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Indiana isn't just home to anti-abortion Catholics; there are loads of different religions here. We've seen a few Mennonites in Warsaw, but today we headed out to Amish Acres to find out a little bit about Amish history. Back in the 90s on Fist of Fun we had done a sketch about a group of people who had liked the Amish style, but had disliked not being able to use more modern inventions, so had set up their own branch (called the Conkeys) whose cut off point was 1981 (because it was only after 1981 that really modern things began to be invented). It was really an excuse to do lots of mildly cheap bits of nostalgia comedy, but made a good point about the arbitrary nature of working out what was modern and what was traditional. And this little glimpse into Amish life did show that there was a similar level of fudging in order to make the system work. Bicycles used to be forbidden, but now they are allowed (because they are not that modern now?) and some Amish do need to interact more with the modern world so there are exceptions where their people are allowed a phone, but they tend to locate them in an inconvenient place on the edge of their farm so they are difficult and troublesome to use.
It's fascinating to see a community existing in a country that likes to think of itself as a melting pot, but cutting itself off from everyone else and making that work. And it again demonstrates the power of self-belief and the necessary delusion of all belief systems. It's like a foreign country within a foreign country to highlight the stuff I was saying yesterday. They have stayed mainly true to their forebears against all the temptations of the modern world. They don't have buttons (except occasionally) or moustaches because their ancestors in Germany were persecuted by men with big brass buttons and extravagant moustaches. It seems odd to blame the buttons and the moustaches, but then people seem to let moustaches take the blame for loads of stuff as I discussed in Hitler Moustache.
Much of it seems comical, though most people laughing are unable to see the ridiculousness in their own traditions and some of it self-defeating. But adherence to old laws which are perhaps no longer relevant permeates all of our lives. Whether it's an amendment about the right to bear arms or keeping up with laws that made sense for a desert dwelling community from thousands of years ago. A woman on the same tour of us tried to express her admiration for the Amish keeping their culture untainted, given how other communities in the country have encroached on one another. “Black people aren't black any more and white people aren't white,†she said. I don't think she was advocating apartheid, just trying to express her appreciation of a people keeping their identity. But in a sense her bumbling attempt to give a compliment also demonstrated why purity of belief isn't necessarily commendable.
The Amish don't have insurance because they see that as a form of gambling and anything that happens is God's will. Which to the rest of us seems crazy (and they do pay money into a mutual fund to cover most of the costs so again it's somewhat semantic), but if something bad happens in terms of medical emergency of fire, the other Amish will come together and assist them with work or bake sales. And how the Amish must laugh at the rest of us for not having that level of community.
But you know, they could save themselves a lot of work if they put lightning rods on their houses.
I am not sure how Amish, Amish Acres really is. They seemed to sell a lot of modern stuff in their shops, but it is more of a museum where you can view old buildings and get an idea of what Amish life is like. We did see a few buggies going by on the drive up and Amish women on bicycles (heretics). And one of the ladies who showed us around was Amish (the other was not and seemed occasionally bemused and confused by the traditions she was describing).
I am very much for embracing the future and trying to eradicate the cultural differences that give us false reason to hate and kill each other (though we'd find different ones if they weren't there, I am sure - I am reading a book about the Romanovs and in Russia a few hundred years ago people were prepared to kill - and to die- over whether the sign of the cross should be made with two or three fingers), but I love history and to ignore the past and the lessons we have learned is equally disastrous. But humans generally like a list of rules that are seen too be true and that they can follow easily without having to consider nuance or changes wrought by time. And the Amish aren't hurting anyone else with their decision to stick to rigid ancient laws. Which is a rarity.
