[Platt] I asked Google, "Do Amish own property?" and was quickly referred to this:
[Arlo] I've interviewed dozens of Amish around Centre County and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I can only tell you what they have told me. That their notion of "own" is different that ours. That is they "own" something but if it is needed it is relinquished without thought. In this sense, they see themselves more as stewards or custodians. As for them paying taxes, they have to play the larger game, Platt. Many despise it, but they realize that they do. So they just go along with the lingo to avoid trouble. [Platt] Is he lying? Would you agree the Amish are more Christian than Marxist? [Arlo] Certainly. Indeed, Jesus and Marx share many ideas in common, not the least of which is social action, community-oriented behavior and the disavowment of material acquisition. Marx, of course, felt that the need for religion _as a neoconservative orientation myth_ would no longer be necessary, and that people would act this way by nature. As for the article, I don't know how much time the author has spent among the Amish, but I can only surmise there was an obvious political need to distance Amishness from that dreaded monster of socialism. Also, in several instances I was told that "God is the only one who owns anything", echoing a very Native American sentiment towards "how can anyone own the land?". Now, since I assume all I'll get for my trouble is more of your insipid bunk, I'm backing out of the Amish thread too. There is plenty on the web, and in your local bookstores, for people to make up their own minds as to which perspective is correct. (But don't let that stop you from a final barrage of distortion!) moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
