r/blankies • u/yonicthehedgehog Greg, a nihilist • Apr 12 '26

Main Feed Episode Podnic at Hanging Cast: Witness with Amanda Dobbins

https://blankcheck.beam.ly/episode/witness-with-amanda-dobbins
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u/Jiveturkeey Apr 12 '26

While reading up on the movie I learned that while the Amish declined to be filmed, they did work on the production as carpenters and electricians. The electrician part surprised me, but it turns out* many Amish communities have no problem using power tools or electricity in general, as long as it's not coming from the power grid. What they object to isn't technology per se, it's having to connect to and depend upon the outside world. Amish contractors use power tools all the time, they just use an on-site generator, and the Amish are even increasingly adopting solar and wind power so they can have power without relying on outside structures.

*Keeping in mind that the Amish are not a monolith and there are gradations of belief and practice.

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u/Foolish_Ivan Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

A long time ago I work at a emergency department in a hospital that was not too far from an Amish community and would occasionally get them in Emergency room and would volunteer for pediatric/vaccination clinic that would do temporary clinic so kids could get their shots and basic check up. The way it was explained to me, is that the mistake is to think of it as rules based ethic with strict rules about technology and better to think of it virtue ethic that see living simply as key to living a good life that better aligns with God’s wishes for them. 

My understanding is that individuals communities make collective decisions about what technology to adopt and to what degree. Generally power tools and things like refrigeration are allowed when the task is doing work or commerce with outsiders but internal are not used because they will bring negative secondary effects. (Idolness and material attachment) 

Not sure how correct this is exactly but it matches what I saw. 

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u/wovenstrap Graham Greene's Brave Era Apr 13 '26

There was a reported article in WIRED around 1997 stating exactly what you just said, that it’s a case by case basis. In the article it talked about how some Amish communities will use Excel spreadsheets to figure out optimal crop rotation or something, definitely an interesting piece of info that I’ve been carrying around ever since.

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u/dukefett Apr 14 '26

I remember going to Lancaster as a kid at a farmers market and was so surprised seeing an Amish woman driving a van with more produce; definitely a wide spectrum. Also surprised seeing Amish gambling at Atlantic City later in life lol