NationStates Jolt Archive

One of the very most fundamental Christian groups of all! The fundiest of the fundy and so the evilest of the evil. they believe the Bible literally word for word and eschew all else. Yep the Amish! The uberfundamentalist sect has had a man of no particular denomonation or faith rain the wrath of God upon an Amish school and shoot ten little Amish girls and himself.

The sort of thing that makes anyone either blame or deny God. They also get the added atrocity of the Compleate International Media Circus w/ dog and pony sideshow thrust upon them and into their faces and homes. the media showing high hopes and enthusiasm at capturing the essence of the moment with political spin questions and attempts to find raw grief or other overwhelming distress.

This is EXACTLY the situation where the evil Earth harming human rights destroying Fundies will show their true unconscienable rottenness and hate for all who do not believe as they do. This then should be the mother of all kneejerk reactions from the mother of all fundamentalist Christian sects.

The Amish will howl and wail at God for His curse upon them, and they will use the spotlight of the world's media upon them to forward their views and call for revenge. They will politicise this to call for more and netter government protection and axcceptance of them and their religion. They will demonise those who enabled this crime. They will accentuate their victimhood and flex their muscle to oppress others into their comfort zone of morals. Right? They will do all those inhuman brutalistic Fundie things that weve all been propagandised into believing that Fundies do Right. Fundie is bad fundiest is worse right?

Hardly. Despite the onslaught of the press the Amish have kept their composure and purpose. They have clung to their beliefs and principles and preferred life. In the one statement I have heard from a spokesperson for the Amish their intent is to bury their dead . Before that they will start the additional meetings and the prayers which they will pursue until they have completely forgiven the man who killed their children in body mind and soul. Then they will continue on as they always have with morals and pacifism and religion intact.

Perhaps those who demonise fundamental Christians either are better with morals and knowlege of how to get through horrors than the Amish, or are mistaken about what a Fundamental Christian Church is or just needed a handy phrase like "fucking fundies" to bandy about as a target for hatred. i dunno, and cant since Im not Christian but also dont see any particular gain in attacking their existance . At any rate I certainly think that peoples fundie-venom is misplaced against the Amish and their most fundamental Christian Church of them all .


Just for drill below is a link to a commentary by Kerry Sherin Wright in the Philly Enquirer. This woman is more than a little disgruntled at the Amish because she and her group cant throw money at the Amish to make it all better as she has done to so many others in so many other hard times when her heart aches from their pain. She all but calls for the Amish to by Gawd start acting right accept and adhere to modern devices and make those Amish schools and homes safe with high tech security and communication devices. To each their own I guess unless Ms Wright thinks they ought to be doing things her obviously better way.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15672215.htm

The Amish don't bother me at all, if they don't like you, they just ignore you. Other fundies that don't like you start screaming for stonings. They're decent enough folks who take the "turn the other cheek" thing and the "thou shalt not kill" to mean something.

The Amish don't bother me at all, if they don't like you, they just ignore you. Other fundies that don't like you start screaming for stonings. They're decent enough folks who take the "turn the other cheek" thing and the "thou shalt not kill" to mean something.Yeah! Fucking no good bastard Fundies! Except for the Amish only, of course.

*cries*

Yeah! Fucking no good bastard Fundies! Except for the Amish only, of course.

*cries*

They are a considerable step up from Fred Phelps. Plus hey, they're much quieter.

They are a considerable step up from Fred Phelps. Plus hey, they're much quieter.

Yeah plus they dont do that universal hating thing that the rest of Christianity is responsible for. I mostly hate people who drive red cars.

I'm a firm believer in 'live and let live'. Let the weird freaks do as they will.

I never thought of the Amish as fundamentalist...more of a sect. A peaceful one that generally is decent to people, stays out of others' way, and can cook a hell of a meal. I assure you, any Amish worth his or her salt could out-chef Fred Phelps' legion. Plus, they're not out protesting military funerals and telling soldiers that they deserved to die because they support "fags." Yes, the Amish are conscientious objectors to war. No, that doesn't mean they picket soldiers' funerals and laugh at the grieving. It means that, when they are forced to, they perform services in other ways.

It's most unfortunate that some idjet chose to shoot up an Amish school. It's most puzzling why he would choose it, though according to the story, he picked it because it was there and would just as easily have shot up a public, charter, or Catholic school. Still...blarg. It's hard to explain. Especially when all I can think about is Amish cooking.

I have a fair degree of respect for the Amish. Yeah I find their beliefs somewhat wacky and out of touch, but it's their faith, and in practicing it they keep the holy George Carlin's 11th sacred commandment:

thou shall keep thine religion to thyself.

Whatever they do in the privacy of their communities is their own business, I have no right to tell them to do otherwise. They keep to themselves and avoid attempting to unduly influence the world, thus I have no issues with their faith.

I read the commentary, NB, and I came away with a completely different impression. I don't think the writer was at all upset about not being able to throw money at the Amish to make herself feel better, not did I think she was calling on them to grow up and join the 21st century.

She did say this:

This event is already stirring cries for more security for all school-age children, even in religious institutions - more police on call in rural communities - or at the very least, the installation, everywhere, of locked metal doors. The peacefulness and good faith of the Amish look like passivity, even foolishness, in the presence of the darkest of human motives - and, to voice an unpopular sentiment in this conservative county, the absurdly easy availability of guns.

But such calls for change run counter to the essence of the culture victimized here. The Amish community is not one that in time of crisis grabs for any solution. Instead, it focuses on "God's will." The meaning, if any, of this week's events, is something it will need to find in its own time.

