What's with the Amish?

[wnylib]

38. What you are describing sounds more like

Mennonites than Amish.

Amish are an offshoot of Mennonites and they often have communities near each other. Mennonites range from very conservative "Old Order" to almost indistinguishable modern orders, with varying degrees of adherence to separatism in between.

Years ago, I once commented to an Amish woman on the perfect evenness of the stitching in her bonnet. She laughed and said, "Oh, we have sewing machines." But they were treadle machines, mechanically operated by foot, not by electricity. During the covid lockdown, when surgical and N95 masks were not available, the Amish in my area made cloth masks on their sewing machines at home for distribution to everyone, Amish or not. Some took jobs at companies that made masks with modern, electrically run machines. OTOH, there were Amish who would not wear masks themselves.

Some might use electrical tools, but all Amish and Mennonites are very pacifist. Voting in a national election would mean selecting someone who could authorize war or lead people in war.