Photograph by National Geographic Channels/ Collins Avenue Inc.
American Colony: Meet the Hutterites
Episode 1: Harvest Party Scandal
Aired: May 29, 2012
Beginning this series of reflections sounded like such a wonderful idea—an opportunity to respond with thoughtfulness to something many people feel strongly about. I hoped it would be something of a Verbeigeah, that I would be able to do it in passing. Reality has settled in and cleared away all remnants of this delusion. Continue reading
This undated image released by National Geographic Channels shows a Hutterite community near Lewistown, Mont. “American Colony: Meet the Hutterites,” is a National Geographic ‘reality’ series about a small religious community in rural Montana.
I have spent days thinking about it and finally decided to go for it. I will be producing an episode-by-episode personal reflection series based on the ‘reality show,’ American Colony: Meet the Hutterites, directed by Jeff Collins and aired on the National Geographic Channel. When we first learned of the show, I helped put together a general response to be posted on hutterites.org, but it has become evident that a deeper exploration is possible, if not required.
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Jen Gerson from the National Post recently interviewed me about Hutterites and our relationship with technology. Her article focused on photography in particular. Ms. Gerson appreciated my response, indicating that she thought it was thoughtful enough to include with the online edition.The experience was a positive one for me because my thoughts were presented in their proper context, in contrast to several other times I have been interviewed. In discussing and editing the text with other people, I realized how much I enjoyed thinking and writing about the ‘Hutterite condition.’ Coupled with my disappointment with the media at large for relying on non-Hutterites for a Hutterite perspective, I decided to take the plunge and launch “Ask a Hutterite.”
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Ask a Hutterite 