What are the limits on Amish use of technology?

There are a lot of rules; it's not as simple as "Anything invented after [whatever year] is forbidden." As I understand it, anything that focuses attention on the individual rather than the community is frowned on.

So, for instance, many Amish villages have telephones, but they're always located in public places instead of in private homes. For some Amish, it's acceptable for the community to have a shared car, but not okay for one guy to have one. Does that make sense?


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Different Amish (and Mennonite) people have different approaches.

My understanding is that many Old Order Amish object to being physically tied to the outside world. It's not about 19th Century anything. So, for some (perhaps those who are not Old Order) it's not ok to have a landline telephone, whose line would tie the house to the outside world, but a cell phone is ok. It may not be ok to have external electricity run the well (or spring) pump, but it's acceptable to have a windmill or watermill run the mechanism. For the same reason, some people may accept using a generator or a (big) battery for power, but not have a line connecting them to the power company.

Also, some Amish dairies have mechanical milking machines that are powered by hydraulics or other self-sufficient means.

Actually they did have chairs with wheels in the 19th century, just not perhaps in 1840-something. Post Civil War (1870s on) there was a boom market for all those handy conveniences for the modern office, etc.

I thought that scene was put in there to make a point about how the Amish don't reject everything modern out of hand.

I live about an hour and 1/2 from Lancaster, PA and a lot of Amish moved up here from Lancaster, PA as Lancaster is getting very populated and a lot of tourism so now there is a lot of Amish living in our community.
As I see it in the Amish community they have some different rules and different regulations more strict than others. A lot of Amish work in construction in our area and own work trucks but they have to hire a non Amish to work with them and drive them to work sites. Most Amish that I know own cell phones and they can have regular phones but they must be in an outbuilding or barn. There is even one horse and buggy that goes by my house that has a boom box in it. The first time I heard it I thought a car stopped outside my house with the stereo system blasting but as I look out it was a buggy going buy. So it all depends on each Amish to how strict they are.

They don't make the heaters (they're just Chinese junk), they make the wood case that the heater fits in.

always wondered if this lack of tech is why the amish guy daniel left to go join hans gruber's gang?


Where there's smoke, there's barbecue!

How do they decide what's okay and what's not?


Different Amish communities may interpret the "rules" differently. Every community follows something called the Ordnung (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnung) but they may vary in details. For instance, one community may permit bicycles, while another does not. One may permit cameras for certain things while another doesn't.

PBS had a recent documentary about Amish life that was both moving and informative. You can watch it online:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2200745636/

This site has a few interesting facts:

http://listverse.com/2012/10/29/10-things-you-probably-dont-know-about -the-amish/

An interesting factoid; While Amish comminties have a high rate of some genetic abnormalities (due to a small gene pool) they have practically no incidence of autism except in adopted children. The debate rages on to what extent autism is genetic vs. environmental (odds are that both are factors) but the Amish have a low to non-existent rate, although they have other disabilities, both cognitive and physical, in their communities.

As a sidenote, I think the whole Amish rule stuff is pretty confusing, contradictory, and keeps people in a low state of intelligence and doesn't let the human spirit explore and roam free.

There are some individuals that escape, of course, but how is the 'Amish lifestyle' different from a brainwashing cult that forces everyone to conform to some mad standard (like no technology)? Everyone pretends they chose it and love it, but if you were to ask almost any random non-Amish people in the world to choose between THAT lifestyle and 'whatever lifestyle they want'-type freedom, it's hard to imagine anyone choosing the Amish lifestyle.

The only reason they "choose" it, is that they have been conditioned and indoctrinated EXACTLY like a cult would, that their family is their biggest source of euphoria and happiness and that it's morally wrong to be different, and so on. The Creator wouldn't care, so why would they?

There's no individual REAL CHOICE, there's no respect for individual rights and choices. They have 'shunning' and other indoctrination and conditioning techniques to make sure no one leaves so easily.

How is this anything but an animal-abusing, psychologically destructive cult that basically spiritually lobotomizes people so they never even think to want freedom - or more likely, learn to suppress the natural yearning of their spirit to be free, because 'it feels so good to eat with a family of 12'.

I mean, I don't care how big the 'hole' in their 'hearts' is if one individual is missing from some huge family meal, human beings are supposed to be individuals and have personalities, personal choices and inclinations, wishes and sources of excitement that are unique and possibly incompatible with other people in a small group.

Think about all the inventors, all the hobbies that exist, all the inteligent thinkers, philosophers, artists, animators and writers that we are missing because the Amish cuts off that part of their personalities..