From: martinh@islandnet.com (Martin Hunt) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,alt.support.ex-cult,alt.support.bruderhof Subject: What is "Bruderhof"? was: Re: Newsgroup Lawsuit (Bruderhof) Date: 27 Jun 1997 23:32:48 -0700 Organization: The ARSCC: http://www.islandnet.com/~martinh/arscc.htm Lines: 141 Distribution: inet Message-ID: References: <33AB0EBA.795A@worldnet.att.net> <5ohti3$f31@flatland.dimensional.com> <33b5626c.7205610@news.capital.net> <33b07c45.14485804@news.mindspring.com> Reply-To: martinh@islandnet.com With all this discussion of the Bruderhof and there actions taken against a discussion newsgroup devoted them, I think it's time to give a bit of information about what they are: [The Hutterites] came to the United States from the Russian Ukraine in 1874, a corporal's guard of some twenty families. They were not Russian, however, but Swiss-German, remnants of a people who had migrated for centuries through Switzerland, Moravia, Germany, seeking freedom to worship and to live their simple life. Now they had come to the promised land, America. Because land was easily acquired in South Dakota, they settled on a thousand stubborn acres along the muddy Missouri River in Bon Homme County. .. From this unheralded and obscure beginning in Bon Homme County, the Hutterites have exploded into a web of communes which today includes twenty-nine in the United States and thirty in Canada, with a total membership of nearly 10,000 dedicated souls. Present legislation in South Dakota, reflecting aroused citizenry, has restricted them from buying more land within a radius of 40 miles from an already established colony. Other states have begun eying them suspiciously, sociologists have taken an academic interest in them, psychiatrists are impressed by their lack of nervous disorders, birth control experts are shocked by the discovery that they are the most prolific people on earth, and a statistician has estimated that if their population increase keeps on at the present rate there will be 438,000,000 Hutterites in North America in another hundred years! These actions and reactions to their mode of life, however, seem to leave the Hutterites relatively unimpressed, for they have found a scriptural basis for everything they do: "Be fruitful and multiply," justifies their large families. They have an average of eleven children per couple and their population doubles every nine years. .. How peculiar are they? Their critics answer, "Annoyingly peculiar!" Citing the fact that the Bible also enjoins chastity self-control, moderation, they point out that the Hutterites have deliberately selected the "Be fruitful" text in order to make marriage am excuse for sex gratification. They contend that although the Hutterians preach against materialism, they are actually highly materialistic, drive a shrewd bargain, and are commercially-minded as any money-motivated farmer anywhere. Certain law-makers believe that the Hutterian religion is merely a pretext and a facade, behind which a successfully functioning farming cooperative is seeking to evade taxes on the grounds that Hutterianism is a religion. Most of all, however, the case against the Hutterites claims that their communal system is a dictatorship within which a favored few enjoy liberties and freedom, while many of the colony members, especially the youth, are hopelessly enslaved. Are these claims justified? You can discover the answer, or try to, for yourself, for the Hutterites are quite willing to have you investigate their utopian experiment anywhere and at any time. You will find them living together in communities called *Bruderhofs* (places of the brothers). Each such community or commune numbers about 120 members who seem to have changed very little in appearance, dress, or attitude since they first came to America. Each *Bruderhof*, located off the beaten path, consists of a cluster of nondescript homes, barns, and sheds. Although the barren, swept-up yards around the houses suggest that these farmers are in somber need, such an impression is far from the truth. Hutterians, although owning nothing individually, are highly prosperous collectively. Each settlement has in its barnyard inevitable docks of thousands of chickens, geese, and ducks, and in its adjoining pastures herds of cattle and sheep. Each has its dairy herds, apiaries, turkey flocks, and plenty of hogs. Vineyards as well as orchards and gardens leave no doubt that Hutterianism is nearly one hundred percent self-sustaining. If the men are working in the fields, you will find the *Bruderhof* apparently deserted when you drive into the dusty yard, for the Hutterian women are reticent with strangers. Gradually they will appear, however, as they emerge shyly from the community kitchen, the community laundry, or the commune homes. Soon you will be surrounded by a bit of the Old World: serene-faced women, wearing the traditional blue-and-white polka-dot headscarves; teen-age girls carrying tiny brothers and sisters, and toddling children, wistfully blinking up at you from behind the folds of the long, full skirts of their mothers. Showing no envy for your late model car or your freedom to come and go, these plainly dressed retreatants from the world, who have no private possessions and who rarely leave the commune grounds, will impress you with their obvious peace of mind. The faces of the women, untouched by make-up, reflect an inner contentment and serenity. As they gaze at you with confidence and a sort of wonder, you sense that they almost pity you because you have, apparently, not found the Hutterian way of truth; you are still misguidedly seeking happiness in the sinful rush of the impersonal world. -- From Chapter 17 _The Hutterites_ in _Strange Sects and Curious Cults_ by Marcus Bach, 1961. Of note in all this is the term "Bruderhof" itself; it appears to be a regular German word, although only "bruder" (brother) is in my tiny German/English dictionary. If this is indeed the case, why on earth do they think they have any title to this word? Scientology has trademarked "freedom"; does this mean that I cannot create a newsgroup entitles "alt.creative.freedom"? Absurd. Please send out booster messages for this newsgroup. All the same, from what this book has to say about them in the above and the rest of the chapter devoted to them, they seem like an innocuous group, albeit a bit tight-assed about letting their kids see movies, become exposed to culture, or get any education. They do seem to be deeply misogynistic, too; women are baby-makers who have no voting rights in the patriarchal commune. There's a male boss for each segment of the commune; female bosses are restricted to domestic affairs. The Bruderhof is not proselytizing; outsiders almost never join, and retention rates are very high. It's said that only 5% renounce the communal life and seek out the larger outside world. Runaways can be readmitted after a penance period. Public confession is used at times to keep people in line. Individualism is subordinated to the group, but in all, Bach seems convinced that they are a strong and sturdy folk, proud in their own way, self-assured. They are pacifists, with very low rates of crime. Their name is taken from Jacob Hutter, a 16th century Tyrolean Anabaptist, thus they are related to the Mennonites and the Amish. Bach is convinced they are on their way to becoming ever more worldly, however; the modern world of everything from zippers to trucks to kitchen gadgets is seeping in and affecting their communal life. "The pleasures of the outside world, the American way of life, and the call of freedom have crept into previously unassailable minds and it may be that the end of this utopia is near." The Weltgeist will get them in the end. -- Cogito, ergo sum. "Hong Kong people should drop the baggage of [the brutal Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4th, 1989]" - Chief Executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa