhodes. In 1995, Robert Rhodes and his family sold most of their possessions ans went to live on the Minnesota prairie in religious seclusion. Rhodes had gone to live among the Hutterites, a 500 year old religious movement centered on communal ownership of property, radical pacifism, and an intense fervor for the Gospel. By 2002, Rhodes and his family had left the Hutterites. He chronicles his six years there in the book Nightwatch: An Inquiry into Solitude. Also on the broadcast, our producer-at-large Natasha Alford reflects on the shooting in Charleston, and a summer of violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
AFTERBUZZ TV -- AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On edition, is a long form interview series featuring Actors and TV personalities discussing their roles and shows as well as their thoughts, passions and journeys. In this episode host Ashley Daniels interviews Jeff Collins. Jeff runs Collins Ave Productions: CollinsAve primarily produces television content for networks in the US, including The CW Network, TLC, Lifetime, A&E, Country Music Television, Destination America, E!, Food Network, National Geographic Channel, Spike, WE tv, Vh1, and Animal Planet. In January 2010, CollinsAve established an innovative partnership with Virgin America Airlines to create one of the first primetime network docuseries - Fly Girls. The series aired March 24, 2010 on the CW Television Network and follows five airline attendants throughout both their professional and personal lives working for the young, high quality airline started in 2007 by Sir Richard Branson. In February 2011, TLC aired Outrageous Kid Parties. Outrageous Kid Parties follows parents who spend incredible amounts of money to throw over-the-top birthday celebrations for their young children. On July 13th, 2011 Dance Moms premiered on Lifetime. Set in Pittsburgh's renowned Abby Lee Dance Company, owned and operated by notoriously demanding and passionate instructor Abby Lee Miller, Dance Moms follows eight children's early steps on the road to stardom with their doting mothers who are there for every rehearsal, performance and bow, all under the discerning eye of Miller. Other shows Collins Avenue has produced include American Stuffers for Animal Planet, The Drama Queen for E!, Ice Moms, Dance Moms: Miami, Dance Moms Chatter, and Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition for Lifetime, American Colony: Meet the Hutterites, Mennonite Made, and Anger Management for National Geographic Channel, and Dance Showdown, Season 3 by D-Trix, broadcast via Youtube. Follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/AfterBuzzTV "Like" Us on http://www.Facebook.com/AfterBuzzTV For more of your post-game wrap up shows for your favorite TV shows, visit http://www.AfterBuzzTV.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
AFTERBUZZ TV -- AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On edition, is a long form interview series featuring Actors and TV personalities discussing their roles and shows as well as their thoughts, passions and journeys. In this episode host Ashley Daniels interviews Jeff Collins. Jeff runs Collins Ave Productions: CollinsAve primarily produces television content for networks in the US, including The CW Network, TLC, Lifetime, A&E, Country Music Television, Destination America, E!, Food Network, National Geographic Channel, Spike, WE tv, Vh1, and Animal Planet. In January 2010, CollinsAve established an innovative partnership with Virgin America Airlines to create one of the first primetime network docuseries - Fly Girls. The series aired March 24, 2010 on the CW Television Network and follows five airline attendants throughout both their professional and personal lives working for the young, high quality airline started in 2007 by Sir Richard Branson. In February 2011, TLC aired Outrageous Kid Parties. Outrageous Kid Parties follows parents who spend incredible amounts of money to throw over-the-top birthday celebrations for their young children. On July 13th, 2011 Dance Moms premiered on Lifetime. Set in Pittsburgh's renowned Abby Lee Dance Company, owned and operated by notoriously demanding and passionate instructor Abby Lee Miller, Dance Moms follows eight children’s early steps on the road to stardom with their doting mothers who are there for every rehearsal, performance and bow, all under the discerning eye of Miller. Other shows Collins Avenue has produced include American Stuffers for Animal Planet, The Drama Queen for E!, Ice Moms, Dance Moms: Miami, Dance Moms Chatter, and Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition for Lifetime, American Colony: Meet the Hutterites, Mennonite Made, and Anger Management for National Geographic Channel, and Dance Showdown, Season 3 by D-Trix, broadcast via Youtube. Follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/AfterBuzzTV "Like" Us on http://www.Facebook.com/AfterBuzzTV For more of your post-game wrap up shows for your favorite TV shows, visit http://www.AfterBuzzTV.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
A Very Special Air Show Episode: Putting the sweat in Sweathog. It was HOT in the studio today as we had the Oregon Air Show buzzing us during the first half of the show. Listen to Jenny jump out of her seat. Today we talked about saying goodbye to the Hutterites and what may be coming, a hilarious review of Chris Brown's latest music, the Olympics, integrity in business, will the Mars Rover thingy crash and why does it matter, Real World may or may not ruin Portland, and why aren't there urinals in houses? A big thanks to the Twangshifters and Main St. Home Brew.
A Very Special Air Show Episode: Putting the sweat in Sweathog. It was HOT in the studio today as we had the Oregon Air Show buzzing us during the first half of the show. Listen to Jenny jump out of her seat. Today we talked about saying goodbye to the Hutterites and what may be coming, a hilarious review of Chris Brown's latest music, the Olympics, integrity in business, will the Mars Rover thingy crash and why does it matter, Real World may or may not ruin Portland, and why aren't there urinals in houses? A big thanks to the Twangshifters and Main St. Home Brew.
Today's show was a big ball of fun. It was like one long hilarious Facebook thread with Tom Sutton and Andy Yerman as our guests. We discussed the current state of music, catching up with the Hutterites, eating hot dogs, and Tom giving us his Top five songs he has air guitared to and with what objects as his guitar. A big thanks to The Twangshifters and Mainbrew (and Douglas from Mainbrew for his contribution). And remember... if you tell two friends about In One Day, and they tell two friends... that's math.
Our guest Rick talks about China, a Dingo did eat her baby, Bush Head, Doping on bikes, Squidlicious, Brown vs Drake, more Hutterites and Redneck Island, LGBT Pride Month, and so much more. Happy Father's Day!
Our friend Lisa and her Thailand extravaganza, Hatfields-McCoys and the Hutterites, Bam goes over a waterfall, Radioactive Tuna invade, Happy Birthday Voodoo Doughnut, Green Lantern is gay but aren't they all?, One preacher down, Big Brother keeps watch. And don't miss the track by Fruit of the Legion of Loom at the very end.
Our friend Lisa and her Thailand extravaganza, Hatfields-McCoys and the Hutterites, Bam goes over a waterfall, Radioactive Tuna invade, Happy Birthday Voodoo Doughnut, Green Lantern is gay but aren't they all?, One preacher down, Big Brother keeps watch. And don't miss the track by Fruit of the Legion of Loom at the very end.
