I think a lot of people romanticize the Amish... they are pretty much an oppressive cult with quaint appearance to the outside that does not carry over to the inside. The Amish in my former area were infamous for puppy mills[1], but there were also talks of rampant sexual abuse and domestic abuse[2]. There are a lot of problems in closed-off communities and they can be rife with abuse. While working at the hospital I often interacted with Amish patients, many were there because of drunk driving (they were racing buggies).
If you want to embrace their ideas of simplicity, you can do so without needing to join them. Plant a garden and grow some of your own food. Choose minimal spartan furnishing for your home. Sew your own clothes. Learn woodworking.
> “Can an outsider join the Amish church/community?”
> “A local Amishman recently remarked, “You do not need to move here to adopt a lifestyle of simplicity and discipleship. You can begin wherever you are.” Yes, it is possible for outsiders, through conversion and convincement, to join the Amish community, but we must quickly add that it seldom happens. First, the Amish do not evangelize and seek to add outsiders to their church. Second, outsiders would need to live among the Amish and demonstrate a genuine conversion experience and faith that results in a changed lifestyle. Third, it is extremely difficult for anyone who has not been raised without electricity, automobiles, and other modern conveniences to adjust to the austere lifestyle of the Amish. And to truly be a part of the Amish community one would need to learn the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.”
Hey, if it's really something you would love so much learning Pennsylvania Dutch and giving up electricity are no big deal. Don't let your dreams be dreams.
I hope you're an adult male. They don't treat women and children well, and their justice system is designed to suppress crimes rather than prosecute them[1].
Ask yourself: Would you like to be devout Christian? Because that's what the Amish are. If you oppose abortion and are generally a vaccine skeptic, you'll fit right in. This ex-Amish helps Amish escape the community: https://www.tiktok.com/@yodertoter40. He talks about trying to visit an Amish church, and how they forbid people with tattoos, to give you an idea of how ascetic they are.
I think what you really want is to live off grid in a homestead. You don't need to be Amish for that.
Amish is a religious sect tied up with an ethnicity. The religion is a deeply integrated part of amishness and amish people wound never consider a non-christian to be amish.
I've not suggested one could be Amish without being Christian. I've started that 63% of the US population are already some type of Christian and that some of that number are as adherent as Amish; therefore, that many people would not have to convert to Christianity if they were to attempt to integrate with an Amish community.
> Devout Christians in tech are extremely rare in my experience. HN is a tech news site. Have you experienced otherwise?
What counts as "devout"? But I can think of a number of well-known Christians in tech, who by all accounts are serious about their faith. Larry Wall (inventor of Perl) is an active member of the Nazarene Church. Donald Knuth is a Lutheran, who has even published a couple of books on the Bible, and plays the organ at his church. Fred Brooks, who managed the IBM S/360 and OS/360 projects, and wrote the famous book The Mythical Man Month, was an evangelical Christian. D. Richard Hipp, inventor of sqlite.
Yukihiro Matsumoto (inventor of Ruby) is a Mormon, and apparently has even served as a low-level official in the LDS Church (counsellor in the bishopric of his ward). Also a lot of Mormons in the Utah tech scene, which produced a number of well-known companies, including WordPerfect, Novell and Qualtrics, all of whom had LDS founders/CEOs/etc. (I know some people claim "LDS aren't Christians"–I think sociologically they clearly are, and as to whether or not they are theologically, there's no point debating it here.)
In my personal experience, you often don't know what your colleagues believe religiously, because the culture encourages people who believe to be quiet about it. I have no doubt religious belief (and especially serious religious belief) is less common in tech than in the general population–there is likely a partially neurobiological explanation for that–but you've quite possibly worked with some religious believers without realising that's what they were.
HN is popular with many people adjacent to or interested in, but not practitioners of, tech disciplines. This aside, yes, I know and have known many devout Christians who work in tech. Fewer perhaps than in the general population, but still a good number.
I was thinking, "hm, why are there no Black Amish", then I was thinking "ah there are Rastafari", and now I am putting "Amish fighting a Rastafari" to midjourney.
