Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The “un-American” Amish. Fox News needs to look into this.

In a meeting with an Amish Elder the conversation went something like this:

"The English (i.e. non Amish) think it very strange that your community does not permit telephones, credit, pneumatic tires on vehicles, paint on your houses, electricity or even curtains on your windows.

Why are these not permitted?"

The Amish elder responded with a smile,

"Well, if we had telephones, we would call one another on the wire and we wouldn't take time to visit in our homes.

We don't have credit because we think usury is wrong and if we buy something on credit, it really doesn't belong to us.

If we had pneumatic tires, we would drive by a neighbor's house at 50 mph and wave at them when passing as they sit on the front porch. In a horse and buggy, we stop and visit as we pass their house.

Without electricity, we are off the grid and not dependent on people we do not know and we like the more relaxed pace and ambience of lighting the oil lamps in the evening.

If we began to paint our houses, we would begin to compete on whose house looks better, creating conflict in our community. As it is, keeping our houses and barns clean and in good condition and good work is sufficient for contentment in our lives.

We don't have curtains on our windows because we have nothing to hide from our neighbors.

This way of living gives us a sense of freedom from things."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Desperate for Diversions

 

Popular Posts