This episode is titled “Cracks.”One of the great concerns of the Roman Church at the outset of the Reformation was just how far it would go, not so much in terms of variance in Doctrines, although that also was a concern. What Rome worried over was just how many different groups the Faith would split into. After all, division wasn't new. There'd already been a major break between East and West a half century before. In the East, the Church was already fragmented into dozens of groups across Central Asia.But up till the Reformation, the Western Church had managed to keep new and reform movements from splitting off. Most had eventually been subsumed back into the larger reach of the Church structure.The Reformation brought an end to that as now there were groups that defined themselves, not by the Roman Church, but by more local and national churches and movements. It didn't take long till even some of the early Reformers began to worry about how far the break from Rome would go. The cracks that formed in the Church kept spreading, like a nick on a car windshield sends out just a tiny crack at first, but keeps spreading.The Reformation ended up spinning out dozens of groups; some big, many small.There were Lutherans, Presbyterians, Huguenots, Swiss Brethren, dozens of Anabaptist groups, Mennonites, Hutterites, etc. etc. etc..In Episode 90, we touched briefly on the tragedy that struck at Munster when the Anabaptist movement strayed from its moorings in God's Word and replaced it with the lunacy of a couple of its leaders who went way off the rails in an apocalyptic frenzy that ended up destroying the town.Munster became a cautionary tale for other Anabaptists and Reformers. The explanation given for the tragedy was Munster's abandonment of the pacifism preached and practiced by other Anabaptists. Anabaptists regarded the Sermon on the Mount as their guiding ethic and said it could only be followed by a Faith that was committed to the practice of a love that resigned consequences to God's hands.A leading figure among the Anabaptists was Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest.Simons was moved to reconsider the rightness of infant baptism when he witnessed the martyrdom of an Anabaptist in 1531. Five years later, the same year the leaders of Munster were executed, Simons left his position as a parish priest and embraced Anabaptism. He joined a Dutch fellowship, where his followers came to be known as Mennonites.Although persecution was fierce, Menno survived and spent his time traveling through Northern German and Holland, preaching and encouraging his followers. He also wrote a large number of essays of which Foundations of the Christian Doctrine in 1539, became the most important.Menno was convinced pacifism was an essential part of true Christianity, and refused to have anything to do with Anabaptists of a revolutionary flavor. He also held that Christians ought not offer any oaths, and shouldn't take occupations requiring them. But he maintained Christians should obey civil authorities, as long as they weren't required to disobey the Lord.Menno preferred to baptize by pouring water over the head of adults who confessed their faith publicly. He said neither baptism nor communion confer grace, but rather are outward signs of what takes place inwardly between God and the believer. Mennonites also practiced foot-washing as a reminder of their call to humility and a life of service.Even though the Mennonites were so manifestly harmless, they were classed as subversive by many governments simply because they wouldn't take oaths and as pacifists refused to join the military. Persecution scattered them throughout Eastern Europe and Western Russia.Many Mennonites eventually left for the New World where they were offered religious tolerance. In both Russia and North America they ran into trouble when the authorities expected them to serve in the military and they declined yet again. Though the US and several other countries eventually granted Mennonites an exemption from military service, before that exemption came, many Mennonites moved to South America where there were still places they could live in isolation. By the 20th C, Mennonites were the main branch of the old Anabaptist movement of the 16th C, and now they are highly-regarded for their determined pacifist stance and on-going acts of social service for the public good.As the Reformation carved up Europe into a seemingly hopeless hodge-podge of political and religious factions, different attempts were made to resolve the tensions, either by war, by treaty, or alliance.I have to say, the history of 16th C Europe is a tangled mess. If we dive into the details, what you'll hear are a lot of names and dates that's the very kind of history reporting we want to avoid here. A part of me feels like we're leaving out important information. Another part gives an anticipatory yawn at all the historical minutiae we'd have to cover. Things like The Peace of Nuremberg, The League and War of Schmalkalden, Philip of Hesse, Duke George of Saxony, Henry of Brunswick, Emperor Charles V staunchest ally in northern Germany.Hey, I can already hear the yawns out there.But there's some interesting tidbits and moments scattered all through this that move me to say maybe we should dive into it.Like the fact that Philip of Hesse, leader of the League of Schmalkalden, got permission from Martin Luther, his protégé Philip Melanchthon, and Martin Bucer, the Reformer of Strasbourg to commit polygamy! Yes, you heard me right.Philip of Hesse's marriage was a mess. He and his wife had not been together for years, but were still married. Philip wanted companionship and asked these three Reformation giants if he could quietly take another wife. They agreed, saying the Bible didn't forbid polygamy, and that Philip could take a second wife without setting the first aside. But, they said, he needed to do it in secret, because while polygamy wasn't a sin in the eyes of God, it was a crime in the eyes of man. So Philip married another woman, but was unable to keep it secret. When it became public, the scandal toppled Philip from his place at the head of the League of Schmalkalden