From: LancaStir@webtv.net   
      
   > 1. Do they use the KJV version or a   
   > version older?   
      
   I don't know if it's newer or older. It's a *german* bible.   
      
   > 2. Do Amish visit this Newsgroup or   
   > anywhere else on the net?   
      
   As a rule, no.   
      
   They can have cell phones but not hardwired phones in the house. They   
   can use electronic cash registers, but they have to be powered by   
   batteries, not by hardwired electricity. They don't allow themselves TV   
   tubes.   
      
   There's a fellow over by Strasburg that sells computers to the Amish,   
   but I suspect they are only standalone text-mode units for bookkeeping,   
   etc.   
      
   There are something like 27 different sects of the Plain in Lancaster   
   County, and within each sect, the ordnung will vary.   
      
   When I lived in Indiana, for instance, the local Amish used wooden   
   topless carriages, and sheltered themselves from the brutal winter wind   
   with umbrellas. It gets 20 below there, but here in Lancaster County,   
   where it rarely hits even zero, they have fiberglas carriages with tops.   
      
   The actual details of the ordnung is not an essential to the faith; they   
   aren't luddites. In Indiana, one of my neighbors had a bad case of   
   arthritis and no sons. Since he couldn't buckle harness, the bishop told   
   him to buy a tractor.   
      
   Basically, they are simply trying to be apart of the world, rather than   
   a part of the world, as Romans 12:2 demands.   
      
   Many "fundamentalists" talk about believing every word of the bible, but   
   they sure pick and choose which parts they follow. The Amish don't   
   follow all the rules, either - they don't keep Kosher, for instance -   
   but they act their faith instead of talk it.   
      
   > 3. Do outsiders drive into Amish territory,   
      
   Certainly.  There are more tourists in Lancaster County than there are   
   acres of farmland - and this is the second-most productive agricultural   
   county in the US.   
      
   > and if they do and try to abuse Amish,   
      
   There were some kids up by Shipshewanna who threw rocks at a buggy, and   
   killed a baby.   
      
   > would they defend themselves?   
      
   They try to turn the other cheek. They aren't saints. They are quite   
   capable of getting angry and losing control - but if you were to   
   threaten a guy's wife or kids, you might regret it.   
      
   > I just saw the film Witness. Very good   
   > film. How accurate was it?   
      
   How accurate is 90210 or Seinfeld? There's a lot of license taken in any   
   movie.   
      
   The movie is about a decade old, isn't it? A lot of the details were   
   wrong, and a lot of the things have changed - that Dairy Queen was torn   
   down a few years ago, for instance - but in many ways, it is a fairly   
   good snapshot of the Amish at one time and one place.   
      
   There was supposedly another movie to be made about the local Amish,   
   with the working title of "Sinking Springs", which is the name of a   
   nearby community.   
      
   Amish children don't normally join the church until they are about 18   
   (men) or 16 (women). If someone leaves the church, they are shunned, but   
   if kids decide not to join the church, friends and family are free to   
   continue communicating with them. In late adolescence, they are almost   
   *encouraged* to have a taste of the English life, in order that they   
   don't have regrets later about joining the church.   
      
   However, having grown up somewhat sheltered, they can get into trouble.   
   The Sinking Springs movie was to be about a real incident - some Amish   
   kids started associating with a motorcycle gang, and selling drugs to   
   other Amish kids.   
      
   It would have been an interesting movie, I imagine, but it would be   
   difficult to write the screenplay, and I can't imagine that they would   
   get the support from either the bikers or the Amish that would be needed   
   to make it very faithful to real life. I don't know if the project was   
   permanently abandoned or not.   
      
      
      
   --   
   Utilities:   http://paulding.net   
   Hosting:   http://pdhomes.net   
   Forum:   http://observerco.com/forum   
      
      The Little Egg Harbor doctrine:   
      No child's behind is left....   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)