And The World Didn’t End

By the time you read this, it’ll be clear that God didn’t whisk all believers into the sky, and that May 21 was just another day.

Then we’ll all share a laugh at the expense of the latest attention-seeking bumpkin claiming to represent Christ. Hucksters are nothing new, of course. They tend to adopt the spirit of the age.

As the Koran-burning preacher Terry Jones taught us, Americans will grant momentary fame to anyone uncommonly tasteless and repugnant.

And today, Rapture Salesman Harold Camping followed up with his own lesson: You don’t get famous for being wrong, only extravagantly wrong.

Whenever religion becomes a circus, my mind turns back to 1527 to a handful of believers who actually got it right, who while fleeing the Taliban of their own Medieval Germany, laid their coats on the roads and distributed all their possessions amongst themselves, a bit like Jesus taught.

They flourished in small pockets across Eastern Europe and Russia, farming quietly, welcoming Jews, Moslems and Christians alike into their midst. They also practiced a type of socialism and refused to fight in wars. Their faith survives to this day.

They are called Mennonites, and if you’ve not heard of them, it’s because they farm quietly, welcome Jews, Moslems and Christians into their midst, practice a type of socialism and refuse to fight in wars. Such attitudes don’t make you the belle of the ball in religious circles.

Mennonite charities give more per member than any other denomination, and again, the name might not ring a bell.

They tend to believe that actions speak louder than words, a rare breed among the overtly religious.

No billboards, no buffoonery, just a warm welcome to anyone who comes their way, even to a guy like me who can’t get his mind around the idea of Hell. Mennonites will never make the headlines. They’ll never scold like Newt Gingrich or wink like Sarah Palin.

They are, however, well-known in countless small villages around the world for their green thumb and their quiet convictions. The world could do with more of them.

­— Olivya Neely