The Sugarcreek, Ohio Budget newspaper is a vital print lifeline stretching across the diverse Anabaptist settlements of North and South America. Founded in 1890, this weekly paper out of Sugarcreek, Ohio, serves as an information exchange for families sometimes separated by great distances and formidable technological barriers. The Budget is among the favorites when it comes to Amish reading material. Budget ‘scribes’ regularly report on…
Siss im blut is PA Dutch for ‘it’s in the blood’. It’s often given as a reason when Amish and Mennonites talk about genetic problems in their midst. Amish and Mennonites have taken a practical approach to an unfortunate situation: a cramped gene pool causing numerous genetic disorders, often popping up with a frequency unseen outside their tight communities. Amish communities have accepted medical help…
A recent blog post on Amish and autism I stumbled across takes on the controversial view that childhood vaccines and autism are linked. Many have pointed to the Amish, who often forgo vaccination, and according to some have low-to-nonexistent rates of autism, as evidence of the link. Seems like much of the attention has focused on Lancaster County, with those in the know saying the…
The crime was horrendous. But the point now is not the crime – it’s the hard issues at hand for the Amish community of Ed Gingerich – allegedly the only Amishman ever tried and convicted for the death of another human being. Gingerich killed his wife in a fit of insanity in 1993. A paranoid schizophrenic, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served a…
Amish folks, like the rest of us, enjoy hearing the odd bit of trivia or unusual fact. Hence, three tidbits of Amish trivia, taken from Brad Igou’s compilation The Amish in their Own Words: 1. Quilts. The Amish are well known for their proficiency in the quilting realm. Some of their pieces fetch upwards of $1000. The average quilt takes around 250-350 yards of thread. …
Accidents between Amish buggies and cars happen. Way too often. This summer during a three-month stay in northern Indiana, three fatal accidents occurred. One happened when a distracted driver hit an Amish man and two sons riding in a pony cart, killing all three. Another was caused by an Amish Rumspringa-age youth, who attempted to pass in a no-passing zone. He and the driver he…
Following up the great Amish photos from Bill Coleman last week, here is a new, no-less impressive batch from Randall Persing. Randy says that he feels fortunate to have developed friendships with the Amish. This also allows him to freely move about the community, attend events, and document Amish life. Nebraska Amish Like Bill Coleman, Randy has been able to photograph perhaps the most conservative…
photo from Wired magazine In Amish Country, Lancaster County, a quiet behind-the-scenes battle is happening–it’s business vs. the bishops, in a discrete tussle over modern America’s favorite portable gadget, the cellphone. Tensions have risen over the now common device. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re not getting to a point where some of our people don’t respect church authority the way they should,” says a frustrated…
Taxes, puppy mills, cream-cheese muffins – I just looked down the list of posts for the last couple weeks and realized that the Amish have been the subject of a good bit of controversy recently. Most of it fairly tame. But this one made me do a double-take. Apparently tempers got hot at the championship game of the Regency Hockey League in Lancaster County last…
You may have heard that the Amish have been accused of treating puppies poorly in what have been termed “puppy mills“. Amish businesses have thrived in recent years – though there has been some clashing with non-Amish society along the way. “Puppy mills”, Amish construction firms, and woodworking shops have all rubbed people the wrong way at times. “Puppy mills” is the term applied to…