and put the three Reformers in hot water.And that's just one little vignette from this time. è Fun stuff.While the Lutherans and Catholics wrestled over the territories of Germany, further North in neighboring Scandinavia, Lutheranism was making inroads. In Germany, it was the nobility that embraced Protestantism as a lever to use against the predominantly Catholic monarch. In Scandinavia it was the opposite. There, monarchs took up the Reformation cause. Its triumph was theirs.At that time, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were technically a united kingdom. I say technically, because the king ruled only where he resided, in Denmark. His power in Norway was limited, and Sweden was virtually independent due to the powerful house of Sture who acted as regents. But even in Denmark, royal authority was limited by the fact the king was appointed by electors who managed to gain ever more power by cutting deals with the next would-be monarch.When the Reformation began in Germany, the Scandinavian throne was held by Christian II, who was married to Isabella, Emperor Charles V's sister. The Swedes refused King Christian's control of their land, so he appealed to his brother-in-law and to other European princes for support. Time for a royal smack-down of those uppity Swedish Stures!With a sizeable foreign force, Christian II moved into Sweden and had himself crowned at Stockholm. Although he'd vowed to spare the lives of his Swedish opponents, a few days after his coronation he ordered what's known now as The Massacre of Stockholm, in which Sweden's leading nobles and clerics were murdered.This engendered deep resentment in Sweden, Norway; even back home in Denmark. Lesser rulers feared that after destroying the Swedish nobility, Christian would turn on them. He claimed he only sought to free the people of Sweden from oppression by its aristocracy. But the treacherous means by which he'd done it and the now intense religious propaganda against him, quickly lost him any support he might have won.King Christian then tried to use the Reformation as a tool to advance his own political ends. The first Lutheran preachers had already made their way into Denmark, and people gave them a ready ear. People were savvy enough to recognize the King's embrace of Lutheranism as merely a political ploy and reacted strongly against him.Rebellion broke out, and Christian was forced to flee. He returned eight years later with the support of several Catholic rulers from other parts of Europe. He landed in Norway and declared himself the champion of Catholicism. But his uncle and successor, Frederick I, defeated and imprisoned him. He remained in prison for the rest of his 27 years.Frederick I was a Protestant and ruled over a people and nobility which had become largely Protestant. At the time of his election, Frederick promised he'd not attack Catholicism nor use his authority to favor Lutheranism. He knew it was better to be the de-facto king of a small kingdom than the wanna-be ruler of a large one. So he gave up all claim to the Swedish crown, and allowed Norway to elect its own king.The Norwegians promptly turned around and elected him. Frederick consolidated the power of the crown in the two kingdoms in a peaceful manner. He kept his promises regarding religious matters and refused to interfere in Church matters. Protestantism made rapid gains. In 1527, it was officially recognized and granted toleration, and by the time of Frederick's death in 1533 most of his subjects were Protestants.Then came a plot to impose a Catholic king by means of foreign intervention. The pretender was defeated, and the new ruler was Christian III, a committed Lutheran who'd been present at the Diet of Worms and greatly admired Luther both for his doctrines and courage. He took quick measures in support of Protestantism and in limiting the power of bishops. He requested teachers from Luther to help him in the work of reformation. Eventually, the entire Danish church subscribed to the Confession of Augsburg.Events in Sweden followed a similar course. When Christian II imposed his authority, among his prisoners was a young Swede by the name of Gustavus Erikson, better known as Vasa. He escaped and, from an overseas refuge, resisted Christian II's power grab. When he learned of the Massacre of Stockholm, in which several of his relatives were executed, he secretly returned. Working as a common laborer, living among the people, he recognized their hostility toward the Danish occupation and organized a resistance. Deeming the time had come to up the ante, he proclaimed a national rebellion, took up arms with a band of followers, and managed to secure one victory after another. In 1521, the rebels named him the new regent of the kingdom, and, two years later, crowned him king. A few months later, he entered Stockholm in triumph.But Vasa's title carried little authority since the nobility and clergy demanded their ancient rights be recognized. Vasa wisely embarked on a subtle policy of dividing his enemies. He began by placing limits on corrupt bishops no one had sympathy for. Then, he began to carve off the support of the common people for nobles who resisted him. This was easy to do since he'd adopted the life of a commoner for some time,. He was a man of the people and they knew it. Vasa drove an effective wedge between the nobility and the people. Then he called a National Assembly and shocked everyone by inviting not just the usual nobles and clergy, but some of the merchant-class and peasantry. When the clergy and nobility banded together to thwart Vasa's reforms, he resigned, declaring Sweden wasn't ready for a true king. Three days later, threatened by chaos, the Assembly agreed to recall him and give assent to his program.The higher clergy lost its political power and from then on, Lutheranism was on the rise. Gustavus Vasa was not himself a man of deep religious conviction. But by the time he died in 1560, Sweden was a thoroughly Protestant realm.One of the lessons this period of history in Europe makes clear is how influential even the nominal faith of a ruler has on the political and religious environment of a nation.
