Three high-profile cases involving Amish are happening right now. When Amish are involved in legal disputes, religious arguments tend to come up. But is it always valid to invoke religion? To take one example, Sam Mullett, leader of the Bergholz beard-cutting group, claimed authorities shouldn’t be involved in what was a religious issue. Shocking claims about Ohio Bergholz group To follow up on this story,…
How much do Amish interact with the public? It’s a broad question, without a straightforward answer. 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. They have been criticized for this reluctance, particularly when criminal matters are involved. Amish have cooperated with the law in the recent…
The big story last week was the imprisonment of 8 Kentucky Amishmen for not displaying the Slow Moving Vehicle triangle on their buggies. Back in June we covered this issue with a lot of discussion on the implications of the case. It’s an issue of freedom and safety, similar in a sense to controversies over raw milk or vaccines, and one that brings out strong…
The New York Department of Taxation and Finance is now requiring electronic filing of sales tax returns. And it’s causing some Amish in New York problems. Apparently there is an out–those lacking internet access can request an exemption. If they don’t, they face a $50 fine. Some Amish have been hit with this fine, though it’s not clear why–by the article, it sounds like a…
If you dig around enough on Facebook, you’ll come across profiles of adolescents with Amish names and profile pics taken in Plain clothing. These were the catalyst for an interesting piece–“Amish youth hitchin’ up to Facebook“–in yesterday’s Lancaster Sunday News. As the article makes clear, Amish youth+Facebook is far from a universal phenomenon. I thought one insight by Steven Nolt was particularly interesting–the way…
Here on the blog and on the Amish America Facebook page, some of you have been bringing up the court decision in Kentucky on Slow-Moving-Vehicle (SMV) triangles. The SMV triangle has become iconic of the Amish and the vast majority of them willingly display them on their carriages. However, some of the “lower” groups (in particular the Swartzentruber Amish and a few others) refuse to…
I resisted Facebook for a good while, but finally got a profile back in 2009. Since then, I’ve often thought about the above question. What got me pondering this today, though, was an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (“Amish learn value of networking”). Amish are using social networking to market their products, with the help of third parties. PA Amish farmer and co-op member…
The FDA has taken legal action to stop Amish farmer Dan Allgyer from shipping raw milk across state lines, according to this article. This case against Allgyer has been going on for quite some time. Allgyer’s Lancaster farm was visited/inspected/raided by federal agents a year ago. Allgyer has been selling his milk in Maryland and DC, violating rules against interstate sales. His customers are said to be…
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…