They do not drive but they have Cab driver's number stored on thier cell phone? ANd they LOOOOOve watching TV whine in hospitals getting 21st century medical care. Is that Hypocracy, stupidity or genuine conservative traditional values?
2006-08-06 07:49:42 · 14 answers · asked by dude 4 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
For the most part they have genuinely conservative values. Well... in summary, anyway.
However...
they are allowed to put telephones on their property, if they are a certain distance from the house, so they aren't "convenient"... or if they can convince a neighbor to allow one on their property's edge, they do that...
some of them grow some of the best marijuana in the world... the US waits for stuff from South America... South America waits for stuff from Lancaster County...
there are occassional issues with incest and rape but you have those unfortunate ills in any society...
they can be very mean and gossippy if they don't realize you speak PA German...
they like to drive down the middle of the road with their buggies and refuse to stay on the side (even when they know you can't pass where they are at)(and the wheels from the buggies tear up the roads but they aren't required to pay any taxes to help keep the roads in repair)...
So there are some bad things and bad people, just like any cultural group.
And it is hard for the teenagers because they are allowed to experience the world but have to make a decision to never see their family ever again or never experience the world again, and they start expecting the decision around age 17 or so.
Any way - there are some very traditional aspects (purity, chastity, compassion, etc) and some things that just, well aren't.
2006-08-07 07:32:19 · answer #1 · answered by Jes 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Say what you will about the Amish, but one day our dependance on technology will somehow destroy us. Reason being is because the more dependant on technology we become, the bigger trouble we will be in when something arises where we'll have to go without it. For those of you rolling your eyes, there are tons of very plausible ways this could happen. For instance, imagine another great depression (almost a certainty with gas prices on the rise). While this would devistate the average American, the Amish wouldn't even bat an eye lid. Another massive blackout like the one we had 2 years ago... so what? A world war that takes place on our turf... big deal? The Amish are almost completely independant from modern society and when the sh*t hits the fan, we'll be screwed and they'll be sitting back saying I told you so. You can take that to the bank.
PS - With that said I'd still rather die of a massive technology breakdown than procreate by screwing my sister.
2006-08-06 12:38:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Amish have managed to secure a lifestyle so different than the rest of America, they deserve credit for that. It would seem though that they are able to walk a fine line between both worlds. With Rumpspringgen the teenagers experience the worst part of youth, ie. drugs, sex and alcohol. Given that they don't get educated past eighth grade they are pretty much set up to fail in the outside world and more than not return to the Amish life. I think that there is a combination of hypocrisy, stupidity and conservative values.
2006-08-06 08:05:22 · answer #3 · answered by karenmay57 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use an Amish cookbook on a regular basis. Their basic principles are pure and make a lot of since. There good people. Some have more technology than other areas. The Amish in my area some still survive without electric much less a cell phone. I think in many ways their principles are better than ours. less greed, lust, hate, and the bad things we have within our own churches for that matter lol:-)
2006-08-06 07:57:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Amish live their religion. To most Americans, religion occupies a small corner of their lives, usually on Sunday morning.
In the mid-1500's, after John Calvin had formulated the basis of Protestantism, a number of protestant ministers met in Switzerland to come to a consensus about the scriptures.
A minister named Menon said that he could find no reference to infant baptism. Jesus was an adult when he was baptized by his cousin John. So, the people who followed his teachings became known as Mennonites, the first Anabaptist (baptism in adulthood) sect.
Eventually, an Anabaptist minister named Ammon came to believe in one of Calvin's major points: predestination. Calvin taught that every person who was to be among the Elect (and spend eternity in heaven) had a "calling" in life.
Ammon and his followers believed that their calling was to be farmers. Consequently, even in modern times, Amish people (descendants of those who followed Ammon) continue to farm the old-fashion way, convinced that they are doing the work that God prepared for them.
2006-08-06 08:12:44 · answer #5 · answered by Goethe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technology is responsible for most of the ills of the "modern" world. It is why child molesters have easy access to their next victim. It is why people don't go into their communities to actually make friends, but have 50 people they never met on their yahoo messenger list. It's why the other day, Iooked over at the car next to me, and the father was on his cell phone, the mother was on hers, and the kid was on his phone-and they probably hardly ever talk to each other. It's why we don't have a sense of community anymore.
The Amish have a sense of family, spirituality, and belongingness that so many of us lack. And they are not hypocrits for wanting to stay alive.
2006-08-06 15:53:59 · answer #6 · answered by Just Me 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Amish are allowed to ride in cars, just not drive them. A lot of Mennonites run 'taxi services' for Amish people when they need a ride somewhere - usually only for emergencies.
2006-08-07 09:46:05 · answer #7 · answered by Mary 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your parents taught you to live like they had been taught to live by their parents; and you were exposed to all the temptations of this world, would you still remain in their realm or would you (and then your children) gradually break away from it?
It must be very hard for them to love and respect their families and their ways and at the same time be drawn to the "finer things" in life.
Give them a break. They are just human.
2006-08-07 16:26:14 · answer #8 · answered by NANCY K 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are all levels of Amish. From totally reformed to orthodox.
2006-08-07 03:09:32 · answer #9 · answered by Igor Jivatofski 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Their autonomy is wise. Their lack of technology is foolish. If they were truly wise, then they would also use solar panels, wind turbines, and deep cycle batteries, and they would have gotten rid of their truth-disrupting beliefs in a god and an afterlife.
2006-08-06 10:21:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