This episode is titled, Taking It Further.History, or I should say, the reporting of it, shows a penchant for identifying one person, a singular standout as the locus of change. This despite the recurring fact there were others who participated in or paralleled that change. Such is the case with Martin Luther and the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli. While Luther is the “historic bookmark” for the genesis of the Reformation, in some ways, Zwingli was ahead of him.Born in Switzerland in 1484, Ulrich Zwingli was educated in the best universities and ordained a priest. Possessing a keen mind, intense theological inquiry coupled to a keen spiritual struggle brought him to a genuine faith in 1516, a year before Luther tacked his 95 thesis to Wittenberg's door. Two yrs later, Zwingli arrived in Zurich where he spent the rest of his life. By 1523, he was leading the Reformation in Switzerland.Zwingli's preaching convinced Zurich's city council to permit the clergy to marry. They abolished the Mass and banned images and statues in public worship. They dissolved the monasteries and severed ties with Rome. Recognizing the central place the Bible was to have in the Christian life, the Zurich reformers published the NT in their own vernacular in 1524 and the entire Bible 6 yrs later; 4 yrs before Luther's German translation was available.Zwingli didn't just preach a Reformation message, he lived it. He married Anna Reinhart in 1522.In one important respect, Zwingli followed the Bible more specifically than Luther. Martin allowed whatever the Bible did not prohibit. Zwingli rejected whatever the Bible did not prescribe. So the Reformation in Zurich tended to strip away more traditional symbols of the Roman church: the efficacy of lighting candles, the use of statues and pictures as objects of devotion, even church music was ended. Later, in England, these reforms would come to be called “Puritanism.”But more than the application of Reformation principles, Zwingli's bookmark in history is pegged to the Eucharistic controversy his teaching stirred. He was at the center of a major theological debate concerning the Lord's Table. Between 1525 and 8, a bitter war of words was waged between Zwingli and Luther. During this debate, Luther would write a tract and Zwingli would reply. Then Zwingli would pen a treatise and Luther would reply. This went back and forth for 3 yrs. It was a war fought with pamphlets as the ammunition.Both sides rejected the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation—that the prayer of a duly authorized priest transformed the elements into the literal body and blood of Christ. Their disagreement centered on Jesus' words, “This is My body.” Luther and his followers adopted the position known consubstantiation, which says Jesus is present “in, with, and under” the elements and taking Communion spiritually strengthens the believer.Zwingli and his supporters regarded this as an unnecessary compromise with the doctrine of transubstantiation. They said Jesus' words had to be understood symbolically. The elements represented Jesus' blood and body, and Communion was merely a memorial. An important memorial to be sure, but the bread and wine were just symbols.The debate remains to this day.It should be noted that during his last years, Zwingli seems to have moved to a new position in regard to Communion. He came to recognize a spiritual presence of Christ in the elements, though reducing the idea to words is a proposition far beyond the capacity of this podcast to do. This later position of Zwingli was the position of Philip Melanchthon, Luther's assistant and spiritual heir.Following hundreds of years of tradition, Zwingli, along with many other Reformers, believed the State and Church should reinforce one another in the work of God; there should be no separation. That's why the Reformation became increasingly political and split Switzerland into Catholic and Protestant cantons, and eventually saw all of Europe carved up into differing religious regions. The terrible Wars of Religion were the result.Switzerland at that time was a network of 13 counties called cantons. These were loosely federated and basically democratic. Culturally, the north and east were German, while the west was French, and the south was Italian. The Reformation spread from Zurich, chief city of the capital canton, to the rest of German Switzerland, who were nevertheless reluctant to come under the politic al control of Zurich. Several cantons remained militantly Roman Catholic and resisted