Amish Tobacco Fight

Well, it wasn't exactly a fight, but today I had the pleasure of witnessing a discussion between an old order Mennonite, and an Amishman, about tobacco. Mr. H. is old order Mennonite, and Mr. S. is Amish. The following discussion took place within a conversation which was not about tobacco at all:

(Mennonite) Mr. H, speaking of an Amish young man, said, "He doesn't like to hear the Pastor preach, because the Pastor smokes."

(Amish) Mr. S. responds, "Well, he's wrong."

Mr. H: "Well, I'm against smoking tobacca. I was brought up that way. The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and we ought not to destroy it with tobacca."

Mr. S: "Many Amish bought farms, and land, and houses for their families on tobacca, so we can't damn it. It can be used for different things. Tobacca can be a good insecticide. I can't condemn it."

Mr. H: "When I was a boy all the families around us grew tobacca, but we never did. My father was against it. The other families around would ask me and my brothers to help them with the tobacca, but we were never allowed to. I'm just against it."

Mr. S: "Well, you should've been with us in the stripping barn! Oh, the fun we had!"

Time out a second while I re-light my pipe... Ok, good. Just so you don't get confused, a "stripping barn" is the place where the leaves are picked and packed after they are dried. Mr. S. and I walked together a bit, and I asked him if his family still grows tobacco. "Nah, not anymore. The money's not there. But my father was able to buy land and houses for all his children on tobacca." He also told me that when he was young, everybody smoked cigars, which he thought was just fine, as they tend to be smoked in moderation, "but now everybody's smoking cigarettes, cigarettes, cigarettes. I don't know how they do it." I told Mr. S. that I smoke a pipe, just a pinch or two to relax. "Oh, yeah," he said with a smile. And that ended our tobacco portion of the conversation. It was interesting, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to talk with these men, as I've always been curious about this topic and how the Amish and Mennonite in the area view it.

In other news: Tonight we had Chicken and 40 Cloves, and it was vunderful gut!

And I just got off the phone with J-Munny, which was really really nice.