Interested in further thoughts on article

Editor:

I was somewhat surprised to read the article in Saturday's Gazette-Mail titled "Back to the Motherland" by Tim Johnson. I had several questions regarding the validity of the article.

The article begins by describing the group as pacifist; historically the Mennonite faith was not favorable to the pacifist position and has claimed conscientious objector status during times of war.

A couple of other items that were of concern was the connection of the Mennonite group to the illegal wells through bribes or simply drilling without permits, the murder of a peasant activist and the alliance with a drug cartel for protection. Although there could unfortunately be a connection between a small number of this Mennonite group and these activities, this would be totally out of context for the Mennonite faith as a whole who believe in living a law-abiding and peaceable lifestyle. I also noticed the writer used thought several times in trying to tie the group to these activities, I wondered if there was any hard evidence to this connection.

The statement of Mr. Pedro Castro of "They are white and they are German" sounded somewhat racist. I guess being white and speaking German in Mexico would certainly put this group in the minority.

I would certainly be interested in any additional information or further thoughts on this article.

Jacob S. Meck

Arbovale