Amish

An Amish farm near Morristown, New York.

The Amish is the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S., and helped tilt to Republicans the 2024 presidential election and key Senate races in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Their population is nearly 90,000 in Pennsylvania, and Ohio recently surpassed that; "the raw data from Amish-heavy, rural Pennsylvania counties shows marked improvement in voter turnout" in 2024.

Amish are of Swiss descent. Their religion is a conservative Anabaptist Christian denomination and part of the Mennonite sect known for rejecting many modern conveniences such as electricity (while accepting battery power) and automobiles. Amish primarily adhere to an agrarian lifestyle, but some are merchants. They dress plainly (a compliment is "You look plain") and live apart from mainstream society while resting on Sunday. There are Amish communities in 32 out of the 50 United States, in 2022, while rapidly growing and expanding into additional states. "The Amish are one of the fastest-growing population groups in America," and their population "has more than tripled" in just three decades. As of June 2022, the Amish population is estimated to be 373,620. By 2024, Ohio's booming Amish population surpassed Pennsylvania's, and Amish country is the #2 most visited location in Ohio with 4 million tourist visits annually.

The rate of autism among the Amish is only 1 out of every 271, while the overall rate in the U.S. is 1 out of every 36. Differences in vaccination and video game addiction could be factors.

Amish live "off-the-grid", which means they reject interconnection with the secular world by electrical power lines, television, radio, telephone lines, and the internet. Amish believe that unnecessary reliance on this world is to the detriment of God. Amish also reject car and bicycle ownership, as they can be objects of vanity and a means for departing one's community. Horse-and-buggy and scooters are allowed. The Amish began embracing independent solar power in the 1980s and use it today to provide self-sufficient electricity. Liberals ostensibly prefer this Amish approach to energy, yet hypocritically rarely adopt it for themselves, and even impose regulations making life more difficult for Amish.

The Amish are leaders in establishing rights of religious liberty, mentioned in more than about 1,000 court cases as of Jan. 23, 2022 (roughly half federal and half in state court). Most of the cases concern challenges to regulations of their farms, but some implicate the Second Amendment and other rights. One example was an unsuccessful motion to dismiss a federal indictment in Pennsylvania of an Amish man for allegedly "dealing in firearms without a license ... in violation of the Gun Control Act, specifically, title 18, United States Code, Section 922(a)(1)(A) and 924(a)(1)(D)." United States v. King, No. 5:22-cr-00215-001, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224929, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 14, 2022).

Amish do not participate in Social Security (they obtained an exemption due to their religious beliefs) and also generally do not attend school beyond 8th grade but continue to learn by reading throughout their lives. Their ancestors were German-speaking Swiss who arrived in eastern Pennsylvania in the 1700s, and more came over in the 1800s. The now-largest Amish settlement (148 large families today) west of the Mississippi River was from Switzerland to Kolona in southeastern Iowa, in 1846. Many Amish people speak Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of German.

The Amish are the fastest-growing religion in the United States, doubling every 20 years. The Amish population is growing so fast that each year some families move out to acquire more farmland. They are highly successful financially and morally. By 2050 the Amish are expected to attain 1 million in total population in the United States, and by 2222 the Amish could be the majority in the U.S. The largest Amish communities are in Pennsylvania, where the Amish population exceeded 84,000 as of 2021 and is growing at more than a 3% annual rate.

The hit movie "Witness" (1985) is a highly accurate, respectful portrayal of the Amish that was filmed on location in the Philadelphia area.

There are different sects of Amish, such as the "Old Order Amish" and the "New Order Amish." In some ways the New Order is more conservative than the Old Order, as the New Order completely bans alcohol and smoking. Within the Old Order Amish are the Swartzentruber Amish, who are particularly conservative.

The largest Amish communities are in Pennsylvania, while Ohio has surpassed it in overall Amish population and Indiana also has a large Amish population. An Amish rule is that "one should buy no more land than he can work," such as 80 acres for one large family. On that property crops of corn, hay, and oats can be grown to support 30 cows and 60 hogs.

The group was founded by Jakob Ammann in the 1690s and began to settle in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana beginning in the 18th century. "The Scribbler counted the number of directory pages devoted to each Amish surname. Stoltzfus came in first, by far, followed by King, Fisher, Beiler, Esh, and Lapp." Hochstetler, Hochleitner, and Yoder are also common Amish surnames.

Many Amish have large families and in 2012 the Amish were named the fastest-growing faith group in the United States. The Amish population is projected to grow to 1 million people by 2050.

No cases of the coronavirus were reported among Amish in 2020 during the CCP global pandemic.

Expansion

As the Amish population rapidly increases, each settlement is generally limited to about 40 families. When they grow larger than that, as they often do, then new land is acquired and a new settlement is formed. Because Amish do not use electricity, all they really need is a well. Many unproductive small farms are being turned into productive uses by expanding Amish families who settle there.

