Mennonites are pious Christians who eschew much of the modern world. But in Mexico even they have not escaped the pull of the drug cartels.

Fascinating story. These people are my background. Came from the same place in Canada but this 'sect' of Mennonites is considerably more conservative. I recognize the family names, and some of my family still speak plautdietsch, a variation of German that's common to Mennos.

But talk about straying far off the beaten path. Mennos are known for being pacifists, not killers. Several of my relatives were conscientious objectors during the WWII and were give alternative service after refusing to take up arms - one of them spending time in a logging camp cutting trees. Another relative, much further back in history, became famous for rescuing his captor after a foot chase over a frozen lake caused his prison guard to fall through and rather than get away, he turned back and rescued the guard and was recaptured. There's even a statue to memorialize his self sacrifice.

Definitely peace loving people, as the main reason for the diaspora from Europe (mostly tiny Russian villages and German) was to get away from persecution for their religious beliefs and they would rather flee than even fight against those who raided their villages and killed the men. I can understand the desperation of Kauenhofen to try and find a way to pay for his wife's medical treatment, but he sure 'sold his soul to the devil' and betrayed his church beliefs with his decisions.

Not to crap too hard on my own people but this isn't the only story about Mennos turning to the dark side. The movie 'Women Talking' is about women grappling with the rape of some in their community and how they would deal with it. Kinda long and actionless and boring if you don't have much interest in the culture but it's an insight into the Menno world that most won't see. I believe its based on the gas-induced rapes of Mennonite women in Bolivia, a reprehensible and shocking crime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Mennonite_gas-facilitated_rapes.

Mennos by and large, are good, generous, caring people. But we have a few very notable assholes too.

edit: I totally believe the touchscreen bad, dumbphone good dichotomy. My family lives and works with a related ultraconservative Menno sect, the Holdemans - and they are very oddly specific about some things. Like you can order up the latest and greatest new truck for your farm. But it is NOT allowed to have any chrome on it. So the dealership will bring in the trucks and have to delete or cover chrome pieces before delivery. Because apparently chrome is being 'too worldly'. In the past they also did not allow radios. Same thing, dealership had to bring in brand new cars, but remove the radio before delivering. Having too much contact with the outside world, often referred to as "the English" was verbotten. These restrictions ebb and flow with time and changes in church leadership.