Amish — Raising a Ruckus???

City-slickers might think country living a little, well, slow or boring.

Well, just to show that such ain’t always the case, I give you this week’s Area Police Reports. This is a regular column in our weekly newspaper. Imagine what Cleveland or Detroit’s would look like if they did this!

Note this news item:

Montgomery road is just a mile or so north of Orwell. I’ll bet most of my Detroit and Cleveland readers wish this was the extent of their Police reports!

Most Greener-Fields readers probably think of the Amish as a peaceful, hard-working sect of Christians, though on the far right of the spectrum. Some aspects of this are true, though I’d classify them as Christian as I would most Roman Catholics–very much a works-based religion.

For further consideration, there is the time of “running around” or rumspringa, and refers to the period when Amish young people turn 16 and before they decide to be baptized and join the church. Once they join, every aspect of their lives must rigidly conform to the rule of the bishop in their district. Thus, during this “running around” time young people sow a lot of wild oats, usually via alcohol, parties, and even drugs and illicit relationships. We’ve especially gotten a kick out of the Amish boys who ride by our house in the buggies with rock music blaring away.

To read a little more about this, the Toledo Blade has an excellent article about alcohol during rumspringa among Middlefield Amish (Middlefield is about 20 miles SW of Orwell).

Pray for these folks, that they will see and welcome the light of the gospel!