The “rules” the Amish live by are determined by the Elders of that group. They can be quite strict or fairly loose. And can vary by a fair bit from colony to colony even as neighbors. Cell phones can be fine for one group and be forbidden for the next.
Like some much in life, the rules are open to interpretation.
My grandpa rents some of his fields out to an amish guy who also rents a lot of other fields in the area. The amish in our area are known to be pretty loose with their rules so my grandpa wasn’t surprised when the guy showed up with combine harvester but he was kind of surprised with how new it was. My grandpa asked him how he could drive a combine when they weren’t allowed to drive cars. To which the amish guy responded, “Well, I don’t actually drive the combine; it drives itself. I just sit in it.”
The Amish around where I live (Midwest) run a bunch of great little stores (which is most of the contact I have with them personally, but my partners mom has friends in their community who come to visit now and then.) The stores all take credit cards and have refrigerators for the cheeses/dairy, and many of them do use machinery for farm work. Some even use cell phones.
I haven’t noticed any jewelry (haven’t paid attention), but they really do seem to pick and choose which portions to adhere strongly to.
That does, honestly, seem to be the threshold for the communities around me.
Can they use it in a way they can argue complied with their religion? If yes, and money, do thing. If yes, no money, do thing. If no, but money, try harder to argue, then do thing.
Yeah the more I’ve found out and paid attention over the past few decades. I think the Amish how they were originally envisioned, died out many many years ago.
The current ilk, use that perception to make money and at best give lip service to the original ideals.
I figure in 50 years Amish will be indistinguishable from any other modern religion.
I mean even now they are just another niche religious community… I get what they were going for, but…
Their communities have a lot of problems. Like a lot. And because they mostly have that year of going into the world (intended as a culture shock, but really is just an introduction to modern convenience technology, which is mmmmm so enticing) their numbers are dwindling. And that sucks for the culture loss, but I doubt they will even exist in 50 years, honestly.
Or say they do exist in 50 years… they will be the people buying all the cheap shit that doesn’t meet emission regulations because they “have to weigh each new innovation”.
For as long as I’ve lived in close proximity to Amish communities (most of my life, again Midwest), they have always made weird questionable allowances that I don’t really understand because I’m not part of the community. Most of them get around their religious limitation by just hiring someone, that’s why they need money. I know this because my family was hired on multiple occasions (because we often did poultry trades and other livestock deals with them) to operate machinery (chainsaws, modern farm equipment, etc) on their behalf.
And doesn’t that just seem like modernizing with more steps?
Also inbreeding is a huge issue, I know back in the nineties there was a big deal about the large communities (Midwest, PA, NC?) intermarrying to try and help the issues
Also worth noting often if you see what looks like Amish folks driving a car, especially if its for personal errands they’re often not Amish but Mennonite.
I very consistently manage to shop at the same time as one Mennonite family, so I’ll see them getting groceries then load up their car and drive home
I don’t think jewelry wearing is compatible with the Amish conception of propriety and modesty but I’m not going to say it wouldn’t happen.
The “rules” the Amish live by are determined by the Elders of that group. They can be quite strict or fairly loose. And can vary by a fair bit from colony to colony even as neighbors. Cell phones can be fine for one group and be forbidden for the next.
Like some much in life, the rules are open to interpretation.
I saw some Amish or similar community teens freaking out in a Sheetz over the touch screens. They were having so much fun.
Right I get that, but the underlying value that the prohibitions are designed around is promoting humility and preventing vanity.
If the jewelery was given as a gift in good will, it would be worse to reject it or to accept it and never use it.
That sounds like pride and pride sounds like sin!
My grandpa rents some of his fields out to an amish guy who also rents a lot of other fields in the area. The amish in our area are known to be pretty loose with their rules so my grandpa wasn’t surprised when the guy showed up with combine harvester but he was kind of surprised with how new it was. My grandpa asked him how he could drive a combine when they weren’t allowed to drive cars. To which the amish guy responded, “Well, I don’t actually drive the combine; it drives itself. I just sit in it.”
Most based Amish dude I’ve ever heard about.
Jewish people on Sabbat vibes.
Sounds like the Amish would be ok with a robotic vacuum as long as it charged itself from a solar panel.
Nice ha ha
Good for them. Culture should evolve.
Maybe it depends on the branch of Amish. I’ve heard the ones in the Midwest are a little more relaxed than the ones in Pennsylvania.
The Amish around where I live (Midwest) run a bunch of great little stores (which is most of the contact I have with them personally, but my partners mom has friends in their community who come to visit now and then.) The stores all take credit cards and have refrigerators for the cheeses/dairy, and many of them do use machinery for farm work. Some even use cell phones.
I haven’t noticed any jewelry (haven’t paid attention), but they really do seem to pick and choose which portions to adhere strongly to.
My understanding is the faith has exclusions to the rules for when its necessary for work, so an Amish IT Administrator wouldn’t be impossible!
It mainly depends on if it makes them money or not.
That does, honestly, seem to be the threshold for the communities around me.
Can they use it in a way they can argue complied with their religion? If yes, and money, do thing. If yes, no money, do thing. If no, but money, try harder to argue, then do thing.
If no and no money, leave the community.
Yeah the more I’ve found out and paid attention over the past few decades. I think the Amish how they were originally envisioned, died out many many years ago.
The current ilk, use that perception to make money and at best give lip service to the original ideals.
I figure in 50 years Amish will be indistinguishable from any other modern religion.
I mean even now they are just another niche religious community… I get what they were going for, but…
Their communities have a lot of problems. Like a lot. And because they mostly have that year of going into the world (intended as a culture shock, but really is just an introduction to modern convenience technology, which is mmmmm so enticing) their numbers are dwindling. And that sucks for the culture loss, but I doubt they will even exist in 50 years, honestly.
Or say they do exist in 50 years… they will be the people buying all the cheap shit that doesn’t meet emission regulations because they “have to weigh each new innovation”.
For as long as I’ve lived in close proximity to Amish communities (most of my life, again Midwest), they have always made weird questionable allowances that I don’t really understand because I’m not part of the community. Most of them get around their religious limitation by just hiring someone, that’s why they need money. I know this because my family was hired on multiple occasions (because we often did poultry trades and other livestock deals with them) to operate machinery (chainsaws, modern farm equipment, etc) on their behalf.
And doesn’t that just seem like modernizing with more steps?
Also inbreeding is a huge issue, I know back in the nineties there was a big deal about the large communities (Midwest, PA, NC?) intermarrying to try and help the issues
Everyone’s just making shit up based on their feelings anyway, let them do as they
wiltwill.wollen
Really depends on the community, some have cars.
Also worth noting often if you see what looks like Amish folks driving a car, especially if its for personal errands they’re often not Amish but Mennonite.
I very consistently manage to shop at the same time as one Mennonite family, so I’ll see them getting groceries then load up their car and drive home