An interesting letter appeared at Lancaster Online today:

In response to the June 10 letter “GOP and Amish: A match made in heaven”: Instead of imagining an Amish man as our nation’s president, let’s take a closer look at values and the purpose of the Amish culture in hopes of inspiring all people to seek and turn to God, the creator of all the universe!

The Amish and Mennonites originated in Switzerland and Germany during the Reformation, where they were severely persecuted for their beliefs and practice of adult baptism upon confession of faith in Jesus Christ — hence the name Anabaptist, which means “one who baptizes again.”

The Amish are Christian by faith, and the purpose of their culture is to strive to practice and live daily the teachings of the New Testament.

The writer’s name is Levi Fisher. He continues, noting that the Amish are not perfect, but suggests three steps that would help us to “see real and lasting change within our nation and perhaps the world.”

Those are:

  1. Read the Bible daily
  2. Read all of Scripture at least once a year
  3. Practice all the ten commandments – “not only the convenient ones”

Seems a pretty simple formula.

By the name and tone of the letter I’d expect the writer to be Amish, or maybe Amish-raised or formerly Amish.

But the title of this letter is what first caught my attention – “Values of Amish culture inspire”.




Non-Amish often suggest ways we can adopt an Amish approach to solve some problem in society (e.g., an Amish-inspired approach to paying for health care).

Yet the idea of “Amish values” seems it could cover quite a bit – including both religious and cultural aspects.

For me, things like humility, family focus, and Christ-centeredness come right to mind.

What would you say in answer to the question, “What are ‘Amish values'”?

Amish family photo: Bill Coleman

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