On 1/1/2009 5:22 AM Robert spake thus:

On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:14:28 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 12/31/2008 9:17 AM Robert spake thus:

They [the Amish] dont connect to the power grid, but they are very
ingenious and do use electricity. As far as practicallity, while it
does all work, and works well, the guy spends more per month on
gasoline than it would cost to have electricity from the electric
company, or at least he was when gasoline was around $4 a gallon.

Now this came guy is working on a generator system for his horse drawn
buggy. By law they are required to have headlights and taillights on
public roads. Their batteries get weak on long trips, so he's
designing a generator that is powered from the wheels to recharge the
battery. He also has a CB radio in his buggy.

What an odd set of strictures these people saddle themselves with: it's
OK to use a gasoline engine to power a diary operation (though not
inside lights), but not OK to use that same engine to power their
buggies. WTF??!?

Yet another illustration of how useless and ridiculous religion is.

In some ways I agree with you, but because I am good friends with
them, and they are nice people, I have asked them outright why they do
some of these things.

As far as electricity, they are not allowed to be connected to the
grid. They are meant to survive without being connected to the
outside world. Well, I explained to them that using gasoline connects
them to the outside world because they cant make their own. The
answer I got was that it's just the rules, and if they could not get
gas, they would make a wood powered steam engine.

[snip]

I'm sure that they are "nice people", who furthermore carry on
traditions of making useful and beautiful things in the old ways.

But look at the Shakers, who had many of the same practices (some even
more extreme), and gave us a rich repertoire of furniture and furnishing
designs, but who eventually self-extinguished because of their meshuggah
ideas about sexuality, procreation, etc. No new Shakers = extinction. I
guess that either never occurred to them, or if it did they decided it
didn't matter.


--
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

- Paulo Freire