DaytonaDemon

I frankly have no greater regard for the Amish than I do for any other religious cult; but to the average American, the Amish can seem to do little wrong. They're seen as gentle, community-minded, living-off-the-land souls who wouldn't hurt a fly. Never mind the Amish puppy mills, the widespread animal abuse in their midst, the selfish refusal by Amish hardliners to outfit their horse buggies with lights and reflectors (thereby endangering everyone after dusk), and those same folks' rejection of smoke detectors and other "devil" devices. Finally there's the biggest one of all: the fact that the Amish faith, like that of other heavily patriarchal religions, leads to no small amount of child abuse — mental, physical, and sexual.

How did the Amish manage for so long to operate under the radar, and above all suspicion? What will it take to adjust the overly rosy public opinion of the Amish and inject a dose of reality into it?

Thank you so much for what you do.

Here are some interesting tidbits. By no means a full picture, but you can get a feel for the Amish faith and its often dangerous nuttiness.

An Amish beard-cutting gang!

Amish Dad refuses to provide a photo of his seven-year-old kidnapped daughter, or allow a police sketch of her, because that would make God angry. Meanwhile, the girl's abductor held and repeatedly raped her.

Amish households refuse to install legally mandated smoke detectors because "I don't need a devil on my wall to tell me my house is burning."

Despite post-dusk crashes, Amish families in Pennsylvania won't affix mandatory orange reflective triangles to the backs of their horse-drawn buggies, citing scripture about the perils of putting one's faith in man-made symbols instead of God.

The truth about Amish puppy mills.

I said Amish hardliners, and linked to an article from the WaPo that explains:

Although most Amish groups in Pennsylvania use the orange reflectors, the Swartzentrubers refuse to use the standard warning symbol of a bright orange triangle that state law requires on slow vehicles. ...

In December, Jonas Swartzentruber spent three days in jail after being cited for not having a triangle on his buggy. Since then, 10 other members of the sect have been cited, and all say they would rather go to jail than pay the $100 fine or perform community service."...

The Swartzentrubers ... are among several conservative Amish orders in Pennsylvania and elsewhere that object to the reflectors.

Link.

Another cop-out. Surely you understood the question.

And let's not forget typhoid. "Tiefus-wijf!" "Kanker-kut!" Dutch is such a charming language! :-)