The Amish

[Denise]

I was looking for information on the Amish and I found this website http://www.amishabuse.com/index.html . The story of the Miller children is a fascinating read and the entire story gives a lot of incite into the Amish culture from David Yoder's perspective.

Initially, I was looking to find articles discussing if the Amish were a cult. Still looking around a bit. Not many of the Amish are online! I have always been a little bit fascinated by people who live so apart from the world and there seems to be a mystique surrounding the Amish.

[Lord Kenneth]

Originally posted by Denise
Not many of the Amish are online!

REALLY? ;)

[Denise]

Maybe I could start up an internet cafe in the Amish community! Ok, maybe not.:D

[Lord Kenneth]

Originally posted by Denise
Maybe I could start up an internet cafe in the Amish community! Ok, maybe not.:D

Actually, thoughk, I want to thank you for posting that link. I've always had a little curiousity on the amish: How dogmatic are they?

Also, any atheist ex-amishes out there?

This answers my question.

[Lord Kenneth]

To my surprise, Edna reached down and unbuttoned my pants. Before I fully realized what was taking place we were having sex for my first time. I had mixed feelings about it. I was afraid my parents would find out about it. Part of me wanted some more. The next morning when it was time to leave I asked, "Edna, is it okay to come back in two weeks?" "Sure honey," she said. I thinking to myself, wow is that what bed courtship is all about? I wondered if everybody else does it too. I remember thinking back when we were living in Medina County, when brother Pete was dating Joe's girlfriend's sister. Dad wouldn't tell us what it was about, but we knew it was about Pete's dating when it happened. I know one thing Pete received a hell of a beating whatever it was that he did. I couldn't wait until the next two weeks went by to go see Edna again. And after that she became my steady girlfriend.

Amish sex. My life is complete.

[triadboy]

Originally posted by Denise
Maybe I could start up an internet cafe in the Amish community!


...or a Burger King in India!

[triadboy]

Originally posted by Denise
I have always been a little bit fascinated by people who live so apart from the world and there seems to be a mystique surrounding the Amish.

I used to live in Maryland. The Amish had furniture stores there and also a very good Amish meat market in a strip mall in Annapolis.

While driving, eventually we would come up on a black horse-drawn buggy full of Amish. We'd yell out "Amish!" in the car and the kids would postion themselves to get the best view. Then we'd gawk at them and wonder what the hell kinda life were they living?

[Yahweh]

Not many of the Amish are online!
Theyre probably really far behind the rest of the internet world. Soon they'll discover how much better Internet Exploror is than Netscape... by that time the rest of humanity will become an intellectual utopia and we'll all be assigned a robot husband or wife...

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by Denise
I was looking to find articles discussing if the Amish were a cult. Still looking around a bit. Not many of the Amish are online! I have always been a little bit fascinated by people who live so apart from the world and there seems to be a mystique surrounding the Amish. There was an Amish community just outside the town where I grew up. Let me tell ya, as a group, you'll probably never find a better natured people.

During the flood of '93, Nearly the entire Amish community came into town to help sandbag the levi even though none of their land was in any danger at all. The interesting thing was, they really didn't do it for polical reasons or to try to convert us, they did it because it was the Christian thing to do.

They aren't like they are in the movies. At least not the Amish I know. They are very strict on themselves but do not look down disapprovingly on non-Amish for not following their ways. They don't try to convert anyone. In fact, I don't think you can become Amish if you aren't born into it, but I'm not sure about that.

They aren't mind-washed either. They don't think technology is evil. They just choose to lead a simple life. But they're not stupid about it either. They have one telephone in the community for emergencies. They have probably the best group health insurance (they are collectively self-insured) in the US. Whenever any of them are sick, they don't go to the local hospital. They go to the Mayo Clinic for anything and everything.

And, like everyone else, they know how to cheat too. They don't have refirgeration, so they'll give ice cream to their non-Amish neighbors as a gift and then come over to help them eat it. :roll: And when my father drives a couple of them somewhere they'll ask to listen to the radio. Aparently, Amish tend to prefer country music. :con2:

To be fair, being that old fashioned, they do have difficulties dealing with gender equality and all but a very few of the men have trouble dealing with non-Amish women. It's obvious they'd rather talk with the men. And I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to say more than three words to an Amish woman.

