The best way to understand the Amish is watch a few videos by Peter Santenello.

There are sub-sects that are extremist and live in deep poverty and ignorance. Some are successful farmers that use technology. Some are scam artists who take clamshell fruits and vegetables from a grocery store and resell them to simps in paper bags at farmers markets.

People who leave do not have good things to say, like Naomi Swartzentruber.

My issue with Mennonites near my hospital is that our genetic testing on this community reveals a lot of consanguinity, and genetic disease from inbreeding.

They are incredibly good at playing the system and making their lifestyle appear respectable so that those on the outside admire them.

They don't use electricity - except for in the barns where the men work and can benefit from it. The women can struggle in the house without it.

They beat and abuse their animals. I've driven down the road and watched a Amish woman flogging her horse to get it to start pulling the buggy. They are also known for puppy mills and horrific abusive conditions for their animals.

They treat their children like they are disposable. Amish children die traumatic deaths all the time because they are unsupervised in situations that no child should ever be in. I'm actually all for free rein children but I don't care if it's your "lifestyle", neglect is neglect. A 3 year old should not be in a position to get thrown off the back of a tractor and have their head run over by the wheel of the trailer, yet this kind of incident happens multiple times a year in the Amish communities where I used to run EMS. I had a family tell me that they didn't leave their 1 year old unsupervised, the 2 year old was in charge of them.

They also hoard wealth and use their religion as an excuse to not have to follow laws or pay certain taxes or fees the rest of us do. They're some of the richest people around.

They make delicious food and are pretty nice to talk to and interact with, but I think they are just as awful as the rest of the world.

While the life life looks relatively peaceful, there are darker sides. For example they pull their children out of school the second they can despite the wishes of the child. It is also common to have children go live and work for another family for years against their wishes similar to indentured servitude...but normally indentured servants actually agree to the arrangement beforehand. If you leave (get yourself excommunicated), and are in a nearby town, they elders will come harass you and insist the money you make should go to your family. This is all a real story from a relative.

My family has farms in an area where there are a lot of Amish. We've traded with them for many years. Unfortunately, though, they're one of the main drivers of Wisconsin's awful puppy mill industry, which is how I've had contact with them as an adult. Their dogs were in some of the worst conditions I've seen as far as puppy mill survivors. I know not all Amish breed and sell dogs, but it's made me avoid their product stands.

Right now we've got an issue that some sects don’t vaccinate their kids, so there’s a substantial measles outbreak in PA.

Unfortunately, these folks also run farmers markets in PA and MD, so they can be a vector for spreading measles. Personally, I think not vaccinating your kids is child abuse, but hey, “religious freedumb” and all that.

I live in PA and frequently drive between Pittsburgh and Philly so I spend a lot of time driving through Amish country. I don’t have an opinion one way or the other about the lifestyle they choose and from what I’ve seen they integrate very well with their surrounding communities both socially and economically. They don’t seem isolated, they don’t seem wary or distrusting of outsiders, they just are. Have nothing bad to say about them folk.

Atheist here. These religious sects are like chilli in the soup, I’m intrigued by them no end, can read about them for hours. Sometimes they even start doing weird, unethical or illegal stuff, wow human’s phantasy is truly bigger than the universe. In France we have mostly Jehovas, they just stand around like ghouls, saying nothing. But since they had some scandals (involving children) they have increased their presence. In Belgium and London I’ve met Orthodox Jews, that’s heavy soup too, almost too spicy. I always pity the children, because escape from a sect is hard.

There's a Mennonite community in the next village where I come from (in Roxton Falls, Québec). They are good neighbours, speak French, and are integrated into the region. But since my province requires them to follow the curriculum we all learn in school, and they don't agree with that, apparently some of them have been moving elsewhere. But AFAIK, aside from the quirk with their school, they still have a church there and are still present.

However I do agree with our government about the curriculum. We all learn about science, evolution, philosophy, sexuality, and the acceptance of others in school, and they should too. Some of them say this is religious intolerance but IDGAF about this argument. They can have the religion they want, and teach their kids what is a dichotomy.

It's my only beef with them. Those I met are all very nice, and sometimes, you don't even realize your're talking with a Mennonite. Well, the men anyway. The women are kind of obvious because of how they dress.

Honestly, I kind of respect the Amish more than most other Christian groups. I'm sure they have issues with abuse and stuff, which I don't mean to dismiss or diminish, but the same can be said of all the other Christian groups out there, so I'll focus on the differences, for me. I've often wondered about sincerely religious people, if their religion is so overwhelmingly important an affair as they claim it is, why don't they orient their entire lives around following it? From what I have seen and read, the Amish do this much more than most other groups, with the exclusion of monastics and clergy. It doesn't make me believe they have things right, but I can respect people who said "This new technology is not compatible with our religious life," and then proceeded to eschew things like electricity and central heating, with rather limited exceptions. Sticking to their principles, even while being able to see how much easier these technologies make the lives of those around them, takes a lot of commitment.

