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As the Amish population in the US grows – forecast to hit 1 million by 2050 – the decline of farmland is forcing the community to spread to new areas and to evolve its agrarian culture.
I have always had the opinion they are incredibly hard-working, though a little archaic and too conservative. I don't know enough about them.
The one thing that stunned me is when there was that murder of a little Amish girl in Pennsylvania several years ago. The Amish community forgave the perpetrator, buried their loved one, and moved on, almost too stoically. Being of Sicilian extraction, the lack of emotion, and not rallying that justice be served, was incomprehensible to me. I guess I'm not a poster child for "turn the other cheek" Christianity. In these scenarios, people of all the world's religions are seen in the court system with the expectation that justice is served.
I was in involved in a sort of "issue" concerning the county and the Amish in another area recently. I went out to take information to one of the people that had came to town as a representative at the meetings. I had not been out to the area but it was incredible. Everything was so well maintained and clean. I learned in town that a lot of people felt some how threatened by their having moved to the area. The "issue" basically was created to try to get them to sell off the farm land they had purchased quickly and on the cheap. I was just in such awe over the beauty and simplicity of their lives. I had often seen their smiling and peaceful faces in town and at the farmer's market. Also, I know a woman who had went and purchased a wonderful puppy from a family. In SE KS and SW MO, it was not the Amish that I saw running puppy mills and it was puppy mill hell there. I was surprised how wrong I was about the role of women in their faith also. I think that ignorance of the faith is what breeds the inappropriate words and actions of others against the Amish. Where I grew up, the Amish used to flourish but most have moved to more open and reasonably priced areas.
Anyone who has worked in animal rescue for any length of time knows that the Amish are the ones suffering from "ignorance". It stands to reason that a society committed to doing things the way they were done hundreds of years ago would also treat their animals the way animals were treated hundreds of years ago. Not every Amish community runs puppy mills. But they all use horses and let me tell you they do not treat those horses humanely. If you know about even the mainstream, modern horse world that will not come as a surprise or be a stretch of the imagination for you.
Another aspect of Amish life that I personally find repugnant is their tenant of forgiving men who rape children. These men are not punished or ostracized and their victims, if they survive, are told to forgive and get over it. And child molestation is rampant in the Amish community as is domestic violence. Do you think the people who escape are making all of this up?
As much as some people want to attack the Amish, others seem bent on protecting them without full knowledge or good reason. One thing I will say is that Amish society is no better or worse than any other. Each society tends toward its own brand of atrocities so to speak. The Amish are still human, and that comes with a lot of ugliness.
As someone who works in equine rescue, and has been on Amish farms in another capacity, I can say that SOME Amish, like SOME English, treat their animals badly and as disposable. Others treat them extremely well, better than most "English", and most are somewhere in the middle (just like some of us are).
Do they consider them in the same way we do? No, they don't, but that does not mean that they don't take care of them (and even care for them a great deal, as I've seen personally).
As for the child rape mentioned above, this is the first I've heard of it, and until I see more evidence than one person's claim, I have to withhold judgment. I'm pretty sure it's not a tennant of their religion, however.
Bigotry exists in many forms, and when it is politically incorrect to be bigoted against one group, another will be found to take its place. Sadly, it appears to be human nature.
there are many issues in the Amish community - it's not bigotry to address them and puppy mills are no myth, but as with everything it's not like every amish barn has a puppy factory in it .... they shouldn't be demonized, but they shouldn't exactly be glorified either ..... they are human and as such you will run the gamut .... they may not be as "free" as what some would want, but aren't as pushy and outwardly aggressive as most
overall I think the article posted had many good points about the changing dynamic of rural agririan life that is impacting all people who have a similar situation ..... the Amish have some special challenges and dynamics beyond the rest ... this article I think presents a pretty fair and good story
Puppy mills are a problem, and they exist among many different groups. What should be addressed (and it most definitely needs addressing) should be puppy mills, not "Amish puppy mills". Or foal mills, come to that - the same thing exists in horses, practiced by a very few breeders but coming to the same thing.
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