Am interested in learning about the Amish.

[Rosalind]

Quote:
Many of the Mennonite-run restaurants where my friends and cousins worked in Lancaster ran afoul of child labor laws. They routinely hired kids 14 and younger to work in the kitchen with the power equipment, and kids without work permits. They also would routinely give the same kids full 30-40 hour work weeks.

You could argue that the same kids had been putting in 14 hours/day of farm work with sharp tools and tractors and so forth since they were old enough to swing an ax and run a baler, but honestly, after a whole day of school work, IMHO kids ought to be working less than 20 hours/week. None of the kids who worked that hard ever had good grades, they never had time to do their homework--their parents and their community was making a career choice for them that would ensure they wouldn't have any other real choices no matter what they wanted. Hence my previous post about Communist Russia; a lot of social choices are made for you, according to what your community decides will be best, rather than what you personally would like to do.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

wow sounds like a lot of hatin' here.... i'd be disappointed if your article was about puppy mills.

personally i love the amish. i'd join a sect if i could drink tequila, swear, and wear shorts - but that kinda puts me on the outs.
;-)

we live in the center of a community of very strict amish - they dont even want to put reflective tape on their buggies for night driving. and i grew up with both amish and mennonites coming into my grandfather's general store.

i'm drawn to their dedication to family, faith, and hard work. honestly i think there is a ton of institutional knowledge about 'self sufficiency' that we could all learn a lot from. we keep laughing that when the power goes out that we should run down to the amish family and tell them - cuz they dont know. when our area was out of power for 5 days last winter most of the town nearly laid down and died - the amish just went on about their business like nothing happened.

not sure who said they dont pay taxes - yes they do. or they are supposed to.

you might want to check out Small Farmer's Journal - it has a big amish readership and it might give you some insights. i went to the Horse Congress last year and it was fabulous - it showed the latest in amish technology. which is also kinda funny if you think about it.

i think the biggest myth is that they are stupid or live that way b/c they dont know any better. i think they look at our culture and say 'no thanks' and get back their own lives.

as for their food - oh man. nothing better than Mrs. Yoder's near Mt Hope... mix God fearing Germanic women + yeast + lard = heaven on earth.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I LOVE

Mrs. Yoder's!!!! You know it's a good restaurant when you see horses and buggies outside!!!!!! Awesome pies too.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I grew up near Goshen, where Carole AM lives. There's an Amish or Mennonite - can't remember which - maybe Anabaptist - museum in Shipshewana, IN. Maybe they have a web site where you could get some info, although it may not be totally objective - we stopped in while visiting and they portray themselves in a very positive light with emphasis on the persecution they have suffered, which is certainly true, but I'm not sure their view is totaly objective.

I've had Mennonite friends, lovely and humble people, but the puppy mill aspect of the Amish has really caused me to think poorly of them. I understand the "dominion over the animals" directive from the Bible, but using it as an excuse to treat animals cruelly for profit does not seem consistent with Christianity to me.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

in addition to the Amish and Mennonite (and the differing groups within of Old Order or New Order) you can throw in German Brethren. They are more akin to the New Order Mennonites, - they drive cars, etc... but their religious structure is similar enough to be hard to tell otherwise.

They use machinery, but they are very careful what they use and what they buy.

Social (religious) community is exactly like the Amish/Mennonite communities - all decisions are made by the Men and all go through the Elders. They don't shun for leaving the order/church - although they do shun for other things.

Much of my family is Brethren.

meri

 

[Katy]

I'm a Mennonite and live not too far from an Amish community. I certainly hope you are going to visit some of the Amish in person and not just use what people have shared here.

There are certainly good and bad amongst them...just like the rest of us. As far as the puppy mills....I don't like them no matter who owns and runs them. What a lot of people seem to forget is that most farm people (me included) treat their livestock as such and not as backyard pets as most BYC members do. That doesn't mean we mistreat them....far from it, but they are a source of income for us...not a pet on the same level as my cats and dogs.

 

[Rosalind]

Katy, I gotta say, my main objection is really to folks my Mennonite aunts and uncles used to describe as "tourists" (folks who thought all the bonnets and stuff were cuuuuute): The very same people who would be horrified if any non-religious or Catholic/Protestant/Jewish/Muslim/Buddhist/Hindu was running a puppy mill or using child labor for their business often felt that it was somehow OK if the Amish or Mennonites were doing the same. One of my colleagues actually told me that the reason it was OK was because "it helps people be closer to God," while not two minutes earlier he had condemned a lot of his countrymen for using child labor in factories and abusing the local wildlife.

I have similar objections to folks who excuse child abuse, corruption, fraud, Ponzi schemes and other bad behavior by various religious leaders yet condemn it when it's the local park bench flasher or Bernie Madoff. If it's wrong, it's wrong regardless of what kind of funny hat the person wears.

 

[EweSheep]

I remember reading a book about the Amish culture some years ago by a woman who left the community. It was very interesting.

As for us the ones we know of Amish/Menn. folks are located in Arcola and Arthur, IL areas. We enjoyed going to the Rockdome Gardens and love their bread and buns! however it started to look too commercialism and they do not shun away from cameras so either they tolerated it or they are Amish reenactors.