The Amish and voting

Here https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2019/10/18/looking-for-a-tough-group-to-interview-try-the-amish is an comment article about the journalism issus in creating an article on a PAC trying to convince the Amish to vote.

To me this does not get to the route of the issues involved. The Mennoties, the Amish and the Jehovah's Witnesses are the only religious groups I know of that hold it as a violation of their religion to vote.

It is extremely hard to start this discussion without fully stating that fact. There are some Muslims who object to voting, but it has been about 20 years since I saw an article on such groups, so I have doubts they have much place anymore.

This is the antithesis of what one sees in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where the leaders of the Church encourage voting. Of course, one needs to remember the disparate, localized nature of the Amish and Mennoites, where there is not really a higher religious authority than the bishop of the local congregation makes tracing and understanding Amish beliefs hard.

On the other hand, not voting to the Amish is as central to their world view as not using electricity, phones, the internet, cars or just about anything with motors. It is caught up in the small localized community.

Another interesting thing in the article is pointing out how being a casino opeator and an adulterer would turn the Amish off from Trump. This is probably true, but we do not elect a president as a moral example. If that was the case neither Trump nor Clinton would have ever been president.

In the general election the choice of president most fully boils down to what policies they will pursue. In the case of attracting Amish voters, this is the only possible draw. Religious freedom broadly interpreted is key to the Amish. That is how they avoid sening their children to high school, their only hope of using their buggies without gaudy signs, their only hope of not being foced to have smoke detectors in their home and so much more.

Religious freedom is all encompassing for the right of the Amish to continue as a distinct community.

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