traffickers from the two communities flew under the radar of Mexican, American and Canadian authorities as they ran drugs by taking
advantage of their reputation for
piousness and their dual Can-adian-Mexican citizenship – a result of a diaspora in the 1920s when
the pacifists fled to Central America, fearing their children would be
forced to attend English language
public schools in Canada.
Pure has raised the ire of Canadian Mennonite groups because
the drama plucks characteristics
from various Mennonite subgroups
to create the Edenthalers, a group
that doesn’t actually exist.
Critics point to the iconic horse
and buggies used in the series, the
characters’ hybridized Low German accents, the way church
meetings are portrayed, and the
Southern Ontario colony’s connections to South American colonies
as examples of a collage of traditions that don’t quite fit any one
Mennonite group.
Many of those elements also reinforce, either by design or incidentally, cultural stereotypes about
Mennonites.
But for a group with a foundational commitment to pacifism, the
most bewildering characterization
of all is the amount of violence.
In the series, “The pastor is sucked
into the vortex of crime and violence
very rapidly,” says Dan Dyck, director of communications for Mennonite Church Canada. “In real life
there would be much more emphasis on community discernment.
“I find it difficult to believe one
pastor would have so much power
in one community. What the char-
acters in Pure depict would be the
most extreme examples of someone
who has left the faith.”
Dyck emphasizes he and his or-
ganization do not want to speak on
behalf of the Old Order and Old
Colony Mennonites depicted in
Pure. After all, the Mennonites he
represents are generations removed
from living in colonies and es-
chewing the rest of the world.
Yet they do share the same faith,
many core values (particularly that
commitment to nonviolence) and
history.
The ancestors of Mennonites of
all stripes fled persecution in
places like the Netherlands, Ger-
many, Russia, Ukraine and the
United States (where they feared
being dragged into that country’s
civil war).
Dyck points out the general
public may be surprised to learn
about that diversity. “Your average
Joe and Jane would be unlikely to
know that there are 25 different
groups with different histories and
migration patterns . . . certainly
that would complicate matters for
those who produced the show.”
Faith Today contacted the show’s
producers, but they did not return
requests for an interview. The cre-
ator of the show, Michael Amo, told
the Toronto Star his grandparents
were Mennonites. “By and large
Mennonites are very law-abiding,
exemplary people. But the story is
out there; I didn’t invent the reality
of a Mennonite mob.”
A number of Mennonite writers,
including historian Sam Steiner,
have referred to the exploitive na-
ture of the program because it takes
on a group of people unlikely to
speak out against it, care about it or
possibly even know it exists.
In his blog at www.OntarioMen-noniteHistory.org, where he reviews each episode, Steiner points
out what a stretch many of the plot
lines that involve these passive,
hardworking people are.
“Too many things don’t make
sense. Why would you make the
Ontario drug boss someone as
highly visible and slow moving as a
farmer-preacher with no criminal
experience? It boggles the mind.”
Bruce Guenther, associate pro-
fessor of church history and Men-
nonite studies at Mennonite
Brethren Biblical Seminary, says he
Anna Funk (Alex Paxton-Beesley) is Noah Funk’s wife on the controversial CBC drama Pure.
PURE’S MAIN
CHARAC TERS
NOAH FUNK
ANNA FUNK
BRONCO NOVAK
ELI VOS
THE MOST BEWILDERING
CHARACTERIZATION OF
ALL IS THE AMOUNT OF
VIOLENCE IN THE SERIES.
