The Courts and the Colonies offers a detailed account of a protracted dispute arising within a Hutterite colony in Manitoba, when the Schmiedeleut leaders attempted to force the departure of a group that had been excommunicated but would not leave. This resulted in about a dozen lawsuits in both Canada and the United States between various Hutterite factions and colonies, and placed the issues of shunning, excommunication, legitimacy of leadership, and communal property rights before the secular courts. What is the story behind this extraordinary development in Hutterite history? How did the courts respond, and how did that outside (state) law relate to the traditional inside law of the Hutterites? Utilizing voluminous court records, Esau provides a detailed and fascinating narrative of the prolonged disputes and litigation history of Hutterite colonies at Lakeside, Oak Bluff, Rock Lake, and Huron. He considers whether the legal action was consistent with the historic non-resistance of Hutterites or whether it signaled a fundamental change in norms of Anabaptist perspectives on litigation. He examines the past history of Hutterite litigation, and how the roots of the schism related to controversy over the Schmiedeleut leadership and its alliance with the Bruderhof, a group of Christian communalists, living mainly in the Eastern United States. At stake is the nature of freedom of religion in Canada and the extent to which our pluralistic society is prepared to accommodate the existence of groups that have an illiberal legal system that may not cohere with the outside legal system of the host society. While this book will be of particular interest to scholars of law and religion, it will also appeal to anyone in Anabaptist studies, sociology, anthropology, political theory, and conflict resolution.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [336]-372) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 289.7/3
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn-mb
- ISBN
- 0774811161 9780774851237
- LCCN
- BX8129.H8
- LCCN Item number
- E83 2004eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- NLC
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xi, 384 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)gtp00521150 (OCoLC)244763999 (CaOOCEL)404150
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Title proper/short title
- Litigation of Hutterite Church disputes
- Transcribing agency
- NLC
Table of Contents
- The Courts and the Colonies 1
- Alvin J. Esau 3
- The Courts and the Colonies The Litigation of Hutterite Church Disputes 3
- Contents 5
- Acknowledgments 7
- Introduction 9
- Part One Background 13
- The Hutterites 15
- The Bruderhof 25
- Part Two The Inside Law on Going to Outside Law Hutterite Litigation before the Case 41
- Lakeside 41
- The Inside Law against Going to Outside Law 43
- Hutterite Litigation before 62
- Lakeside 62
- Part Three The Litigation Round One 93
- Lakeside 93
- Daniel Hofer Hog Feeders and Excommunication 95
- Going to Court 119
- Lakeside under Appeal 154
- Part Four The Schism in the Schmiedeleut and Litigation Round Two 185
- Lakeside 185
- Lakeside and the Schism within the Schmiedeleut 187
- Litigating Again at Lakeside 229
- Part Five Litigating Leaving and Sometimes Dividing Lakeside and Other Schmiedeleut Schisms 257
- Litigating at Rock Lake Huron Cypress Sprucewood Poinsett and Leaving Lakeside 259
- Agreeing to Divide Assets Further Schism and Yet More Litigation 280
- Part Six Concluding Reflections The Interaction between Outside Law and Inside Law 305
- Concluding Reflections Models of Inside Law and Outside Law Interaction 307
- Appendix Male Genealogy of Lakeside Families 345
- Notes 348
- Index 385
