5 Myths About the Amish

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A recent Huffington Post article purports to dispel 5 myths about the Amish. In addition to denying the existence of an ‘Amish Mafia’, one of the myths dispelled is that the Amish are luddites:

Because they don’t have television or Internet in their homes or Volvos or even pickup trucks in their driveways, the Amish are easily mistaken for Luddites. But they are not anti-technology. Peer into Amish society and you’ll see state-of-the-art LED lights, rollerblades, gas grills, solar panels, and battery-powered hand tools. The Amish use technology selectively. They spurn technologies that they fear will ruin their community and its religious values: television, cars, computers, etc. However, they readily accept and invent new technologies (such as a wheel-driven alternator to recharge the batteries on their buggies) that they think will enhance the well-being of their society. Moreover, many Amish “engineers” adapt mainstream technology to fit within their moral values. They strip electric motors from large sanders and replace them with pneumatic motors to provide “Amish electricity” in furniture shops, for example. One thing is certain: Amish people spend much more time than the rest of us assessing the long-term impact of new technologies on human relationships.

Read the whole article here.

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