“Amish Man” Driving A Tesla Cybertruck? Not So Fast…
Are the Amish driving Teslas now? If you glanced at recent headlines, you might come away with that idea.
Ben Zook runs Belmont Solar, located in Lancaster County. According to the story at teslarati.com, they install solar panels in 90 local homes, mostly Amish, each year (I’ve heard of this company before, but never had any direct dealings with it).
The hook of the story is that this “Amishman” drives a Tesla Cybertruck (headline: “Tesla Cybertruck becomes vehicle of choice for Amish solar provider”).
He is described three times in the article as an “Amish electrician” (including by himself: “I am an Amish electrician”). But how accurate is that, really?
Below you’ll see the photo that accompanies the article, which creates a bit of confusion. Let me explain.
Ben is clearly dressed not like an Amish person (some Amish people do wear company uniform shirts like Ben here, so that is one thing to consider, but his hair/beard is certainly not Lancaster Amish).
However, his wife at first look has a generally progressive Lancaster Old Order Amish appearance (despite some things being off, like the lacy bits on her dress sleeves). Their young son in particular looks like a Lancaster County Amish boy.
So what is going on here? Well, some former Amish/Amish-raised people end up migrating to higher churches while retaining much of, or parts of, Amish dress (along with other aspects of Amish culture). So that’s what I would guess is going on here.
He’s Not Old Order Amish
Ben clearly falls in the “raised Amish” category, but is no longer, or perhaps ever was, a member of an Old Order Amish church.
You can find confirmation of that in other media coverage. For example, there is this excerpt from a 2008 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“I believed that I could make a living out of electricity,” said Mr. Zook, who was raised Amish. “But what I didn’t imagine was that solar would become almost a mainstream thing the world talks about.
“My total business doubled last year, mostly because of the Amish,” said Mr. Zook, who owns Belmont Solar in Gordonville, Lancaster County. “It’s a pretty rapid growth rate.”
When you see descriptions of people like “who was raised Amish”, 99 times out of 100 that means they are no longer formally part of an Old Order Amish church.
Maybe a Beachy Amish church, or a Charity church, or another Mennonite denomination. But not Old Order (horse-and-buggy) Amish. That’s why Ben is driving the Tesla!
(I’ve also gotten confirmation that they’re not Amish church members from someone who had a look in the Lancaster County church directory).
This headline most likely reflects a general media preference to attach the “Amish” label to a story. From the perspective of many in the media – if you can do it, you do it. You’ll get more pageviews.
And in the eyes of many outsiders, this is close enough. So chalk this up as another very loose media use of the term “Amish”.
But I would guess Ben doesn’t mind being called Amish in the media either, for marketing purposes. That certainly gives the story, and likely his solar panel sales, a boost.
According to the story you have a link to, Ben calls himself ‘New Order Amish.’ The story notes his wife is also non-practicing Amish.
The story shows pictures of his house with a roof covered in solar panels and the solar truck is his. Not a very modest vehicle based on its look and cost. And his 2nd car appears to be an electric sedan.
He is a business man and is clearly targeting the Amish. In the story he notes that 50-70% of the Amish in Lancaster are using solar to some degree. He wants that market.
And since he is not Amish, there are a bunch of churches in Lancaster that have ‘raised Amish’ members.
These churches have similar characteristics to the Amish. It makes it easier for people who are thinking of leaving the Amish life take that 1st step away. Sadly, many members have quietly, as some Mennonites have as well, called the Amish ‘backwards'(Their words,not mine). And try to recruit them or get them to change. I wonder if Ben is doing this based on a comment he made in the story.
It should be noted he seems to be on goods terms with his parents as the story shows how he hooked up his parents house with solar.
And yes, he, like the media, do like using the term Amish for promotion purposes.