# Q: Why Amish Reject the Modern World? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214 "2006-05-18T03:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/41 "2006-05-19T18:45:44Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Seriously, I know a lot of rural families that don’t treat their dogs any different than the cows. I do as well. However, when comparing entire communities I do not think there is much to compare. I wish an Amish person would give their two cents, however that is very unlikely.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/42 "2006-05-19T20:14:01Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > I do as well. However, when comparing entire communities I do not think there is much to compare. I wish an Amish person would give their two cents, however that is very unlikely.😉 I’m Mennonite (well, was raised that way, anyways), does that count? Probably not, given that the branch I’m from doesn’t go in for the rejection of technology stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/43 "2006-05-19T20:23:27Z")
Regarding “rumspringa”, I drove up to Amish country earlier this spring and took a tour of a rstored Amish home. The woman who did the tour had been raised Amish but is now a practicing Mennonite. Anyway, she said that at least in her particular sect/offshoot/whatever, there really was no such thing as “rumspringa.” She said that certainly if a child decided to go off and explore “English” ways, they’d be welcomed home afterwards, but it’s not like that sort of thing was encouraged. Lehman’s is the bomb, by the way. If you need any sort of cast-iron cookware whatsoever, they’re your source. I have an irrational lust for the 30-inch cast iron frying pan. I don’t know what I’d do with it. It wouldn’t even fit on my stove. But it would be so cool to have. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/44 "2006-05-19T22:35:12Z")
All I know is that the ignorance in the Amish communities can be appalling. I have a friend who is an ER nurse in PA, and she often has Amish teens coming in asking if Saran wrap tied with a rubber band will work as contraception–that sort of thing. I admire them for their focus on the simpler joys in life, but I cannot admire the ignorance. There was a book written recently about an Amish woman who left and wrote about her dealings with the minister and her family etc. Parts of it were horrific. Amish are people and the good traits and bad are demonstrated in them as much as they are in us. It’s easy to romanticize their lives, but it’s doubtful any of us would trade places with them. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/45 "2006-05-19T23:07:21Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > All I know is that the ignorance in the Amish communities can be appalling. I have a friend who is an ER nurse in PA, and she often has Amish teens coming in asking if Saran wrap tied with a rubber band will work as contraception–that sort of thing. You don’t really think English teens don’t have bizzare notions about contraception, do you? Google **contraception myths** and weep. There was a thread within the last year wherein Doper women admitted they didn’t know where a woman’s urine comes out. Never underestimate women’s ignorance about our own bodies. But yes, I agree we shouldn’t romanticize the Amish. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/46 "2006-05-19T23:10:34Z")
I didn’t mean to imply that only Amish teens have messed up notions as to contraception–but that is the one example that stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/47 "2006-05-19T23:13:13Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > All I know is that the ignorance in the Amish communities can be appalling. I have a friend who is an ER nurse in PA, and she often has Amish teens coming in asking if Saran wrap tied with a rubber band will work as contraception–that sort of thing. > I admire them for their focus on the simpler joys in life, but I cannot admire the ignorance. There was a book written recently about an Amish woman who left and wrote about her dealings with the minister and her family etc. Parts of it were horrific. Amish are people and the good traits and bad are demonstrated in them as much as they are in us. It’s easy to romanticize their lives, but it’s doubtful any of us would trade places with them. You wouldn’t happen to have the name of that book, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/48 "2006-05-19T23:34:15Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > 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. It’s commonly believed–I heard it from one of my teachers in middle school, myself–that the Amish believe cameras steal souls. We’re here to fight ignorance, but you don’t have to be a jackass about it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/49 "2006-05-20T01:09:43Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > I’m still not entirely sure how a couple of Amish families ended up in western Kentucky, though. The local Wal-Mart actually put up a hitching post for their horses. As Yankees (or English–different Amish communities use different terms for outsiders) begin encroaching on available farmland, the Amish (who tend to have large families and so need to keep expanding their farmland to give all the kids places to live) keep seeking new locations. In the late 80s, a number of Amish discovered that there was farmland going cheap in some region of Kentucky and there was a flurry of movement as a number of younger families moved there. I do not know whether you live in the area that was the destination of the Holmes and Geauga County Ohio Amish, but the movements are pretty carefully selected and planned. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/50 "2006-05-20T13:04:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You wouldn’t happen to have the name of that book, would you? I don’t wanna speak for **eleanorigby** , but I believe this is what she was talking about: > **[Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life: Garrett, Ruth Irene, Farrant,...](https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Over-Womans-Escape-Amish/dp/006052992X)** > > Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life \[Garrett, Ruth Irene, Farrant, Rick\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life > [@](#): > > Ruth Irene Garrett was the fifth of seven children raised in Kalona, Iowa as a member of a strict Old Order Amish community. She was brought up with rigid rules and intense secrecy in a world where the dress, buggies, codes of conduct, and way of life differed from that of other Amish societies a mere one hundred miles away. Her community uncompromisingly avoided all interaction with “the English” – everyone who lived on the outside. As a result, Ruth knew only one way of life, one way of doing things. > > This compelling true tale offers a striking look inside a hidden community as a woman comes to terms with her discontent and ultimately leaves her family, faith, and the sheltered world of her childhood. She bravely crosses over to a new and unfamiliar reality in hopes of better understanding her emotional and spiritual desires. The result is a powerful and inspiring story – a search for meaning and the extraordinary lessons learned along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/51 "2006-05-20T21:06:27Z")
