Amish Reality Show... (page 2)

Dan-O

CG, I won't speak on Sassy's behalf, but I do know this: The Amish distance themselves from the world and eschew modern conveniences (such as refrigerators, telephones, electricity, etc).

But ... they will ask their 'heathen' neighbors to give them a ride in their car, or to store meat in their freezer. And around here, they will buy & use generators and cellular phones & power tools ... just as long as those phones & power tools aren't connected to some wire on the other side of the property line.

And if you start digging into the scandals facing some Amish, you'll find some of the same cover-ups and sexual abuse that have generated bad press for the Catholic church and the WTS.

JT

Amish Abuse is in desperate need for massive coverage.

Please forward this web site to everyone you know.

*Amish Deception*

*Written by: David E. Yoder*

*All names have been changed to protect the innocent*
Copyright (C) 1997. By David E. Yoder
*Any of this material may not be reproduced Electronically or otherwise without a express written consent of the Author.
All Rights Have Been Reserved

Amish Deception is solely base on the Swartzentruber Amish Culture and in no way implicates the numerous less conservative sectors of my Amish Culture.

INTRODUCTION

This is my story of Amish life.

The world looks upon the Amish as a good moral Christian community (which many of them are), but as you read this, you will learn the truth about the Swartzentruber Amish Community. There is rape, incest and even murder, which the local law enforcers ignore.

I am writing this in hopes of informing the world and to try to get help for those who are not able to or do not know how to get it for themselves.

http://www.amishabuse.com/

i had the opportunity to talk to this guys wife a few months back, THIS IT THE REAL SIDE OF THIS GROUP much like jw

gypsywildone

I live right in the middle of them, Lancaster County, PA. They are known for not taking care of their animals well, their horses are skinny & they run them lathered & keep on going. Their animals are seen as money to them, nothing more. Their children are hurt or killed in farm accidents every year. I could go around here & take pictures of 6 year olds working in their fields in sweltering heat. They won't drive a car, but will bum rides from the "English", will certainly take money from the "English", no prob. They don't appear to use much in the way of soap or deoderant either. Last year, some Amish teenagers were convicted of being crank (meth) dealers. They might have been taken advantage of in that case, I have no idea how they got into that predicament. They don't seem to stay in school all that long, & appear to be a rather ignorant society.

Recently, a lady at a job was telling me of an incident where an Amish that found out a customer was a shunned Amish person, would not have any dealings with the shunned one & acted as if it was the devil itself appearing.

On the bright side, here they keep their farms neat & tidy & plant attractive flowers. My sister said in the state of Indiana where she has family, they do not, & are not liked at all there. They are felt to be dirty & greedy in Indiana. Pennsylvania seems to have an uneasy co-existance with them. They also regularly get killed on highways in buggys, they are a hazard on the road & resist being forced to put reflectors & any other devices & lights on their buggys, yet they persist in driving them on hazardous roads & at night.

Seems to me to exploit them by making a reality show is kinda creepy. Have we sunk so low in this country that making fun of them is entertaining? Is this entertainment?

Dan-O

I could go around here & take pictures of 6 year olds working in their fields in sweltering heat.

The Amish here do not allow themselves to be photographed. I wonder if that's different in PA?

Besides ... A little hard work is good for kids. And it doesn't take place just on Amish farms. Heathen farmers work their kids hard, too.

My sister said in the state of Indiana where she has family, they do not, & are not liked at all there. They are felt to be dirty & greedy in Indiana.

I haven't heard anyone here say that the Amish are dirty or greedy. Some say they're hypocrits, sure ... especially when they're talking about some Amish guy with a big screen TV hidden in his basement. And others (especially farmers) grumble about the rate at which the Amish are buying up farmland.

They also regularly get killed on highways in buggys, they are a hazard on the road & resist being forced to put reflectors & any other devices & lights on their buggys, yet they persist in driving them on hazardous roads & at night.

Yeah, they occasionally get involved in collisions with cars here, too. The horse usually gets the worst of it. But they do put the orange triangles & blinking lights on the buggies here. They're not so bad to deal with, except on very narrow roads ... or in the parking lot at the shopping center, where piles of "road apples" are the norm. Yep: watch where ya step. North of me, in Nappanee and Shipshewana, the city crews have to regularly clear the streets & parking lots of manure.

Seems to me to exploit them by making a reality show is kinda creepy. Have we sunk so low in this country that making fun of them is entertaining? Is this entertainment?

The other big stink about "Amish entertainment" here is an Indiana band called The Electric Amish. You can hear these guys on the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom show sometimes. Anyway, there was an uproar a year or two ago when The Electric Amish were going to perform at the Three Rivers Festival in Ft. Wayne. Some folks thought is was ignorant & intolerant. I think they're pretty doggone funny, but maybe I'm ignorant & intolerant, too.

Country Girl

Thanks for all the great information and links. Very enlightening to say the least.

