Will Amish vote in the 2012 election?

Every four years inquisitive reporters try to discern what the Amish are planning to do in the upcoming presidential election.  I think this is partly due to natural curiosity–what do a “people apart” think about a civic activity such as voting?

But mainly I believe people are interested because the largest Amish populations are found in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two swing states heavily contested in each election.  With the campaigns’ election machines pinpointing target groups of voters, it’s no surprise the Amish, who number about 60,000 in each state, would come into the sights of electoral strategists.

Which party benefits from the Amish electorate?  When Amish do vote, they tend to go with the Republican party.  The conventional wisdom is that they are swayed by Republicans’ stances on social issues.  “Naturally we would lean Republican. That’s more our thought process” Iowa Amishman Levi Miller tells Richard Quest in this CNN article (no longer online).

Accordingly, the George Bush campaign actively sought Amish support in both 2000 and 2004 (see this research paper by Donald Kraybill and Kyle Kopko for more).  Bush met with Amish during a 2004 visit to Lancaster County and by all accounts was warmly received.  Did the Amish come out for John McCain in 2008?  My sense at the time was that whatever voting enthusiasm might have existed for McCain was dampened by his perceived ties to the nation’s military activities.

So how many Amish actually vote?  Most do not, considering it improper for a people “in the world but not of the world” to take an active part in choosing worldly leaders.   However there is a minority that do cast ballots.  In this Economist magazine article, a Lancaster Amishman estimates that “perhaps a thousand” are registered to vote.  That number may be low, as Kraybill and Kopko found that over 2,000 had registered in 2004 (though that year saw unusually high interest from Amish).

The Amish have also figured in the recent debate over voter identification, as detailed in this Lancaster Sunday News article.  Pennsylvania has passed a new law requiring ID of voters.  Religious groups such as the Amish can acquire a nonphoto ID which will suffice for anyone that wants to vote [note: a judge has since struck this law down].  In the piece, Amishman “John” claims “There are quite a few interested [Amish] voters” while another Amishman says that “The young guys usually vote, if anybody,” and that “Some oldtimers do.”

I haven’t read much on a Mitt Romney (or Obama, for that matter) strategy to try to capitalize on potential Amish voters.  Among the scant evidence I’ve found is this photo of a Lancaster-style buggy decked out in U.S. flags and Romney-Ryan regalia (is this real?).  I don’t know the story behind it, but I’d rather doubt this was an Amish project.  My guess is that if it’s not photoshopped it’s probably the work of a motivated and perhaps overly hopeful Romney supporter.

Amish Romney Election 2012

Have you seen any evidence, or heard anything from Amish acquaintances, about voting?

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    44 Comments

    1. New York State of Mind

      I have friends of mine who are Old Order Mennonite and they don’t vote. They said it is the separation between church and state.
      Marilyn

    2. Adrian

      All of the Amish men in Lancaster County that I am most closely friends with vote regularly. I wouldn’t be surprised if that buggy is one of theirs, actually 🙂 These men are all in their 30s.

    3. sarah

      Some of the local amish here are registered to vote… though they have said they will only participate in local elections. Obviously, local elections directly impact them. National and state… not so much…

    4. Loretta T

      comment on the Amish voteing in 2012

      We were in Arthur, Il recently and had dinner in an Amish home. This couple discussed their beliefs and lifestyle very openly.
      He said they did not vote but supported the selection of political canidates (president, particularly) by much prayer.
      Should we all cast our vote, as well as pray, we might not be in the turmoil we are in.

      1. Pray or pull the lever?

        If you read the paper by Kraybill and Kopko linked above (it’s 40 pages, but well worth it if you have any interest in this topic) you see the issue much discussed of whether Amish should vote, or “vote on their knees”.

