The Amish Are Getting Fracked 367
An anonymous reader writes "Old school meets business school. From the New Republic: 'The Amish interpretation of the Christian bible prohibits the use of the courts: Except in rare circumstances, the Amish do not sue. This has created a unique problem in the region. Home to the largest Amish community in the world, Eastern Ohio sits squarely on top of the Utica and Marcellus Shale formations, which contain billions in oil and gas recoverable through advances in hydraulic fracturing technology, or fracking ... When it comes to the oil and gas industry, this means that any agreement an Amish farmer makes with a company is, for the farmer, practically unenforceable. A rare case in which the plaintiffs were Amish suggests that Ohio's oil and gas companies know this and have been willing to take advantage.'"
Re:lawsuit by proxy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Somewhat. There are Amish who will 'not use electricity', but will use a diesel generator at the barn to run the dairy equipment.
Is that a loophole or a nuanced interpretation?
I think he's dealt with other orthodox types (Score:5, Interesting)
It isn't so much the Easter/Christmas Christians. I mean when you have someone that only has a passing involvement in their religion, it is not at all surprising when they ignore some (or many) of the rules. However you see it in the really orthodox as well. They find what they believe to be loopholes and use them.
Orthodox Jews are some of the best examples:
So Exodus 35:3 says "Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day." This relates to Exodus 16:23 which says "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" Basically the idea is, as far as biblical scholars can tell, that making a fire was a lot of work (try making a fire rubbing sticks together, it sucks) and the Sabbath is a day of rest. So none of that, you make your food on Friday, rest on Saturday. Remember that we are talking the ME/Mediterranean here, so you didn't really need fire for warmth.
However, for whatever reason, the Talmudic interpretation has decided that electricity is fire. I'm not sure why, but that is what the orthodox churches teach. So, you aren't allowed to operate electric devices on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), in particular your oven. Well that's pretty damn inconvenient in the modern world... So they find all kinds of "loopholes". You can get ovens that have timers longer than 24 hours. You set them up the day before, and they'll heat up (and down) at the prescribed times. Also while an Orthodox Jew can't go and push the buttons to operate an elevator in their building, it is 100% fine to have a Gentile who does it for you. Or, since elevator operators are a rather unnecessary expense these days, elevators can be (and are) set in to 'Sabbath Mode' where they automatically stop at every floor and open up, and just keep cycling. Takes longer, you have to get on and wait, but you can use it without 'operating' it.
This is real, and it is big. There are plenty of Orthodox Jews that seem to think it is important to obey that part of the bible, but that they can find ticky loopholes and gotchas to get around it and god will be ok with that. I don't claim to understand it, however it is what it is.
On the flip side you'll see some weird stuff like stores that won't let you order on the Sabbath. B&H Photo Video, one of the best camera stores in the US, is like that. They have a big, well designed, online ordering system. However it won't let you order on the Sabbath. You can browse, but if you try to place an order, it won't allow it, you have to wait, it won't queue it into the system. The servers don't get the day off, but they aren't allowed to take orders :).
So you can see how, given things like this, people might assume the Amish would be similar. It is not from dealing with people who are casually religious that you get the idea, but from dealing with those that are deeply religious and seem to care about certain rules, but are 100% fine with going around those rules in tricky ways.
Now lest someone think I'm picking on the Jews here, I just chose the example because it is one you see a fair bit in America. You should see some of the things various orthodox Muslims do that are against the Koran, but they've found a loophole that makes it "ok" in this particular case.
True Amish Lifestyle (Score:5, Interesting)
It's funny when people talk about the Amish as if their assured piety somehow comes from genetics or something. The truth is, the Amish have ALWAYS sought for 'loopholes' in their situation - what the Bishops allow for is a different tale altogether.
I could give you LOTS of examples, but here's a oldie AND a goodie. Back in the early 90's, I worked for a Commodore dealer in Lancaster County, PA (BIG Amish and Mennonite community). C= had kind of a non-sequitur deal: Buy an Amiga 500 bundled with a 1080 monitor, get a 'free' VCR - which was kinda silly. The A500 had no color composite out, so actually hooking it up to a VCR required this phallic-looking 6 inch long module (the A520), which of course, was not included.
