The tension between fundamentalist Christianity and the Amish is a subject in need of some sunshine. Given the respect the Amish engender from most of the public, it's a disgrace how predatory and demeaning evangelicals can get when they're proselytizing the Amish.
From an earlier post.
I'm familiar with a dark side of fundamentalist Christianity when it isn't tempered with compassion and reason. As a child I watched my older brother dramatically withdraw from our family, in large part because of an encounter he had with a neighbor, who managed to persuade him of the inferiority of our family's faith and way of life. ( How, "four centuries ago." )
The irony is, we were Amish. The same people who are currently revered world wide for how they dealt with a horrible tragedy in one of their schools. And yet, it is very likely my thirteen year old brother was told that if he doesn't reject and Dis-associate from most of what my family was and did, he would burn in hell for all eternity.
It would be nice to see the local fundamentalist evangelical community show some leadership and speak up for common sense and decency.
IN her novel, "The Redemption Of Sarah Cain" Beverly Lewis is shameless in her willingness to profit from the Old Order Amish but her character is glad to not be Old Order. There are Amish in Lancaster who conform to Lewis' portrayed, preferable faith, they just happen to be plagued by schism and low retention. I guess that doesn't sell books.
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