        Those Amish who were pro-voting argued that they can and should do both, that God expects us to both pray and take action (one of the Amishmen involved told a newspaper at the time: “you can be on your knees all day, but it doesn’t mean the cows will get milked”)…Those against argued that it was opening the proverbial can of worms and not fitting for them given their stance and beliefs (“An ambassador does not vote in the country where he lives…We serve a kingdom that is not of this world”).

    5. Theresa H.

      We have friends who are Old Order Amish, living in Ohio. While visiting them last month,(different families) we were discussing the upcoming election. One family said they do not vote and will not be voting this election and the other family said, they do vote for the Presidential elections and will be voting this year. (two different church districts) My husband is in the Military and our views and beliefs are pretty much the same as our friends. They would be conservative voters just as we are.

    6. Becky

      Wow, I can’t believe no one has set the record straight. You DO NOT NEED a picture or non-picture ID to vote in the upcoming Presidential election in Pennsylvania. A judge struck that down Oct. 2.

      1. Thanks for the addendum, Becky. On reading your comment I recalled seeing this headline then. It sounds like this law may very well be upheld but not until after the election. Fwiw, election workers can apparently still ask for ID, but voters don’t have to provide it. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444004704578032211743100582.html

    7. Alice Mary

      Scary!

      I dunno—I am almost siding with the Amish who don’t vote. In the upcoming election, we’ll all NEED to pray (as Loretta suggests), no matter who wins. This is the first time I feel so hopeless about voting for either presidential candidate, that I’m seriously considering a coin toss once I’m in the booth! However, there are local candidates & referenda which affect me, so I’ll most likely vote. (I’m just tired of hearing how we voters can “change things”—vote the “bad” ones out of office—when we have such limited—and poor—choices!) And, as stated in these replies, there are so many different state laws regarding voting and registration that make it even more difficult. I wish we all had an even, equal set of “rules” across the board…but that’s too simple, I guess!

      Alice Mary

      1. Moira

        agreed....

        I’m with you, Alice Mary. I know who I’ll be voting for, never had any doubt. But as far as voting “the bad ones” out, it seems that never really works – we just end up voting bad ones IN (again). The lies that are told during campaigns are just overwhelming. I sometimes think it would be great if there was a lottery for political office and every citizen over the age of 30 could be called to serve. I think it would be good to then have a test given, to test their knowledge in American history, civics, etc. I know I’m dreaming, but I just get so tired of the same old politics. I can’t wait for November 7th.

    8. Tim

      will amish vote

      It has been said on Christian radio that one should look past their personal party ties, race, and friends to vote for the ones with closest convictions to your own. In other words, “The lesser of the two evils.” May God have mercy on America!

      1. Cathie Segal

        Sad but true

        Sadly, Tim is right. It is another election of the lesser of two evils, and whether you are Amish or “englsh” the decision on whether to vote and who to vote for will be most difficult this November.

    9. The only political conversation anyone in the family ever had with an Amishman was my husband, who stopped at the shop of a man who was part of the crew of Amishmen building our cabin in Knox County. The man initiated the conversation, asking if my husband thought the Iraq War was a good thing. My husband said he did not, and the conversation ended with that.

    10. Don Curtis

      Mark and voting

      I asked Mark about voting. I know that he never missed an election when he was English. He told me that nobody in his community votes, local or national. It is unheard of in his community. He said it is also in their ordnung. He has never since he became Amish, he said.

    11. Naomi WIlson

      The Amish I know were hoping for Ron Paul, before he dropped out of the race. The libertarian stance seems to me to fit the Amish view, since they generally just want to be left alone.

    12. Richard from Amish Stories

      This is the most Important election of my lifetime, and Mitt Romney must win for the sake of our country!

      A great topic and very timely because of the up coming presidential election, no one mentioned who posted a comment exactly who the Amish will be voting for. My guess would be for Mitt Romney perhaps because of his conservative views, and he’s my pick as well because our country can not withstand another 4 years of Obama and Biden.

