I'll be the first to admit I don't know a whole lot about the Amish. I don't think we have any in the UK - if we do, it's likely a very small community somewhere. I am aware that they don't use technology and live simple lives as a farming community. Wiki has a fairly detailed article on them.

Considering they don't like technology it always amuses me when I come across websites like THIS which is used to sell Amish furniture and suchlike, especially when I then discover a news article where the Amish people are attempting to sue the US government for wanting to put electronic tags on livestock (for tracking and curbing outbreaks of diseases like mad cow, etc). Apparently, doing this "constitutes some form of a 'mark of the Beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs", according to their lawsuit anyway. They claim that doing this threatens their religious beliefs because it's part of an attempt to number every living thing - which is what the Devil claims to be doing in Revelations.

The US Department of Agriculture has pointed out that the Amish community already number their cattle by using metal studs to track their animals. So, they're already numbering things LOL

Amish sue US government for 'mark of the Beast' on livestock - Telegraph


What an odd people!

It seems just a hair's breadth short of the beliefs that let people die for want of a blood transfusion.

The Amish seem to be like the little girl with the curl, part very very good and part horrid. The community support (for members who fit) seems great, but slip up and you can become outcast from the only community you know.

Actually I knew Amish people growing up. Very kind, hard working people. While their way of thinking seems odd to many people, it's very basic they're belief system. I actually stayed with some of them when I got sick as a kid. We were on the road hauling cattle and I feel ill. My dad knew bunches of people having driven truck for awhile, and they kindly offered to take care of me. As I said, very kind and sweet people. When they get older before deciding to live in the Amish community they get what's called Rumspringa. My grandmother was Pennsylvania Dutch and I heard stories from her growing up. Interesting.

Interesting (I looked up rumspringa, too!)
Apparently acceptance of the Amish ordnung is expected to be undertaken as an informed adult. What "informed" implies after a lifetime of socialisation in a community can be debated, but rumspringa at least permits young folk to look a little at alternatives rather than blindly follow dogma.

LOL And boy do they look. They had an interesting documentary on that and it was an eye opener. what surprised me is most of them went back to the Amish way of life. Nicely surprised though, as you don't see that happening too often with other cultures.

I think I saw that mentioned, some name like "The Devil's Playground" which earned some media awards.

I was surprised that such a culture formally recognised adolescent rebellion and planned for it. All I knew until five minutes ago came from an old National Geographic and Harrison Ford's movie "Witness". I'm also surprised that I am inclined to be so well disposed towards what I'd ordinarily think of as just another bunch of fundies.

The Amish definitely are not just another bunch of fundies. While they interpret the Bible literally, they only apply that interpretation to their own lives. They don't go around trying to convert people outside of their community, or trying to force the whole world to live according to their rules. They mind their own business, in other words.

In this instance, they're not demanding that the animal-marking system be done away with. They're just asking for an exemption on religious grounds for their small community.

With respect to what they're complaining about in this case, numbering everything on earth ... pardon the farming metaphor, but that horse left the barn a long time ago, and not just respect to animals. We as human individuals are already being tracked not only by the government but by the corporate business establishment (via credit agencies and insurance companies, for example.)

"Set a new course. There's coffee in that nebula." -- Capt. Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager

This was basically what I was getting at when I posted. I don't know enough about the Amish to make an informed decision about whether I should be irritated by them or not but their stance on the numbering just made me laugh

The obvious question to ask is, why haven't the Amish complained about many of the intrusions on our privacy as individuals? One reason is that because of the way they live, they've been able to avoid a lot of it.

From the wikipedia article (link):

It's hard to see how they could avoid some of it, though.

"Set a new course. There's coffee in that nebula." -- Capt. Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager

Not to mention the fact there are websites out there specifically for Amish people... I've often wondered how much traffic they get if the people they're aimed at don't use technology!