J K eLe Menno...

I blogged yesterday about our American legacy of being settled by persecuted churches. One of these groups was the Mennonites (who take their name from the Dutch Catholic priest Menno Simons, pictured, occasioning the infantile pun above).

Mennonites are known for their belief in adult baptism (or "Believer's Baptism"), their pacifism, and their practice of a simple, often rural, way of life. Old Order Mennonites are often confused with the Amish (with whom they share a lot of history) because of their horse-and-buggy lifestyle on the fringes of society.

The Mennonites came to America fleeing persecution first in the Netherlands and Switzerland, then in England. They settled across the US in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri. Now, after a few hundred years, the flight of persecution continues, according to this story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

...Mennonites are leaving Missouri as state officials enforce a 2004 law that requires all residents to have their pictures taken for drivers licenses -- a rule that conflicts with the Mennonites' belief in a Biblical prohibition against "graven images" that keep community members from having their picture taken.

Near Huntsville, community members say more than a dozen families in this central Missouri enclave are preparing to move south to Arkansas, where state law still offers a religious exemption to obtain driver's licenses without photos.

The Grand Inquisitors of the Missouri state DMV are citing the increased security since 9/11 for requiring these horse-and-buggy pacifists to carry their mugshots along with them as they drive their eggs to market. Arkansas, the new promised land, has decided to shoulder the risk.

The article doesn't mention what the Mennonites are doing with driver's licenses to begin with. As I understand it, modern technology has a place in "simple" and Old Order communities. The towns may decide on limited innovations - like a few cars for commercial use - if they can be of benefit to all without jeapordizing their belief in a meditative pace of life.