To put a forewarning on this, some of the information contained within I cannot prove to be true. I am going by a story I saw on a fairly reliable (though not always) news program last night. I know all Amish communities are not like this, but if you stick with it and read it, you may find that it raises some serious questions about the saftey of people involved in this faith....

Last night I turned on the TV to a show called "The Outsiders", a show outlining special "interest groups", many of them religious cults, and the beliefs and explotations within them. Last nights opening segment was about the Amish, a people I once believed to be level headed pacifist, a group of sort of "back to the basics" (though not really back, they never went foward)religious group. But the story I heard almost made me sick to my stomach...

The girl that the show was interviewing claimed to have been raped by her brothers at least (if not more) 150 times. When she went to her mother for advice, her mother told her that she wasn't being very forgiving by saying that her brothers were hurting her, and that she should forgive and forget, it was the christian thing to do.

When she contacted her minister, he said that her brothers had publicly confessed in church and had recieved punishment, which was a 6 week band from church activities. That's all. The same punishment went for stealing, getting drunk, and raping someone.

She finally did what any sane person would do, called the authorities. When the police showed up and the brothers were interviewed, they openly admitted to doing what they did, and two of the brothers acquired a 4 and 8 year prison sentence respectivley.

The third brother, on the other hand, got a longer sentence (just how long I don't remember, but it was pretty damned long). So what did the amish community do? They disowned the girl for ruining her brothers' lives.

There was a severe outrage on my part, and I was wondering if anyone else here saw this is as sickly unfair and extremely wrong?

Wow, that is quite a sickening story.

By no means, is rape ever justifiable, but you can't put this particular incident on a pedestal and forget about the wrongs that go on everywhere in the world.

You can't say it's because they were Amish.

Christians, Athiests, Muslims, etc., have all raped their fare share.

I consider this a product of the world we live in...and that world is a sinful one.

Right, I know that it isn't just an Amish thing, and I am probably unenlightened as to other punishments of this crime around the world, but something so close to home? I was always led to believe that the amish were a very harsh law abiding people.....

so let me get this straight... If i drink. i can't go to church for 6 weeks?? FUCKING AWESOME.

[This message has been edited by Nibroc (edited 09-02-2006).]

quote:Originally posted by Nibroc:

so let me get this straight... If i drink. i can't go to church for 6 weeks?? FUCKING AWESOME.



Yea churches are really into having only the pure at heart attend services so they do not have to deal with the failings of those that would put their church in a bad light by attending services.

Exceptions are Catholic pedophile priests, of course. But their sins are not very important since there is usually nothing a priest can do that will make him not a priest again, in the eyes of the Catholic church, anyway.

[This message has been edited by John7714 (edited 09-02-2006).]