      This must be the first time that I as an American feel scared for our country, and I do not like the course this administration has taken us so far.To me Mitt Romney has been kind during these debates so far against Mr. Obama and has not pointed out the more ominous intentions this president has for our country, and what he has done so far in the last 4 years.

      Folks I’m a very simple man but I have done my homework on this one and I’ve come to realize in the last few years that Obama’s policies has done damage to America’s Image around the world along with our economic health, and I voted for him and now feel betrayed and ashamed in doing so. I plan on righting a wrong that was made by myself, on November 2 I will be voting for Mitt Romney.

      This is the most Important election of my life and I’m not going to make that same mistake this time around!

      Richard from http://www.Amishstories.net

      1. Slightly-handled-Order-man

        America's Image Abroad

        Oh Richard? You honestly think Barack Obama did great damage to America’s image? Ignore Romney and his running mate for a moment and look at Bush 2. Look at every misstep and bad decision that administration did. Honestly, gays in the military, socialized medicine and a mixed race man with possible Islamic heritage in the Oval Office isn’t exactly as bad and as big a blemish to America’s image as you may think. Yes, “sub prime”, for one thing, was a fiasco that did more harm than good, but that was not entirely the president’s doing, and was probably rooted in the previous administration.
        I fear a return to the mindset of the Second Bush era, for you guys and my neighbouring nation, myself, but I am only Canadian.

        1. Slightly-handled-Order-man

          PS, Don’t get me wrong. I respect Richard’s opinion on the Amish
          and American popculture, and I do respect the fact that everyone
          is entitled to their opinion. I just had to bring up the point
          that the second Bush administration had its faults and detractors, even to this day, as does any democratically elected government.

          1. OldKat

            The problem with your inital contention SHOM is that this is really NOT a referendum on GWB. Did GWB make mistakes? Yes, sure did. Every person does and that is true of ALL Presidents as well. Every President that I can remember, and I can remember back to President Kennedy, has done some things that turned out to be good and some things that turned out to be not so good … even bad. What amazes me though is that people are still trying to make this a GWB issue. GWB is retired and will NOT be advising a possible Romney administration so let’s get that nonsense off the radar. That is sheer foolishness to even venture down that road.

            Since you brought him up though I’d like to point out that the “terrible” GWB economic policies, specifically the “make it happen” directive (Father of sub-prime?)to the banking industry regarding mortgage loans (which I happen to think actually was a terrible idea & did at the time, too) have never been repealed. This lead to an overbuilt housing market bubble that had to collapse at some point in time, BUT it also lead to a tremendously strong economy right up until the collapse. Was it worth it? I don’t think so, but a better question is why did President Bush interject the government in an area where it clearly does not belong. I have my theory, but it is only a theory. A second and better question might be, what is keeping it from happening again? President Obama? Nope, he has extended this lunacy even further.

            Oh, BTW: The “horrible” Bush “tax cuts” (they are actually TAX RATES and have been effect for app. ten years) have NOT been adjusted or modified. If they are so horrible, then answer this… Why are they CURRENTLY still in effect? ALMOST FOUR YEARS INTO THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. I’ll tell you why. For all of the vitriol that BHO spoke in 2008 about taxes, he knew that if he kicked the tax rates up this economy would sink even faster than it has the entire time that he has been in office. He doesn’t dare do it until a possible second term; when he doesn’t have to worry about being reelected.

            However, these are really NOT the core issue. The issue in a nutshell is, will we stay with President Obama and steadily head towards European style socialism (which has been a miserable failure) OR will we elect Romney and (theoretically) return to the free market economy that lead us to become the greatest economic power in the history of the planet?

