Ex-Deputy on Trial for Kidnapping Daughters, Keeping Them Out of School
Have you ever heard of the Old German Baptist Brethren? (Not to be confused with the German Baptist Brethren, and certainly not to be mixed up with those bastards the Old Order German Baptist Brethren.) They’re an Anabaptist group, theologically similar in some ways to the Mennonite and the Amish. I’d never heard of the conservative religious group until I stumbled across this story about 34-year-old Michael Hari of Illinois, who’s standing trial for kidnapping his daughters, Mollie, 15, and Allene, 13.
How does this relate to the Old German Baptist Brethrens? According to the article, Hari is a member of the church, which according to the writeup prohibits educating girls after the eight grade. I couldn’t actually confirm this in any statement of belief about the OGBB, so I’m taking that one with a grain of salt. The best I could gather is that the OGBB don’t support “higher” education. But it seems that even that opposition has eroded in recent years.
Whatever the reason, something inside Hari compelled him to skip the country with his daughters in tow, landing him and the girls to a Mennonite colony in Belize. Hari’s attorney denies that his client fled to Belize. But he seems incapable of explaining why Hari told his ex-wife, Michelle Frakes, that he’d be drop the girls off in “a couple of hours” - and then thoroughly disappeared for 10 months. Hari’s attorney also doesn’t explain how a private investigator tracked the wayward dad to Belize, and why it took no less than Dr. Phil McGraw to talk the guy into returning voluntarily to the states. (You can find the full account of The Dr. Phil Show’s involvement on RickRoss.com.)
This is one of those cases that make me glad I never became a defense attorney. There just can’t be that much job satisfaction in manufacturing excuses for people like Michael Hari. If I wanted to tell lies for a living, I’d get a more socially respectable job - like, say, being a TV news anchor, or a presidential press secretary.
Tags: custody, daughter, father, illinois, kidnapping, old-german-baptist-brethren, religion, spiritualityRelated Stories
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6 opinions for Ex-Deputy on Trial for Kidnapping Daughters, Keeping Them Out of School
Mercurial Georgia
Oct 25, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Wow, what an asshole. Sexist, irresponsible, and does his offspring damage through setting them back an entire school year, not to mention giving his ex gray hairs.
I hope they give this stupid cultist a harsh sentence.
Amanda Landes
Nov 11, 2006 at 6:08 pm
On what athority do you base your information about the Old German Baptist Brethren. If Wikepedia is your only source of information then I fear you have been sorely mis-informed. Currently, the OGBB do not encourage higher education but rely on their individual members to make the decision to send children to school. In the the early years keeping children out of the “higher education” relm was said to be the “way” of the OGBB. Now, it is encouraged to take on the trade of your forfathers but only if you can provide for your family; if you choose to not take on your family business, then you may seek education in a trade school. Education for the purpose of self enrichment and money are still discourage but not unforgivable.
On another note, in the OGBB church you are unable to join the Church if you are divorced, but if your spouse leaves you, you can still remain in the Church.
A concerned ex-member of the OGBB church.
Amanda Landes
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Feb 3, 2007 at 4:04 am
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Johnny
Mar 25, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I am OGBB. Such remarks as those above are often amusing to us, still I would like to offer this:
1. I have traveled extensively and at least know of most OGBB groups and a majority of the members. I do not know any such name or incident among OGBB groups (and news such as this is not usually unknown among us).
2. Nearly all OGBB young people complete highschool level studies. Many young men and women are presently obtaining college degrees. There are an increasing number of doctors, engineers, teachers, etc. among us.
3. Any divorced person is indeed welcome among all OGBB groups. However, church members living in adultery as defined by the Bible and practiced by 100’s of thousands of Christians, are expected to move out of an adulterous relationship. In some cases this may mean that a couple who are divorced and remarried are biblically being expected to separate.
jmtoney
Apr 30, 2007 at 11:26 am
Why do you refer to the old order German Baptist sa “Bastards”? Some of my dearest friends are of this faith and they are definitly not “bastards”. Is it because they live their live the way we all should that has you bent out of shape? As far as their education…let me promise you they are VERY educated. You certainly didn’t do your homework very well before you wrote this article. They homeschool and yes by “eighth” grade they are through. It is more education than most of us recieve in a life time crammed into that eight years! My friend blew the college entrance exam out of the water with her “eighth grade” grade education! She wondered why that was all that was required in order to get into college, because it was so easy to her. Please don’t judge this whole group on what one or two has done. They are human… the same as you and I. They have members of their faith who are “rotten eggs” just as any faith does. They don’t claim to be any more than they are….it is people such as yourself who question and bring attention to them. We in the regular world also have parents who kidnap their kids each and every day and we have kids who do not go to school..but walk the streets joining gangs and cults. These children do NOT do that. So lighten up on these people. They are good, God-fearing people and do not deserve to be called “bastards”. As I said before, yes, they have some among them who are not “good”…but what group of humans does not?
marmoth
Dec 12, 2007 at 5:05 am
I agree with the not regretting part .. If you get to defend one of these people you’ll definitely not be very glad!
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