# Mennonite mini Cooper **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061 "2014-07-25T22:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/21 "2014-07-30T00:37:41Z")
Huh, could be. There are a lot of the “real thing” around here though so that hadn’t occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/22 "2014-07-30T04:12:07Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But so…when are they going to give up the bonnets? It just seems such an incongruous combo. My mom’s grandma Jones always wore a bonnet - when outside, working in the vegetable garden. I’ve always thought the “wearing a hat” thing had more to do with working outside than with what kind of car you drive. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/23 "2014-07-30T15:14:11Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > For all you know, she won the Mini or was given the Mini by a non-Mennon relative. It is a practical vehicle for many, even if the paint job is racy. Or perhaps the Mini is on loan to her. Or, she indulged herself in a “want” item she could afford. Mennonites are as human as the rest of us. > > I want her Mini too. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > But so…when are they going to give up the bonnets? It just seems such an incongruous combo. Us humans are strange when it comes to matter of religion. I am Lutheran now (and have been most of my life) but I was raised Russian Orthodox/Original Ritualist (what some folks call the Old Believers). I know in my heart of hearts that my beard is meaningless to the Lord - but there is still this tiny seed that says if I shave I’m going to burn in Hell. It doesn’t make sense but its part of what makes up “me”. In the same way I know “fallen away” Amish or Mennonites who have retained certain things (dress, traditions) from their past. In some ways I think its human nature to want to keep something you grew up with as a constant. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/24 "2014-07-30T16:50:28Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But so…when are they going to give up the bonnets? It just seems such an incongruous combo. What is an incongruous combo? My grandparents are Mennonites by the way. Grandma was raised Amish then the whole family became Mennonite when she turned 18. Grandpa was raised in the city and moved to the suburbs and some folks built a Mennonite church down the road and Grandpa and the family became Mennonite. My dad says he remembers his sister wearing a bonnet, but only in church. Grandma probably would have still been wearing one all the time. This was in the late 50s. There are many colors of Mennonite. Wearing a bonnet has nothing to do with driving a car. And driving a Mini Cooper has nothing to do with one’s Mennonite-ness. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/25 "2014-07-30T22:24:19Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > My mom’s grandma Jones always wore a bonnet - when outside, working in the vegetable garden. > > I’ve always thought the “wearing a hat” thing had more to do with working outside than with what kind of car you drive. Wearing a hat is one thing; wearing this very specific kind of bonnet (which they must buy in bulk as they all look identical and never worn-looking) in the 21st century, at about age 30, while gassing up your Mini Cooper, is another. Not that she doesn’t have every right, but I have the right to find it an odd thing to see. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/26 "2014-07-30T22:40:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Gorsnak, do you have Hutterites in Saskaboom? I just want to pause for a moment and refresh myself in contemplation of this beautiful sentence. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/27 "2014-07-31T00:14:00Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > All Mennonites are Anabaptists. Not all Anabaptists are Mennonites. If a Baptist and an Anabaptist collide, do they annihilate and produce gamma rays? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/28 "2014-08-03T21:02:01Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I just want to pause for a moment and refresh myself in contemplation of this beautiful sentence. LOL, I enjoyed it too. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/29 "2014-08-03T21:11:10Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Wearing a hat is one thing; wearing this very specific kind of bonnet (which they must buy in bulk as they all look identical and never worn-looking) in the 21st century, at about age 30, while gassing up your Mini Cooper, is another. Not that she doesn’t have every right, but I have the right to find it an odd thing to see. people can sew clothes to identical pattern and style and look alike. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/30 "2014-08-03T21:48:14Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Wearing a hat is one thing; wearing this very specific kind of bonnet (which they must buy in bulk as they all look identical and never worn-looking) in the 21st century, at about age 30, while gassing up your Mini Cooper, is another. Not that she doesn’t have every right, but I have the right to find it an odd thing to see. People cover their heads in reverence to God. Not sure what you think it has to do with modernity in other aspects of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/31 "2014-08-03T21:59:39Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > LOL, I enjoyed it too. It \*was \*pretty great! > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > People cover their heads in reverence to God. Not sure what you think it has to do with modernity in other aspects of their lives. As an atheist, I’m not sure where to begin to tackle that. (And yes, I think ultra-Orthodox Jews look ridiculous as well.) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/32 "2014-08-04T16:28:04Z")
For Orthodox Jews, the hat is male-only, and is meant to remind man that there is someone “above” him (read that to mean “greater than”). I thought the Amish women wore bonnets to be modest and hide their glory, which is their long hair. Given the tiny, sheer bonnets worn by Mennonite women, hiding anything is clearly not their purpose. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/33 "2014-08-04T17:26:35Z")
[Reasons for Christian headcoverings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_headcovering#Reasons) Once again, none of those reasons is “to look as though you were from an older time while driving a modern vehicle.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/34 "2014-08-04T20:23:21Z")
“Because of the angels”, submission of women, gender policing. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/35 "2014-08-05T04:14:52Z")
Ah, I had forgotten the lace doily my mother used to pin to my head for going to church when I was a child. Interesting take on the head covering. I was told by an Orthodox Rabbi that men had to wear hats to remind them that something was over them but that women did not, as woman was made especially by God and was, therefore, closer to God and did not need to be reminded. That actually made more sense to my brain than most of the Christian reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/36 "2014-08-05T07:31:52Z")
Mennonites can be surprisingly modern. Hereabouts, it is not unusual for a late-model Ford or Chevy van to park, and disgorge a number of Mennonites–the ladies in bonnets and dresses, the men in hats and suits. They go shopping, or otherwise enjoy the downtown–I get coffee from the local coffee shop daily, but on occasion, have had to wait while a Mennonite woman pays for her lunch with a very modern debit card. No harm, no foul–I often have to wait while other non-Mennonites do the same. In the end, I get my coffee, so I don’t care. At any rate, in my interactions with them, they have always been polite and pleasant. They don’t seem to judge those of us who are not Mennonite, and they seem to recognize that we all live in this world, and we all have to get along. I wish some of my more religious neighbours were so tolerant! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061/37 "2014-08-05T08:29:08Z")
A van wouldn’t have thrown me at all, or a shiny new truck. A Mini seems like a whole different kettle of fish, at least to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mennonite-mini-cooper/694061.md?page=1)