Close Encounters of the Fundie Kind

[Flossie]

Do the skirts have to be made of everyday fabric? It seems that if the women went on the water in wetsuits covered by a net skirt that was fastened by velcro, they could go down the river and rip off the dress if they ended up in the water.

[ari_belle]

This happened last year but I have been wanting to post it in this thread for a while. When I was at a historic farm with old buildings near where I live, a large group of Amish people were also on tour. I was with my ex, and I was dressed in a tank top and a long skirt. It was a really hot day. The Amish caught up to where we were on the tour and I offered my seat at a demonstration to one of the children, but they shook their heads and smiled. They couldn't even TALK to me. It was weird.

Then later I saw the Amish men smoking pipes when we were leaving the farm. Is that normal?

Anyway, they kind of stared at me, and it made me feel bad. I tried to not let it get to me, but it did...

[Hane]

This happened last year but I have been wanting to post it in this thread for a while. When I was at a historic farm with old buildings near where I live, a large group of Amish people were also on tour. I was with my ex, and I was dressed in a tank top and a long skirt. It was a really hot day. The Amish caught up to where we were on the tour and I offered my seat at a demonstration to one of the children, but they shook their heads and smiled. They couldn't even TALK to me. It was weird.

Then later I saw the Amish men smoking pipes when we were leaving the farm. Is that normal?

Anyway, they kind of stared at me, and it made me feel bad. I tried to not let it get to me, but it did...

I'd feel bad, too. And, yes, Amish men do smoke--it's common for Amish farmers to grow some tobacco for their own use.

[paganhomeschooler]

This happened last year but I have been wanting to post it in this thread for a while. When I was at a historic farm with old buildings near where I live, a large group of Amish people were also on tour. I was with my ex, and I was dressed in a tank top and a long skirt. It was a really hot day. The Amish caught up to where we were on the tour and I offered my seat at a demonstration to one of the children, but they shook their heads and smiled. They couldn't even TALK to me. It was weird.

Then later I saw the Amish men smoking pipes when we were leaving the farm. Is that normal?

Anyway, they kind of stared at me, and it made me feel bad. I tried to not let it get to me, but it did...

If the Amish child was very young, they may not have been able to speak to you. Many Amish children don't learn English until they start school. The kids are also usually fairly shy around English folk that they don't know. We have some close Amish friends, and they have never judged any of us for our clothing or anything. We've been to weddings and family dinners and such. The kids are also taught to respect their elders, so they may also not have wanted to take a seat from a grown up. :-)

I have to admit, if I have "pet fundies" it's the Amish. I know some pretty kick ass Amish that don't seem fundie to me at all, if I look past the frumpers. lol

We were at one of the local Amish tourist traps, and I took my boys on a wagon ride. The old Amish man doing the rides got a kick out of my older son asking questions and that he had a "good, strong Amish name" which is funny because that's what our Amish friends said to my grandma when he was born and she told them his name. Anyway, he let my son drive, and I thought we were going to die! We were just in a pasture, not on the road. He had those horses truckin', and I didn't think we'd make the turn. That old Amish man was laughing and having the time of his life.

Our Amish friends have gone to Dollywood with my grandparents, which always cracks me up. I can just see these 2 elderly couples hanging out with Dolly's boobs. Oh, and Amish also drink. My grandma said they've been out to wineries together, and the Amish wife, M., can drink circles around them. (not that that's hard as my grandparents rarely drink.) They also took bottles home with them. The way my grandma talked, M. was really putting them away, though. She's got to be close to 80 because I know they're fairly close in age with my grandparents.

[Flossie]

I wish I lived near some Amish, they sound completely different from what I was told of them growing up. The way they were described to me, they sounded grim, suspicious, insular, and stuck in the distant past. I was even told that they wouldn't allow themselves to be photographed.

[paganhomeschooler]

Many Old Order Amish can still be that way. They don't even use buttons because they think it's vain. They close their clothes with straight pins! Many Amish are becoming more worldly, mainly because the world is coming to them. It is still considered bad manners in Amish Country to take a picture of an Amish person without their consent, especially adults. With children, they are a little more lenient, but I personally think it's still pretty creepy to take a picture of someone else's kid without their consent! lol There are people who are still like that, but they usually tend to stay more sequestered. They're typically not the ones you'd find shopping at Walmart by the van load.

My grandparents have tons of pictures of them with E. and M. Most of the Amish that work in the tourist traps will allow pictures, as well. When the Amish go to the local produce/livestock auctions with flea markets, I've seen them buying pink, crown shaped princess pillows for their little girls. Many of them wear nicer tennis shoes than I'd ever think about buying! E. and M. also have electricity. They have a generator, and have a regular stove and refrigerator. They also have cell phones and last time I was down there, a land line. It's a phone booth that they "have for their business" but M. uses it quite often to call my grandparents to come over for a game of cards.

