Obviously any faith can decide what is best for themselves, but when you start using a horse to pull a gas powered lawnmower, in my opinion that’s getting a bit precious.
There seems to be a widespread misunderstanding the the Amish are like the SCA with God. They aren’t. They don’t eschew all modern conveniences* because they get a martyr buzz out of it, or to be cool, or to get into heaven. They eschew only those modern conveniences which they decide (each community has a different group of people making these decisions) interfere with their creating and maintaining strong relationships with their families, community and God.
A gas powered car can take you to the movies three towns over on a Saturday night, instead of walking to the Fisher’s barn for a church dinner. This, in their opinion, erodes close community ties and relationships, so it’s not allowed. Additionally, it was expected that, cars being expensive, only the wealthy would own them, and that the proud would use them as status symbols, behaviors which, again in their estimation, bring about inequality, ill feelings and erode community spirit.
A telephone in every house can tempt one to spend time chatting instead of time with your kids. So to avert that, some communities have centrally located phones - if it’s a pain to use, then you won’t abuse it. Some Amish communities allow phones at the end of the driveway - again, it’s a nuisance, so won’t be used frivolously, but only in need. (Plus, say the more cynical, you’re visible, so if you start spending too much time on the phone while you’re ignoring your household duties, your neighbors can call you out about it in church.)
A television is a huge time-sucking temptation - church or Sunday football? Better not to let your family be tempted to enjoy *Survivor *over religious obligations. Better not to get into arguments with your 3 year old about watching “just one more Caillou, pleeeeeease!” (Heck, I know lots of non-Amish families who have decided that the family time is eaten away by the television and so they pitch their sets.)
An interesting one to me that you never hear talked about is their ban on musical instruments. Much like cars, it’s assumed that musical instruments will “stir emotions” and cause jealousy and strife.
A gas powered mower must not, in his community’s estimation, endanger his relationship to his family, community or God. And, honestly, I’m having trouble thinking up a way in which it would. MAYBE one could argue the jealousy or speeding up of Amish life angle - maybe that’s why he needs horses to pull it, so he can’t go too fast. But, as you say, it’s up to them to decide these things for their own communities - and there’s lots of variation from one community to another.
Here’s a link to a really good FAQ.
*And note, “conveniences” is the term you’ll mostly hear. They don’t eschew *necessities *- modern medicine or technology which can nurture lives and relationships, only that which can degrade them.
That’s worth my subscription price right there.
An interesting book is Better Off, especially because of its ‘outsider’ perspective on an old order community. I cannot comment on its authenticity, but the idea of picking and choosing what technology you want to live with is a cool one.
I know among Mennonite communities in Manitoba, there were huge variations between churches in terms of what was and what wasn’t accepted - any colour of car, to only black, to black with the chrome removed was one spectrum that immediately comes to mind.
Interestingly, there is an Amish website that I found… seems to be all ads from Google, and I’d love to find out if there’s even an Amish person involved.
I looked at the link but didn’t see why musical instruments are believed to cause jealousy and strife. Do they mean being envious of an instrument that somebody else owns, or of somebody’s skill at playing the instrument? I wouldn’t have thought the latter is a problem; when it comes to various crafts and skills that are needed by an Amish community, there must be some people who are acknowledged to be the most skilled in particular areas.
I’m going to say that musical instruments are considered what Shakers (?) call a “frill”; it’s not a necessary skill, but rather an affectation. But singing is OK because it’s a gift from God.
Speaking as one whose local grocery stores both have hitching posts for Amish buggy horses, I wish people understood them a little better and didn’t keep trying to “catch them out” as “hypocrites.” WhyNot gave an excellent explanation of why Amish use of modern technology is not necessarily a sin in the church’s eyes.
(And I’d like to kill the phrase “believe in electricity” and its cousins. Of course the Amish believe in electricity; they just choose not to rely on it. Grrr . . .)
Maybe the reason the Amish don’t accept musical instruments is that they can ONLY be used for recreation?
I don’t think the issue was jealousy and (internal group) strife (with apologies to WhyNot) so much as the idea of rousing the emotions in ways not directed to God. (There are a number of Christian groups that have banned musical instruments at worship services over the centuries (a few still do), and I suspect that the Amish simply extrapolated from that line of thought.)
(I thought the linked FAQ was good, but I think WhyNot’s point about the military was much closer than the FAQ’s point that mustaches are not mentioned in the bible. The earliest conflict the Anabaptists who became Mennonites and then Amish had with the surrounding world occcurred over military conscription and this occurred at a time when the mustache was a significant indicator of person among military officers.)
Re: Amish and musical instruments - for a time, I was involved with The Church of Christ, (not an Amish or Mennonite based group, for clarity) which insisted on a capella singing in services. Their reasoning was based on the fact that all of the references to instruments used in worship were in the Old Testament. There are many references to singing in the New Testament, but the references to instruments are negative eg. Paul in I Corinthians 13, v1, ‘if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a ringing gong or a clashing cymbal…’ The implication for the church I was in was that singing came from the heart, whereas an instrument was a mechanical device and therefore ‘devoid of faith’.
This same church was quite divided on the subject of instruments outside of faith services - while adherents were exhorted to attain excellence in all things, even things that you would not do in a church service (like athletics, for instance), there was a feeling that music could lead one’s thoughts in a purely sensual direction, and that was considered sinful. Instrumental musicians, even those skilled in classical or evangelical music, were a ‘source of concern’ to the Elders. I eventually decided I loved music more than I loved that particular church.