The Amish are almost entirely in the United States, but a few Amish communities have expanded to Canada and South America (primarily Argentina and Bolivia).

Full Sabbath Observance

Amish youth groups from Davies County, IN, and Lancaster County, PA, visit Behalt as part of their preparing to make the decision of whether or not to join the Amish community on a long-term basis (namely, their adulthood).

Amish fully enjoy the weekly Sabbath as a complete day of rest and relaxation. But their day is Sunday, not Saturday). All non-necessary work is avoided for the entire day. Commentators have particularly praised this aspect of Amish life.

The Amish do not watch television, so there is no addiction to the NFL that disrupts the Sabbath and Christmas Day as it does for millions of Americans. Amish prohibit gambling, and thus the costs and burdens of sports gambling on the Sabbath and at other times are fully avoided.

Exempt from Social Security

The Amish asserted a religious exemption to any participation in Social Security as being against the tenets of their religion. The Amish lost their appeal on this issue in the unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision of United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252 (1982), But then Congress created a narrow exception for Amish-owned businesses and businesses owned by similar members of religions having well-established objections to Social Security, which enables them to opt out of the obligations and benefits of the program. A special form must be filed by the Amish to assert this exemption.

Congressman Gibbs (R-OH), who had Amish constituents, introduced federal legislation in 2021 to broaden the rights of the Amish.

The Amish do not accept any Social Security, unemployment, or welfare checks from the government.

Declining all Government Handouts

The Amish refuse to accept any handouts or funds from any government. Some have attempted to find private funding for environmentalist programs for Amish communities.

Exempt from Public School

The U.S. Supreme Court established an exemption from compulsory attendance at school for the Amish, specifically the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church, in Wisconsin v. Yoder (May 15, 1972) (7-0 ruling), based on their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

Amish school in Pennsylvania

Low rate of autism among the Amish

Amish young woman in Pennsylvania displaying some freshly baked soft pretzels.

See also: Atheism and autism

The American Amish have low autism rates which may be due to their low vaccination rates. They also tend to have a healthy and simple lifestyle. Due to their high levels of physical activity, the Amish have low rates of obesity.

David N. Brown indicated: "In March 2006, Drs. Kevin Strauss, Holmes Morton and others documented 9 autistic Amish children, which could raise the autism rate of the Lancaster Amish community Olmsted supposedly investigated to almost 1/5,000 which is still a fraction of the US average of 1/68."

Politics

Conservative themselves, Amish tend to support conservative candidates, and overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in 2016. But only about 5% of Amish actually vote in elections.

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While they comprise a sliver of the current electorate, the Amish, which number about 87,000 in Pennsylvania and 43,000 in Lancaster County, tend to register overwhelmingly as Republicans ....

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Researchers at Elizabethtown College found that:

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at least 4,125 Amish people in Lancaster County registered to vote and 2,940 voted in the 2020 general election, a significant increase from the roughly 2,060 registrants and 1,020 voters in 2016.

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Conversion to Amish

Through a process known as conversion and commitment, anyone can become Amish. But there is no evangelical movement by Amish to initiate that, so it is rare.

Clothing

Amish men often wear distinctive white straw hats and black jackets with no buttons, while Amish women typically wear a "kapp" which is a plain white cap or hood, and a plain dress having a full skirt and long sleeves.

Travel

Contrary to secular perception, Amish are allowed to travel by train and be passengers in cars. But they are not allowed to travel by air or drive cars, which are viewed as non-essential luxuries.

Language

Amish are fluent in English, but typically speak a dialect of German known as "Pennsylvania German," or "Pennsylvania Dutch" where "Dutch" is a misnomer for "Deutsche" (German). Ethnically, Amish are of Swiss descent and not German or Dutch.

No Photographs

Amish prohibit taking any photos of them, in strict compliance with the prohibition in the Bible against carved images, see Exodus 20:4 Tourists trying to take pictures of them against their beliefs is perhaps their greatest frustration with tourism.

Weddings

Amish wedding ceremonies include reading from the Apocrypha, such as reciting the marriage of Tobias and Sarah.

Most Southern U.S. settlement

Amish prefer colder climates, for easier refrigeration-substitutes and for doing without electricity-intense air conditioning. But there is a permanent Amish community in Beeville, Texas, which may be the most southern U.S. permanent settlement.

Amish can be seen among the general public as far south as the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

See also

• Summary of History and Persecution
• Mennonite
• 10 reasons why the Amish are healthy

External links

• Amish summary, Britannica

• Amish America

Videos:

• Inside the Amish & Mennonite Community - Full Documentary - Living Plain

• Look inside an Amish home