I don't know how you are defining "cult" but the Amish don't cut themselves off from society, they don't try to convert or brain wash anyone, and they can certainly think for themselves. I think you're barking up the wrong tree tring to find an Amish cult...

[triadboy]

Originally posted by Upchurch

And I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to say more than three words to an Amish woman.

Is it true that all Amish women look like Kelly McGillis in "Witness"?

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by triadboy


Is it true that all Amish women look like Kelly McGillis in "Witness"? :dl:

no.

They don't use the skin and hair care products Kelly McGillis does. But I guarantee one Amish woman could take on three Kelly McGillis's in a fight.

[whitefork]

The Goan Brothers mail order business out of Indiana has all sorts of Plain and Amish clothing (no buttons, you understand - vanity) and paraphernalia (cook books, quilt patterns, sewing supplies, etc). I have a nice broad-brimmed hat from there - black of course.

The underwear looked interesting. No web site that I can find.

[Charlie Monoxide]

From what I read about the Amish, their youth (teenagers), tend to party it up a bit. After a while the majority of them settle down and get with the Amish life-style, some do leave the fold. The Amish view seems to be that you have to accept the life-style, and a bit of experimenting is expected but not evil.

I like any religeous group that doesn't preach hate or evangelize.

OT: You can recognize a married Amish man by the beard (IIRC)

Charlie (Amish booster) Monoxide

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by Kullervo
The Goan Brothers mail order business out of Indiana has all sorts of Plain and Amish clothing (no buttons, you understand - vanity) and paraphernalia (cook books, quilt patterns, sewing supplies, etc). I have a nice broad-brimmed hat from there - black of course.That reminds me.

As I understand it, each community has it's own Bishop who determines to what extent that things are okay or not okay. For instance, the Amish I grew up around had buttons on their clothes (plain blue ones) and no zippers. Their broad-brimmed straw hats were, well, straw colored rather than dyed black.

Also, a cabinent maker had a diesel engine rigged up to run his power tools. Not by generating electricity but by turning a drive belt system. It's really rather ingenious. I imagine that other community's bishops might not allow him that kind of leeway...

[EdipisReks]

the amish cook a fine chicken.

[Starrman]

I recently moved to Ohio and the area where I work has a lot of Amish/Mennonites. They go to the same dentist I do, shop at Wal-Mart and even drive cars. I used to think they rejected all technology but that seems to be a myth - at least here.

An interesting read here (http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/gingerich/1.html) about the only Amish ever convicted of murder. Scary story.

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by Starrman
I recently moved to Ohio and the area where I work has a lot of Amish/Mennonites. They go to the same dentist I do, shop at Wal-Mart and even drive cars. I used to think they rejected all technology but that seems to be a myth - at least here.

An interesting read here (http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/gingerich/1.html) about the only Amish ever convicted of murder. Scary story.

mennonites can drive as long as they drive black cars. it is common for the amish to catch a ride with their "english" friends to places like wal-mart.

[whitefork]

Originally posted by Upchurch
Their broad-brimmed straw hats were, well, straw colored rather than dyed black. I should have said that my hat is black felt - sort of that Robert Mitchum Night of the Hunter look - tends to creep people out just a bit - Mrs K has a nice straw hat from the Goans.

The one Amish guy I spent any time with did drive a car - black - with all the chrome blacked out - and had the most calloused hands I've ever seen. Like sandstone the texture.


Not only chicken, but shoo-fly pie. da-rool, da-rool....!

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by Kullervo
The one Amish guy I spent any time with did drive a car - black - with all the chrome blacked out - and had the most calloused hands I've ever seen. Like sandstone the texture. Sure he wasn't Mennonite? I'm fairly certain that Amish aren't allowed to own or drive cars. Unless he has an Uber-liberal bishop. I've often heard of Mennonite's having the blacked out cars though, never the Amish.

