Strange cults in Mcminnville??

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

"Cults" can crop up anywhere.

There are two religious groups in the mid-Wmt Valley that some may not be aware of: Old Believers and Mennonites.

Old Believers have their roots in the Russian Orthodox Church and fled Russia (largely to China) to escape Stalin. Many have moved to South America.

The Mennonites are distinctive because of the caps women wear (there are other identifiers but that is the most obvious). They have been characterized as the modern Amish, they are from the same reformist movement.

Very interesting Nell, I have heard of the Mennonites, but never Old Believers.
The OPs question made me curious. Glad you had an answer.

[hamellr]

By definition of Cult, most Churches are Cults. So... yeah there are a few out there.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

"Cults" can crop up anywhere.

There are two religious groups in the mid-Wmt Valley that some may not be aware of: Old Believers and Mennonites.

Old Believers have their roots in the Russian Orthodox Church and fled Russia (largely to China) to escape Stalin. Many have moved to South America.

The Mennonites are distinctive because of the caps women wear (there are other identifiers but that is the most obvious). They have been characterized as the modern Amish, they are from the same reformist movement.

I guess it's in the eye of the beholder but I would consider these more religious organizations than cults. When I think of cults, I think of Jim Jones and the Rashneeshies of the 70's and 80's.

[Silverfall]

I hardly consider the Mennonites and Old Believer's cults. Yes they have a strong religious foundation and some of us might call them old fashioned/fundamentalist...whatever but I think the connotation of cult is too strong for these folks.

[Nell Plotts]

I did not intend to imply that they these groups are cults but if you see their members on the street and don't know the groups a person could jump to the conclusion that they are a member of a cult.

Long time Oregon's know that the Wmt. Valley was home to several communities similar to the Shakers of New England for a time (also near Olympia in WA). One person's cult is an other's religious faith.

[Durian Beach]

I worked with a lot of Old Believers, the men have Rasputin like beards and the women wear long homemade dresses that look like little house on the prarie. But other than his appearence, the guy seemed pretty normal, he cussed like a truck driver, drank like a fish, gambled on the NFL, and watched all the R movies and slasher flicks out there on his HD TV he obsessed over. So despite the odd appearence they are not really like the Amish or FLDS. The parents are pretty strict with their kids though.

Most of these reports of "Cult" activity in small town are the wild fantasies of provincial "conspiracy theory" local cops who imagine all the High School kids with AC/DC T-shirts are devil worshipers sacraficing babies on Friday nights. i.e. the West Memphis Three in HBO's Paradise Lost. Some adult killed 3 little boys and the small town cops were such incompetent kooks they convicted 3 high school kids with zero evedence other than the fact they all listened to Metallica and wore black T-shirts so "must have been satanists."

[Nell Plotts]

Years ago I worked for USDoL, an Old Believer had a tree planting contract. One of his peers worked on the contract and they got into a dispute. My solution was to meet with Fr. Ambrose at Mt. Angel Abby to sort things out. He mediated, the worker was paid, case closed. I miss Fr. Ambrose. FYI, Alexander Solzhenitsyn stayed at the Abby from time to time. The everyone kept his commings and goings secret.

[Smiled]

Just don't visit us on Halloween!!!

[Nell Plotts]

The story dated me... this story dates from the late 70s, early 80s, when Solzhenitsyn was living in Vermont.