# It's okay to be a bigot if you hate the Amish! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 24, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680 "2002-05-24T17:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/1 "2002-05-24T17:52:38Z")
From Great Debates, or maybe it was IMHO: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*In addition to their antiquated farming methods, the Amish in Pennsylvania were recently indicated as being particularly active in puppy milling. If they cleaned up their acts in these two regards, I can’t imagine that anyone would have a problem with them. \*\* Holy Moses, I cannot believe what some people can get away with saying if it’s about a small religious sect. I mean, God forbid we should have a PROBLEM with “the Amish” because they’re “indicated as being particularly active in puppy milling.” I guess based on that, we should have a problem with them. But if they can just clean up their act, to use your words, why, then “we” won’t have a problem anymore. And of course, they use antiquated farming methods, God forbid. Because, of course, us modern folks don’t do _anything_ to harm the environment, so we turn our noses up at the old farming methods as we drive by in our Ford Enormousondo SUVs to our job at the chemical dumping factory. I’m sorry, but this is naked, open bigotry. It’s disgusting. Are ALL Amish involved in puppy milling? No? Then what’s the problem here? What, ordinary schmoes don’t mass-produce puppies? Or are you saying the Amish are disproportionately likely to be involved in puppy milling? Well, maybe that’s true - but in the United States, black people are disproportionately likely to be involved in selling and possessing crack than whites are. Does this mean we should “Have a problem” with them until they “Clean up their act,” at which point we won’t “Have a problem with them?” Or maybe we should “Have a problem” with Italians, because I’ve heard about that Mafia thing; why, if they’d just clean up their act, we wouldn’t have a problem with them! Here in Canada a lot of our aboriginals are unemployed and have alcohol problems. I have a problem with them! If only they’d clean up their act! But of course I can’t say I have a problem with blacks, Italians, or aboriginals, because I would rightly be considered a complete idiot for saying such things. But when the AMISH are said to be involved in PUPPY MILLING, which of course is the worst crime imaginable, why, we should have a problem with them! I guess it’s okay to rip on the Amish, though, because of course there’s little chance any will be on the SDMB, and it’s just fun to make fun of them, right? Jesus, what’s wrong with people? This turns my stomach. So they dress and act in a way you think is funny. So their buggies get in the way as you’re shrieking down the road 20 miles over the limit. So they aren’t perfect human beings; neither are you. Leave them alone. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/2 "2002-05-24T17:57:59Z")
It’s safe to blast the Amish; they’ll never read this message board :rolleyes: I thought this was going to flame the poster (forgot) who complained that they take their (_&#_ buggies on the roads! (da noive!) Yeah, that was a very disappointing thread. It showed some true colors. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/3 "2002-05-24T18:03:36Z")
The Amish are a frequent target here at the SDMB. The last two groups it’s OK to denigrate: fat people and the Amish. I once knew this fat Amish guy . . . ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/4 "2002-05-24T18:04:51Z")
The AMISH make the finest whoopie pies in all of Pennsylvania and most of the Eastern states. They also grow wonderful fruits and vegetables and delicious ‘fried corn’ I WILL NOT HAVE THEM SLANDERED when they’ve done so much to increase my waist size. Seriously, I can’t imagine anyone having a ‘problem’ with such a quiet, reserved people. They have flaws just like everyone else… j ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/5 "2002-05-24T18:42:11Z")
[link for y’all](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=116835). Asenine comments made by **ramorris** and **tlw**. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/6 "2002-05-24T18:46:45Z")
Frankly, I’m all in favor of “puppy milling”. Is it OK to like the Amish for that? ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/7 "2002-05-24T19:46:05Z")
I know this is the pit and all… but I recently went to PA to visit my brother. He lives near Lancaster County where there are a lot of Amish people. We drove around to all the shops, etc. So please clue me in as to why anyone would hate the Amish. They seemed really nice to me. If they choose not to live with modern conveniences, so be it. Also, I went under the impression that they completely avoided “the modern man” (I know nothing of this culture, sorry. TV has skewed my thinking). Yet I saw a group going to a super market and buying soda. So someone please clue me in. one last thing: It seemed really rude the way some tourists treated the Amish: like they were freaks. I saw a family at a convenience store (Waa Waa…oh the name KILLS me!) and as I waited for my brother I asked the guy if I could pet his horse. They were fine with that and even laughed when I told them I was from Texas and had never really petted a horse before. So I guess they have sterotypes of us, too! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/8 "2002-05-24T19:49:26Z")
What the fuck is puppy milling, and why should I hate the Amish for it? ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/9 "2002-05-24T19:55:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*What the fuck is puppy milling, and why should I hate the Amish for it? \*\* Grinding puppy bones into a fine powder. They mix the powder with gin to make paste to go in the joints of their Amish furniture. (and to bother Scylla) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/10 "2002-05-24T20:02:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > What the fuck is puppy milling, and why should I hate the Amish for it? Puppy milling is “mass producing” puppies, mostly for the pet store trade. Since the animals are bred specifically to produce large litters and the animals are often ( not always ) housed inadequately ( think of the equivalent of veal-fattening pens, but for dogs ), puppy-milled dogs tend to have much higher occurence of a whole list of behavioral quirks and health problems that well-bred animals of the same breed, generally won’t. As a consequence buying a puppy from a pet store is usually a bad idea, because it’s more of a crapshoot. Also particularly bad puppy-millers, in addition to keeping their animals in inadequate housing with virtually no real exercise and sometimes inadequate nutrition, will “burn-out” females by breeding them constantly, contributing to early deaths and general misery. Even “good” puppy-millers ( well-fed, healthy animals ) are a detriment because of the afore-mentioned genetic damage they cause to a dog breeds gene-pool. It’s a pretty repulsive practice, really. I, personally, have no idea of its prevalence in Amish Country. Around here it is mostly the provenance of white trash. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/11 "2002-05-24T20:08:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tamerlane \* > \*\*It’s a pretty repulsive practice, really. > > I, personally, have no idea of its prevalence in Amish Country. Around here it is mostly the provenance of white trash.\*\* You got a problem with white trash, Sparky? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/12 "2002-05-24T20:10:22Z")
