Some factions such as
those associated with the founding of Sattler College have openly embraced
mainstream life with its technology and economic order. Though still reckoned
among the conservative Anabaptist spectrum, this shift in attitude represents
an embrace of a nascent Dominionism. This inclusion of its conception of
vocation in which one's daily occupation is a holy Kingdom-oriented task has
landed them in a place not too distant from the world-compromised and affected liberals
who in the post-war era sought an activist role within society.
Traveling by different
roads and perhaps in some respects at political odds, both groups claim to
champion the Mennonite heritage even while they have in many and divers ways
abandoned its fundamentals and distinctives.
The mainline factions or
liberals wrestled with Kingdom issues and ethics in light of WWII and decided
they must act. The world was changing and it would be wrong for the Church to
sit on the sidelines (as they understood it) and thus they sought to venture
out into the world and change it – and of course the world has all but swallowed
them up. The world hasn't changed but they certainly have.
The conservatives
(distinct from say the ultra-traditionalist old order spectrum of conservatives)
were forced to wrestle with the changing times and the fact that agrarian life
and culture weren't really possible in a modern context – unless one completely
divorced oneself from mainstream culture. Generally speaking in light of the calamities
of the world, they came to view the state affirmatively and thus believed they
had to carve out a special place within the larger society as it stands. Yoder
at this point engages in an interesting discussion of separatism versus a type
of privilege.
It's one thing to say
I live in the society as a pilgrim and I'm not interested in being 'plugged in'
to the circles of power and influence and as such I will not reap the material
benefits they afford. Such an attitude is to embrace second class citizenship
or to reckon one's self a subject. And yet Yoder talks about how Mennonites (at
times) in the past received a kind of benefit from local landlords. They were
invited in to cultivate land because they were quiet and subjective, hard
working and honest. And as outsiders they were divorced from local squabbles
and clan rivalries. Having no claim to land or heritage they were often wholly dependent
on the lord who sponsored them. To the locals the Mennonites were in a position
of privilege, receiving benefits and special favours that others did not.
Yoder seems to suggest
that this post-war posture among conservatives in which their separatism
affirms the state and the status quo
is in some respects reminiscent of the privileged status of previous
generations. It's fine that you pursue your policies and wage your wars. We
support you. We're not going to say they're wrong, they're just wrong for us.
This is different than
saying we're pilgrims in a fallen world. Babylon is going to be Babylon and do
what Babylon does. We pray for the peace of the city so we can go about our
work but we do not support the city or endorse the wars it wages, the laws it
passes, the punishments it metes out, the money it makes or how it makes it. We
understand that in providential terms this all serves a purpose. They're wrong
but these things can't be fixed in a broken pre-Parousia world. They're wrong
for us and they're objectively wrong but
on the principle of non-resistance, acknowledging that the powers that be are
ordained by God and in light of our call to be martyrs, we will not actively or
politically resist. If asked or if occasion arises in conversation we will
certainly speak the truth and expose the deeds of darkness – all the more if we
sense other Christians are being misled. If this is perceived as political then
we're willing to pay the price even though we make it clear we have no
political interests. Our perceived failure to contribute and participate toward
the good of the society will more often than not upset those in the mainstream
and will generate anger. They will think it strange indeed that we don't
embrace their visions and pursue the glory of their Babel. And if our obedience
to the laws, payment of taxes and our prayers isn't good enough for them – they
can force us out our kill us but we won't serve their Babel-Rome or compromise
our principles.
The obvious analogy is
to point to the exiles in Babylon. They didn't oppose the government but at the
same time the prophets were not shy about speaking out and denouncing the
wicked deeds of the Beast-powers.
So, some have
consciously embraced the world, others inadvertently came to and others are
still struggling with the realities. Traditionalist Mennonites and the Amish
are feeling the stress of the times.
Many Amish have all
but abandoned the farming life and have turned to construction, running
sawmills and I even know of a community which sews and fabricates canvas covers
for winterising houses, covering boats, cars and things like that. Some will
still have a hobby farm with a truck-garden patch. Some communities have clung
tenaciously to the horse and buggy culture realising that if they abandon it altogether
they will cross a line and erode their distinct identity.
