young voices

Footloose and fancy free

The old joke goes: Mennonites don't have sex because it might lead to dancing.

I recently was at a birthday party for some friends of mine, held at a club. This brought to mind an experience I had in Turkey this last fall. They were quite different situations, but both involved dancing. Growing up where I did I've thought a lot about dancing and what it means, though I've never before written anything down. So here are my somewhat rambling thoughts on dancing and the body.

Throwing a Mennonite wedding

Well, it’s begun: wedding season is upon us. I think I’ve received invitations to seven weddings happening this summer. Maybe because of all these weddings, as well as all the media enthusiasm over the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton earlier this spring, I’ve been thinking a lot about wedding traditions and their cultural and symbolic significance, especially about their relation to Mennonite theology and faith.

An Introduction

It seems appropriate for my first post to be one of introduction. This way you can get a bit of a sense where I am coming from; of who I am and what I plan to do with this space. This will also give me something to hold myself accountable to. So in six months when I have failed to do most of the things I outlined here and gone of on wildly divergent tangents, I can look back here and see the differences of where I planned to go, and where I've been.

My Online Six-Pack

I recently made a pact with myself to stop scanning all readers’ comments to online articles. Why? Simply because they always have a way of making me angry. When I read post-game interviews with sports superstars I see comments abounding in hateful language towards this person. Accusations of laziness, indifference, of being washed up, lack of talent, and cheating are all prevalent. Yet I wonder what these individual commenters would have to say if they came into real contact with this sports icon?

Buying the Bullet that Will Kill Me Tomorrow

On Feb. 12, 2008, an informal national recruitment day, 30,400 people joined or were forced into the Colombian armed forces. That is 2,533 per hour. In Colombia, it is mandatory for every man eighteen years an older to serve in the military for two years. The Colombian government issues a wallet-sized card, which signifies completion of service. If a young man is stopped and does not carry such a card, he is taken to the nearest military battalion to begin his training.

Calling all ‘young voices’

Emily Loewen

Here begins a new adventure: Canadian Mennonite’s Young Voices section. What is this section, you ask? Why is it here?

Upon reflection, the magazine realized that its readership is—how to put this gently—aging. And while this threatens the life and breath of subscriptions, it’s also a problem because many voices in the church aren’t part of the conversation.  

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