The Amish

One of our trips while we were in West Virginia was the Amish country in Ohio. I have always had an interest in this culture. It seems to be a simple life they lead. They don't allow anything in their lives that is technologically advanced. No electricity, cars, Internet, television etc... They plow their land by hand and horses. Everything they do is old fashioned. It would be a tough life for any of us to live. Yet, they seem to do it very well.

Their children seem very behaved and seem to have no trouble living like they do. Some Amish have indoor plumbing and some don't. We toured a house that was very old fashioned. It had plumbing but no mirrors. They had a baby doll laying on one of the beds. I have one pictured above. None of their dolls have faces. The reason is they do not believe in graven images. My wife asked me why. Probably they feel that if they had mirrors or if their dolls looked like Barbie they would maybe become self absorbed by their image. They would not be living the life they are taught by worrying about what they looked like. I can see that. They believe that thinking of self is an evil that doesn't serve their family or their community needs. So, I wonder. Do they not no what they look like? I know they can't not no what they look like. There are many things that cause a reflection. Glass windows, looking into a stream of a river. They have to know. They don't have cameras and really don't like for people to take their pictures. Strange!

So, one thing that bothers me about the Amish is that they don't pay taxes. That kind of irritates me. Another thing that bothers me about them is their "Shunning." Once their children becomes a certain age they have the right to go out and experience the world. Anything goes. Drinking, sex, parties and anything that goes against their religion. But, the part of this that is not right is the shunning. If the child decides not to return to the Amish community to live, they shun them. They are forgotten entirely by their family and the entire Amish community. I mean complete abandonment. It's like moving into the witness protection program in our community. No contact with anybody. No forgiveness!

To me that defeats the whole life style they try to live. In Christianity, that is the base of God's love for us. We must forgive others like he forgave us through his Son Jesus. So if the Amish don't forgive a person who decides to choose the world instead of their life style is not following the life God has laid out for us. That bothers me.

But, I sometimes wish I could live a life without modern advances. I don't really want to go to that extreme though. They do say most children that leave and get a taste of this evil world normally come back. I guess the shunning does work in some ways. It is an interesting way of life. I like it because it allows me to see how things were back in time. I will choose this way of life any day, I'm not big on plowing my own fields or not being able to watch Sports. I think I will follow the route I'm on right now.