Madeline
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Monroe Beachy made a big mistake losing $17 million that fellow members of the Plain Community trusted him to invest.
More than 2,000 members of the Amish and Mennonite churches concentrated northeast of Columbus gave him more than $33 million over a quarter-century. Somehow, half of it vanished. Federal authorities suspect fraud.
But, to the Amish, brother Beachy made a bigger mistake by rejecting Godly counsel in favor of legal counsel and going to court to declare bankruptcy.
In court filings, Amish leaders write that they dont believe in the force and fear of government-created courts. The use of courts is forbidden by the Bible, classified as the stuff of the Kingdom of This World.
The Amish believe in a higher court the Kingdom of Heaven. Brothers are to be judged by brothers, disputes and debts settled in an atmosphere of love, trust and mutual aid.
With Beachys blessing, the Amish are asking a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to dismiss his case and allow them to handle both the matter and the millions to be divided among cash-crunched creditors.
The case constitutes a clash between Gods law and mans law. The Amish believe theres no doubt which prevails. This is their problem, they say. They will handle it.
The federal trustee appointed to protect the interests of the creditors and the remaining cash portrays Monroe Beachy as a rarity an Amish con man.
Amish demand to judge their own | The Columbus Dispatch
The entire article is interesting...please read it. I was struck by the creditors' interest in forgiveness for the man who squandered half their wealth.
I was also struck by the contrast between what the Amish want and what some believe Muslim Americans may want -- the right to settle disputes on their own, under their religious principles, without a civil court. Is this really such a bad thing, if all parties agree?
What're your thoughts?