[whitefork]

Hard to say, Upchurch. We were living in central Pennsylvania at the time, and these folks came from the Lancaster area, I'm pretty sure. At least that's where all the towns with cool names like Intercourse, Paradise (need one to reach the other) and Blue Ball are. I don't know if I knew their precise denomination. We just called them "Amish".

He might've been some Amish wannabe. Remember the Weird Al video?

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by Kullervo
Hard to say, Upchurch. We were living in central Pennsylvania at the time, and these folks came from the Lancaster area, I'm pretty sure. At least that's where all the towns with cool names like Intercourse, Paradise (need one to reach the other) and Blue Ball are. I don't know if I knew their precise denomination. We just called them "Amish".

He might've been some Amish wannabe. Remember the Weird Al video?

if he was driving a blacked out car, he was mennonite.

[whitefork]

And, we have a website! http://www.mennohof.org/

(Just to distract everyone from my boneheaded identification of Amish with Mennonite).

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by Kullervo
And, we have a website! http://www.mennohof.org/

(Just to distract everyone from my boneheaded identification of Amish with Mennonite).

lol. nothing to be embarrassed about, as the amish and mennonites are related faiths.

[Lord Kenneth]

Still, I find the amish horror story on amishabuse.com interesting.

I'm wondering how they can have so much detail spanning so long, like quotes.

[Denise]

When I was thinking cult- and I was not proclaiming the Amish to be- I was wondering about having a powerful leader etc. For instance, the shunning aspect of their religion is kind of cultlike. The disconnection of people who leave the religion reminds me a little of Scientology. There seem to be many different sects of the Amish who all believe different things. I found the story at amishabuse very informative.

[zakur]

This just in...

The FBI issued a warning, in a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania newspaper, that they suspect a terrorist may be hiding in the Amish community here. This photo provided the first clue that triggered the investigation:

[Denise]

OMG!!!:roll:

[SteveW]

I dont think I could get along without the Amish. We buy most of our meat and poultry from them and its the best quality I have ever had. They are at the Reading Terminal Wednesday though Saturday.

Best ducks and pheasants in the world btw.

Though to be honest, they do use cash registers and I've never got the nerve up to ask how that's possible.

[DialecticMaterialist]

I really don't like the idea of a society cutting themselves off, living under a Bishop and having not even electricity. Sure they *do* have clinics but apparently none of the finer aspects of modern science.

To me the entire life seems very narrow and very sad. It likewise has lots of abuse going on we don't hear about. In Pensylvania I heard for example they were having a problem with crystal a while back.


I'm sure they do charity work, but so did Jim Jones.



Also are they racist? Are there any black, asian or mexican Amish?


Do they give their kids a proper education so as to have equal opportunity? All important questions in this matter.

[Crossbow]

Anyone familar with the Weird Al song Amish Paradise which is sung to the tune of the Coolio song Gangster's Paradise?

It was a real hoot!

[LW]

About a year ago when I was visiting USA I was waiting for a flight home at Chigago O'Hare when I noticed that a rather large group (30-40 persons) of people who were dressed like the Amish are in the movies were waiting for their flight at the next gate. If I remember correctly, they were going to Denver. After reading this thread I'd guess that they were Mennonites.

[diddidit]

Originally posted by Upchurch

Also, a cabinent maker had a diesel engine rigged up to run his power tools. Not by generating electricity but by turning a drive belt system. It's really rather ingenious. I imagine that other community's bishops might not allow him that kind of leeway...

I saw a pic in either Fine Homebuilding or Fine Woorworking magazine of an Amish shop - they had a 200+ hp diesel engine driving an air compressor and a hydraulic pump; all the electric power tools in the shop had been converted to pneumatic or hydraulic. I'd have to say that's a bit of a stretch to call "simple" or "plain", but it was, as you say, ingenious!

[Segnosaur]

Originally posted by Crossbow
Anyone familar with the Weird Al song Amish Paradise which is sung to the tune of the Coolio song Gangster's Paradise?

It was a real hoot!

You can see the video for Amish Paradise if you go to the Yahoo music video site and look for Weird All videos. (Go to http://launch.yahoo.com)