An interesting video about the Amish people.

Their theology is bullshit but I like the Amish people, even though I thank goodness I'm not one of them.

An Amish buggy near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 9, 2015.

The Washington Post

Opinions

The Amish use tech differently than you think. We should emulate them.

By Jeff Smith

February 17, 2020

Jeff Smith is the author of “Becoming Amish: A Family’s Search for Faith, Community and Purpose.”

Technology promised to connect us but divided us instead. As people worry about smartphone addiction and vow to spend less time on their laptops, social media companies are scrambling to placate a world that has caught on to their products’ ability to turn us against one another, tip elections and even incite violence. The Pew Research Center has found that between 2015 and 2019, the percentage of Americans who view technology companies as having a positive impact on the country plummeted 21 points, from 71 percent to 50 percent.

The growing anxiety about technology has prompted a “humane technology” movement among former Silicon Valley insiders disquieted by what their industry has wrought. But there’s another group, utterly unconnected to Google or Facebook or Apple, that has been practicing humane technology for generations: the Amish.

If your familiarity with the Amish doesn’t extend much beyond the image of a bearded man wearing a black hat and driving a horse and buggy on a rural road, you might have the impression that members of the traditionalist Christian group reflexively shun all modern technology. You’d be mistaken. Each church community of about 30 families — in a denomination with well over 300,000 members, spread across 31 states and parts of Canada and South America — has latitude in setting its technology boundaries.

When a church member asks to use a new technology, the families discuss the idea and vote to accept or reject. The conversation centers on how a device will strengthen or weaken relationships within the community and within families. Imagine if the United States had conducted a similar discussion when social media platforms were developing algorithms designed to amplify differences and then pit us against one another, because anger drives traffic and traffic drives profits.

Friends of mine belonged to an Amish church in Michigan. One of the church members wanted to purchase a hay baler that promised to be more efficient, even as it enabled him to work alone. The members discussed the proposal — yes, the new machine might increase productivity, but how would community connections be affected if he began haying without the help of others, and what would happen if his neighbors adopted the same technology? The risk to social cohesion, they decided, wasn’t worth the potential gains.

In another case, a family wanted to run propane gas pipes for lights to every room of their home instead of running them only to the kitchen and living room. (The Amish choose not to tap the electrical grid.) Church members discussed how the change would affect the family. If the family members could separate into bedrooms to read at night, instead of gathering in the living room, would their ties fray? Of course they would.

When I heard about that discussion, I thought of a woman at my children’s school who said the disintegration of her family began the day her husband bought a TV for every kid’s bedroom. That was a while back. Today, millions of parents are unwittingly putting TVs in their children’s bedrooms, in the form of smartphones and laptops. And uneasiness about weakening family ties is widespread.

For the Amish, technology in the workplace has long been more accepted than technology in homes, especially as the group has had to expand beyond farming to make a living. A recent issue of the Fabricator trade journal reported on advanced manufacturing processes in an Amish factory in Dalton, Ohio. A robot welds wheels. Programmed lasers cut metal. Engineers use three-dimensional computer-aided design, known as 3-D CAD, to devise products. And yet the plant is not connected to the electrical grid: A generator powered by natural gas provides electricity. At day’s end, the workers ride home on bicycles. High and low tech successfully live side by side because the focus stays on human connections.

For the Amish, social media consists of paying visits in real life to other members of the community. It’s the main form of entertainment. People drop in on one another to chat for the evening, they have regular potluck dinners, they gather for what the Amish call a “work bee,” as dozens of church members pitch in on a construction project — a barn can be built in a day. When the Amish take a vacation, they don’t call it vacation; they say they are “going visiting,” seeing the country by stopping in at the homes of friends and family.

Americans will never abandon technology for a horse-and-buggy life, but millions of us have begun weighing the costs of constant connectivity. When pondering how to strike the right balance, we might do well at least to pause and consider taking a personal version of the Amish approach. “Go visiting” to see an older relative, invite a neighbor for a meal, spend an evening with a loved one just talking — no glowing screen in your pocket or on your lap or in your hand begging for attention. There’s a reason people have been connecting like this for eons: It’s good for them.

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This blog has 7 posts about the Amish people at AMISH.

Everything I know about the Amish people.

Please click this link to another post on this blog. It's about the Amish people who by the way I like very much. Today I updated it with a video at the end of the post. The video was well done.

Saturday, December 2, 2017 - Everything I know about the Amish people.

It would be so nice if Christian assholes were like the Amish who mind their own business.

"Christians, why do you always bother atheists to believe in your imaginary friend?"

Most Christian cults require the morons who belong to it to sell their version of the Magic Man.

An exception is the Amish. They mind their own business.

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I recommend this post I wrote: Everything I know about the Amish.

I answered three questions about religious scum.

Which religious group do you hate the most?

The know-nothing bible-thumping assholes who try to suppress the teaching of evolution. They belong in prison.

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Which religious group do you like the most?

The Amish because they mind their own business.

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When will Christians finally provide valid evidence for their version of God?

