How much do Amish interact with the public? Â It’s a broad question, without a straightforward answer. Â Two recent stories show Amish crossing boundaries of sorts. Law Enforcement On the whole, Amish are less likely than your average American to call the police. Â They have been criticized for this reluctance, particularly when criminal matters are involved. Â Amish have cooperated with the law in the recent…
Linda Maendel is a member of a Hutterite colony in Manitoba. Â We last looked at Hutterites back in January in an interview with Mary-Ann Kirkby, the author of I Am Hutterite. Hutterites live primarily in Canada and the Upper Midwest, and have some similarities to Amish. Â Hutterites share the same Anabaptist roots as Amish and Mennonites, maintain a plain form of dress, and live lives…
Chances are you’ve heard of the recent attacks on Amish by now. Â Members of a small Ohio group have been entering Amish homes and cutting off men’s beards and men’s and women’s hair. Â Authorities have gotten involved and now there are serious charges–kidnapping and burglary–against the perpetrators. The group in question is located near the town of Bergholz in Jefferson County (this is a county…
The picture above was taken at an Amish farm in Hardin County, Ohio (we’ve mentioned this settlement already this summer, see the unusual buggy post). Can you guess what’s happening here? The family only does this once a  year.  Luckily, that was the day I stopped by! UPDATE: if you guessed apple butter, well done! See below in the comments for a bit more background…
Amish Workshops has posted a great look at the process Amish women go through to pin up their hair.  The article features over 2 dozen photos illustrating the procedure. Amish women don’t display their hair for Biblically-based reasons. They also do not cut their hair, pinning it all up underneath a kapp, or prayer covering. When I posted this article on the Amish America Facebook…
Suzanne Woods Fisher has an interesting piece on Amish marriage in the Christian Post. Â Suzanne shares examples of Amish married couples, and reasons why Amish marriages last. First and foremost, of course, is that Amish do not tolerate divorce. Not that Amish married life is always smooth sailing, a fact that Suzanne notes in her post. Â There are some instances of separation among Amish, though…
Karen Johnson-Weiner shares a photo of homemade Amish soap, the work of a Swartzentruber Amish woman. It’s interesting to see the range of home amenities used by Amish. When it comes to cleaning products, you get families who buy fine hand lotions from places like Wal-Mart to those who still make their own soaps. Here’s a close-up. Â If I didn’t know otherwise, I might have…
What is this? Â I bought it at an Amish variety store in Adams County, Indiana, earlier this summer, for $3. To make things more fun, the first one to guess correctly wins a back issue of the Connection magazine. I have no idea if you’ll find this easy or difficult, but I’ll be checking back in on this post to see if anyone’s hit it–and…
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 and Rumspringa. Today, Aaron shares his take on choice and…
Perhaps no aspect of Amish society has received as much popular attention as the idea of “Rumspringa“.  Various media including books, TV and documentary film have addressed the youth period, also know as a time of “running around”.  Amishman Aaron Miller, who in the last installment discussed the Ordnung, addresses misconceptions and realities of Rumspringa: And now turning to Rumspringa. I’ll try to recap what…