Amish History, Conflicts, and Leaders

The Amish have nothing to do with the “outside world”. They like to be left alone by other people outside of their religion.  They consider pictures of themselves to be vanity. Because of the Amish beliefs, courts require the Amish to pay property taxes, but not social security taxes because that’s part of the “material world”.  The Amish are pacifists, meaning they have nothing to do with the military (Robinson).  They call anyone who isn’t the Amish “the English” (Meyer 9). If a member of the religion becomes involved with the material world or does anything against the original beliefs, they are ex-communicated and can possibly be shunned forever (Robinson).

The Amish live a very simple life which many people, I think, might like because they wouldn’t have to worry about the things that people are currently worrying about (Robinson). They don’t worry about charging their cell phones, buying electronics, having nice cars, “rotting their brains” watching TV, etc. (Meyer). The people who are so worried about rising gas prices, losing their jobs, and other issues would definitely enjoy the simple life because the Amish don’t have cars or jobs that they can lose, so those worries would go away (Meyer). That’s not saying that people should convert and become Amish, but it’s implying that the simple life that the Amish have isn’t bad at all.

Crim, Keith. “Amish”. Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions. Roger A. Bullard and Larry D. Shinn. Nashville, Tennessee: Parthenon Press, 1981. Pages 27-28.

Meyer, Carolyn. “Amish People”. Amish People. Carolyn Meyer. Canada, 1976. Pages 3-11.

Robinson, B.A. “The Amish: history, beliefs, practices, conflicts, etc.” Religious Tolerance. 1996. 10-03-08. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/amish.htm>.

 Vogeler, Ingolf. “Old Order Amish Settlements.” University of Wisconson Eau Claire. 2008. 10-07-08. <http://www.uwec.edu/geography/Ivogeler/w188/utopian/amish.htm>.