Has Homsteading Gone to the Left?

[Bruce Marusich]

Do you feel that the ideals of plain living, homesteading and self reliance have been largely taken over by the liberal community in our country? Let's see your answers in the poll and here in print!

His,
Bruce

[JP of Mukilteo]

Hello! Thanks for this site and question. I live in a very liberal part of the country where interests in homesteading tend to be from liberal groups. We do have some 'green' Christian groups here. I'm interested in your site and past discussions to see what is happening with Believers across the country. JP

[tabletophomestead]

I find more and more left leanings in the online forums.  As I've said on the email list, IMO Homesteading Today has outgrown it's usefulness for me.  So very often I've seen people post an idea only to have it shot down and belittled by people that know only what they've read.  It's a far cry from the simple greenspun Countryside forum.  I find that the online homesteading community of the late '90's is becoming more like the mainstream.  Many people have no tact and very little manners.  I've longed for a Christian forum in the manner of early CSRL and Countryside forum.  I hope to be able to contribute to this forum to help establish it as a place for fellowship, good information, encouragement and edification - a "remnant" if you will of the online community I used to know. 

[Wesoma]

except for the times when homesteading was a way of life and being a christian was part of it, I don't think it is so much that the left has taken  over, but that the religious seem to have deserted the concept. this is simply my limited observation. I am a christian in a small community, we have built our own house, using alternative methods,we are working at self sufficiency, we live natural, heat and cook with wood, I feel like I am all alone in this. I feel like an odd ball. Christians certainly do not share my interests and my concerns.
the only ones that are on the same wavelength in this regard are left leaning liberals. so I do not talk homesteading to the Christians nor Religon to the homesteaders. 
I don't think the questions of your poll are very applicable. what do tree huggers have to do with it?

[tabletophomestead]

except for the times when homesteading was a way of life and being a christian was part of it, I don't think it is so much that the left has taken  over, but that the religious seem to have deserted the concept. this is simply my limited observation. I am a christian in a small community, we have built our own house, using alternative methods,we are working at self sufficiency, we live natural, heat and cook with wood, I feel like I am all alone in this. I feel like an odd ball. Christians certainly do not share my interests and my concerns.
the only ones that are on the same wavelength in this regard are left leaning liberals. so I do not talk homesteading to the Christians nor Religon to the homesteaders. 
I don't think the questions of your poll are very applicable. what do tree huggers have to do with it?

I find this too on a local level.  I'd love to find a church full of plain living people.  We've been attending a tiny new church.  It's a long story, but after much prayer I was truly led there.  We've been slow to introduce our lifestyle, but the other members are farmers and country people with long-standing family histories in the area so we'll see how it goes.

[Wesoma]

well good luck tabletop, I hope you move something. Our  church is mostly local rural folks who seem to think those were the bad days back then when you had a woodstove.  Whenever we have a dinner, instead of blessing the food I feel we ought to ask God to forgive us for what has been done to the good food he lets grow out of the ground and waters with the rain. Really, it bothers me downright, all the junkfood, heavy with sugar, and it seems every pastor I see is overweight and loves to eat junkfood.

[Radidio]

I'm actually fairly new to homesteading forums so I can't really say.

I've spent most of my time just surfing the net and reading books and periodicals on homesteading for about 40 some years. I was from the "hippie" era of he 60's and I have the first 100 issues of Mother Earth News before they went commercial. My last 6+ years have been reading Backwood Homes which replaced ME. Actually I don't know if the liberals are taking over or not. I just want to stay away from them. I don't have the tolerance for people like that anymore. I guess it's just getting older. I get more set in my ways and more vocal about it.

[Idahofreedom]

I view homesteading as living simply and taking care of the earth God gave us in a responsible way.

The liberals are generally following the voluntary simplicity movement and having a form of "earth worship". They do very similar things, just ignoring God, which is too bad. I just finished reading a book called Choosing Simplicity. I was about a 3 year study on voluntary simplicity and people's motivating factors for simplicity. It had a huge liberal bent to it, but was an enjoyable read. While the liberals are doing some very good things when it comes to taking care of our planet, it is all in vain when God is taken out of the picture.