            Looking solely at the track record of President Obama, BY HIS VERY OWN STANDARDS (the ones he set as a candidate in 2008) he has been possibly the greatest failure of any President in modern history. He is even worse that Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and that takes some doing. The major difference that I see is that while all of us make mistakes and misjudgments, President Obama has systematically set out to weaken this country in every way possible and he has had great success doing it. He has had a willing and able cohort in the form of our leftist media and an American public comprised of sheeple that are afraid of their own shadow. If he were the CEO of a major corporation, and had the track record that he has, real people would be screaming to see him in jail. Instead, the sheeple are looking to return him to office. Sounds upside down to me …

            1. Slightly-handled-Order-man

              Thanks for the insight, OldKat.

              Briefly, is there a third party that Americans can vote for
              this year? A unlikely longshot that people won’t get behind
              but is there fora slim percent of the vote?

              1. Matt from CT

                There are two other candidates on the ballots in enough states to theoretically win the needed 270 electoral votes — Libertarian (Gary Johnson) and Green (Jill Stein). There’s another party called American’s Elect that was internet based and was organized enough to get on the ballot for enough states…but then failed to nominate anyone.

                13 other parties have Presidential candidates, but none of them managed to get on the ballot in a sufficient number of states to win the 270 electoral votes.

                If we ended up in a 269:269 tie, the House of Representatives would chose whoever they want; the voting in this case is each state’s delegation gets one vote and while the Republicans will control about 30 state delegations, they could chose Hilary Clinton if they wanted to.

                1. Matt from CT

                  (Correction, the House would have to chose from upto the top three electoral vote receipients, they can’t chose someone else)

        2. Moira

          thank you

          Thank you, thank you, thank you for your comment. I couldn’t have said it better. I respect Richard’s opinion but I worry what would happen to the poor, sick and elderly if Romney got in office. The man seemingly has no compassion for those less well off than he.

          1. Lance

            The poor, the sick and the elderly will probably do better under Romney because the economy will probably be better, but under no circumstances will the truly poor, sick and/or elderly do worse. Republicans are not that idiotic and all statements that they are, are just plain lies. Don’t buy that rhetoric, it simply is not what will happen and never really has. The Repubs and Romney will not dismantle any safety net programs. They will probably try to stop fraud and double dipping, but welfare, medicaid and Social Security are permanent.

          2. Lance

            Before you condemn Mitt as uncompassionate, I suggest you check out how much he gives to charity. It is considerably more than what he pays in taxes. He has never bragged on this, nor his personal direct compassion to the needy of his church. His charity comes from his heart and he needs no other reward. Then check out what the other guy gives, we all might spend more on gasoline per year than he gave to charity before he became POTUS. Also check out that POTUS has been around a lot of money and lived a very privileged life once his mother dumped him on his grandmother to raise. Check out the facts, Repubs are far more compassionate then they are given credit for, they just don’t feel the need to brag about it as much as some do!

            1. Moira

              charity

              His charity goes to the Mormon church (not that there is anything wrong with that) but that’s all. Of course we’ll never know how much he gives to other charities because unlike his predecessors running for president, he refuses to release his tax returns. Where are those returns from the Bush years? Any candidate that puts his money in offshore accounts so as to avoid taxes isn’t worthy of the presidency. He also wants to cut food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, etc. Basically, anything that helps the poor and marginalized. How wonderfully Christian of him. This is why I am shocked that some Amish (the ones that do vote) would consider voting for him.

              1. Lance

                POTUS has large offshore accounts and a larger pension than Romney, so that argument is a wash, as both violate your standard.

                I do not believe there is even one Repub that wants any reductions in actual benefits received by any truly needy person. Fraud, bureaucratic waste, ineffectual administration are the things Repubs are trying to cure. Only 28% of the federal amount budgeted to welfare actually was paid to beneficiaries(I forget the year), the rest was consumed by federal, state and local bureaucracies, is that what we really want to do? Shall we have a government that bankrupts us and all lose everything? Will that really be good for anyone, especially those poor, sick and elderly in the end? Greece should be an example of what NOT to do. But we are doing exactly what Greece did and if we don’t stop, do you think anyone will float our boat? No one could. It will be world chaos and the tyrants like Ahmadinejad will prevail. Want to be under sharia law?