That said, these same
communities are finding that modern life, running a business and living in a
cash economy makes life more complicated. With fewer items being produced at
home, that means more trips to the store and as rural centres diminish and
little small town grocery stores close, people are forced to travel longer
distances. The Amish then rely on hiring 'English' who own passenger vans. They
pay these drivers to haul them to the grocery store. Construction crews hire
English drivers to drive their crews and haul trailers loaded with building
materials. Sometimes the Amish actually own the vehicles but they won't drive
them. I've seen Amish sawmills who use English forklift operators. Like it or
not they are entangling themselves with the wider world.
It doesn't always go
well. I've seen some English homeowners who hire Amish and aren't terribly
happy with the result. I saw an Amish guy pull a toilet and carry it down the
hallway without bothering to first deal with the water inside the bowl leaving
a trail of filthy water (and mud from his boots) down their hallway. Ten
minutes later he was eating his sandwich not having bothered to wash his hands.
The homeowner was gravely offended by the whole affair.
The Amish while
perceived as quaint by those purchasing Amish romances in the bookstore are
viewed very differently by those who know them and live and work alongside of
them. I was helping a friend do some demolition work and he had a local Amish
guy helping. The plaster dust was pretty bad and I was wearing a full
respirator mask with cartridge filters. At one point I ran to the store and
coming back in I found the Amish guy had donned my mash and was working away. I
was flabbergasted that he would have put it on – filled as it was with the
condensation from my breath and needless to say I didn't want it back. I told
him he could keep it. He seemed thrilled and I don't think he ever grasped that
he'd done something wrong or offensive as he certainly didn't apologise. Of
course now I had to go and purchase a new one and for the rest of the day I got
to breathe in dust.
The same friend and I
used to talk about the Amish community living around them. He had frequent
contact with them and considered a few of them to be his friends. On other
occasions he has thrown Amish work crews off his land for their sloth and he's
had more than a few unfortunate run-ins with Amish youth going through the
season of rumspringa. One of his Amish friends told him hushed tones that a
significant number of Amish brides are pregnant on their wedding day. Once
again, those who live around the Amish know these things well enough but those
who don't are usually surprised – their views of them tending toward the
romantic.
I once referred to
Donald Kraybill's book 'The Riddle of the Amish'. My friend snorted, 'The joke
of the Amish is more like it.'
He sees them as absurd
and compromised, even as parasitic. And I'm afraid it's this last label that
gets attached to them on a fairly regular basis. They end up becoming a
nuisance to those around them because the truth is as they change and are
forced to interact with modern life – they seem content to use modern
accoutrements such as the automobile, phone, power tools and other appliances –
as long as you do it for them or provide them with what they need.
My sister-in-law had
some Amish move in across the road and looking back they realise they were
being groomed. The Amish showed up right away with cookies, bread and things
like that. And then not long after they started showing up looking for rides.
They wanted my brother-in-law to drive them into town, sometimes on multi-stop
day-long outings. They certainly paid for the service but he grew frustrated
because they came to expect it and would show up at odd hours looking for rides
into town.
Then they wanted a
phone installed in his shed and he agreed to it. He's not unique, even though
we did warn him. I can think of at least a half-dozen people I know who have
been down this similar road. So now the Amish are around all the time, leaving
all their litter behind them. At one point they wanted to cut some trees down
and offered money for them. That turned into a disaster – the wrong trees, too
many trees and torn up yard and driveway in the process – as they explicitly
disregarded their wishes at certain points. My in-laws for this and other
reasons ended up being exasperated and started working to disentangle
themselves from them, eventually having to be somewhat assertive to get them to
understand.
As I've written about
elsewhere, I've dealt with Amish borrowing mobile phones for hours on end,
making endless calls, borrowing tools without asking, demanding that people
bend over backwards to help them because their ethics won't allow them to own
this or that tool. Frankly I've had a pretty terrible time with them and don't
really want to be involved in any project where they're going to be around.