Augustine himself had deeply ambivalent thoughts on music, but that is a topic for another thread.
nope, because they will read books and do jigsaw puzzles, girls have baby dolls, and boys play different sorts of ball and hoop games. Swimming on a hot day after work is also a recreation for the boys.
My roomie used to live near a lot of amish in ohio and got to know some fairly well. She was trained as a farrier [horse shoer] before she became a general blacksmith.
I think there are many reasons, and the ones most considered and/or articulated prob’ly vary by community. My information is based on (separate) conversations with some Amish girls in Ohio and some Mennenites in New Jersey, as well as the FAQ I linked. I got quite a bit of variation in answer - there’s no official book of rules for all Amish like there is for Orthodox Jews - but the underlying philosophy was pretty much the same. So, no apologies needed - we can both be right! 
A very good post on the basis of Amish beliefs. But one additional aspect (as I understand their faith) is the belief that having a distinctive lifestyle helps foster their community. If Amish and non-Amish had similar lifestyles, it might lead to the Amish community disappearing into the general community. So sometimes they intentionally do things in a certain way just because it’s different than the way non-Amish do it. Somebody once wrote that if everyone started wearing flat black hats, the Amish would switch to wearing baseball caps.
I have met and dealt with many Amish.
I find them to be very hypocritical and mercenary bordering on fraudulent.
They won’t have a television but watching yours is no problem. Yapping on your phone is no big deal.
They get around the car issue by using some one else’s. Kind of interesting how many of them know how to drive.
They start construction subcontracting businesses and hire one white person with a van. Traveling a couple of hundred miles a day to scab jobs from local trades people is becoming more and more common. It was unheard of 25 years ago. Use of electric and gas powered tools is standard at the same time they’re selling the idea of old world craftsmanship. Not hinting at it but explicitly stating that that is the benefit of hiring them. Their old world craftmanship by the way is crude at best.
I saw on Thursday my neighbor 3 doors down had hired an Amish crew to redo his roof. They stripped it and went home. Of course we had a bad storm and I know John wasn’t able to call them and have them all jump into their buggies and race down here to save his house.
They will sell any kind of crap that can be stapled together from treated lumber and have been known to go to Acme and buy up all the chicken to unpackage for sale to tourists. They’re famous around here for running puppie mills as well as selling quilts from Dollar General. Anything for a buck.
How is it I see a pious family all the way down in Northeast Maryland at an auction at 10 or 11 at night? How’d they get there? Are those kids eating junk food? Is little Amos Stoltzfus wearing an iPod? They’re buying antiques to fob off as Ye Olde Amish.
The Amish romanticised in Witness are far different than the ones you deal with on a day to day basis. When the tourists come in the Spring it’s “Game On”.
Of course I’m only familiar with the ones around Lancaster and Chester Counties and their Mega Tourism Industrial Complex. The ones in Chicago might be different.
I dunno, Mongo, it sounds like a personal issue.
Despite claiming to have lived near them for some time, you appear to have totally missed the fact (already posted above) that they have no moral objection to technology. Their reluctance to use some modern technology is based on a desire to not be entangled with “the world.” They eschew electricity in the home (for example) because they do not want to tie in to the grid that would bind them to the outside world. Since their principles are effected at the level of each local community, they are going to have a widely varying approach to many technological developments, with each gathering coming to possibly different conclusions regarding the appropriate response to gas engines, power tools, or modern communication.
As to the fact that you appear to have encountered some number of Amish who were less than ethical in their business dealings, how does that differ from the rest of the world? Every group has its saints and sinners and I do not recall ever encountering an Amish person who declared “none of us would ever sin in that way.”
The attempts that they make to maintain their own community will not necessarily translate into each one being a perfect exemplar of their ideal.
No, they’ve just eschewed gratuitous sax and needless violins.
Bravo!
It has been my observation that individual members of ANY faith can frequently be found to be stretching the tenets of their faith. It’s in the nature of human beings to find a way around rules that we don’t like or feel are getting in our way. YMMV.
As to the OP, this is a perennial question around my area, one of the oldest Amish communities yet perhaps one of the most challenged by modernity due to proximity with increasing English population from the usual suspects; urban flight, bedroom communities enabled by transportation arteries and the high taxes on land lacking farmland preservation protections.
Mongo Ponton’s views aren’t too far from the mark though personally I think hypocrisy being a human condition isn’t removed by faith or ethnicity.
Amish own vehicles, cell phones, computers; use electricity, both grid and solar. They have stricture on the use of rubber, primarily tyres, yet some tractors still have them, and the IC engines that run much of the equipment are coupled via rubber belts. Telly watching is very popular at the neighbour’s especially baseball.
I could go on but will instead relate scuttlebutt heard from a Mennonite acquaintance: Some Amish are now wearing decorated underwear. ( Since the washing is always hung on the solar dryer everyone knows yer bidness ).
Seconded!
I would love to get some one to start a “Ask The Amish Guy” thread. Fat chance there eh?
There’s been a large influx of Amish in SW WI in the last 10 yrs or so. Their belief system seemed quite hypocritical to me - until I read Whynot’s explanation. That actually makes sense.
Tell me this, if you can. What’s their aversion to rubber tires? Those steel buggy wheels are hell on the roads. I’ve seen them pulling tractors with horses. The tractors were actually modified to have steel wheels in place of the rubber ones. Those are in the field and don’t affect me or the roads, but I’m just wondering why they’d go to all the trouble. How do steel wheels enhance the strength of the community?
In lieu of facts, any guesses?