The writer who said the Amish vary was on the right track. Today's Amish are all in the US and Canada. I have spent part of each of the last 20 years in Lancaster County, PA and Holmes County, OH. Holmes, which along with adjoining border areas in the counties of Wayne, Coschocton, and Tuscarawas, contains the largest number of Amish. When an Englisher (everybody not belonging to a "plain" church, which consists of Amish, Mennonite, Amish-Mennonite, River Brethren and German Brethren, Hutterites, etc.) says "the Amish" do this or that, I automatically wince. There are dozens of different Amish churches.There are said to be 7 varieties of Amish and 7 varieties of Mennonites in the Holmes area. The Old Order are the most numerous, with the New Order second. Some are immediately identified by clothes or beard. For instance, the "Dan" Amish have only two shirt buttons. The New Order trims their beards, an example being "Slick" Dan Miller who you probably have seen several times in the so-called "Amish Heater" ads. (He used to be a minister in the New Order", but got too commercial for the group and was eased out of ministership). The Swartzentruber Amish, referred to by other groups as the "Low Order", are the most conservative and will not use plastic windscreens on their buggies, the rain or snow just blows in. Their driveways are always dirt and they still put up hay loose, whereas other Amish have accepted small balers driven by a diesel motor on a "forecart", pulled by horses. Their hats have 4" brims instead of the usual 3". Most midwestern Amish drive black taper- sided buggies, in PA they are usually gray straight-sided. The Big Valley PA "Nebraska Amish" have yellow-top buggies, brown pants, and only one strap over the shoulder. One group in Indiana, the Swiss Amish,prefer open buggies, even in the winter. Even within the same Order, districts can vary. Each church district, consisting of up to 30 families (if they exceed 30, they will divide along stream or road lines, because they'll outgrow the barns-houses- machinery building they have church in), has typically one bishop, two ministers and one deacon. These leaders decide what the "Ordnung" (rules) will be for their district. But they also have yearly meetings with other ministers in the same order to discuss what will be allowed, and are constantly in contact with other district leaders because they only have church every other week. In their off week, the leaders often attend church in another district and pick up new ideas.
We have known an Old Order family near Clark, OH for 18 years. In this time they have been allowed several changes: manual grass mowers to gasoline push mowers, telephone in an outbuilding instead of in a shack by the road, (only requirement is that the ring cannot be heard in the house), hand milking to a small 3 gallon pot with cups powered by a vacuum pump on the gasoline-driven milk cooler lineshaft, portable generators to power battery chargers for the buggy lights, phone batteries, and other work related chores, and other smaller changes. The new one last year was to allow natural gas freezers. They have had natural gas refrigerators for years. I could make a similar list about my more liberal New Order friends and their changes, but I think this is enough to give and idea that next time someone writes or says "the Amish", it may be accurate for many or just for a small group. Beware the generalities!
So it's not simplicity for simplicity's sake but the balance between simplicity or lack of it serves some higher purpose.
