When I think of Amish I think of pioneer. They use hand held tools for building. Horses for traveling and working in the fields. I found this to not really be the case. I guess it depends on how Amish you are.
Let me explain-
The bicycle is a major mode of transportation- I get that. Man powered. Used mostly by women it seems but you do see young men using the bicycle as well.
The other mode of transportation is the horse and buggy. I get that too. The buggy even has blinkers and battery powered lights for at night. Pretty Amish I say.
But check this out. Going through town here comes an Amish guy and his wife as they stop at a stop light....in a $50,000 Dooley Ford Pickup. This thing was the Texas Star Edition. That is the leather seats...captains chairs...lights up like a Christmas tree kind of truck. It was pulling a trailer with all things .....A TRACTOR. No ordinary tractor either. The kind with the air conditioned cab. The tractor itself cost about 100,000 new. Now how AMISH is that guy?
I saw an Amish woman mowing with a tractor like you see at Home Depot.
I also saw in the airport an Amish fellow waiting to board a plane.
Wait a minute.....I thought we used horses and buggies!?!
Is there some sort of rule book on what you can use and what you can't? Is the guy who uses hand tools and a horse for transportation more Amish than the guy who uses the tractor?
Where do they draw the line? How do they decide? I am not going to use a power tool to build a house but I need my Dooley to haul my tractor???
Can anybody shed light on this one?
6 comments:
I am not trying to offend anyone by the way. I am just curious about how the Amish rules to live by work. I did not think they drove cars so I was curious. If anyone knows drop me a line.
Huff
Just read quite a bit about the amish on wikipedia.. sounds like there basically just a bunch of different groups w/ different beliefs on what is & what is not acceptable..
cb
There seem to be levels and variances of all people....Baptists, Catholics, etc. Being Baptist I know some are okay with moderate drinking, some would gasp if they saw a deck of cards and others think NO baptists drink. So, like CB says, different groups may have been created due to different ideas on what was acceptable.
Good trip.
Maybe the Amish are to blame for gas prices if they are trading in their horse and buggies as well as bikes for dooley pick ups.
Blame the Amish and the Chinese. We just don't get as many "Made in Amish Country" like we get the "Made in Chinese."
I am thinking that you probably saw Mennonite people. They are very similar but as far as technology goes they use what is necessary and keeps them up to date. They are not supposed to be materialistic or flashy and sometimes have to get things approved to buy. Was the truck black??? If so, it was a necessity but not a flashy one =)
I honestly don't remember. I was shocked by the truck. Thanks Becca for the comment.
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