guest@ryn.enet.dec.com (DECnet Guest Account) (08/09/89)
I saw an article posted in soc.roots by someone who was trying to find out about the person's daughter who had died at a Hutterite community. Evidently the poster was on the Hutterite "black list" and therefore no one in the community would talk to them. Could someone give me a brief description of who the Hutterites are? Thanks --- Paul EASYNET=> loptsn::ferwerda Gordon UUCP=> decwrl!loptsn.DEC.COM!ferwerda Loptson DARPA Internet=> ferwerda%loptsn.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM Ferwerda Tel (617) 467 5917 [The Hutterites are descendants of the Left Wing of the Reformation (what used to be called Anabaptists). Unlike the major reformers, they believed in the "gathered church". That is, they believed that the church should not attempt to be coextensive with a civil community, but should consist of a community of committed Christians. Thus they believed in separation of church and state. Indeed typically they believed in having nothing to do with the state, and were pacifists. They were regarded as dangerous screwballs at the time, because they attacked the very foundation of the "Christian state". Thus they were fiercely persecuted by both Catholic and Protestant. They tended to form agricultural communities, which I guess would now be called "communes". Hutter was one of the early leaders, who was burned at the stake in 1535. He was part of a group that fled Switzerland for Moravia to avoid persecution. Hutter led a secession of those who felt compelled to obey the apostolic practice of community of goods. They moved into Hungary during the 30 years war, then into Romania under Turkish rule. They were invited to come into Russia, and did in 1777. By 1879 the czar withdrew the special privileges that let them continue their commune. At that point they migrated to South Dakota. They are continuing to prosper there. They are very similar to Mennonites. Much of this material comes from Ahlstrom's book "A Religious History of the American People". --clh]