Opinion of the Amish

[BenBurch]

Disgusted with their pacifism, and also disdain their lifestyle.

[BenBurch]

Probably vaguely negative in principle, or at least sufficiently negative of disallowing their children to receive modern educations that it outweighs other positive attributes like pacifism. The last time large numbers of Amish were actually exposed to modern society (during the WW2 conscription era) was also the last time there was a large exodus away from their lifestyle, which suggests to me very strongly that it's not all it's cranked up to be. You don't see people switching in the other direction.

But some try. It's true that, even over a period of decades, only a few dozen former outsiders have been accepted as members. But that's not for lack of interest.

I remember reading an article not long ago. It was about an online forum devoted to people who wanted to become Amish. That's an easy sentence to laugh at, but it's illustrative. For Amish moving out of their communities, the transition to a different way of life is difficult, but there are institutions and programs to help them, and it's not as if they would be accepted back anyway.

For anyone attempting the opposite, there isn't anything to help them, and the Amish have no responsibility to oblige confused cultural tourists. You don't see equal movement in both directions because it's a lot harder to move one way than the other. It doesn't say anything about which way of life is preferable.

As for children, the chief function of "modern education" is to reproduce the mix of bad habits, poor socialization, and insatiable material demands that make our world go round, so the Amish can hardly be faulted with opting out. Even with only an eighth-grade education, they are less likely to be functionally illiterate or innumerate than a typical high school graduate in the United States.

You know, it isn't too often that I agree with a Green Party supporter.  Well done.

[BenBurch]

Disgusted with their pacifism, and also disdain their lifestyle.

Boo

I have no use for pacifism.  None whatsoever.  And when I go to the library, there invariably are a couple of Amish, and they party like it's 1874.  It's so weird.