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Originally Posted by jorgelito
On another note, in the article that Shakran provided, it isn't very clear if the Grabers are also Amish or not, causing a little confusion.
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No, the Grabers are not Amish, which is why they were so shocked that all the Amish showed up and rebuilt their house for them. They just live in Amish country, which is how the word got out to the people who rebuilt the house for them.
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Also, are the Amish allowed to ride trains?
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Yes, they can ride trains and other motorized vehicles. they just can't drive them.
One misconception about the Amish is the idea that they reject technology because it is technology. That's not true. They reject that which could separate the community. Everyone in an amish community drives the same style and color of buggy (not all communities are all black, btw. Some even have yellow roofs) because embellishing your buggy or having a bigger buggy than everyone else could, in their view, result in the buggy's owner having selfish pride. Only wealthy Amish people could afford cars, and so cars would bring inequality to the community.
In fact if you get friendly enough with an Amish family that they invite you to their farm, you'd probably be shocked by what you found in the barn. It's not at all unusual to find modern milking and refridgeration equipment - only difference is that it's not powered by electricity because they feel hooking up to the grid would be conforming with the rest of the world, which the bible in their interpretation tells them not to do (Romans 12:2). (and actually that's not even true of some Amish - - some colonies accept the use of 12 volt batteries or even self-generated (hydroelectric) electricity - the stipulation being that they don't want enough electricity to power things that could negatively influence the Amish way of life -- - i.e. a 12 volt battery isn't gonna power a plasma screen
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Or was it a Mennonite family on vacation (I'm just asking for clarification for my own knowledge sake).
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nope, they were Amish. Mennonites drive cars - and if you've ever ridden Amtrak you know it's faster to drive
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Where else are the Amish located? I just assumed they were in Pennsylvania, I had no idea they were in Wisconson too.
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Wisconsin has the 4th largest population of Amish in the country. Pennsylvania, of course, is the largest, with Ohio and Indiana in the middle.
There are also a few Amish in Iowa though there are none living, as most believe, in the Amana colonies.