GOSHEN, IN

This past week, an international conference in Goshen explored the question that many outsiders have asked when encountering Mennonites on the street: “Are they hippies or hipsters?” This identity crisis was debated and discussed at length at the annual conference.

“Mennonites are all about peace and love, so I guess that’s a hippie thing,” said conference-attendee Walter Berg. “But we much prefer dandelion wine to marijuana, so I suppose that wouldn’t be consistent with the hippie ethos.”

Like the Mennonites, both hippie and hipster males wear full beards, and this fact caused some confusion during the panel discussion.

“Is the Mennonite beard more like the hippie beard, which is mangy and unkempt, or the hipster beard, which is neatly styled with beard balm and combed to p

See Full Page