Zwingli's influence for largely economic reasons.As political tensions grew, several Protestant cantons formed the Christian Civic League. Feeling pressed and threatened, the Catholic cantons also organized and allied themselves with the king of Austria. A desire to avoid war led to the First Peace of Kappel in 1529. But as often happens, once a treaty was hammered out, the only option left was war. Sure enough, two yrs later, five Roman Catholic cantons attacked Zurich, which was unprepared. Zwingli fought as a common soldier in the Battle of Kappel in 1531 and died in the field.The Second Peace of Kappel hammered out at the end of the year prohibited further spread of the Reformation in Switzerland. Heinrich Bullinger, Zwingli's son-in-law, took over leadership of the Protestant cause in Zurich and enjoyed great influence across Europe.An important aspect of Zwingli's impact on the Reformation was that he cast it along civic lines, with a view to establishing a model Christian community. He persuaded the city council to legislate various details of the Reformation. He aimed at political reform as well as spiritual regeneration.The inter-canton struggles of this period led to the growing independence of the city of Geneva, which became the home of John Calvin, the other great Reformation luminary. The Swiss Reformation and Zwinglian movement ended up merging with Calvinism later in the 16th C.Often overlooked in a review of the Reformation are those we might call the REAL reformers – better known as the radical reformers.Not all those who broke with Rome agreed with Zwingli, Luther, or Calvin. As early as 1523 in Zurich, there were those whose vision of Reform outstripped Zwingli's. This movement coalesced around 2 leaders: Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz.On the 21st of Jan, 1525, a little group met in the home of Felix Manz. The Zurich City Council had just ordered Grebel and Manz to stop teaching the Bible. Four days earlier the Council ordered parents to baptize their babies within eight days of birth or face exile. But a group of Zurich's citizens questioned the practice of infant baptism. They met in Manz's home to decide what to do. After a time of prayer, they agreed they'd obey what their conscience told them God's Word said and trust Him to work things out. In an immediate application of that decision, a former priest named George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptism him in the fashion modeled in the Book of Acts. So, upon confession of His faith in Christ, Grebel baptized him, then Blaurock and Grebel together baptized the others.Anabaptism, another important expression of the Protestant Reformation, was born.As a term, anabaptist means “to baptize again.” The Anabaptists stressed believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism. But the term “Anabaptist” refers to diverse groups of Reformers, many of whom embraced radical social, political, economic, and religious views. Some Anabaptist groups are known as the Swiss Brethren, the Mennonites, Hutterites, and the Amish. While those names may conjure up images of buggies, overalls, bonnets and long beards, it's important to recognize that the Anabaptist tradition lies at the heart of a far larger slice of the Christian and Protestant world. Many modern groups and independent local churches could rightly be called Anabaptist in the bulk of their theology, though ignorant of their spiritual heritage.While the theology of the Anabaptist groups ended up being widely spread across the doctrinal spectrum, their main stream adhered to the sound, expository teaching of the Scriptures, the Trinity, justification by faith, and the atonement of Christ. What got them in trouble with some of their Reformation brethren was their rejection of infant baptism, which both Catholic and most other Protestant groups affirmed. They argued for a gathered, voluntary church concept as opposed to a State church. They advocated a separation of church and state and adopted pacifism and nonviolent resistance. They said Christians should live communally and share their material possessions. Counter-intuitively to all this, they preached and practiced a strict form of church discipline. Any one of these would mark them as distinct from other Reformation groups; but taken together, the Anabaptists were destined to run into trouble with Lutherans and Calvin's followers.That's what happened in Zurich. Zwingli's reforming zeal produced an intolerance of his disciples Grebel and Manz who simply wanted to take the reforms