by James_Slash 33 Replies latest jw experiences
Electricity is allowed in the barn but not the house...so men can make their work easier but not women...hmmm
What though is the difference when someone raised Amish goes out on rumspringen (sp) as a young person and does not commit to their religion and if they do commit and then leave?
Don't form opinions about the Amish based on some individuals you know or what you have "heard." We know that non-jws have some erroneous ideas based on that kind of info about jws and the WTS.
Many Amish had good paying jobs($50-80,000/yr) in the RV/motorhome plants around South Bend Indiana, until the crash of 2008. The RV companies loved the Amish- hard workers and they would never sign for a union. So many Amish lost their jobs that the church had to OK for them to, sign up for unemployment. They had never allowed that to happen before.
All religion is man-made. I am uninterested in anything that wants to suppress or oppress me. Anything can be made to look idyllic. If it sounds or looks too good to be true, it usually is.
I think it's time to give everyone a little wake-up call on the "Amish" lifestyle. I live in work in an Amish Paradise - Lancaster County, PA. I work for a contractor and design alot of dining establishments, markets, stores, etc that the Amish own. The days of the Amish living like in the movie "Witness" are LONG gone. That way of life died over 10 years ago, and it'll never come back. They are much more modernized than most of you could believe.
Let me tell you all something, that goody-goody facade that they put on it is just that - a FACADE, a lie, just like the JW ubber-nice guy in a business suit smiling at you at the door.
Allow me to explain. The Elders of the congregations live like freakin KINGS, with lavish homes that would make your mouth drop in awe. Imagine walking into a large Amish Elder's house who has many, many children, and seeing a few small ones watching a movie on a portable DVD player? How about having an Elder pull a cell phone out of his pocket and show you a picture of the deer he bagged during hunting season? I can, because I've experienced this and MORE. Did you know they now own CARS and VANS, and pay people to drive them around? I've even seen Amish Elders with FULL electric in their homes, not just a phone shack out in the barn. They live like Kings, while they forbid such luxuries from their flocks. Sound familiar?? The hypocrisy and legalistic OverLording is incredible, but all the "World" sees is the women in simple clothing and the little kids with their hats. Most of the Amish are now getting together to create huge Amish Markets, and money is no object in designing these places, only the best for them. They now have bank accounts, accept credit cards, etc. Of course, most cash transactions are kept from the IRS, most of that is kept for themselves under the table.
They are also incredibly cheap b*sturds. They expect you to sell them equipment at cost and sometimes gawk at prices. They come back once they figure out you're in line or cheaper then your competition. Also, because they consider themselves to be "no part of this world" they try and circumvent all state and local building codes whenever they can. They just don't give a crap, period. They want it big, lavish, and CHEAP, and they want it NOW. They don't care about permit drawings and fire protection on hoods above gas griddles. It's Greek to them.
I once saw a female building/health inspector walk onto a large, new Amish Market. This was last year. Stuff wasn't being installed by the Amish workers according to the plans she had in her hand, and she saw several other violations. At first, she tried talking to these guys and letting them know what was wrong. Of course, the typical Amish male is a backwards chouvanist pig, and thinks women are beneath them and to not be heard. Well, she made herself heard when she shut down the entire work site until all the problems were corrected. The Amish learned damned quick to respect her the next time she walked on site to re-evaluate!!!
I could go on and on. Hell, I didn't even touch on the aspect of the SHUNNING they practice, which is every bit as harsh and un-Christian as what the JW's practice.
The Amish aren't some cute little sect, they are a full blown CULT, harmful, backwards, and half evil if you ever had to deal with the Elders especially. Freakin modern day Pharisees. If JW's ever went "plain" they'd fit right in around here. Matter of fact, I can imagine the JW's Paradise Earth being an exact duplicate of how the Amish live today. Rank and file work their azzes off, while the Elder's run their big businesses and live like OverLords out over everyone else. No thanks!!!!
- Wing Commander
I think youre right about the amish. They live closer to the bible than the Jw's in the aspect of being no part of the world. The only problem is they are "stabbing themselves with many pains". They dont need to be so damned hardcore to live that kind of life. The modern homesteaders are living like amish but are youthfull and funloving.
I wish I could start a community similar to the amish but be more loving and tolerant. Thats the best way to preach the good news. Lead by example. Show how a community can live without modern commercialism.
Guess Im just too much of a neo-hippie.
The Amish who lost their high pay RV jobs were all crying- no more expensive vacations riding in hired vans, no more eating out 3x a week, yes, they all have cell phones- w/internet- they have ways to do that and stay in the letter of the law. They even hired the cleaning woman to clean their house. Many of these Amish finally admitted the truth and opened switched to being Mennonites- got a drivers license and lived a normal life. There was some mention about taking a lot of heat from their Amish family, but it was either do that and be self supporting or ask the community to support them- there were so many Amish laid off, that they just looked the other way. I think a crack was made in northern Indiana in their strict shunning rules.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Wing Commander nailed it, you have to know them to see how it really is. I used to work for a guy who raised horses and mules and sometimes sold to the Amish. They would bargin down to the absolite lowest price when they bought one. They would work it as long and as hard as they could for a month and feed it nothing but grass/ hay. These animals can not survive on grass if they are working animals, they need grains, wheat, corn, barley, ect. After a month they would call back and say this horse/ mule is no good, it has no power, it can't work. They want to trade for another, no extra money, just a fresh animal that they can do the same thing to and call in another month and trade it. In my opinion they are as bad or woses than JW's. They have NO formal education, and are extremely abusive to their animals.It takes more than a TV show to know something about a group of people.
TO: Out at Last! ^^^^^
Yes, I've heard of exactly what you describe. They treat their "work" horses very shabily, but the horses that draw their buggys eat good? How's that for weird? All appearances. Don't get me started on their puppy mills around here, BRUTAL!!!
Education? What's that? As long as they know enough math in order to count their MONEY, they are satisfied. Auck, we don't needs no more edumakation den dat!!!
Yeah, what people see on TV is truly scratching the surface, kind of like seeing a little JW boy dressed up out in service and going, "ohhh, isn't he cute????" When is reality it's sick, Sick, SICK!!!!
- Wing Commander
Electricity is allowed in the barn but not the house...so men can make their work easier but not women...hmmm
That depends on the area perhaps. Northern Indiana has several hundred thousand Amish, but I have never seen an electric line to barn or house. In fact, I have spent some time in Amish barns here, and watched them do all their work with hand tools, milking by hand, etc. I have seen them work with electric equipment in factories, but never in their own buildings. I think districts are controlled by the local Bishops. In our area, for example, they were previously never allowed to use gasoline mowers for their grass. Nowadays they have all gone to modern mowing devices instead of the old rotary bladed manual push models they used to have.
Some things have gotten easier for the women too - gasoline powered refrigeration is allowed, and in some cases gasoline powered washing equipment is common here. Men still spend 12 hours in the blazing heat behind workhorses to plow fields like they used to do in 1700. I would not suggest that men have a particularly easier life than women within that culture. Both are hard working people as far as my experience has shown.
That said: they do follow what they believe to be biblical laws and ideas. Many old-time religious groups took an elevated view of man over woman, but I don't see it in the extreme in my relatively frequent contact with them. But there is clearly a class distinction there - man and women are not equals in their eyes. I expect that will not change for a long time in the secluded communities of the Amish.
Just my 2 cents.
Jeff