The modern church in America seems to chase "material blessings" - so the american christian is typically confused by those of us that try to live a simpler, more wholesome life.

Enough rambling for now.........

--Mark

[DrJim1927]

I don't understand all the "going to the left" as if the "left" is some nebulous entity trying to mastermind the universe. I guess we have a little more diversity in Canada. I am a democratic socialist, but I couldn't be a member of the socialist party in Canada. Some of my ideals were supported in the middle ground party that we call Liberal.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...............

About 45 years ago, in Canada, there was a "back to the land" movement. All kinds of people made this move, from city to country, and the simple life. Some came out of the hippy movement, whilst others were escaping something. We had quite a few Americans who came here avoiding the draft, and the country in Canada seemed like a good place to be. They lived anonomously, did all kinds of work that others were refusing, carpentry, ploughing the fields, gathering hay,,anything to eke out a living and remain anonymous.

Then we had the political ideologists from the big cities who thought they would like country life. Trouble is, they brought the city with them, and soon found themselves going back.

Others turned to some sort of farming and rural life. Cooking on woodstoves, carrying water, chemical johns, some outback and some in loos designed to take these new toilets.

We, wife and two daughters, made the move to the country some 34 years ago. We bought two 100 acre plots and started our rural life. We lived in a motorhome, a Winnebago, the first winter. Our loo was a plastic pipe coming from the home to a groundhog hole......don't laugh, hey, it worked....same principle as a septic system.

I had one advantage over many. I had a cushiony position teaching at the local divinity school  and a small pastorate. We eventually collected some sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, horses and any strays that no one else wanted, including abused animals gathered by the Humane Society.

Now, to paint this picture a little clearer, you are looking at a real country boy. I grew up in East London, England and then to the little metropolis of Toronto. So, I was fully trained to be sure
..............................to be continued, at your pleasure, my disabled fingers get stiff after awhile and I must quit........

Cheers,

Jim

[Wesoma]

hi Doc  .  I thought you must be british when I read about your "loo"
the poor groundhog.
well, we all have our experiences.
so you think  left leaning liberals are not more environmentally alert and more likely to lead a more natural lifestyle than Christians? I think that was the topic. Not that your post was not very interesting. Looking forward to read more from you.

[DrJim1927]

Hi Wesoma,

The back to the land movement came out of the hippie movement. Was that liberal? I don't understand "liberal" in the American sense. Americans always correct me and say Democrat! I don't think the hippies were democrat, republican or any other political structure as such. Yes they were more conscious of environmental affairs as it fit into a free lisestyle.

I was always conscious of the environment even when I lit my woodstove. For example, I used to run outdoors to check the smokestack to make sure there was little or no smoke. When a stove is burning efficiently it produces very little visible smoke.

Now, when it comes to political movements, I think organizations like Green Peace are a farce. They make a big splash and I just get all wet from them. Example: They got all hot and bothered about the seal hunt off Newfoundland without concern for (a) the people who made their living; (b) the fact that seals feed off the codfish, and those numbers were dwindling, and they share the same waters. (c) they do all their actions in violation of laws........kaws that are intended for the good of all. If a law is not working, then work to get those laws changed.

Now, I read the note about no one writing and getting involved. Being a newcomer, I just thought I would ramble on about how I came to the country and homestead living, as it were.

Do Christians do these things better? I don't think Christians behave any better than people of the world with a conscience for what is good in nature. Perhaps it should be different, but it isn't.

