Amish vs. the English

When I first met the Amish, I spent a warm fuzzy period admiring and even idealizing Amish society.  This was in the summer of 2004, and I was selling a set of books called the Family Bible Library to Amish families.  I had spent a fruitful few weeks in the Arthur, Illinois community before traveling [...]

Continue reading If you “left the English”, what would you gain?

One manner of thinking views Amish society as highly restrictive and devoid of most freedoms.  By this view, Amish people are trapped in a harsh system which regulates nearly every aspect of their lives, leading to despair and misery. Amishman Aaron Miller previously discussed a pair of issues related to the idea of freedom–the Ordnung [...]

Continue reading Are Amish free to choose?

Outsiders often express an interest in joining the Amish.  The Amish traditionally do not seek out converts.  In one example related by John Hostetler in Amish Society, a particularly zealous outsider–though never actually formally joining an Amish congregation–did much to stir up Amish circles in the 1950s.  As Hostetler writes: When outsiders join, or attempt [...]

Continue reading ‘Joining’ the Amish: Russell Maniaci and the Amish mission movement

This is old news by now, but the big Amish-themed story of last week was not an April Fool’s joke, though some may have thought that the case.  A group of Lancaster Amish were invited to visit an Orthodox Jewish community (no longer online) in NYC.  Looks like they had a nice walk-through and cultural [...]

Continue reading Amish-Jewish pow-wow in NYC

“It is very definitely a gray area, in fact it is nearly black.” An anonymous Amish friend from Lancaster County has offered candid answers to some questions on Amish life.  In this first of two parts, he comments on topics such as the Amish presence in the media, Amish internet usage, friendships with non-Amish people, [...]

Continue reading An Amish America Q-and-A with a Lancaster County Amishman

As I expected, some folks were not too excited about my take on 'puppy mills' in yesterday's post, which is fine.  I thought I'd explore the issue a little further and have pasted a comment I made on that post here below: I think my main point here is that every Amish breeder is not a 'puppy miller'…just because it's an Amish-raised [...]

Continue reading ‘Puppy mill’ comments

Amish businesses have thrived in recent years–though there has been some clashing with non-Amish society along the way.  ‘Puppy mills’, Amish construction firms, and woodworking shops have all rubbed people the wrong way at times. ‘Puppy mills’ is the term applied to breeding operations that are typically poorly run and with pups and parent dogs [...]

Continue reading Controversial Amish businesses-’Puppy mills’ and others

David Weaver-Zercher is chair of the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania.  He is also the author and editor of numerous publications on the Amish, including The Amish in the American Imagination, Amish Grace (with co-authors Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt), and Writing the Amish: The Worlds of John [...]

Continue reading An Amish America Q-and-A with Professor David Weaver-Zercher

One thing that I admire about the Amish is the value they place in maintaining a spirit of humility.  When the idea comes up in conversation that the Amish are getting something right—for example, by the way that they live or the values they profess and adhere to–they are usually quick to deflect attention, reminding [...]

Continue reading Interview Excerpt: An Amish builder on working moms, mortgages, and making car payments

Across America in places where the Amish have set up shop, local businesses and government authorities have had to adapt some practices to accommodate the preferred Amish transportation. Traffic Jam off County Road 77 in Holmes County, Ohio Sometimes an Amish group showing up in an area can lead to disputes with locals over horse [...]

Continue reading Buggy-friendly America