500 dead witnesses who were invented is what they call evidence for the magical resurrection of the Magic Jeebus Man. They don't know what real evidence is. Their stupidity is breathtaking.

Their other problem is they're cowards. Reality makes Christian morons cry.

I recommend one of my old posts. It's about the Amish people.

Everything I know about the Amish people.

If you haven't seen this I recommend it. It's a post I wrote about the Amish.

Everything I know about the Amish people.

Everything I know about the Amish people.

I like the Amish people because they are the only Christians who mind their own business.

They are the only branch of Christianity that almost never lets anyone else get in. You have to be born into it.

They don't bother other people, they just want to live their way and not care too much about the rest of the world.

Most of them live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. They also live in Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. There are a very small number of them who live in other states.

Their chicken is excellent. I used to eat their chicken which was available in a wealthy suburb of Chicago.

The Amish are the best carpenters in the world. Some of them got a job building the ridiculous Noah's Ark in Kentucky. By the way the Noah's Ark story is about the bible god's love for genocide.

For some reason they don't have and don't use any electricity which means no internet and they can't use anything else that requires electricity.

To travel they use a horse and buggy. If they have to go somewhere that requires a car they have somebody who is not Amish give them a ride. They also travel by train.

The only time I saw the Amish was at train station in downtown Chicago. They were waiting for a train. I was also waiting for a train and I sat only about 10 feet from where they were. They speak English but they were talking in one of these languages: Pennsylvania German, Bernese German, Low Alemannic Alsatian German, and Amish High German. It was very interesting to listen to them even though I didn't understand anything they said.

It's possible to pay them to be able to join an Amish family dinner and ask them questions. My parents did this.

When Amish children are old enough they are allowed to experience the rest of the world for one weekend and then decide which life they prefer. I assume they almost always decide to continue the life they were born into.

They have their own schools and the students are done after 8th grade. No high school. The United States government usually requires students to be in school until at least age 16 but the Amish do not have to obey this rule.

Also the Amish got the government to agree they never have to pay social security taxes which means they can never collect social security when they get too old to work.

The Amish are creationists and they probably know nothing about evolution. Also this subject is something they don't talk about.

Like every other branch of Christianity they believe in a magical 2nd life in a magical heaven.

"While the Amish share the belief of most Protestants that salvation is an unearned gift from God, they don't believe that faith automatically guarantees salvation. Many reject the belief common to other Protestant denominations that anyone can be certain that his salvation is guaranteed. They consider such certainty to be arrogant."

"The Amish, who are well known for their horse-and-buggy lifestyle, live separately from the world and modern technology. That separation extends to foregoing electricity, since being tied into the electrical grid would constitute a connection to the outside word. This stems from the desire to avoid being 'polluted' by the sin they see as rampant in the modern world."

"Most Christians see spreading the word of God as a central responsibility of their faith. Many Amish, on the other hand, feel no obligation to evangelize, preferring to let their faith show by the way they live. In fact, the Amish rarely accept converts."

"Amish grant primary authority to the church and reject any civilian authority that contradicts it. Amish beliefs, for example, forbid acceptance of any public funds."

"Retired Amish receive no Social Security benefits. On the other hand, they're not legally obligated to pay Social Security taxes, either (per a 1961 Supreme Court Decision). They don't educate their children past eighth grade, and they avoid joining the military. In addition, when required to testify in court, they do not swear oaths. Instead, they make affirmations of truth."

"The Ordnung is an oral tradition of rules and expectations that govern every aspect of Amish life, private, public and ceremonial. Rather than being a written set of rules that must be memorized, the Ordnung is taught by living it, much like children absorb and learn their native tongue by living it. It's a code of conduct that evolved over decades, and it differs slightly from one Amish congregation to another."

There are tons of more information about the Amish people at Wikipedia - Amish.

Also these links are about the Amish:

Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center
Amish furniture
Amish music
Barn raising
Bank of Bird-in-Hand
Christian views on poverty and wealth
Fancy Dutch
List of Amish and their descendants
Martyrs Mirror
Pinecraft (Sarasota)
Plain people
West Nickel Mines School shooting

I found this at the West Nickel Mines School shooting. These Amish people are amazing.

On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man." Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God." Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts."

A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.

Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you." The Amish do not normally accept charity, but because of the extreme nature of the tragedy, donations were accepted. Richie Lauer, director of the Anabaptist Foundation, said the Amish community, whose religious beliefs prohibit them from having health insurance, will likely use the donations to help pay the medical costs of the hospitalized children.

Some commentators criticized the quick and complete forgiveness with which the Amish responded, arguing that forgiveness is inappropriate when no remorse has been expressed, and that such an attitude runs the risk of denying the existence of evil, while others were supportive. Donald Kraybill and two other scholars of Amish life noted that "letting go of grudges" is a deeply rooted value in Amish culture, which remembers forgiving martyrs including Dirk Willems and Jesus himself. They explained that the Amish willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong, but rather constitutes a first step toward a future that is more hopeful.

An Amish family.