They had 3 sons, of which 2 have married English girls and are no longer Amish. They're not shunned. They're still very loved and accepted by their parents and family. The one who is still Amish has kids with pretty trendy names. They go on vacations all over the country. They usually take the bus, instead of flying. They've been out west, to the Grand Canyon. They go on several trips a year now that their Amish son runs the business.

The wedding I went to was very similar to an English wedding. The service was very long, especially for a little girl, and all conducted in Dutch. It was very somber, which of course is slightly different. The reception was full of laughing, good food, and good fun, though. It reminded me very much of any other wedding reception I'd ever been to.

I had worked at an Amish restaurant when I was a teenager. One of the Mennonites that worked there took me and another girl out to do donuts in the parking lot one night it snowed. One of the Amish girls that worked there was still married, though she hadn't had kids yet. She was all kinds of fun. She would hang out with us rowdy English kids and felt like just one of the group. One of the head cooks was also Mennonite, and he made runs to West Virginia to get Everclear since it's illegal here.

I'm not saying that there aren't Amish who still believe in the very strict Ordnung, but times are definitely changing, and they are getting much more progressive. They still live plainly compared to the rest of the US, but they're also not all backwards, shunning, religious zealots. I cannot think of 1 time when we have ever been preached to by any Amish family, our friends or just others we have met along the way. We were even given places of honor at the wedding and reception as special guests. It's not like they go around telling me I'm going to hell because I drive a car, anymore than I would go tell them they need to go practice Beltane rites.

Whew, that got long! lol Like I said, my pet fundies. ;) My friend and I are actually going to a cheese making class at the local library on Saturday. Damn, they make some good cheese with their non-hormone filled cows.

Oh, many of them do wear flip flops, though. That is the main thing that squicks me out....bare feet and flip flops walking through a barn. *shudder*

[Flossie]

It seems that there are different groups of Amish, who believe in different things.

I'd still love to meet the Amish you are talking about.

[maybeizfundie]

There's all kinds of Amish. :) My dad went toodling around Eastern Europe with a Beachy Amish family--before the Iron Curtain came down. They were doing a combination of learning about some of their heritage and visiting some of the hidden "Baptist" churches that were not having an easy time of it under Soviet rule. We loved our Beachy friends in florida. They were very open, accepting, friendly, and all around wonderful people.

There are Old Order Amish who don't do buttons, photographs, etc etc. In the various groups, there are some that are extremely insular and others that are outgoing and open to relating to people outside their group. Also, for a lot of the Old Orders, English is their second language, and obviously they are very, very different when out in a crowd of "normal" people, so the standoffishness may not always be about superiority, but shyness and discomfort. j

Someone told me that they met a Mennonite woman at our local Aldis this week, and that she said several families have moved into this area. I've been on the lookout and sure enough I spotted a Mennonite lady chatting with someone outside of a business that is for sale. Wondering if they are going to be starting up some businesses here. There is already a brand new contracting HQ with a very common Menno name attached to it.

[EmiGirl]

Our Amish friends have gone to Dollywood with my grandparents, which always cracks me up. I can just see these 2 elderly couples hanging out with Dolly's boobs. Oh, and Amish also drink. My grandma said they've been out to wineries together, and the Amish wife, M., can drink circles around them. (not that that's hard as my grandparents rarely drink.) They also took bottles home with them. The way my grandma talked, M. was really putting them away, though. She's got to be close to 80 because I know they're fairly close in age with my grandparents.

I saw an Amish family at Dollywood just today. In fact, I've seen Amish the past few times I've been.

[Ampak]

Do the skirts have to be made of everyday fabric? It seems that if the women went on the water in wetsuits covered by a net skirt that was fastened by velcro, they could go down the river and rip off the dress if they ended up in the water.

One of my friends on Instagram is a "holiness" pentecostal and posted a video of her young children swimming fully clothed and with their shoes on. When I questioned it she said that swim suits weren't modest so, if they wanted to swim they just wore their regular clothes. I felt like it was dangerous for her very young daughter to be swimming in an ankle length skirt and long sleeves. Ironically the water was pulling her shirt up and you could see quite a bit of skin anyway :angry-banghead:

[Conuly]

The service was very long, especially for a little girl, and all conducted in Dutch.

Don't you mean German?

[Becket70]

My only encounter with a Fundy was many years ago. I was waiting at the bus stop (they really seem to prey on people who cannot walk away) and this man started talking to me about the terrible times we were living in and that it was so bad that Jesus would soon be nigh, yada, yada, yada. I looked him in the eye and told him that the times of the plague during the Middle Ages were a lot worse and mankind survived without Devine interference. It left him speechless and he walked away. Fundies apparently do not study history beyond what is taught in the Bible.

[FeministShrew]

Driving home from work yesterday I was behind a man with an Israeli flag in the rear window of his truck. No other stickers or anything, he wasn't wearing a yarmulke, just a guy with a beard driving a newer Dodge truck.

