if im not mistaken, they are just super right wing christians, right?

I don't think that's accurate.

I know the Quakers tend to be suprisingly liberal.

does that mean that i am right when i say christin, though? and yes, the amish are pretty conservative, but its decreasing.

any other takers?

the amish are descended from what theologians tend to call 'the left wing of the reformation'

they are closley related to the mennonites but were led orginally by jacob amman (?) (the mennonites being lead by menno simons).

they are basically anabaptists (thats the technical term).

Yes, Amish are christians, but no, they are not very conservative in the "conservative movement" sense of the word.

Conservatives (at least in the US) are generally not characterised by staunch pacifism.

As inheriters of an anabaptist-ish hertige I'd say that they are more interested in being serious about a wholistic faith than in being "conservative" or whatever.

True, the Amish care much more about their faith than they do about being labelled either conservative or liberal.

Do amish kids have to sign up for the draft?

quote:Originally posted by theBishop:

Yes, Amish are christians, but no, they are not very conservative in the "conservative movement" sense of the word.



True, I would not label them that way either. The Amish allow their children to experiment after they reach the end of puberty or so, and so the children are allowed to explore the modern world and everything. If they choose to come back afterwards, they are brought back into the fold. If not, they aren't Amish anymore. It gives them a choice and brings more significance into choosing to be of a faith, rather than being a prisoner of it. This is drastically different from the 'right-wing Christians', where I remember one teenage couple was murdered by their parents for engaging in oral sex in the back of a theater showing "The Passion of the Christ".

I grew up in Amish country. They are good people mosatly, not like a lot of Christian nut-jobs. What I like most is that they pretty much acknowledge that their preference for lo-tech lifestyles etc is not related to their religion but their cultural preference.

quote:Originally posted by AngrySquirrel:

where I remember one teenage couple was murdered by their parents for engaging in oral sex in the back of a theater showing "The Passion of the Christ".

*jaw drops*

quote:They are good people mosatly, not like a lot of Christian nut-jobs. What I like most is that they pretty much acknowledge that their preference for lo-tech lifestyles etc is not related to their religion but their cultural preference.

Yeah in alot of ways i rate the amish. I read somewhere that they use electricity in their barns, have pay phones installed in their communities etc. but just don't to have technology interferring with the way they live their lives and their community.

quote:Do amish kids have to sign up for the draft?

Probably, but i think in the US they have provisions for objectors... so they could serve in non-combat roles (they served as stretcher bearers/ medics in WW2) . However i think the Amish often don't take oaths... so i dunno.