She then goes on to describe how the community at Franklin & Marshall College has raised funds for people in the past, to help them out of bad situations and how students and faculty volunteer to help people. She does say that since the Amish won't accept outside charity, she finds herself at a loss as to how to pay her respects appropriately, and concludes that she'll go there and pray, quietly as the Amish might.

I didn't see any of that article as an attack on the "fundie Amish."

The amish are kid touchers.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/

some stuff

I have a most sincere hope that that is sarcasm.

I read the commentary, NB, and I came away with a completely different impression. I don't think the writer was at all upset about not being able to throw money at the Amish to make herself feel better, not did I think she was calling on them to grow up and join the 21st century.

She did say this:



She then goes on to describe how the community at Franklin & Marshall College has raised funds for people in the past, to help them out of bad situations and how students and faculty volunteer to help people. She does say that since the Amish won't accept outside charity, she finds herself at a loss as to how to pay her respects appropriately, and concludes that she'll go there and pray, quietly as the Amish might.

I didn't see any of that article as an attack on the "fundie Amish."

I agree with your view of the article. I didn't see it as an attack on the Amish, or fundamentalists, at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

The amish are kid touchers.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/

Actually the guy who shot them up was. IMS he molested two female relatives when he was 12(20 years ago), and in his suicide letter confessed to wanting to do so again(hence all the boys and adults being released and him being locked up with the little girls).

Oh, and on the subject of Fundies a free(and thus, not all that great) newspaper had an article about this, saying that the Amish had been offered state police protection from the Westboro Baptists who are planning to protest at the funerals of the girls killed, as they do. I don't know if this is true though, as I said, free newspaper.

A peaceful one that generally is decent to people, stays out of others' way,

I have a fair degree of respect for the Amish. Yeah I find their beliefs somewhat wacky and out of touch, but it's their faith, and in practicing it they keep the holy George Carlin's 11th sacred commandment:

thou shall keep thine religion to thyself.

Whatever they do in the privacy of their communities is their own business, I have no right to tell them to do otherwise. They keep to themselves and avoid attempting to unduly influence the world, thus I have no issues with their faith.


they practice their culture within their communities. I admire how they're willing to give up so much within their own lives for their culture, yet not force it on others' lives...
what's the good of having freedom of religion if everyone gets mad when you don't hide in a closet or seclude yourself from the outside world to practice your religion?

I mean I could go hide and be a Christian in any country.




and that's coming from an agnostic... though granted I don't know much about the Amish, but I haven't heard of people going by an Amish approach, being for illegalizing abortion, let alone that in rape cases... they seem to be much quieter and keeping more to themselves than other fundamentalists, or even some non-fundamentalists...

they don't vote, they are uninterested in politics.

The amish are kid touchers.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/

The Amish are simply not equipped to handle such sick twisted people. Atonement and forgiveness, on (hopefully) rare occasions isn't enough. I hope this incident helps some of them realize that.

The amish are kid touchers.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/
Wow. I am shocked - shocked I telt ya - to find out that a secretive religious sect engages in child abuse.

My gasted has never been so flabbered.

*snip*

You're out of your gourd.

Oh, and please learn the difference between "it's" and "its." :rolleyes:

The Amish are simply not equipped to handle such sick twisted people. Atonement and forgiveness, on (hopefully) rare occasions isn't enough. I hope this incident helps some of them realize that.

So what should they do apart from forgive the guy and try and get on with their lives?

So what should they do apart from forgive the guy and try and get on with their lives?

LIke Robin Williams said when talking about catholic priests and their occasional unsavory hobbies invoving children, "It's not just a sin, it's a felony. So we have to keep track."

You call the police, let them do their job, AND forgive the guy and try to get on with their lives. I don't think it has to be(or should be) one or the other.

The amish are kid touchers.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/

Accessing from a library terminal and I get that blocked as "general pornography". Of course it may be unblocked tomorow, I had the same problem with wikipedia once . . .

My gasted has never been so flabbered.

Thank you for that delicious turning of a phrase. I'm socking that one away for use at opportune moments.

LIke Robin Williams said when talking about catholic priests and their occasional unsavory hobbies invoving children, "It's not just a sin, it's a felony. So we have to keep track."

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/eli.jpg

That haircut alone should constitute a felony.

The Amish are some of the most innocuous nuts around. They keep to themselves and don't promote hate. They bother nobody.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/mckelvey/secretsandlies/eli.jpg

That haircut alone should constitute a felony.
So that's what happened to my pudding bowl!
Damn Amish stole it from me!

So what should they do apart from forgive the guy and try and get on with their lives?

Go the all American-route. Get them some vigilante justice.:rolleyes:

I would tell you what I really think of the Amish but I dont feel like getting banned.

I would tell you what I really think of the Amish but I dont feel like getting banned.

Why would you get banned? An Amish person isn't going to stumble in and get offended. It's like farting in the desert. :)

Amish is as good as a smile.

You're out of your gourd.

Oh, and please learn the difference between "it's" and "its." :rolleyes:

If I am out of my gourd (and not in your gourd) then its reasonably certain that its' not going to have much influence upon my grammer or grampa to try to instill me with the need to bow to you're hypersensitive reading needs, is it?
I didnt think so.

So since one your two complaints about me mutually excludes the other I'll need to ask you to pick one and only one of these to which I can answer.

Itz a sure bet that the answer will of be "bite me" but I feel I have the right to know which complaint I am answering to.

Why would you get banned? An Amish person isn't going to stumble in and get offended. It's like farting in the desert. :)

What, the camels get pissed off?

LIke Robin Williams said when talking about catholic priests and their occasional unsavory hobbies invoving children, "It's not just a sin, it's a felony. So we have to keep track."

You call the police, let them do their job, AND forgive the guy and try to get on with their lives. I don't think it has to be(or should be) one or the other.

The police were there, and are doing there job :confused: