Hey, Scylla, I’m stuck in south central pa too. Never had a problem with the Amish- the women are quite friendly- but I’ve been told that there are three levels. There’s Amish (the strictest and most reclusive), Mennonite, and plain people (the most liberal. Plain people are the only ones permitted to have electricity or telephone). You really don’t see the true Amish in town much. Anyways, I have have seen nothing here that would lead me to believe that the Amish or the Mennonite or plain folks (well, maybe some plain folks) pre-churchers are heavily involved in drug trafficking. Do you have any stories or anecdotal evidence? Just curious to hear.
About the Amish not paying social security tax- don’t forget that they don’t recieve any social security benefits. Instead, they tithe, and their churches take care of them.
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right
I can neither dispute or support Scylla’s gripes with the Amish save one: they may be ridiculing you in your prescence in German, but by the same token, how many Amish own computers and could thereby log onto this message board to refute your accusations?
Well…this isn’t really that accurate actually. There are several different Amish groupings in PA alone, Beechie Amish for instance. Mennonite people aren’t Amish at all, and are in fact a relatively mainstream protestant/anabaptist sect. I’ve never actually heard the term “plain people” used in any official or technical sense(ie as used to distinguish from any other Amish sect) so I suspect that it’s just a handy way to refer to the whole grouping of sects.
The better ways to classify them are
Amish:most conservative, wear dark clothes in an old fashioned style, drive grey buggies.
Old Order Mennonite:still conservative, but not as much, can wear clothes with pastel colors, but still in the old style, drive black buggies.
Mennonite: Mainstream, if rather conservative, protestant sect. They dress normally, though old women sometimes wear head coverings, and drive cars.
Thats about it, though of course I’m not exactly an expert here, and there are more sects that I haven’t covered.
Scylla, Just thought I would let you know, if you wanted to try and better understand the Amish population in your area, there is a web site that discusses the history and lifestyle of the Pennsylvania Dutch in Lancaster County http://www.padutchcountry.com/amish.htm
I found it very interesting, and it discusses the three ‘types’ of amish in that area…“the Amish, the Mennonites, and the Brethren”. The site is very basic, but very informative.
Sorry had to post again…but I forgot to add the other website. This one goes into greater details of the amish history overall, not individual orders. hope it helps http://holycrosslivonia.org/amish/index.htm
Those were both very informative sites, thank you. (though in the future, the correct generalisation for that group of religions is “Anabaptist” and not Amish)
So they do speak “Dutch.” A dialect of German called “Pennsylvania Dutch.” In spite of my ignorance I was correct.
As far as the agriculture goes, the Amish around here use modern farm equiptment, with steel wheels though.
I’ve personally witnessed an Amish fistfight, and had bad experiences with Amish and firearms, so I’m not particulary impressed with their stated nonviolence principle, nor do I understand what the steel wheels on the tractors are supposed to prove.
From what I can see, I’m seeing my Amish neighbors in transition. They paying lip service and sometimes more to tradition, but often they are just doing what they want.
I should also distinguish between the Amish and the Mennonites.
My land is farmed by Mennonites. They beleive in being plain, but live within society. They drive “plain cars,” dress much like the Amish, etc.
My experience with Mennonites has been overwhelmingly positive.
I would think the root problem with the local Amish is that because they “live apart” they seem to have an attitude that societies rules don’t apply to them. Hence, the problems with the poaching and tresspassing. I guess as an “Englishman” I am not entitled to being treated fairly or having my property respected. This is what rankles me.
As I mentioned, that’s why I chose to post my prejudiced frustration here.
Btw: The above link says Amish don’t worship in Churches, but in homes.
Our Amish commuity has a sizable (yet plain) Church.
If you try to drive by on a Sunday afternoon you better slow down as you go around the curve or you are liable to slide right off the road on a continuous slick of Horse manure!
Here in Iowa, our amish have refused to put the red/orange triangles on their buggies because the triangles are a symbol of satan. The state has had to change the law to allow them to put something else (yet equally reflective) on their buggies.
You mean like anti-Amish?
As intriguing as some Newtonian law of conservation of Amish producing counterfeit, hard-drinking, poaching, inconsiderate louts masquerading as Amish to offset the good folk known throughout the country might be, I’m pretty sure they are in fact Amish.
I understand that their religion leads them to create small pocket communities, led by a pastor, and that their may be some differences in dogma from community to community.
They drive buggies, use farm equiptment with steel wheels, don’t have electricity in the house, worship at their own Church, and are referred to locally as Amish.
There is a nearby welding/farm equiptment sales & repair/ country store owned by them.
I suppose it may be possible that they are a different brand of Amish. I don’t know.
I promise I’m not making any of this up. If you like, I’ll e-mail you a picture of the church with all the buggies (I’ll have to take it this Sunday.)
Now you’re liable to drag me in here to challenge you. You live in the second largest collection of Amish on the planet. I have lived in the third largest and frequently visited the largest: I have never seen or even heard of an Amish church. My memory was that they didn’t hold with church buildings. The Mennonites will build a small meeting hall, but an Amish church is absolutely outside my experience. (Maybe you’re fighting with The Brethren? [/somber, disquieting music])
When I lived among them I had both good and bad experiences (sort of like with people). My next door neighbor was a bit surly and was quite willing to let his manure (upwind of our house, downwind of his) pile up to unconscionable heights when he could just as easily have piled it up downwind of both our houses. On the other hand, the guy that worked on my wife’s horse tack and several other people we knew were simply wonderful human beings. While I was out there, I constantly heard of Amish-Yankee feuds, so I know it goes on. :::shrug:::
Hard drinking? sure, that sounds like the Amish, as do all the other things you included. However I lived in lancaster county PA, hell, I was raised Mennonite, and I’ve never heard of an Amish church. Either it’s not a church(perhaps it’s a school?) or you’re not really dealing with some other religious group similar to the Amish.
#1 My husband had an Amish prejudice for years. Wanna know why? Okay, I’ll tell you anyway. Years ago, he went to the zoo. There was a bunch of Amish people that kept giving gum to the monkeys. The monkeys chewed the gum and played with it and it got stuck in their fur and it was a very messy deal. The Amish people found this extremely amusing. My husband decided that the Amish were cruel to animals and he despised them for years.
#2 I took the hubby to Arcola, IL. a couple years ago. We went to the Amish town. He had a blast. We learned a lot about the Amish. They were extremely friendly, warmhearted people. And they cook incredible meals. The food was unbelievable.
#3 IIRC from our trip, the Mennonites are an offshoot of the Amish. The tour guide (who was Amish) said that some years ago, a bunch of Amish people decided that the Amish were getting “too modern.” (Can you imagine that?) They formed a new sect, the Mennonites. I don’t know much about Mennonites, but I understood them to be even more “old-fashioned” than the Amish.
It’s a church! It’s big, it holds lots of buggies. They go there Sunday mornings. There’s a cemetary behind it. I asked my neighbor who’s lived here his whole life and he says thier Amish. He hates them too. (He didn’t know what an anabaptist was though, so this doesn’t prove much.)
The Brethren?
Hmmm. That does sound ominous. Kinda like an Arnold Shwarzenegger movie.
How do I find out what sect they are (without actually asking of course?)
