Jim Cates returns today with the second part of his look at the Amish at wartime. Here is part 1 if you missed it. Jim’s last post generated a good discussion on the terms “pacifism” and “nonresistance”. As some of you commented, if pitting the two terms against one another, “nonresistance” is favored by Amish and other conservative Anabaptists, in part for its scope covering a broader…
Would you like to hear an Amish person explain his faith and lifestyle in his own words? In the short film “An Amish Man”, Dennis Hochstetler does just that, discussing family, technology, separation from the world, and other Amish beliefs. He also describes his business and work as owner of Rentown Cabinets. The 10-minute film was created by Philip Bloom in the Nappanee, Indiana community. There are some beautiful shots…
For the Amish, nonresistance means a number of things, including refusal to do violence upon others and abstaining from litigation. Today, Jim Cates looks at the Amish response to war, and the expectations of society during times of conflict. I Ain’t Gonna Study War No More The quest for peace will always move in step with the drive for war, too often overshadowed by the demand for aggressive…
Jim Cates returns today with a look at Amish lay leaders, the National Amish Steering Committee, and solving problems outside the courts. Part one of Jim’s discussion of Amish and politics can be found here. — Politics Is the Art of Looking for Trouble The entire quote (by Groucho Marx, no less) actually goes “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing…
An Illinois Public Media news blurb tells of a change in Illinois law in the new year that will benefit Amish with reservations about photo-based identification. Representative Adam Brown (R-Champaign) says it took some work to develop a solution to please both the state’s Amish and law enforcement: The new ID’s [sic] that serve as driver’s licenses for operators of horse-drawn buggys [sic] use a fingerprint instead….
Amish author Benuel Blank once wrote that the Ausbund, the centuries-old Anabaptist hymnal, is “not to be considered a holy book like the Bible”, but that it has nonetheless been very influential for Amish and their spiritual kin. Passing along a description of the book, Blank calls it “music for the soul, rather than music for the ear”. In use since the 1500s, the Ausbund continues to…
I hope everyone had a safe and restful Christmas holiday. Snow arrived in my area at 11 pm the evening of the 25th, making it a last-minute White Christmas. Coming later this week, look for a guest post from a new voice out of Indiana, as well as “Favorites of 2014”. Today, Serving the Amish author Jim Cates returns with the first of a two-part look at…
1001 Questions & Answers On The Christian Life is an important little text which concisely lays out Christian beliefs as understood by the Amish. The book, first published by Pathway Publishers in 1992, was created with the input of over 20 members of the Amish ministry and lay people in various communities. It is based upon an older text (written in 1907) called 1000 Questions and…
Anne is back with a new piece on her recent visit to her Amish convert son Ed‘s community in Minnesota. When last we heard from Anne, she was describing why she felt like a wimp living Amish for a few days. One thing the Amish have in abundance is children. It’s no surprise when they say their children are the only treasure they can take along to…
The Watertown Daily Times has published comments from the father of the two girls abducted last week in upstate New York. Mose Miller has 14 children, and is one of the Heuvelton community‘s bishops. In an interview with Johnson Newspapers in their Heuvelton home on Sunday, the girls’ father — Mose Miller, 44 — said he feels “sorry” for the suspects. “It’s sad,” Mr. Miller said. “They…