I have no problem with
someone saying I can't own a phone or say certain power tools. But then it
follows that you can't do certain jobs and that's just how it is. You pay a
price. They seem to want it both ways. It's hypocritical and I start to find
myself rather put out by them. Now, granted many do own power tools, especially
the battery variety as battery packs have really improved over the past 10-15
years. It's a whole new world when compared to a generation ago. Of course the
minute they show up someplace, without even asking they're plugging in their
chargers. My friend grew irritated with the Amish teenagers plugging in their
contraband mobile phones in his barn. If an Amish crew is on a jobsite and
someone has left tools (or even a radio) there – they help themselves and it
doesn't always go well.
I remember well one
time I was crawling around in the rafters running wiring and watching an Amish
guy down below me using my table saw. He hadn't asked. Interesting I thought as
they had been hired to do work that I would have been doing except they were
cheaper. I guess you can afford to be when you're using other people's tools
and then claiming the moral high ground because you're not like those worldly
English.
Then they had
forgotten to order some things and rather pushily wanted me to drop what I was
doing and run them to the hardware store about ten miles away. So now I was
supposed to lose a good 30-45 minutes of time because they, wanting to work in
the English world can't really do so. For indeed having to make a run to the
store is hardly unusual. Working by the hour, should I charge the absent
homeowner for my time running Amish around? Should I go 'off the clock' and
just eat the time and cost? Either way, the Amish weren't being fair to me or
the homeowner.
The point in all this
isn't to beat up on the Amish but it's to call attention to the fact that large
numbers of them are leaving agriculture and entering certain sectors of
mainstream life. And yet clearly they haven't thought through the ethics of
what they're doing and they're struggling to maintain their integrity let alone
their identity. And as far as being a witness – well, I know that's not really
a concern of theirs but let's just say if it was – it's not working. I recall
one Amish fellow I talked to conceded that one of the main themes of their
Sunday sermons is the warning about worldliness because like it or not it's
happening.
Their testimony is
failing on many levels and they're starting to earn enemies – not for the sake
of the gospel but due to economic competition. In addition to running into
trouble with authorities over DEP regulations regarding septic tanks and
building codes with reference to their own properties – as more of them enter
the construction field they're competing with and undercutting traditional
tradesmen. It's really happening in the realm of roofing. My area of Northern
Appalachia is one of the few regions of the country with virtually no Latin
American population and yet the Amish are starting to fulfill that same role
and of course they work for a lot less than mainstream contractors. One roofer I
know (not as a friend) launched into a tirade one day in the building store,
cussing and swearing, calling them 'a bunch of straw hatted n-------',
frustrated with the number of jobs he was losing to them. While we cannot agree
with his sentiments or verbiage, the salient point is that some of their
opposition is no longer merely religious in its origin. They're entering the mainstream
and at this point they're doing it poorly.
And as they are
growing frustrated with the building code and zoning regime and as they're
coming into contact with mainstream culture they are clearly disturbed and some
are starting to take some interest in the wider culture – and yet they have
little to work with. Most Amish I've talked with are little more than children
in terms of education. Attending school until about age 13, they do not read
much of anything and have no real desire to learn. Many are semi-literate and
I've often been astonished in engaging them in casual conversation. They're not
even aware of basic concepts or events and yet going out in the world they're
starting to feel a bit of the frustration we all experience every day. This has
opened them up to outside exploitation.
In 2004 I began to
hear about Evangelicals reaching out to the Amish community and encouraging
them get involved – some apparently (if the rumours are true) voting for
warmonger George Bush. As elections grow tighter and Amish inhabit some of the
so-called battleground states I'm hearing feature reports on Christian radio
focused on reaching the Amish and getting them to vote – something they have
historically eschewed on the basis of nonresistance. Evangelical activists are
reaching out to them scare-mongering and trying to persuade them to vote in
order to retain their liberties. Obviously the push is to vote for Trump.
All I can say is that
if we've reached a point that Amish are going to the ballot to help Donald Trump
get re-elected then my friend was right – they have become an absolute joke.