Country Girl

gypsywildone

The gig is up! I was at work & didn't hear any radio all day, but husband did & the scandal of the moment around here was that those Amish on the show had already "left the faith" before the TV deal. Some kind of bruhaha all over today around here, in the stores, etc. & on the radio, apparently. I don't know what state these people on that show are from, but the Amish community is small & insular. It stands to reason if they don't really like their picture taken (but that has never stopped a tourist yet), that they would not be on a TV show, unless, possibly a documentary I wonder where to find this out

hillbilly

I can drive about 10 miles from the house and see all the Amish Reality I care to see here in Mid Michigan, too.

They are shrewd business people, "real horse traders". About the horses.... ah, If you Work a horse, they will be a little "ribby". Look at any old pictures of work horses and none are the fat "lawn ornaments" we see on white fence stables owned by the "english" today.

Like any other groups there are good and bad...I know the ones I deal with really (really) like to drink!

"Soap, smell, deoderant"... obviously, whoever said that has never pumped water for a family of 4 or more.

Bathing is out of a wash bowl and full baths are weekly. Back in the day everyone (except the rich) was in this mode. Clothes doesnt get washed every wearing either. Takes a good day to boil and wash a family full of clothes by hand. Ever milk 30 cows twice a day....by hand... you tend to take a odor that sets a spell.

Pick up YOUR towns1880 newspapers at the local archive and the Amish ways won't seem so harsh.

__________Hill ( 2 generations from an outhouse myself class, and great grandpa was a college man)

Gopher

A few people are jumping to conclusions about this show without having watched it. Based on the reviews and previews I've read, including the following one, this reality show is more about what the Amish "young adults" and the city kids learn from each other.

I don't see the show as a deliberate attempt to poke fun at the Amish or to merely exploit them for ratings.

Give the show a chance!! You might find the psychology involved interesting.

"Amish in the City," set to debut at 7 p.m. today is a wild card in UPN's game plan. Similar to MTV's "The Real World" in structure, it incorporates the Amish rite of passage known as "rumspringa," (Pennsylvania Dutch for "running wild") during which teens and young adults test their faith and values against the sinful outside world.
The 10-part series observes five Amish who live in a luxury home in Hollywood Hills with six non-Amish in their 20s and venture out to shopping malls, nightclubs and the beach.
In the first episode, the six "city kids" mock the Amish quintet when they appear at the door. One, a vegan named Ariel (who espouses her belief that "cows come from outer space"), asks of their conservative attire, "You dress like this -- it's not a joke?" The show seems more critical of those from mainstream culture who assume a superior attitude than of the Amish, who are depicted as amiably open-minded to new experiences.
If the show is embraced by viewers, it could be helpful in UPN's fall-schedule launch.
But if it lives up to the worst expectations, it could undermine UPN's quest to be seen as a purveyor of quality content.UPN Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff called the show a "journey of discovery" for all involved. Two of the Amish participants said they did not feel exploited and were happy to have gone through the experience. A young man named Mose said he saw the show as a means of clearing up misconceptions about the Amish. On the other hand, when he was asked what it would take to get an Amish person permanently ostracized from his or her community, he said, "If anything would get you banished, it would be being on television."

I believe the last quote from Mose (the star of the show) was tongue-in-cheek.

hillbilly

Hey Girl....those ones in Tejas are likely Mennonites... they are a little more progressive than the Amish.. like they will by a tractor and put it on steel wheels and drive cars etc. Ohio is full of em!

----------Hill

hillbilly

a little more on the horses--- used Amish horses tend to have high rates of ringbone (high and low) bowed tendons and other leg problems... and they tend to die at 10 or so.....

Amish trainers use the same methods EVERYONE used back in the day...Their using horses are dead broke to task and very reliable... Good trainers use a little of the 'horsewisperer' mumbo-jumbo and a little bit of firm hand.... a must if you plan to use a 1000 pound critter to pull the wife and kids in traffic.

The pathology is very similar to ALL horses prior to 1920 or so... WE all have an easy life today.

----------Hill ( i ride my ponies and shoot my guns class)

Amish Reality Show...

INTRODUCTION

Recently, a lady at a job was telling me of an incident where an Amish that found out a customer was a shunned Amish person, would not have any dealings with the shunned one & acted as if it was the devil itself appearing.

I could go around here & take pictures of 6 year olds working in their fields in sweltering heat.

My sister said in the state of Indiana where she has family, they do not, & are not liked at all there. They are felt to be dirty & greedy in Indiana.

They also regularly get killed on highways in buggys, they are a hazard on the road & resist being forced to put reflectors & any other devices & lights on their buggys, yet they persist in driving them on hazardous roads & at night.

They also regularly get killed on highways in buggys, they are a hazard on the road & resist being forced to put reflectors & any other devices & lights on their buggys, yet they persist in driving them on hazardous roads & at night.

Seems to me to exploit them by making a reality show is kinda creepy. Have we sunk so low in this country that making fun of them is entertaining? Is this entertainment?

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