                It is simply not true that the Republican party in general wants any truly needy person to do with less. They are trying to stop the liars, cheats, criminals and waste. The piglets are sucking the sow dry, and if we don’t do something about very soon, the sow will die.

              2. Lance

                Why Amish would prefer Romney over Obama

                Moira, I will try to answer your question without prejudice. The Amish group I was with never vote, but often when english told them of the politics of the day, they would openly discuss them. If the english was presenting a view that the Amish disagreed with, they would usually just quiet down until the subject changed.(Read the topic for today about humility). I learned their political views from those conversations.

                1.) The Amish are completely pro-life: ie no support for war, abortion, euthanasia, nor death penalty. Life is a gift from God and man is not end any person’s life, neither their own life nor someone else’s. Life and death are for God to decide and number our days as He wills. Obama’s party platform is to fully support abortion, (look at his record as a IL state senator, please) and the fringe of the party supports euthanasia. Why support Romney then? Some Amish refuse to vote, just avoid supporting war and the death penalty that Romney’s party tend to support. Other’s are not as worried about this and choose the lessor of evils.

                2.) All charity and social support amongst the Amish are the church’s business alone. The Amish are notorious for rejecting all governmental social programs, like unemployment or Social Security. (At least until recently, Nappanee has now departed from tradition on both of the sited programs). O’s party supports more and more social programs, R’s party seeks to minimize the need for programs. The Amish agree with the statement that is better to teach a man how to fish, than to give him a fish. The Amish work ethic goes against gov’t programs and the Amish have always taken care of their own.

                Not all Amish vote Republican. Several northern Indiana Amish have been seen at Democratic political events and are supporting the candidates there. Still, in general, Amish favor the polices noted above and vote accordingly, if they vote. When I return, I will not go against the church and will stop voting.

    13. Eli S.

      I have this past summer spoken to Amish relatives and friends in four states and Canada. Only one has said that he has always voted and expects to vote again this time. As a bloc, they are not all of a like mind on this. One thing is safe to say, that anything that is true of some Amish is not going to apply to all. I would guess only 10% at most participate.

      1. Amish voting varies

        Thank you Eli and others for these interesting anecdotes. As to your observation Eli Kraybill and Kopko write that voting participation among Amish seems to follow two patters: “In some settlements there is virtually no participation; in other settlements there is keen interest and significant participation.” Furthermore, “even in a politically active community such as Lancaster, voting rates fluctuate considerably from district to district, reflecting the leadership and tradition of the congregation” (p.201 in the text).

    14. Richard from Amish Stories

      My response to Shom............................

      Even though this topic was on Erik’s web site on Thursday and its now Friday I had to respond back to Shoms comment regarding my own statement on Romney and Obama. Shom yes George Bush was not a perfect president even though I myself had voted for him the first time around, but is it really fair to keep acting like the last 4 years have been under Mr. Bush.

      President Obama now has a record and if anyone would really and truly look into that record you would see that its not very good, and his record is really only the beginning so its his direction and where he wants to take America where I have a big problem with. I want less government in my life and I want a government that can spend within its means, and I would like to see us here in America use much more of the natural resources like oil and coal in a responsible way. But we are blessed with so much of these resources and still end up buying all of this anyway from other countries, some which in fact America.

      So with all due respect Shom and I might add that I love Canada and have enjoyed my visits there, but I dont want my own country in the health care business and if your happy with your own care in Canada well I’m very happy for you. So I say this to everyone not still sure who they are going to vote for, and that is to look at Mitt Romney’s record as governor and what he had done with his own state. Did the poor suffer and what about the quality of the schools in Massachusetts which were indeed very good under his leadership, and I could go on with more of the really good things that he has done for his own state so all I ask is to do a little home work and stop getting any information that you see in political ads and taking everything said as gospel.

