Today I watched a program on YouTube about two families leaving the Amish to go to a Born Again Church that is working in their area to gain members from the Amish. The link to the video is here:
Several things about this video reminded me of some of the many reasons I do not prefer religion myself. One was a prayer offered in the BAC Church, when the man offering prayer asked for God to help the Muslims to find Jesus. He then asked for God to help the Amish too. It reminded me of the many Churches I have attended in my earlier years where pastors and preachers did the exact same thing. See? They all preach from the same books, but they are not allies in their faiths, as they try to recruit from one another. They do that because they see eachother as lacking in truth, and the others as Hell bound. The truth about all Christianity is that they are all trying to outdo the other.
Another moment in the video, the main guy, Ephriam, was working to bring converts outside a fun fair, which he called eveil because it was all about making money, and entertainment. How ironic that he did not see the similarities between those running the booths at the fair, and those running the meetings at the different Churches. Both offer something for a person or family to pass their time, while asking money for the service, and both offer a prize to those who do the best in the game.
Another moment that really stood out is when he said he left the Amish because they have rules they blindly follow, but then he alluded to his Christianity not hainv rules, but only the Bible. He traded a load of rules and no control over his own thoughts for a load of rules and a little control over his thoughts, which he then turned over to prayer over and over again, which he thinks is him thinking.
Irony upon irony piling up, the video ends with the death of the infant of the friend he brought out of the Amish, and them deciding that it was a tool of God meant to draw their Amish families a little closer to them becaus they attended the funeral. I could imagine their Amish family leaving the funeral thinking that the death was punishment upon them for leaving the Amish.
People in the cults do not see how magical their thinking is, and instead waste their time looking for God’s meaning in everything, not realizing they are themeslves assigning the meaning, then chasing more foolish thinking. I’ll pass on that.
The old fashioned lifestyle of the Amish is very desireable to me in many ways, parting with the religion, the sexism, and the rules and traditions based on pure stubborn attachment to magical thinking. But a life based on only a partial attachment to modernity, has its appeal. Icould not let go of modern medicine, and I would not put my faith in an imaginary being, especially where my children’s health is concerned. But we could do with fewer cars and less transportation, more things made by hand with quality in mind, and locally. If we relied on forrests we were responsible to care for, perhaps we would spend mroe time planting trees and less time grinding them into pulp to make crappy furniture out of that will get ruined the first time it gets damp, or will sag under the smallest load. After all, it is all a game to get money, just like the religion and the fair.
So, give me a moment, and I will refocus my efforts to create the life I am working to here on the farm.
On that line, we had to put down a horse last night. She had cancer on her girly bits, and it was getting punishing on her. Iwanted her put down when we could more easily allow the other horse to adapt to her absence, as winter is darker, colder, and more slippery if she shoud panic and run. the long days and short niights of summer seemed an easier time, and the burial would be better. She was bad enough off to do it now, so there was no cause to prolong it. Killing a horse is hard. They are far to magnifecent, and seem like they should be immortal. But they are not. And as animals we keep, they are our responsibility.
KJB