Amish in the News
Bill would help Amish who reject reflective triangles on buggies
| January 24, 2012MAYFIELD, KY. — On Jacob Gingerich's farm in Western Kentucky, there is no phone or electricity for his family of 12 children. He even sees putting an orange safety triangle on their black horse-drawn buggy as as violation of the simple and pious life his Amish faith requires.
He and other Amish men in rural Graves County have become scofflaws for not using the reflective signs, ignoring state law, disobeying orders from a judge and even going to jail for not paying fines.
Horse left at Ohio Amish-area Wal-mart needs home
| January 8, 2012Wally the Walmart horse is looking for a new home. That's the nickname given to a 9-year-old standardbred horse that a humane society says was left at a northeast Ohio store by an Amish teenager more than two months ago.
Amish Youth Get Friendly On Facebook
| June 19, 2011Lancaster, Pennsylvania - Kate's like a lot of American teenagers. She likes country music. She lists her favorite TV shows as "One Tree Hill" and "Friday Night Lights." And she's on Facebook, with more than 200 Facebook "friends."
And yet, Kate differs considerably from most other American teenagers on Facebook in one key respect:
She is — or at least, by her mode of dress, appears to be — Amish.
And she's part of what appears to be a growing — and, inside the Amish community, a worrisome — trend.
Ex-Amish woman finding new life
| March 7, 2011HARLINGEN — Emma Gingerich reached the age of 15 without ever having used a computer or talking on a telephone.
She never studied history or geography; for her, the earth was still flat.
The life she faced, she said, would be simple: a minimal education, which stopped at eighth grade, and little contact with those outside her immediate community.
Her purpose in life, she said, would be to raise children and continue the static traditions that were passed down to her from previous generations in the Amish culture.