Amish: A silent timebomb

Originally posted by Geladinhu
Seems like you are a little bit traumatized and consequently judging the hell out of those that scared you. And now apparently they have become the reason for everything bad that happens with you or that you see at least.

Its just another culture and you have a hard time understanding it.
It doesn't mean that whatever they do is wrong, even if that means beating their kids. Its probably really good for them since its a long-time tradition that is still alive. (I study cultures and know about tons of wilder things that seem "wrong" at first glance, but for the people who do it its usually more then right).

I have and advice for you and this serves for everybody.
"Whenever you see a problem, realize the problem is with you. " Excellent point

Originally posted by Marrr
Are you at war with the Mennonites too? btw, "Witness" is a pretty good flick

Now that you mention it….. My wife knows a Mennonite who left the sect when her sister was raped by the son of the Mennonite leader of their church with no repercussions. The dirty deed was hushed up with the victim living with the trauma for the rest of her life.

[edit on 7/26/2009 by KOGDOG]

reply to post by KOGDOG

The same stuff is going on in the Amish community...but you can't prove that to these people.

One question to those slanderous posts....

How can one show "evidence" when ALL Amish kids are forced to keep their mouth shut?? And the adults mouths are zipped even tighter?? Hmm??

Even the Amish practice cover-ups, disinformation and conspiracy.


[edit on 7/26/2009 by MadDogtheHunter]

Originally posted by Marrr
Are you at war with the Mennonites too? .........

I'm not "at war" with anyone. Well, maybe a few of these posters who replied in an aggressive manner. Talk about being out of line. But, everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how idiotic, unrealistic, naive or idealistic it may be.


[edit on 7/26/2009 by MadDogtheHunter]

How can one show "evidence" when ALL Amish kids are forced to keep their mouth shut?? And the adults mouths are zipped even tighter?? Hmm??

Well, certainly there are individuals that have left the Amish and that now live outside of the Amish community. In fact, the Amish encourage their teenagers to explore the outside world and make a conscious choice between living the Amish life (without the comforts of modern society) or living outside of the Amish community in modern society.

Why can't the accuser provide some third party testimonials? A newspaper article? An investigative reporter's documentary? Pictures? Anything to substantiate their story. Instead, we have just blind accusations based on "personal observations" and subjective anecdotes.

Anyone could say the same thing about any religious sect. It's pure speculation and sheer drivel without evidence.

Again, if this is really going on, the original poster should go to the authorities with their evidence - not post anonymously on ATS!

"I once knew a guy that was a Mennonite, Amish, Jewish, Catholic, (choose your group to hate), etc. that was abused as a child..." Anecdotal. False accusations leveled against an entire group of individuals without evidence.

Authorities do prosecute child abuse. There are countless stories of religious sects that have been shut down by the authorities due to alleged child abuse.

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter

Power corrupts. Isolate people within any cult/nation/tribe/clan and you will find abuses such as you noted about the Amish.

Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews, Muslims, Mormons, North Koreans, USA, Israel, Iran, Iraq, etc….. the pecking order within any power cult will eventually deteriorate into self serving and therefore abusive behavior that no longer serves the lofty ideals upon which the “cult” was “supposedly” originally founded.

Such is the nature of the human “beast”.

reply to post by CookieMonster09

Oh sure, like I know all the ex-Amish out there. Thats a stupid thought. For the last time, to further educate the uneducated.....

Amish don't let their dirty little secrets out. Even those who leave the community, fear to tell the truth because of the consequences the Amish Elders burn in to their brains as children. Google that Amish guy in, Ohio or western PA, from years ago, who was arrested for murdering his wife. Then Google from there on. I'm sure you'll see a few things out there. Why did the story about the Amish murderer make it to the presses? Because it was a murder. Any thing less would have gone unnoticed by the media.

While you're Googling....take a look at this article....

abcnews.go.com...

Here's an OLD website I found, owned by a former Amish man....interesting reading:

www.amishdeception.com...

Same site, page showing criminal Amish cases:

www.amishdeception.com...

[edit on 7/26/2009 by MadDogtheHunter]

Whenever 2 dissimilar cultures meet, the stronger tries to change the weaker into it's image or destroy it if that fails. Has happened time and again throughout human history, and it looks like it's still happening by the sounds of the OP. Sad indeed.

Are you kidding me. These people can make shoes clothing houses fireplaces candles barns...How much of the american population know how to do this. These people posess valuabe information. As Time goes on, and times get hard, I think you will find the amish are more valuable than you think. OH my they move from place to place fertilizing the ground, and tearing trees down with their axes. Have you ever seen lumberjacks on history channel. These amish dont have chain saws, how much damage can they do. I would focus more on heartless coorporations destroying our natural rescources. Oh and its stupid to pick up poop after your animals. Poop is supposed to go into the earth. It naturally hardens and beleive it or not replenishes the earth. No we like to put it in bags and send it to landfills where it will never break down. Real intelligent. OH MY they are spreading diseases willy nilly!!! Have you ever heard of an Immune system? It has to be introduced to diseases before it can fight them to become strong. Our immune system if far superior to any vaccine...Thankfully we have amish, they still know how to make quality products. Stuff that will last. Oh and the whole child abuse thing, GET OVER IT. A child who is abused is obviously ABUSED. Abuse is when a parent lets their kid have it or no reason. In their community honesty, as you can imagine, is very important. they have to rely on eachother, it is of utmost importance that they dont have kids who are LIARS CHEATERS SELFISH and other socially distructive habits that plague main stream america. Listen If your kid knows I am going to get beat if I hit my sister, he wont hit her. They are still productive people. You are simply saying that in your small life you have greater wisdom than their carefully preserved traditions(including beating a bad child). Its not like they are pulling it out of their ass. Its tried and true. You want the american govt to ruin what freedom we have left in this country...screw that. they cant afford to get sick, Vaccinate your self and that will most likely be the last vaccine you take. I dont agree with their methods, but Ill be damned before I watch some moronic generation take away their freedom to live as they damn well please. Ill be damned i said!

