Anyone want to live like the Amish?

Is there anyone out there who wants to live like the Amish/Plain People, but without their religious rules?  Not in a communal sort of way on one piece of ground, but as neighbors on adjacent pieces of property or close by for networking... Or are you already doing it or know of people who are?

Cool idea, definitely see the draw. I do wonder a lot how much you can separate the lifestyle from the religion. Staying close enough to visit without needing a car is a big part of the Amish value system, as of course is the intentionality around technology, but those ultimately stem from a desire to live in a humble, simple, and self-sufficient way, which the Amish see as mandated by their Anabaptist faith.

Related, possibly of interest to you: https://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/the-art-of-amistics/

We (we here on Permies, most of us) already choose to live like the Amish, I think, in certain ways. It's definitely what I think of when I see people use phrases like "appropriate technology".

It's a fascinating topic!

First: I can't speak directly to the Amish experience, but I am Mennonite (the "other ones") of the contemporary sort. Most people at my church have a smart phone (I don't) and are homesteaders or farmers of some sort (I am). We don't wear plain clothes, and neither does anyone in our conference, but we have neighbors of another conference. I do my grocery shopping from a family who belongs to the other conference who are plain clothes, we're friendly. The owner helped me find a birthday gift for my spouse, we're a same sex couple. All that to say, there's a lot of ways to be within the Anabaptist tradition.

Second: Farming wherever you are can be helped along by knowing your neighbors, regardless of if they share the same exact religious beliefs and values as you. You don't have to set up an intentional community to have that, and the Amish lifestyle isn't necessarily an intentional community either. I have good and strong relationships with my neighbors, I know who I trade with by name. Most of the people I work with are not Mennonite or Amish, but by nature of where I live and worship, it comes more naturally that some are.

I think my best advice to living closer to the simple agrarian life is to plant deep roots wherever you are. When I became a Mennonite, I didn't have to move. I only changed where I shopped and how I related to my neighbors. And to give a spiritual spin on it, it is through my relationship and walk with Jesus' teachings that brings me closer to those in my network who can help me live a simple and wholesome life.

Yikes it already got hijacked... So, New Order Mennonites don't live anywhere near the lifestyle as Old Order Amish... The question was directed towards those 'who do, or are' living like the Amish 'without their religious beliefs'...And I'd like to steer it back to that question, before we get lost on Philosophy or other religions. If you don't already live similar to the Amish or are not interested in doing so, please don't comment on this topic, as it will just lead to an entirely different conversation and defeat the purpose of starting it. Thanks in advance!

Ned Harr wrote:Cool idea, definitely see the draw. I do wonder a lot how much you can separate the lifestyle from the religion. Staying close enough to visit without needing a car is a big part of the Amish value system, as of course is the intentionality around technology, but those ultimately stem from a desire to live in a humble, simple, and self-sufficient way, which the Amish see as mandated by their Anabaptist faith.

Related, possibly of interest to you: https://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/the-art-of-amistics/

We (we here on Permies, most of us) already choose to live like the Amish, I think, in certain ways. It's definitely what I think of when I see people use phrases like "appropriate technology".

It's a fascinating topic!

Ned, you can separate the religion from the lifestyle... Virtually everyone used to live the way the Amish do before modern technology took over. They don't have a corner on the market just because of their religion, they are simply some of the last in the US to be living that way. Half the world still lives non electric/agrarian, though it is heading away from that at lightning speed... That said, the Amish are one of, if not the fastest growing segments of society because of their family structure  and lifestyle-though it remains to be seen if they can keep that up or if they get swallowed up by modern technology and its trappings...

Steve Rowe wrote:Ned, you can separate the religion from the lifestyle... Virtually everyone used to live the way the Amish do before modern technology took over. They don't have a corner on the market just because of their religion, they are simply some of the last in the US to be living that way. Half the world still lives non electric/agrarian, though it is heading away from that at lightning speed... That said, the Amish are one of, if not the fastest growing segments of society because of their family structure  and lifestyle-though it remains to be seen if they can keep that up or if they get swallowed up by modern technology and its trappings...

Oh, I agree you can separate them. I just wonder to what extent. Virtually everyone used to live the way the Amish do, yes, but many more people used to be deeply religious too. Of course most were not Anabaptist then either, and in turn their way of life changed as new technologies were introduced and adopted. No different from the "half the world" you refer to, currently heading away from non-electric/agrarian at lightning speed. Really it's the same trend just showing up in different places because of different speeds.

It's true Amish attrition rates have been trending down, or at least they were the last time I read up on it a few years ago. Only the Amish exercise such a remarkable degree of control over the direction and pace of change in their communities, and maybe that's the draw.

So I wouldn't say the Amish have a "corner on the market" when it comes to being very intentional toward technology use--as I said, all of us on this site probably do "more intentional than average" technology use--but it's possible that there's something in their "special sauce" that you need if you want to live as they do, and especially if you want to live as they do generation after generation.

Edit: This was accidentally posted after I saw Steve Rowe's second comment. I'll leave this comment up instead of deleting it only because it addresses the question Steve asked, but if an appeal is made to delete it I won't take it personally.

Steve Rowe wrote:Yikes it already got hijacked... So, New Order Mennonites don't live anywhere near the lifestyle as Old Order Amish... The question was directed towards those 'who do, or are' living like the Amish 'without their religious beliefs'...And I'd like to steer it back to that question, before we get lost on Philosophy or other religions. If you don't already live similar to the Amish or are not interested in doing so, please don't comment on this topic, as it will just lead to an entirely different conversation and defeat the purpose of starting it. Thanks in advance!

Oops! Sorry, missed this. I'll zip it for the duration.

Steve Rowe wrote:Yikes it already got hijacked... So, New Order Mennonites don't live anywhere near the lifestyle as Old Order Amish... The question was directed towards those 'who do, or are' living like the Amish 'without their religious beliefs'...And I'd like to steer it back to that question, before we get lost on Philosophy or other religions. If you don't already live similar to the Amish or are not interested in doing so, please don't comment on this topic, as it will just lead to an entirely different conversation and defeat the purpose of starting it. Thanks in advance!

You'd be hard pressed to find the person you're looking for on the internet, best of luck to you!

Steve, you may have more luck getting the kind of discussion you intended if you could clarify just what aspects of the Amish way of life you are looking to adopt. Are you wanting to discuss rejection of electricity and labor-saving devices? Family structure? Keeping clothing plain and eschewing adornment?

It is hard to keep religion out of a discussion when the the topic of discussion is the lifestyle of one specific religious community.

It looks like this conversation has wandered into the cider press and is now locked.

Feel free to start a new thread on this topic there. Cider Press