Any ideas?

[RealityTVRN]

One of my friends on Instagram is a "holiness" pentecostal and posted a video of her young children swimming fully clothed and with their shoes on. When I questioned it she said that swim suits weren't modest so, if they wanted to swim they just wore their regular clothes. I felt like it was dangerous for her very young daughter to be swimming in an ankle length skirt and long sleeves. Ironically the water was pulling her shirt up and you could see quite a bit of skin anyway :angry-banghead:

I've seen something very similar this summer. Complete with the shoes. I just thought the parents were idiots. Never occurred to me they were Fundies!

[Jenny]

I've seen something very similar this summer. Complete with the shoes. I just thought the parents were idiots. Never occurred to me they were Fundies!

When I was a child I took swimming lessons every summer. Having taken all of the beginner, intermediate, etc classes; my parents enrolled me in the highest class they had. I was about 10 or 11. Upon completing this class if you were of age (I think 16) you could be certified as a lifeguard. One of the things we had to do was swim wearing jeans and shoes. we also had to make the jeans into a flotation devise. Swimming in jeans is awful. Those people are crazy!

[RealityTVRN]

I'm a pretty good swimmer. I've never tried to swim in shoes, but I've been thrown into a pool with clothes on (not jeans, thankfully) and was surprised how awful it was. (And clearly dangerous for inexperienced, young swimmers).

[yetanothermeg]

When I was a child I took swimming lessons every summer. Having taken all of the beginner, intermediate, etc classes; my parents enrolled me in the highest class they had. I was about 10 or 11. Upon completing this class if you were of age (I think 16) you could be certified as a lifeguard. One of the things we had to do was swim wearing jeans and shoes. we also had to make the jeans into a flotation devise. Swimming in jeans is awful. Those people are crazy!

Oh my god, we had to do the same thing! I asked why and they told me in case I fell off a cruise ship, lol! And I remember thinking, what are the chances I'll be wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt if and when this happens?

Jeez, maybe we know each other irl.

[Ampak]

Oh my god, we had to do the same thing! I asked why and they told me in case I fell off a cruise ship, lol! And I remember thinking, what are the chances I'll be wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt if and when this happens?

Jeez, maybe we know each other irl.

More likely than not, if you fell off a cruise ship it wouldn't matter if you know how to swim at all ;)

[EyeQueue]

Driving home from work yesterday I was behind a man with an Israeli flag in the rear window of his truck. No other stickers or anything, he wasn't wearing a yarmulke, just a guy with a beard driving a newer Dodge truck.

Any ideas?

Maybe he was one of those Christians for Israel (or whatever they're called), who pretty much love Israel, since it's gotta be around long enough to be destroyed to usher in the Rapture and Armageddon?

[church_of_dog]

Oh my god, we had to do the same thing! I asked why and they told me in case I fell off a cruise ship, lol! And I remember thinking, what are the chances I'll be wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt if and when this happens?

Jeez, maybe we know each other irl.

I remember the same thing -- the class was more like a beginning "rescuer" or "lifeguard" type class, and the idea was that if you saw someone in trouble in the pool (or lake, etc) you would jump in to assist them even if you were wearing street clothes. The implication was clearly that being in the water in jeans/shoes was risky and something that a person who might be doing it in an emergency needed to have practiced and be prepared for.

I remember not only the weight of it all, how much harder you had to work to tread water with all that, but also the experience of practicing towing another person (and you better be prepared for that person to be struggling, not cooperating!) to shore or to shallow water. The presumption was that a person struggling in the water might well be panicking and unable to recognize that you are helping them, or unable to control their panic enough to be calm or to assist in their own rescue.

But yes, the weight of the jeans and shoes, and the air pockets that get in your way or suddenly disappear, reducing your buoyancy... To save someone from drowning, sure -- but as a way to enjoy the water? :penguin-no: :naughty: :penguin-no: :cray-cray:

[Just Not Good]

One of my friends on Instagram is a "holiness" pentecostal and posted a video of her young children swimming fully clothed and with their shoes on. When I questioned it she said that swim suits weren't modest so, if they wanted to swim they just wore their regular clothes. I felt like it was dangerous for her very young daughter to be swimming in an ankle length skirt and long sleeves. Ironically the water was pulling her shirt up and you could see quite a bit of skin anyway :angry-banghead:

BUT! Why wear SHOES? Are feet that immodest?

[RealityTVRN]

BUT! Why wear SHOES? Are feet that immodest?[/quote

Sure...haven't you heard of a foot fetish? :D

[Just Not Good]

I have... just didn't realize THEY had!!!

[RealityTVRN]

I'm convinced they are probably more freaky and into fetishes than the majority of us posting here. They over-compensate with their extreme modesty and prudishness.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I have... just didn't realize THEY had!!!

Apparently Gothard has a foot fetish