When I was growing up in Ohio Amish country, my parents would tell me that Amish people did not believe in cars. I took this to mean they could not see cars. I was a confused child.


You were enlightened not confused.
When asked if a dog has Buddha nature the Zen master replied "There is no dog"

Enjoy

One of the most impressive things about the Amish is that young Amish farmers are still able to start farms at a time when so many other small-scale farmers have gotten out of business entirely.

Because they don't pay taxes

Enjoy

Because they don't pay taxes

Enjoy

This is not true. They pay property, state and income tax. There is no loophole in the treasury code for not paying taxes because of your religious background. Lord knows everybody would join up. Mennonites tithe the most of any Christian group. Some might choose to withhold taxes but they still could get busted by the treasury dept. Anyone who itemizes can donate to any 501 c (I think that that is the non-profit designation) and get a tax right off up to 10% of income.

They might get around paying some forms of workman’s comp or insurance, but that is because they pool their money and let it sit in huge accounts, that are reserved for this purpose. Any one could do that.

http://www.mcc.org/
http://www.mma-online.org/corporate_home.html
http://www.mennoniteusa.org/

Could it be that some choose the simpler, farming way of life because then you don’t have to worry about all the bs that today's industrialized life brings? My phone bill runs nearly $200 per month, and ; cable runs about half that, insurance on two cars, dealing with the idiotic school boards, and money grubbing bosses who pay minimal wages. Ever spend two hours on the phone getting a creditor to correct an error? What about the trappings of today's beauty culture? Ever spend big bucks on clothes, just to go to work? Ever get a speeding ticket? Have a parent or grand parent in a nursing home? Like to eat that food that is loaded with chemicals and costs 10 fuel calories for every nutricional calorie. I have not opted out of mainstream society but there are plenty of appealing reasons to do so.

I am not saying that Mennonites or Amish are perfect, but often mischaracterized by outsiders.

Progressive Mennonites are kinda split. Some do not question modern technology at all, others seek to be thoughtful on their use of technology, limiting its scope when the effects of technology hurt nature and hurt human relationships.

I would say the same is true of progressive quakers (and of most of the conservative quakers, actually.)

I fall into that second camp, but do a lot better at talking about technology than I do about actually living in the best kind of way.
Me too, I think. :)

Because they don't pay taxes

Enjoy
How foolish to say this. . . . Do you really imagine that the IRS is going to exempt a large group of people from paying taxes??? Think before you type!!!!

Punctuation is nice too. . . . . Thank God I used some extra punctuation to make up for your lack!!!!!!! :D

How foolish to say this. . . . Do you really imagine that the IRS is going to exempt a large group of people from paying taxes??? Think before you type!!!!

Punctuation is nice too. . . . . Thank God I used some extra punctuation to make up for your lack!!!!!!! :D

Right, everyone knows that they only cut breaks for small groups who have boat loads of money. XOM for example. When was the last time you worked out a 50% break in your federal taxes? Happens all the time with big corps. The IRS has reduced the corp treasury agents by half in SW PA over the past few years. That is an effective discount as well. If I told you how I know this, I'd have to kill you.

i bet the ones that do ride fixed (.-. )

The Amish rejected cars b/c in part they said cars would cause impatience, anger and create a sense of self-importance. Gee, I've never seen that happen. I wonder what bikes cause...

I have seen pictures of Amish on bikes, but they were always younger. Think about it - Amish guys are manly men, burly farmers, and how many country boys do you know who ride bikes? I am sure to them the buggy is as the pickup is to the "English". It's a status symbol. Otherwise they would just ride horseback on short errands. Besides, those buggies can go 25 mph on pavement. They're not toodling along. And who wants to ride a bike in black pants and boots in July?

While Touring thru Lancaster County, A few years ago, I watched incredulously, two Amish teens in full garb, rollerblading up a hill carrying 2 net bags of something(supplies from the store?), up the hill. I reached for my camera a got 2 or 3 shots. If I can find them, I’ll post it. My understanding is, if it's human or Animal powered, it's OK with the Amish.

Richard

“my only knowledge of the Amish is second hand through family members or is anecdotal”

As is mine (my grandparents were also Amish who left to become Mennonites). My understanding is that they believe that we are only here temporarily, that we are in this world, but not of it. We should apply this lifetime to the glorification of God, and any time devoted to an activity not to that end (or maintaining basic survival) was time misspent – which goes right along with the earlier comment about leisure time. Thus, if cycling is anything other than a means to an end of survival or praising God, it would be frowned upon, so riding a bike as an end in and of itself isn't something you are likely to see a deacon of the Amish church doing.

But, like any group of people, generalizations are difficult and misleading to make (including this one). I have known Amish men who had no qualms about using my uncle's technological aids (tractors, combines, milking machines, etc.) as hired hands on his farm, and others (in the same community) who would never dream of using these machines. Like any moral issue (I'm going to go ahead and make another sweeping generalization here), it comes down to a personal interpretation of the influences in one's life – in this case, theology and the teachings of community leaders just happen to carry a lot of weight.

Just to add to this conversation, I grew up near Kalona, IA and spent a lot of time in and around the Amish/Mennonite community there, though neither I nor my family is either. Out of curiousity, did anyone see the article Bike magazine did on the Amish bike shop one or two issues ago? That was a pretty interesting read.

Our interaction with the Amish was largely limited to buying produce from them, first at their homes, and then at a grocery that they ran (Stringtown, for those who wonder) and carefully passing the buggies on the road on Sundays when they'd gather for church.

As was mentioned earlier, the Mennonites are progressive, and there were no obvious differences in terms of clothing, cars, etc., between myself and them when I was growing up. Many of my friends were Mennonite, and the only real differences between being Mennonite and evangelical were an emphasis on nonviolence / pacifism, a much better integrated understanding of living in community, and an emphasis on a life of service to others that was impressive. Lots of friends spent time working for MCC after high school / college or going on some other sort of short-term work project.

I have done some research on the origins of the Mennonite movement. If anyone's interested, they split from the Protestants, led by Martin Luther, during the Reformation over the issue of baptism. Their belief was that by continuing the practice of infant baptism, Luther had stopped short in his efforts to reform the church. The Mennonites practice believer's baptism, meaning that a person is baptized after conversion, not as an infant. What's interesting is that this is now almost a universal practice within Protestant Christianity.