Disabled Amish People

Discussion in 'General' started by stoned budda, May 27, 2008.

  1. I live in an area where you daily see Amish people. There are Amish communities, all over this area. When i was up at the property i bought, i was driving thru one of those quaint Amish communities, everyone working, all looking happy and then it hit me.....aren't there any disabled Amish.
    You never see one in a wheel chair, you never see one on crutches, or a retarded one, or one missing a limb, etc. Why? Are they that fuckin healthy that they suffer from none of these ailments? Highly unlikely, i personally think they kill the week off, i mean it would be easy right? They give birth at home, I'm sure there are no official birth records.
    Everybody gives the Amish a break because they are supposed pacifist, living in a hard working tight community, but what do we really know about them.
     
  2. can you ever remember seeing any obese/handicap/mentally challenged native americans either?

    im not talking about nowadays i mean when they still were following the herds and living off the land.
     
  3. No, they probably just keep them in the house and out of sight. No offense to Amish people, I give them much respect for leading the lives they do, but I would venture an educated guess that they do in fact keep them out of sight for fear of humiliation/loss of respect amongst the community.
     
  4. Maybe they do what should be done and not let them live. That may sound really mean but just think about it. Survival of the fittest.
     
  5. That isn't entirely beyond the realm of reason, but I find it very hard to believe.

    A better hypothesis is the fact that a lot of health problems that you see in modern society are products of modern society itself. And this is a big part of the reason why socialized healthcare would be a disaster, is that the vast majority of common ailments are products of general irresponsibility and stupidity, as well as poisonous elements in our food, water, air, and even our homes.

    There's also a very important phrase that might apply here, "a patient cured is a customer lost". In the modern era, there are tons of people who stand to make money off of dependent customers, hence why there's so much disdain for natural medicine (marijuana), and why the route to getting well is fraught with detours and mishaps designed to prolong suffering. Wheras with the amish, the only vested interest they would have in caring for a person is the desire to see them well again ASAP.

    As for why you never see them on crutches, that should be a no-brainer. An amish person isn't about to hop on a dirt bike. I myself have never broken or fractured anything, because I'm a stoic and cautious person who isn't thrillled by recklessness, and most Amish seem to be encouraged to possess that sort of personality, too.
     
  6. ive seen an amish guy on crutches

    i used to live near a community to so i got to see a lot of these folks
    and i remember at least two distinct times that i seen an amish person disabled

    so it happens...but i dont think they keep them in the house for fear of ridicule..but more for that persons protection..farms can be dangerous if you cant fully function
     
  7. I think in this case we might be able to relate the Amish and their disabled citizens to the Eskimos. In the Eskimo society it is not uncommon for mothers to kill their children (especially female) because of the hardships additional children cause on the family and community. Also the elders of the community regularly go out into the freezing cold and commit suicide when they become too old to hunt or provide care for the family or community.

    In the Amish communities they do a lot of physical labor and when one member of the community can't pull their load then the rest suffer. They very well could do a similar thing as the Eskimos but only under a forced setting.
     
  8. All i know is that in my 44 years i've never seen one Disabled or retarded Amish person, and living in pa. you cant swing a dead cat with out hitting an Amish person.
     
  9. haha so true. where in Pennsyltucky you at?

    and yeah, they usually keep disabled/handicapped people "out of sight, out of mind"...then again they're not exactly well known for socializing with non-Amish either, so thats probably part of why we dont see many
     
  10. The Amish are very work oriented, and I can't see them having the willpower or desire to support someone who can't give back to the community.
     
  11. Yeah amish people are like the spartans, they kill off any weaklings they find haha.
    But nah, I have much respect for the amish people, I love a hard days work, but, they do it EVERYDAY, rain or shine! That should get everyones respect.

    Where you from though stoned buddah? PA?


    EDIT: Nevermind, I didn't read the whole thread.
     


  12. Haha Pennsyltucky, you know it.
     
  13. Disabled like...their wagon lost a couple wheels?
     
  14. A lot of the birth defects are caused by mothers smoking, drinking or doing drugs while pregnant. The amish do none of them, therefore you don't see as much of it. The ones that are handicaped are, as mentioned rare diseases which are totally unpreventable. Obviously the amish cannot have people who are disabled working (as that is all they really do) so they probably keep them inside.
     
  15. they die, its called natural selection, they are living it.
     
  16. Rather than speculate

    From: http://www.amish.net/faq.asp







    EDIT:

    And this article is about genetic disorders & the amish
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml


    And from wiki- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish





    Its funny how some people thought they killed them off- aren't the amish supposed to be very religious? I know for most people the word religious is skewed into whatever suits them, but this is the amish..... they DON'T fuck around.......
     
  17. For a second I thought this was going to be an "I hate disabled Amish people thread."

    Guess I was wrong.
     

  18. So they say....
     


  19. So is this about the Amish ("Ah-mish") in Lancaster ("Lane-kister") area, or the "Aye-mish" in "Lahn-caster"? :p Gotta love tourists :D
     

Share This Page