I grew up in the Old Order Mennonite church and we knew and interacted with Amish. I have a much broader understanding of those two cultures than the OP does. The OP is very biased to the point of spreading disinformation and lies.

There is now question that the Amish and Mennonites are not perfect people. I left that way of life and can see their faults. The accusation that there is rampant incest and child abuse is false. Incidents of incest do exist, but are rare. I would agree that when it does happen it is not handled well, but to say it's rampant is simply wrong.

I would agree that the amount of child abuse is to high. It's the most accurate accusation the OP makes. Its embedded into the culture and it gets passed from generation to generation. Certainly not all or even most but to many none-the-less. On the positive side though there is very little crime coming from both of those communitys and you have nothing to fear from them.

Amish and Mennonites are not part of the problem and should be left alone. The sickness in the culture is much worse than the probelems within these communities.

reply to post by BeneathMartha


Excuse me, Amish DO use chainsaws, along with many other small, non-electric 2-cycle engine powered tools. Get educated before you comment. And while you're at it, learn how to form proper sentence fragments.

MadDog - No, not really. Cults and religious sects get busted all the time by the authorities, regardless of their "indoctrination" practices.

And yes, there are ex-cult members that speak out, despite death threats or prior brainwashing. That happens all the time.

I never asked if you knew any Amish "defectors", I am just asking the original poster to corroborate their story with some evidence besides spouting off some unsubstantiated story against a group of people that, for all intents and purposes, don't have any history of these kinds of criminal activities as far as I can tell. At least no more so than any other religion, sect, or cult.

The first story you list, "Sex Abuse Case Shocks Amish Community" is one incidence of rape within the Amish community. That hardly seems like a systemic problem. I do empathize with the victim - naturally - but that doesn't entitle the original poster to defame the whole community.

Not unlike the Islamic Sharia courts, the Amish apparently - according to the article - have their own community jurisprudence to oversee these kinds of issues.

The second link, "The Amish Deception" is directly targeted towards a specific group within the Amish community - the "Swartzentruber Amish" culture - not the community at large. Even then, the web link that has the "list" of cases cited in red ink apparently has just 1 case of rape and 1 case of murder! The list of alleged "case files" does not document the case files of the individuals listed - no details are given.

So how exactly is this credible evidence again? One rape case on one web link, and a single case of rape and murder on another? That's all you can find?

Maybe you should take a waltz down to your local major city's police department and read the police blotter to see how "modern" society compares in terms of rapes, murders, and other violent crimes before you start pointing fingers at the Amish. Sheesh.



[edit on 26-7-2009 by CookieMonster09]

who cares what the Amish do, i know i dont

people whom have nothing better to do than get your nose in other peoples' business are pretty hypocritical if you ask me

and if a few smacks with a PLASTIC bat hurt your pride so bad that at age 31 you are still going on about how horrible it was, you have major problems

look at how disrespectful and intrusive you are, judging other people all because you got what YOU DESERVED for misbehaving

my "english/german" granddad beat me with an ALUMINUM CANE, and guess what i learned something called RESPECT

something you seriously need to learn

as they say these days
"this thread is fail"

reply to post by Floating thru Reality

You make it sound as if I am accusing the Amish of causing a national problem, lol. Back up jack.....My OP wasn't even close to that. My OP simply states that there are a large handful of nasty, bad Amish clans around here, that need to be dealt with on a legal level. Where does that imply that ALL AMISH nation wide are mentioned?? The clans I refer to, came up from Lancaster back in the early 90's, and settled in Steuben County, in Western New York. I'm not talking about the clans in Southern PA, Ohio, Indiana or anywhere else...just that small group in NY. Do you, any of you know the 7 families I speak of? I doubt it. Until you do, keep in mind that extensions of any cult, or group can go their own way and become bad seeds.

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


I'm sorry to tell you this but your complaints against the Amish should be called complaints against human beings. We all strip an area of natural resources and then move on. We all destroy our own property because we can. If I buy a house, I should be able to do anything I want to it, including, stripping out the wiring, if I want to. Provided I don't create a hazard to community, what's the harm? If they sell later, whatever damage has been done will be reflected in the price of the land.

These people have no technology and travel around by horse - describing them as "ticking timebombs" is absurd. Most of them probably don't even know what a time bomb is, let alone one that ticks. They're stupid but harmless.

oh yes you know those amish stopping at nothing to conceal their dirty secrets. I would hate to be tracked by amish who mad at me or outing their "DIRTY LAUNDRY" how will my saturn ever outrun a buggy. I have a gun but what good is that against SILLY, this is SILLINESS

You people are so damn clueless and naive, that its pathetic. YOU are whats wrong here, not me.

MadDog - You apparently have a small sect of the Amish community - 7 families you say - that should be investigated for alleged criminal activity. You have no evidence to support your claims, but let's give you the benefit of the doubt for the sake of discussion.

The title of the thread is attacking all Amish everywhere. You should be more concise and limited - as I think your argument would make more sense if you had been more specific.

If you truly believe this group to be criminal, and have evidence to support your claim, you have an obligation as a citizen in your community to report these crimes. Posting on ATS does nothing to save the alleged victims in this case.

Nice read......

www.amishdeception.com...