So that’s puppy milling, huh? Well, color me indifferent. So, unless their “antiquated farming practices” involve sacrificing virgins, the Amish continue to be about the least offensive people on Earth. And I hate them for that. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/13 "2002-05-24T20:17:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kamandi \* > You got a problem with white trash, Sparky? **Sparc** is another poster entirely ;). And I am the proud descendant of white trash on my maternal side - I still love that mac n’ cheese :D. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/14 "2002-05-24T23:28:21Z")
I will never criticize the Amish, as they seem to be a major customer base for Amtrak. Traveling in families no less! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/15 "2002-05-25T00:18:53Z")
I really have a hard time working up anything but admiration for the Amish. They bust their asses and stick to a difficult lifestyle from commitment and devotion to their beliefs. Sure, there are general farming practices they could improve, and their farming style _does_ increase errosion and water quality problems in the Chesapeake, but these are correctable problems, and have not been addressed by the people of the Great State of Pennsylvania as a whole, so they (the Amish) don’t much see a point to changing their ways. Now, if it were made an issue, they’d change, as reluctantly as they did when going to electric lights on their buggies perhaps, but change they would. In the end, the Amish are nothing if not practical. So: If you have a problem with their (Eastern PA) cultural farming practices, just make an issue out of it at the state level. ---
**Author:** ![Sparc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Sparc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparc)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/16 "2002-05-25T02:17:32Z")
> [@](#): > > _Tamerlane;_ > Sparc is another poster entirely . And I am the proud descendant of white trash on my maternal side I sure as hell is another poster altogheter as y’all put it, but as far as European white trash is…I’d say; hell ya! My mamas people ain’t no upity folks neither. 😃 Sparc ---
**Author:** ![celestina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@celestina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/celestina)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/17 "2002-05-25T04:15:22Z")
[celestina fanning herself] Oooh, **Sparc** , for a European, you sure are sportin’ a right Southern accent to the way you spellin’ your words and all. How _you_ doin’, Sugar? **Tamerlane** , Sweetie, I never would have guessed you got white trash in your family tree, and ain’t nothin’ wrong with havin’ it in your tree neither. What with a name like **Tamerlane** and all, I just never expected that. Well, learn something new everyday, I guess. As far as the OP goes, I think that puppy milling is just awful. Those poor, poor mama doggies and those poor lil puppies! ☹ I don’t know enough about the Amish to say I like 'em or don’t. I honestly never paid that much attention to them, except I think I read somewhere once about there being some linguistic studies done on their language since they at some point have isolated themselves from us crazy modern folks and all. If they want to hold on to their traditions and all, fine. I say more power to them 'cause it sure enough ain’t easy to do nowadays. I ain’t read the thread in question, and I don’t know who was racist/offensive/insensitive or whatever, but I just wanted to say to **RickJay** that some of the sarcasm in his OP (e.g. them Ford Enormousondo SUVs he claims we drive to the chemical dumping plant) near like to put me in a fit of the giggles, and I truly needed to giggle today to keep from taking a shotgun to a piece of equipment that’s been plaguing me of late. Okay, carry on. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/18 "2002-05-25T04:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*The Amish are a frequent target here at the SDMB. The last two groups it’s OK to denigrate: fat people and the Amish. I once knew this fat Amish guy . . . \*\* Let’s see if we can agree on what groups we’re allowed to target: – Amish – Other strange Christian sects, like Ashcroft’s Pentacostal Assemblies of God – fat people – white trash – trailor park trash – rednecks – military people (or did 9/11 end that?) – law-enforcement people (?) Any others still available? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/19 "2002-05-25T06:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by celestina \* > > **Tamerlane** , Sweetie, I never would have guessed you got white trash in your family tree, and ain’t nothin’ wrong with havin’ it in your tree neither. What with a name like **Tamerlane** and all, I just never expected that. Well, learn something new everyday, I guess. Well, a little removed, to be sure :). My mother’s father grew up in a family of sharecroppers in Mississippi. But he himself was a poor rural cop in Maryland most of his adult life. Now my father grew up on a subsistence farm and was the son of a coalminer ( who died of Black Lung, natch, a year or two after I was born ). But they were second-generation bilingual immigrants, which was sort of its own separate category ;). > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > Let’s see if we can agree on what groups we’re allowed to target: > – Amish > – Other strange Christian sects, like Ashcroft’s Pentacostal Assemblies of God > – fat people > – white trash > – trailor park trash > – rednecks > – military people (or did 9/11 end that?) > – law-enforcement people (?) > > Any others still available? Liberals - Fucking commies. Conservatives - Fucking nazis. Moderates - Fucking fence-sitters. Scum, all of them ;). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680/20 "2002-05-25T06:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*Any others still available? \*\* Winter months.🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-okay-to-be-a-bigot-if-you-hate-the-amish/110680.md?page=2)