Mennonites

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It's Breaking Bad Meets the Mennonites
It's Breaking Bad
Meets the Mennonites
longform

It's Breaking Bad Meets the Mennonites

'Los Angeles Times' tells the story of a pious farmer accused of becoming a drug smuggler

(Newser) - In some respects, the story isn't so unusual: The Los Angeles Times tells the tale of a 40-year-old man sitting in a maximum-security prison in Mexico, accused of becoming a ruthless associate of the Sinaloa drug cartel. In another way, the story is a strange one to fathom: The...

Airman Sentenced for Kidnap, Murder of Mennonite Woman

Prosecutors say Mark Gooch was driven by hate for the faith he grew up in

(Newser) - An Air Force airman has been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole in the murder of a Mennonite woman whom he kidnapped from northwestern New Mexico, fatally shot, and left in the freezing cold outside Flagstaff, Ariz. Mark Gooch, 22, was convicted of first-degree murder and...

Air Force Member Guilty of Killing Mennonite Woman

Mark Gooch first kidnapped Sasha Krause, say prosecutors

(Newser) - Update: A US Air Force airman has been found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a Mennonite woman from a remote community in New Mexico. Mark Gooch, 22, was convicted by a jury in Arizona, where the body of 27-year-old Sasha Krause was found in a forest more than a month...

Body of Mennonite Woman Found 250 Miles From Home

Sarah Krause, 27, believed to have been kidnapped from Farmington, NM

(Newser) - A 27-year-old woman living in New Mexico was kidnapped, investigators say, and her body has turned up some 250 miles away in Arizona. Sasha Krause, a member of the Mennonite community, was last seen leaving her home in Farmington around 8pm on Jan. 18. She was reported missing early the...

Mennonite Carriage 'Literally Destroyed' in Missouri Crash

Boy killed, 4 seriously injured

(Newser) - A pickup truck slammed into a horse-drawn carriage in Missouri on Thursday, killing an 8-year-old Mennonite boy and seriously injuring four members of his family, including two other children, authorities say. The crash happened at around 6:45am in a remote area of St. Francois County, about 80 miles southwest...

Midwife Arrested for Delivering Mennonite Babies

Mennonites are making a rare public stand in her defense

(Newser) - Mennonite women in upstate New York are making a rare public stand to defend a midwife who has delivered hundreds of their babies. Elizabeth Catlin was arrested in November for, authorities say, practicing midwifery without a license. She's a certified professional midwife, but New York requires midwives to possess...

Her Religious Beliefs Sent Her to Jail. Now They May Free Her

Investigator was held in contempt of court in death penalty case, but now, a 'dramatic change'

(Newser) - Greta Lindecrantz was sent to jail due to her religious convictions, and now, after two weeks behind bars, those religious convictions, as well as a "dramatic change in circumstance," will apparently set her free. Lindecrantz, a criminal defense investigator, was held in contempt of court Feb. 26 for...

Religion Bars Her From Testifying. Now She's in Jail

She opposes violence on religious grounds, won't testify in death penalty case

(Newser) - Greta Lindecrantz says her Mennonite faith bars her from testifying in a death-penalty case in Colorado—and as a result, she's been behind bars since Monday. Lindecrantz worked as an investigator for the defense team of Robert Ray, who was sentenced to death in 2009 for ordering the deaths...

Mennonite College Bans National Anthem

School should look to "Christ rather than country," says board

(Newser) - A Mennonite college will stop playing the national anthem at sports events, after some complained that the song violated pacifist ideals; the Indiana school’s board of directors said the college’s “allegiance should be to Christ rather than to country,” the Religion News Service reports via Huffington...

11 Dead in Kentucky Truck-Van Crash

Truck crossed median, hit church van with 18 Mennonites

(Newser) - At least 11 people died in a fiery crash between a tractor-trailer and a church van early this morning on Interstate 65 in south-central Kentucky. A southbound semi-truck is said to have crossed the median near Munfordville, about 75 miles south of Louisville, and plowed into the van, which was...

Ohio Mennonites Selling Hobbit Tea Line

Including Gandalf the Gray Tea and Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend

(Newser) - A 31-year-old Mennonite farmer has scored the rights to market a line of teas based on JRR Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit, and blends like Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend and Gandalf the Gray Tea are now available online —shipped directly from Middle-earth via Ohio. “We liked the small...

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
analysis

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)

Measure based on tax laws aimed at Amish

(Newser) - Backers of health care reform on Capitol Hill want a plan that mandates insurance for all—but they appear willing to bend the rules for some religious Americans, Maura Reynolds of CQ Politics reports. Current legislation contains a religious exemption based on tax laws meant to give leeway to the...

Amish Finally Cotton to Unemployment Checks

Church elders ease restrictions to help workers weather recession

(Newser) - Some Amish have decided unemployment benefits are one modern invention they can’t afford to shun, reports the Los Angeles Times. The shrinking supply of affordable farmland has forced a growing number of Amish men into factory work in recent years, and church elders relented on restrictions on government aid...

Mennonites, Amish Battle Hospitals Over 'Inflated' Bills

Struggle reveals rosy financial state of nonprofit hospitals

(Newser) - Jesse Martin shuns health insurance and government aid, although nine of his kids are seriously ill. Like other self-sufficient Pennsylvania Mennonites, and Amish too, Martin avails modern medicine for the fatal diseases that are ravaging their families—but is hard-up to pay the bills, which Martin claims are inflated. "...

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