further. They tried to convince Zwingli to follow thru into a genuine NT pattern, but all they did was provoke him to urge the City Council to fine, imprisoned, and eventually martyr them and their followers.The rise of Anabaptism ought to have been no surprise. Revolutions nearly always spin off a radical fringe that feels its destiny is to reform the reformation. Really, that's what Anabaptism was; a voice calling moderate reformers to take it further; to go all the way into a genuine NT model.Like most such movements, the Anabaptists lacked cohesion. By lifting up the Bible as their sole authority, they resisted framing a cogent set of doctrinal distinctives. That meant the movement fragmented into several theological streams with no single body of doctrine and no unifying organization prevailing among them. Even the name “Anabaptist” was pinned on them by their enemies and was meant to class them as radicals at best and at worst, dangerous heretics. The campaign to slander them worked well.In reality, the Radical Reformers rejected the idea of “rebaptism” they were accused of because they never considered the ceremonial sprinkling of infants as valid. They preferred to be called simply “Baptists.” But the fundamental issue wasn't baptism. It was the nature of the Church and its relation to civil government.The Radical Reformers came to their convictions as other Protestants had; by reading the Bible. Luther taught that common people had a right to read, understand and apply the Scriptures for themselves, they didn't need some specially-trained church hierarchy to do all that for them. So, little groups of Anabaptists gathered around their Bibles.Picture a home Bible study. They discover in the pages of Scripture a very different world from the one the official church had concocted in their day. There was no state-church alliance in the Bible, no so-called “Christendom.” Rather, the Church was comprised of local, autonomous communities of believers drawn together by their faith in Jesus and nurtured by local pastors. And while that seems like a massive “Duh!” to many non-denominational Evangelicals today, it was a revolutionary idea in the 16th C.You see, though Luther stressed a personal faith for each believer, Lutheran churches were understood as linked together to form THE Church of Germany. Clergy were ordained by a spiritual hierarchy and the entire population of a region were de-facto members of that region's church. The Church looked to the State for salary and support. In those years, Protestantism differed little from Catholicism in terms of its relationship to the civil authority. If the State was society's arm with the strength to enforce, the Church was its heart and mind with the insight to inspire and inform.Or, think of it this way, for 16th C Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism, in society, the State was the body, the Church was the soul. They saw the Radical Reformers insistence that the Church and State were separate as creating a headless monster destined to do great harm.The Radical Reformers, as we'd suspect, responded with Scripture. Hadn't Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world? Hadn't he told Peter to put away his sword? And besides, hadn't history amply proven that secular, civil power corrupts the Church? All true, but it seems reason and evidence didn't endear the Radical Reformers to their opponents.The Anabaptists wanted to reinstall “apostolic Christianity” by which they meant, the Faith as practiced in the NT, where the only members of the Church were those who were genuinely born again, not everyone who happened to be born in a province with a Christian prince.The True Church, they insisted, is always and only a community of dedicated disciples seeking to live faithfully in the midst of a wicked world.So that little group that gathered in Manz's home in January 1525 knew what they were doing was a violation of Zurich's city council. Persecution was sure to follow. Shortly after the baptism they withdrew from Zurich to the nearby village of Zollikon. There, late in January, the first Anabaptist congregation, the first free church in modern times, was born.The authorities in Zurich couldn't overlook what they deemed blatant rebellion. They sent police to Zollikon and arrested the newly baptized and imprisoned them for a time. But as soon as they were released the Anabaptists went to neighboring towns where they made more converts.Time and warnings passed and the Zurich council ran out of patience. A little over a year later they declared anyone found re-baptizing would be put to death by drowning. “If the heretics want water, they can have it.” Another year went by when the council followed thru on their threat and in Jan, 1527, Felix Manz was the 1st Anabaptist martyr. The authorities drowned him in the Limmat. Just 4 yrs later, the Anabaptists in and around Zurich were virtually wiped out.Many fled to Germany and Austria where their prospects weren't any better. In 1529, the Imperial Diet of Speyer declared Anabaptism a heresy and every region of Christendom was obliged to condemn them to death. Between 4 and 5 thousand were executed over the next several years.The Anabaptists had a simple demand: That a person have a right to his/her own beliefs. What we may not realize is that while that seems an imminently reasonable and assumed axiom for us—it was an idea bequeathed TO US by them! It's not at all what MOST people thought in the 16th C. No way! No how! The Radical Reformers seemed to Moderate Reformers like Luther and Zwingli to be destroying the very fabric of society. There was simply little conception of a society that wasn't shaped by the Church's influence on the State with the State's enforcement of Church policy.We hear the Anabaptist voice in a letter written by a young mother, to her daughter only a few days old. è It's 1573, and the father has already been executed. The mother, in jail, was reprieved long enough to give birth to her child. She writes to urge her daughter not to grow up ashamed of her parents: “My dearest child, the true love of God strengthen you in virtue, you who are yet so young, and whom I must leave in this wicked, evil, perverse world. à Oh, that it had pleased the Lord that I might have brought you up, but it seems that it is not the Lord's will.… Be not ashamed of us; it is the way which the prophets and the apostles went. Your dear father demonstrated with his blood that it is the genuine faith, and I also hope to attest the same with my blood, though flesh and blood must remain on the posts and on the stake, well knowing that we shall meet hereafter.”Persecution forced the Anabaptists north. Many of them found refuge on the lands of a tolerant prince in Moravia. There they founded a Christian commune called the Bruderhof which lasted for many years.A tragic event happened among the Anabaptists in the mid-1530's that's another frequent historical trait. The very thing the Lutherans feared, happened.In 1532, the Reformation spread rapidly throughout the city of Munster. A conservative Lutheran group was the first form of the Reformation to take root there. Then immigrants arrived who were Anabaptist apostles of a shadowy figure named Jan Matthis. What we know about him was written by his critics so he's cast as a fanatic who whipped the Munster officials into a fury of excitement that God was going to set up his kingdom on earth with Munster as the capital.The bishop of the region massed his troops to besiege the city and the Anabaptists uncharacteristically defended themselves. During the siege, the more extreme leaders gained control of the city. Then in the Summer of 1534 Jan of Leiden, seized control and declared himself sole ruler. He claimed to receive revelations from God for the city's victory. He instituted the OT practice of polygamy and took the title “King David.”With his harem “King David” lived in splendor, but was able to maintain morale in the city in spite of massive hunger due to the siege. He kept the bishop's army at bay until the end of June, 1535. The fall of the city brought an end to his and the Anabaptist's rule. But for centuries after, many Europeans equated the word “Anabaptist” with the debacle of the Munster Rebellion. It stood for wild-eyed, religious fanaticism.Munster was to the Anabaptists what the televangelist scandals of the 80's were to Evangelicalism; a serious black eye, that in no way reflected their real beliefs. In the aftermath of Munster, the dispirited Anabaptists of Western Germany were encouraged by the work of Menno Simons. A former priest, Menno visited the scattered Anabaptist groups of northern Europe, inspiring them with his preaching. He was unswerving in commanding pacifism. His name in time came to stand for the Mennonite repudiation of violence.As we end this episode, I want to recommend if anyone wants a much fuller treatment of the Munster Rebellion, let me suggest you visit the Hardcore History podcast titled Prophets of Doom. This podcast by Dan Carlin is an in-depth 4½ hr long investigation of this chapter of Munster's story.