How Amish interact with government on issues including schooling, raw milk, politics, military service, and others.
‘Our goal is to make Lancaster a center for the film industry.’ That’s Jay Ingram of the Lancaster Film Commission in an article (no longer available) at Lancaster Online. The 1985 Harrision Ford blockbuster Witness and the following media and tourist onslaught has irritated some in Lancaster. Donald Kraybill relates in The Riddle of Amish Culture that the Amish even considered using the ‘ultimate bargaining…
The Amish often seek medical treatment across the border. Cost is the main reason why. Lacking health insurance as the Amish do, treatment in the US can be expensive. A new law requiring passports, complete with identifying photos, could stop trips to Canada and Mexico. The photo part is the problem. Most Amish avoid posing for photos. The group has usually been able to negotiate…
Ohio looks to be cracking down on Amish-made foodstuffs, some of which are sold without following state rules on refrigeration and inspection. Could this spell the end of the legendary Amish baked goods stand? Some items are exempt–cookies and cakes, for example. But others fall under the regulations, such as those containing cream cheese or canned fruits and veggies. Is this a religious issue? One…
Members of Amish and other Plain groups rallied today to show support for midwife Diane Goslin, reports Lancaster Online (no longer online). The Amish, though generally choosing to avoid public attention, have had to take stances on things important to them in the past–issues such as schooling, military exemption, and Social Security. Since many Amish women have midwife-assisted home births, the issue is seen as…
Another midwife case is in the news. Many Amish women prefer bearing their children at home or in specially-constructed birthing centers. Reasons include the comfort of being in familiar surroundings as opposed to the foreign environment of the hospital, as well as cost. It’s usually a lot cheaper to have a child at home than in a hospital. The Amish have 6-8 children on average,…
The Amish famously refuse anything that smacks of government dependence. They opt out of Social Security, agricultural subsidies, Medicaid, Medicare, and generally any sort of public welfare program. Strangely, this is news for Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio has the largest Amish population in the nation, by far. Yet they recently decided that the Amish needed to step up their Food Stamp…
Most Amish look alike to the man on the street. In reality the group is surprisingly diverse. Though tied by a set of core beliefs, the Amish have no national governing body, no pope nor patriarch. The individual congregation, guided by its bishop, decides its own rules and customs. This decentralized approach, along with a widely varying tolerance for progressive ideas, creates many different ‘flavors’…