Lately we’ve seen many articles, books, and even TV programs about Amish leaving their communities. Below, a video interview of brothers John and Joe Yoder, who recently left their Texas Amish community. The Yoders’ former home is the only Amish presence in Texas, in the southern part of the Lone Star State. Why so much interest in former Amish? On the one hand, there is…
Last Friday Elin left a comment on the post “Do we romanticize the Amish?“: “I have read some of these books and enjoyed them but I have realized that the Amishness of the characters is not more than polish. They are often just stereotypical ‘good Christian’ wearing Amish clothes. They are the same characters as in the Christian inspired fairytales I had as a child…
Another photo today, of an inspirational wall decoration from an outhouse at an Amish school (thanks again to Karen Johnson-Weiner). If there is any place that could use a little livening up, I guess it is the outhouse. And why not include an uplifting message? Actually I guess this is more of a lesson in humble sharing: Outhouses have been in the news lately. USA…
Pennsylvania and Maine have been locked in a sweets skirmish the past few weeks. The territory under siege is the famous whoopie pie. Both PA Dutch culture and the Amish have connections to the whoopie pie, so there are tourism marketing implications at stake here. Folks in both states have laid claim to the whoopie as the official state dessert. If you can believe it,…
You may remember the “Trouble in Amish Paradise” documentary film of a few years ago, which examined two Amish couples’ decisions to leave the Lancaster Amish. The maker of that film, Andrew Tait, has released a follow-up film called “Leaving Amish Paradise”. This is one of a number of recent films and books on the experiences of former Amish (see also the National Geographic ex-Amish…
Since I’ve been back in the US I’ve finally had a chance to watch the National Geographic Amish specials (on ex-Amish, and Amish courtship and marriage) in full. You may recall a couple of posts on these last fall: Leaving the Amish and Amish dating. I didn’t comment too much at the time, having only seen the short excerpts available online. Leaving other issues aside, I found…
I don’t know if the video I just watched-entitled “Amish Smugglers’ Shady Milk Run”–was intended to be funny, but I couldn’t help but chuckle. Technically, I guess you do call someone who brings in product to sell in an area where it is illegal a “smuggler”. But the term is such a loaded one. The quote in the video from the FDA (“Raw milk is…
“I see this in the food industry. There’s quite a few organizations here locally that will sell using “Amish”. And what they’re trying to do is create the perception that it does come from Amish producers. When it doesn’t. They don’t explicitly say so, they just say “Amish Country this”, “Amish Country that,”…”Amish” is big, “Country” is small. So, the customer that buys this, his…
29-year-old Eli Borntrager was killed on the road last year in Missouri. Borntrager’s buggy was rear-ended by a driver traveling at 70 mph. The Amish buggy is not the safest form of transport. For many reasons. Buggies can be difficult to see. Horses can spook. With their long bodies and front-set position, horses create a tougher sight angle when attempting to cross an intersection….
Why do people leave the Amish? Charles Hurst and David McConnell identify two main reasons in An Amish Paradox, their study of the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio. According to the authors, these are “the desire for fewer lifestyle restrictions”, and “the desire for a more intense religious experience.” Ex-Amish have created a number of venues which provide support to former members. The Former Amish…