      The time to stop bringing up George Bush and the past really must stop, its the “now” we must be talking about and where we want to take our country. I no longer vote with my heart because I’m better informed now then I’ve ever been, so now I use my mind when I pull that lever for something as important as a presidential election. Give Mitt Romney a chance and do a little research before you write him off, that’s all I could ask for really. And this is for the ladies out there, please dont buy into this cooked- up war against woman by the Democratic party that the Republicans are against woman. Dont take what Mitt Romney believes in which is a pro life stance that he will try and over turn abortion which is legal in this country, so that is law and I’ve never heard of Mr. Romney ever mentioning anything about chalenging it, so if anyone has that proof please let me know and then I will stand corrected.

      The last 4 years has turned me from someone who has voted for some Democratic candidates as well as being registered at times as a Democrat, and I’ve learned a lot the last few years and realize I’m conservative in nature and am now a registered Republican. The Democratic party has changed so much I no longer even recognize it anymore, and in my mind its moved so far left that it is moving or has moved to being a socialist party.

      I’m a compassionate man and I believe in taking care of our poor and less fortunate I really do, but at the same point I want as many folks as possible being able to be proud and having a satisfied feeling of accomplishing their own success on their own with a little help. Mitt Romney is my choice because I believe he can do that, but even he’s going to need some help in trying to make all of that happen.

      President Obama said during the 2nd debate that Hillary Clinton works for him, well I say to Mr Obama that you work for the American people and all of the people, something I think you forgot about somehow along the way…………. Richard from http://www.Amishstories.net

    15. LeeAnn

      Charity and elections

      @ Moria You complained about where Romney give his charity money. Have you done your research about where the Mormons give charity?
      The LDS church as they are also known give to people all over the world and of all denominations!

      Where ever a great need is, its usually the mormons who are the first there to give help! They send in truck loads of food, and clothing to many countries. They feed and cloth not only their own, but those of other faiths as well.

      Romney’s giving to the mormon’s is a good cause. The LDS have helped to can apples and things where no on else would or could stand up to help. Please do your research before you open your mouth! I do respect different opinons, but as others have said, do your research on those seeking election and truely do your homework on their backgrounds and track records.

    16. Moira

      Pointless...

      It’s not worth the spike in my blood pressure to continue this conversation with Lance and LeeAnn. Seems the shills at Faux news have done a good job hawking their lies. And I have done my research LeeAnn, just because I do not agree with you is no reason to get nasty. You all have a nice day. I respect your opinions, it would be nice if you respected mine.

    17. nelson

      amish vote?

      Yes, a lot of Amish do vote in all aspects of government…

    18. Michigan Mary

      VOTING IN HOLMES COUNTY

      Funny this should come across my radar today. I spoke with a couple of my OOA friends yesterday (our monthly cell phone chat) and they told me that they have their absentee ballots already and will be voting shortly. Normally they don’t vote in major elections, but feel ultimately compelled to do so this time because “the country is headed down a very evil path of late”…. also, they tell me that their bishops have said that the OOA need to not engage in political discourse and hate-talk amongst themselves, but rather spend much time in prayer for both the candidates and the country. I am sure that they will vote Republican because “even though He is Morman, his values are far closer to ours than the current President”.

      1. Thanks for this note from Ohio, Michigan Mary. The Amish rationale you give of “country headed down an evil path…” sounds similar to rationale Amish were offering during the 2004 election. On the religion topic, the Economist article I linked dips into how Amish might perceive a Mormon candidate. In a nutshell, the Amish person interviewed says that he feels they differ on some religious principles but that they respect them for the way they do business and their conservative orientation.

        http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/10/pennsylvania-and-2012-election

    19. OldKat

      Yes it is pointless ...

      You finally said something that I agree with Moira. It is POINTLESS. Pointless to point out facts to a liberal. (I take it that you are a liberal; if not I aplogize in advance) I generally find ALMOST all liberals that I meet to be uninformed, close minded, bitter and small litle people.