fetus writes: \> It’s commonly believed–I heard it from one of my teachers in middle school, \> myself–that the Amish believe cameras steal souls. We’re here to fight \> ignorance, but you don’t have to be a jackass about it. It’s a remarkable silly belief about the Amish in itself, but it’s also typical of a remarkably silly set of beliefs about the Amish. Believing that the camera would steal one’s soul is the sort of thing that some group completely cut off from the modern world might believe, not the Amish, who interact in many ways with the rest of the world and have seen many people use cameras. The Amish do not have some utterly weird set of religious beliefs. Theologically, they are fairly conventional Christians. They have a fairly unusual way of putting their beliefs into practice, but that doesn’t mean that they have weird religious beliefs. Claims like “the Amish believe that cameras steal souls” seem to me to be typical of the sort of technology-worshipper who insists that everyone must use the absolutely newest piece of technology or there’s something wrong with them. These are the people who demand that everyone must _immediately_ switch from landlines to cell phones and from VCR’s to DVD players and from records and cassettes to CD’s and that anyone who doesn’t must be some sort of primitive savage. It’s possible to hesitate about using some new piece of technology without believing that the technology is cursed. The Amish are fairly rational people without bizarre beliefs about technology. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/52 "2006-05-20T21:57:32Z")
Dude, **Wendell** , I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just saying that ignorance about the Amish is widespread, and it’s unfortunate but it’s not going to get solved with vitriol. Most people here who educate themselves on problems of bigger scale, don’t educate themselves on the Amish because it doesn’t affect that many peoples’ lives. Tone it down, alright? This is GQ fercrissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/53 "2006-05-20T21:59:45Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > I don’t wanna speak for **eleanorigby** , but I believe this is what she was talking about: > [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006052992X/qid=1148130152/sr=2-2/ref=pd\_bbs\_b\_2\_2/002-9389790-4756053?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006052992X/qid=1148130152/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-9389790-4756053?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) Thanks. I’ll see if I can’t find it in the library-I’ve been needing something new to read. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/54 "2006-05-20T22:05:34Z")
The problem with Jinx’s OP is the same as the problem with most of his OP’s. He asks questions which show that he has a much wider area of ignorance than just the subject he’s asking about. He really needs to read a book about the Amish, not just have us answer some little question about them. In general, he needs to read more and post less. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/55 "2006-05-20T22:06:27Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > The problem with Jinx’s OP is the same as the problem with most of his OP’s. He asks questions which show that he has a much wider area of ignorance than just the subject he’s asking about. He really needs to read a book about the Amish, not just have us answer some little question about them. In general, he needs to read more and post less. So take it to the Pit, and try not to jump on those having a discussion here. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/56 "2006-05-20T22:10:15Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > The problem with Jinx’s OP is the same as the problem with most of his OP’s. He asks questions which show that he has a much wider area of ignorance than just the subject he’s asking about. He really needs to read a book about the Amish, not just have us answer some little question about them. In general, he needs to read more and post less. You’re saying that every time you have a little question, you go and read a book about it instead of asking a community you’re a part of? Again, fighting ignorance doesn’t mean going batshit nuts on people. The soul-stealing-camera thing is a UL that a lot of people believe. I was taught it in school. Anyway, this is fucking GQ. If you want to Pit someone, we have a forum for that. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/57 "2006-05-20T22:21:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > So take it to the Pit, and try not to jump on those having a discussion here. Yes, please do. There’s a pit thread in progress, but people have focused on the OP rather than giving **Jinx** the pitting he so richly deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/58 "2006-05-20T23:26:13Z")
fetus writes: \> Again, fighting ignorance doesn’t mean going batshit nuts on people. This is what I wrote: \> 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. That is not remotely “going batshit nuts” on him. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/59 "2006-05-20T23:29:46Z")
fetus writes: \> You’re saying that every time you have a little question, you go and read a \> book about it instead of asking a community you’re a part of? When someone asks me a question that shows that they are ignorant of a rather large area of knowledge, I tell them that it would be a good idea to learn about that larger area, not just the small part of it they are asking about, so I tell them that they should read a book about that subject. ---
**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 20, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214/60 "2006-05-20T23:42:21Z")
So, anyone else think “rumspinga” sounds like the name of a hip-hop song? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-why-amish-reject-the-modern-world/357214.md?page=4)