And yet...
The Old Order Mennonites and even a few of the younger Amish were buying into this deal - big time. We sold more A500s than ever during this time - and the vast majority were going to that community. While the A500 didn't have a true color composite out (C= = STUPID!), the VCR did, and it just so happened that the monitor that came with the bundle did as well. I found out what was going on when I suggested to a conservative-looking young couple that, with an antenna connected to the VCR's tuner, you could actually watch TV on the monitor.
I was taken aback by their shocked and seemingly terrified response, "Oh no! Don't SAY THAT! We don't want to watch TV on it!" What they DID want to watch was VHS video though. Because the Bishops were not up on the latest technology, they could claim that the computer system was the primary purpose of the deal - the VCR would not be mentioned, and they could watch all the tapes they wanted in the secluded privacy of their bedrooms.
Today, if you see an Amish or Mennonite woman on the stoop of their house, cradling something close to their ear, you can bet it's a cell phone. There are cell vendors who specifically cater to the Amish's 'cash only' lifestyle.
Folks, the Amish are as human as any of us. There are pious ones, but many are essentially trapped in a lifestyle out of necessity. Imagine this: With only an 8th grade education, and all of your friends and family belonging to the community, you'd probably stay because you'd fear the total abandonment of the only life you've ever known. But that doesn't mean they don't get rebellious or 'get up to dickens'... ;)
Re:Failure of Superstition to adapt to the real wo (Score:4, Interesting)
I think the blame still lies with the NG company. The "punching a pacifist" [slashdot.org] metaphor is a good one. Sure, he chooses not to punch back out of his own free will...but it's wrong that he was assaulted in the first place.
Re:lawsuit by proxy? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:lawsuit by proxy? (Score:5, Interesting)
They, or their ancestors, chose a different value system from you, nothing more or less, and I personally can understand their decision (even if it's not the one I would take). Ignore the fact that it's rooted in religion and look at the actual motivation for the things Amish do. Their proscriptions aren't based on scripture, at least not directly, they are based on keeping the family as strong as possible, keeping friends and relatives close, not relying on others, not being lazy or vain.
Re:lawsuit by proxy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Doesn't matter, it would encourage the drilling companies to act more honestly.
The Amish want fair dealings without lawsuits, the corporations want to take advantage of the lack of lawsuits to deal unfairly. If a third party reaps 100% of the reward of a lawsuit, things are likely to be more, not less enforced, which should encourage fairer dealings with the Amish than the general population, a win win for the Amish.
Re:lawsuit by proxy? (Score:4, Interesting)
Hatta, I've generally appreciated your comments in the past, but this is a cheap shot, and off the mark at that.
In one interview I read, an Amish fellow explained the reasoning. The idea, as best I understood his explanation, is that they believe that God intended for people to work a certain amount in this life. Devices that offer shortcuts to that are therefore shortcutting God's intentions for how people should live, and ultimately encouraging laziness and sloth.
From that basic principle, he continued, automobiles are clearly out, but telephones might not be, and refrigerators could also be allowed. Which helped explain why I would see Amish folk riding a horse or a buggy from home to the dairy store near my relatives' house where the Amish sold their wares, and why that store was equipped with a refrigerator to keep the milk cold.
From that basic principle, it looks to me like logic is being applied to the real world.
I also note that the people I've known in life who've had to work the hardest to achieve success generally value that success all the more. Folks who clawed their way out of the ghetto to get to college, and who then followed through on their clear plans for professional careers thereafter. This stands in stark contrast to the people I've known who were given everything they possibly desired, and who don't understand the value of work. Folks who floated into college without a plan and without any ambition, who partied and vandalized, and who then tried to pass off casual acquaintances as glowingly impressed professional references in order to schlub their way into jobs that they couldn't really do. So I have to say that the Amish point of view might well be right to some extent, even if I don't hold to their sky-wizard reasons for it.
Cheers,