      I don’t have to watch any news channel over any other to see this. I see it in everyday life … all around me. BUT … I absolutely support ther right to say whatever they believe. Because if I didn’t, that would mean that some liberal lame brain could tell me what I can and can’t say …and believe this THAT AIN’t GONNA HAPPEN.

      So instead I say to all liberals out there what my grandmother said whenever she encountered someone that clearly wasn’t playing with a full deck … “Bless their heart”

    20. Slightly-handled-Order-man

      Thank you for your articulated response, Richard [there isn’t any hard feelings on my part]. I respect that some Amish do vote and others chose not to. But here in Canada and there in the USA I urge as many people to vote. I believe in the idea of ‘don’t complain if you don’t vote’. I am glad you vote. There is a set at every election that don’t vote and say “same [expletive] thing either way, so why vote?”
      I vote in every election I can in Canada, municipal, provincial and federal. If I belonged to a party I’d vote there too.

      Odd aside though, I got a pollster survey earlier this year about the US election, and, because I felt it was outside of my jurisdiction, I couldn’t reply to them, I was so tempted to request to speak to a real person, but there wasn’t one, I wanted to say “hey, I live in Ontario, Canada, I am NOT a duel citizen and I cannot vote in that election, stop calling.”

      I wonder if boarder state Americans get such calls from Canada at election time.

    21. Jerry

      Politics

      There are some differing political opinions on this thread. I’m a little taken aback by the hostility of a few folks here, I came here to get away from politics.I thought this was a blog about the Amish.

    22. Cathie

      Politics

      Jerry, i have to agree with you that this thread is getting a bit hostile in some of the replies. Although i have read most every post for well over a year, i have posted only a few times and my name will not be familiar to anyone here. Politics is a hot topic these days, and freedom to voice our opinions on them is a most basic right……but on this site it might be a good idea if we all could try to comment on those political issues and the Amish.

      Just the thoughts of a member who reads here but rarely speaks, i imagine there are many others like me.

      Cathie

      1. jerry

        thanks Cathie

        I was new to this site when I came across this thread. Then I read some other articles and saw that the moderator was on top of things and would call some people out for bad language and also to keep the thread on the subject at hand. He’s conspicuously out to lunch on this one. It looks like he’s taking sides. Not good for a moderator. I’ll stick with Mose Gingerich’s site from now on.

        1. Jerry and Cathie

          Jerry, unfortunately this post really turned into 2 threads–one on the subject I tried to introduce–Amish participation in voting (and which I tried to expand upon in the comments) and one that became overtly political. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given the intensity of the upcoming election.

          Not sure how I am “taking sides” by not inserting myself into the conversation here. As a moderator sometimes you have to balance letting things go a little vs. becoming the language police (deleting things, etc). You can tip too far pretty easily…I try to err on the let-things-go side as long as people aren’t using foul language.

          Though I’d consider some of the above posts to border on the rude side, no one used foul language here. Beyond that, I’ve found mixing it up in political arguments is often going to be a lose-lose proposition.

          I will just say that I did appreciate the comments Cathie made above. And I did notice that after your and Cathie’s comments, our discussion calmed down. Sometimes the readers who rarely comment have a louder voice than I do.

          You’re of course welcome to read whatever sites you wish. Though I can say with confidence the tone of things here is reliably civil and usually focused on the primary topic, which is Amish culture and communities. Thankfully, politics will die down in a few weeks 🙂

        2. Cathie

          Jerry

          This is a great site. Don’t let one thread send you away.

          Cathie

    23. Ed

      Vietnam era Amish voting versus today...

      I suspect that the Amish have not always been inclined to vote for Republicans in national elections (among the minority of Amish who even vote at all).

      Back in the late 1960’s, the military draft was a huge issue, and Democrats were perceived as starting and continuing the war in Vietnam. The Amish actually organized a national Coordinating Committee to look after Amish interests in that time of war.