My major criticism would be similar to how I feel about Orthodox Jewish kids attending private yeshivas in NYC, though. Not only do the kids not have a chance to avoid indoctrination, since they follow their own education plan as soon as they're able to, they don't even get the chance to be exposed to the most benign of secular thought that would permit them to live in secular society, in they so chose. I can't imagine the situation is much different from those yeshivas where the curriculum is so skewed towards religious studies, you had Orthodox kids graduating from private schools that were supposed to provide at least an equivalent to the most fundamental high school education that could barely speak English despite being born and raised here, for example.

And I don't raise that point in a "This is Murica! Speak English or get out!" sort of way. It's sad to me, because even if you have a kid who decides they don't want to stay in the community and follow that religion, their woefully inadequate education makes it much more difficult for them to strike out on their own and be able to find a job, for exrmple, when the only people they can effectively communicate with are members of the group they're actively trying to leave

Depends heavily on the sect. Theres a group near me who are quite modernized and I have regular contact with them. They are nice people with an off-grid lifestyle and religion makes up a substantial part of their lives, but are otherwise largely like everyone else.

They have solar panels and in floor heating, they don't milk by hand or anything, and they scoff at groups who don’t have such leniency. They visit non-amish and watch tv with them and stuff. Very chill.

Basically, the specific group near me I’d almost be willing to join. But I’m an atheist, so that wouldn't work all that well for me.

The group I grew up around is a totally different bag. Very regressive, very insular community, not a great situation and not people I want to spend time around. They also weren’t very nice to anyone not part of their community, almost like they wanted to be hated. Persecution complex shit.

I have an okay feeling about the amish and their way of life. However, I am always wary that in isolated and religious cultures, it is harder to be neurodivergent or non cis-heterosexual and that abuse within such groups is also harder to escape from, because of the isolation and potential loss of all friends/family if you choose to leave. However, I haven't heard many scandals involving the amish particularly.

I have lived near orthodox jews and always felt weird that they didn't even (choose to) speak the same language as their neighbors, but only Yiddish. I also felt that while the men are very present in the street and community, you only see the women occasionally and always with a few babies/children.

just down the road from me in Tasmania in a little village, a bunch of Christian folks lead similar lives. Get into town on a horse and cart etc, I am not sure of the denomination though.

The ladies and teen girls are always in the library on the internet and printing stuff out, never seen a male there though. Full length dresses (arms and legs), bonnets and clompy work boots.

We buy produce off their road side stand

I admire their simple agrarian lifestyle but despair of their religiosity.

Canada has Hutterites and Mennonites. I think there are a few Anabaptist sects still in Germany as well, but that's about it.

Around here they tend to be honest and hard working, but extremely insular and taciturn. They'll sell you produce. They won't be your friend.

And of course, their entire communities and lives are centred around the church.

Miriam Toew's "A Complicated Kindness" was a great story about a teen growing up in a Manitoba Mennonite colony.

Luckily, we don't.

As long as they were no burden to others, i'd say they can play 1698 as long as they want. But they are limiting their childrens world view, and that's where they become a problem.

It is not just an Amish thing. If an adult wants to participate in a brainwasher cult, it's one thing, but brainwash kids for a cult - nope.

It's a cult.

I grew up near an Amish market and the food they put out was expensive but incredibly delicious. My family would make trips to the Amish market to pick up treats for parties and events. The Amish you would meet at the market were always nice to everyone.

Amish are like any other humans, there are good ones, and bad ones. Simple as that.

I wouldn't want to live as one, but I find them a fascinating culture. I've seen a few documentaries about them. If I were to ever visit the US (unlikely at this point), visiting some Amish places would be on the bucket list. Being able to talk to them in German would be pretty cool, I think in some regions they even speak a very similar dialect to my region of Germany.

I don't think we have any similar subcultures in Germany, although the Amish originally came from here of course. A lifestyle like that would pretty much be impossible in today's Germany for many reasons.

I don't think I've ever given a single thought about the Amish

There are a few where I live. Those guys can throw up a barn or a fence and built patio furniture out of the scraps like nobody's business. All the men wrestle on their lunch breaks and look like they're carved out of wood. They sell good meat at the farmer's market too. The few I've talked to seem nice. Sheltered, but nice.

While I agree their lifestyle is probably horrible to women and children behind closed doors at least for some.

I've been through communities in PA, MO and KS I have to say their food is top notch. Especially their cinnamon rolls

I'm a Mennonite fan myself. I met Noah Dyck and Anita Dyck. they're good Dyck's and they've always been good to our community and have always used us right. though there was that time that Charity Dyck--well we don't speak of that anymore.

I know very little about them.

I've never heard about anything similar around here in Spain.

I can definitely not relate to the religious stuff, but I think the part where they're living off the land and not really subscribing to all the technology of the modern era is quite alluring. They must feel peaceful with their quiet lives, just regarding that bit.

But obviously it's not for everyone, as plenty of people leave/escape that lifestyle.