Why do the Amish reject all modern conveniences? What in their religion (I presume) teaches them to do so? Also, will the Amish even accept modern meds? And, last…what is their thought on photogrpahy? Is it deemed vanity? Or, they truly believe the camera will steal their soul? (Or, is that a UL?) Will they allow portraits of themselves, in the least? - Jinx
The Amish don’t reject all modern conveniences. What they do reject is typically rejected in order to keep their attention and concern on the family rather than on the world. They can have phones, for instance, but they have to be outside the house, in the barn or a shed of some kind.
As for the medical question, let me quote this excellent website:
http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/amishfaq.htm
Now one for you: Why do you put a “Q:” in front of a subject line in General Questions? 
Jinx writes:
> Or, they truly believe the camera will steal their soul?
What? Just what sort of bizarre beliefs do you think the Amish have? They aren’t some sort of Stone Age savages hidden in some remote jungle. The Amish are, theologically, fairly conventional Christians. They don’t believe that the engines of cars are the breeding ground for devils. They don’t believe that electricity is Satan’s personal tool. They don’t believe that television is the doorway to Hell. And they certainly don’t believe that cameras steal souls. In so far as they refuse to use certain modern inventions, it’s because they think that these devices would distract them from their church and family life.
I’ve ridden Amtrak with some of them (this was in Wisconsin, so I’m not sure what to call them) so they’ll certainly ride the train.
In Strasburg, PA they’re filmed all the time from the steam train, so I doubt they believe that cameras will steal their souls. I thought that was an old native American UL…
An enlightening documentary on the Amish custom of rumspringa is found in
Devil’s Playground.
I belive Mayans (and yes, there are still plenty of them) are very sensitive about cameras and photographs. I’m sure it’s not as simple as that, but when tour guides tell people “don’t take pictures of the locals without asking” they need something fast and easy to say.
I believe Amish don’t like photographs because they count as graven images.
Amish can ride in cars, trains and even airplaces (though that is not prefered), but they usually do not own or drive their own cars.
Odd restrictions are as old as religion themselves (dietary restrictions are most common) and serve to keep the community together and limit the influence of outsiders.
I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense.
The Japanese had a period of believing that a camera would steal your soul around the 1850’s. I don’t know about other cultures.
Of course they’ll ride the train. How else could their children serve as hidden eyewitnesses to murders in large cities’ train terminals if they didn’t ride on trains?
Heh. supervenusfreak’s aunt was an extra in that movie. He actually met Kelly McGillis when she came into the Minit-Mart where he worked at the time.
When Pepper Mill was working in the North End of Boston, a group of Amish walked by their office (The Amish take vacations, too). Her boss, unfamiliar with the Amish, looked out the window and exclaimed:
“Pilgrims!”
…
My understanding of the Amish is that they’re fanatical about rejecting materialism and consumerism. For example, clothing is worn for two purposes: to keep yourself decently covered, and to protect against harsh weather conditions. They’re not supposed to concern themselves with fashion, or being trendy, or anything of that nature.
I think it would be more accurate to say they reject all those aspects of the modern world which are, in their opinion, shitty and/or likely to cause unecessary trouble to them, their families and their culture.
The Amish don’t reject “the modern world” or “modern conveniences”. When something new comes along (I’m not sure if I saw this in Devil’s Playground or it was in the local news in PA), the community will examine it. If they decide it’s likely to be harmful to family life (ej Gameboys) or that it’s only purpose is convenience (zippers over buttons), then they reject it. Their refrigerators in Philly’s central market are most definitely switched on and lit.
The idea is to keep God and the community at the center of your life. Anything that will detract from that is therefore bad.
What’s urban about it? 
Bill Bryson makes reference to this in one of his books- Made In America, I think (it’s late and I’m not about to look it up)- in which he says something about how the Amish can’t agree on how rigorous their shunning of Modern Technology should be, so every time anyone’s invented anything at all since the 1800s, a splinter group will invariably split off, either in favour of the new technology, or against it.
Of course, the comment is meant to be humorous, but I’m told it’s not actually that far off the mark…
Is it just me or are the Amish starting to sound like they’ve got it figured out?
Tangent: is there a seedy dark side to the Amish community? Maybe I’ve been watching too much “Big Love” but it seems like there’s got to be a lot of repression associated with a group that’s so conservative. I know they let their teenagers go live the material life, then decide whether to come back.
Not too far off the mark. But it’s not so much splinter groups as parishes.
Since there’s limited mobility (in general - yes they do ride in cars, driven by the English and use mass transport) your parish is where you live. And it’s usually where you live most of your life. Farms are handed down through the family. Each parish has a bishop and the bishop decides the rules. So the bishop in Berlin, OH might decide that having a phone for public use at the edge of your property that you pay for is fine, while the bishop in in Strasburg might say you can only use a phone not on your property and the bishop in Sugarcreek might say you can only use a phone outside of an English person’s house but not inside. (note- bishops aren’t really assigned by municipality, I am just using town names as a reference)
But yeah there are some major groups within the Amish, most notably the Old Order and the New Order. There’s another order that I can’t think of the name right now. The New Order is actually more strict than the Old Order - some folks thought that the Amish were getting a little too worldly and created the New Order to make things more strict again. The variance in dress you see - usually a variance in color and head dressings - is more order-defined than bishop-defined.
BTW the Amish evolved out of the Mennonites, and there are several “levels” of Mennonites as well. There’s Mennonites who live more plainly than the Amish, and there’s those like my grandparents who are completely modern, like you and I, and everything inbetween.
There’s a really cool museum somewhere near Sugarcreek Ohio that has a huge mural that explains the entire history of the Mennonites. It’s quite interesting.
Yeah there is, sort of. The kids are allowed to “go wild” around 18 and decide wether or not to join the church or become English. But really the kids do what most other kids do around that age - drinking, sex, fast cars, loud music. It’s just a lot more shocking to see Amish kids doing it as it’s such a major difference from the way the rest of their families live and sometimes they do take it to the extreme.
Shunning is also big with the Amish. You grow up in a nice happy, safe home and your whole life revolves around your large family. Then you decide not to join the church and you’re out. Can’t come back and in most cases you never speak to your family and friends again. It’s a really big commitment to leave the church - it’s definitely starting a new life.
Sometimes whole families leave. My grandmother’s dad became disenfranchised with the way things were done when she turned 18 (she was the oldest girl in the family and it freaked him out to consider some of the sexual practices that she might be exposed to) so the entire family - ten kids - up and “left” the church, becomming Mennonite instead. They stayed in the house he’d built, but added electricity and got cars. Their extended family didn’t speak to them for years. It’s been about 50 years now so my grandmother is getting back in touch with a lot of her family. She’s got about 100 cousins 
Their neighbors, who have 8 kids and the oldest daughter just turned 19, have recently left the order. Their oldest son got a car during his “rumsprinnga” and within 2 years the family decided they wanted cars too. They had been living with and taking care of the grandfather, who is none too happy about them leaving, but he isn’t completely shunning them. However, the dad had to leave his job - at a woodworking shop with many other Amish men - because the shunning there was too much to take.