Cheers for now, and I better go back and read the question,

Jim

[Wesoma]

thanks for the interesting reply.  I remember the Hippy era. I was a Christian even back then, and was newly married and thought Hippies were a bit out of their noodle with their long hair and beads and I think I associated drug taking with them and living a life of careless abandon. It escaped me that they were supposed to be a sort of cataclysm for the back to the land movement.  Of course I did not pay much attention to them. I can't quite  contest your  statement because I simple do not know enough. However, I know that Hippies had not the slightest influence upon me to get back to the land. I came from the land, so did my husband, we wanted our children to have a happy childhood like I did. When I think back, I used to read Rhodale publications back then, "Organic Gardening and Farming", Helen and Scott Nearing's books, (now they did come from left field, I think Scott lost his teaching position in New York city for being a communist). Then came Mother Earth News. None were exactly Christian inspired publications, but I also do not sense much of a hippy influence there either.
yes, misunderstandings can flourish when there are different meanings attached to a word.
as far as I can tell, the word Liberal is tainted with concepts of same sex marriage, abortion on demand, enlarging the welfare state, taking prayer out of schools and the ten commandments out of the Courthouse, they are not interested in God and believe in Evolution.and I do indeed know several people who have been leading simple, back to the land life styles, complete with compost toilets and homemade goat cheese , which could wear that label. for some reason they seem to have more of a sense of responsibility for the planet. don't ask me why.  I don't know what Liberal means in Canada, (maybe the dictionary definition). anyway, my personal experience, for what it's worth, is that "Liberals" in general are more interested in a more natural lifestyle, healthy diet, conserving energy and so on than Christians. Offhand I can think of eight or nine liberal households that are living an organic, natural lifestyle.  None of the people in church are, but I do know one family of generic Christians who are  living natural. Including myself that makes two. I have to say we are outnumbered.

[Wesoma]

  did not mean to be impolite, plumb forgot to say bye. 
cheers to you, too.

[DrJim1927]

Wesoma, It was interesting reading your read of the hippie movement. It is a very broad revolution. Basically they were against the status quo society. Some did get well into the drug movement and the do-nothing generation. Some were anti-war and left the USA to avoid the draft. We sure got our share of those over Viet Nam, right where I live. They are very good people, well educated and principled. A far cry from the usual concept of hippies. All of the folks I know are hard working, take any job, usually labour intensive work and function on a farm plot of land...just a few subsistence animals, cow, sow pig, chickens and organic garden.

Just about the time the hippies were growing out of their "parade" image, woodburning came back into vogue. Quite a few "hippies" opened woodstove shops and got really involved in energy conservation and safe woodburning practices. It was a shop where they could dress in jeans, sit on the floor and sell their ware...the image thing. They were not interested in just selling a stove, but selling the right stove to fit the need, and teaching the person how to operate a woodstove safely.

It was a very interesting, but misunderstood movement. I was a pastor and professor at the time. These folks had been driven away from any church due mainly to attitude of the believers. Generally the churches were not prepared to receive anyone who didn't quite behave according to their standards. On the other hand, I know one lad who not only attended church, but also sang in the choir. He was not a twice born believer at the time, and this was a theologically liberal church. The point is, he went to church. Long story short, he was eventually reached with the gospel. A family was gained.

I was not a hippie, per se. We came to the country by providence. I had the opportunity to teach at the university and a church in that city needed a pastor. We found property 40 miles off, 200 acres, and we decided to try farming it for 8 years.........and that is what we did, along with the other positions in town. It was a great experience considering both wife and I grew up in London, England and then the huge city of Toronto in Canada. We had never lived in the country and wanted to see what it was all about.

About the same time, city land was increasing in price and some country land was inexpensive,,,,imagine selling a house in city for $30,000. and buying 200 acres for $9,000. No mortgage and it cost as little as $4,000. to frame a decent sized house.

Cheers,

Jim

[Wesoma]

Hi Doc,  you still have not answered the question Bruce originally posted. I am waiting with bated breath.
With you being, or having been a pastor, I have my curiosity peeked as to your congregation. Did you preach what you practiced? (usually it is the other way around).
Well, it sounds as if you had some first hand experience with commendable Hippie types.
I am afraid though that the "revolution" fizzled.   
Maybe you can start a few threads before we get too far off topic here and wear out this post.