Posts Tagged ‘Leaving the Amish’
How an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 2
Photo by Leon Hostetler of his childhood home Leaving the Amish By Leon Hostetler By my mid-teens there was constant pressure from my parents and the larger community to formally join the Amish church. But how could I? The big picture was too fuzzy for me. I was not convinced that the Amish worldview…
Read More“A Character that is Truly My Own”
Many years ago, when I was a young girl attending an Amish school in northeastern Ohio, I had a friend named Ruth. I felt privileged to have her as a friend because my family’s reputation was so poor in the community. Ruth’s family was considered “mission-minded” because they talked openly about what it means to…
Read MoreFrom a Humble Amish Childhood to an Education that Spans the Globe
This is a bit later than I expected to be publishing the second story in the series I started in my last blog post, but I feel it was worth waiting for. Today I bring you the story of Esther Yoder Stenson, who grew up in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. I first met Esther in 2017…
Read MoreWhen Someone Leaves the Amish
The Roads Taken There are as many paths out of an Amish community as there are those who have left. The one most often taken is the one towards what many call “spiritual freedom.” In most Amish communities, it is not encouraged to study or interpret the Bible for oneself. There is more emphasis on…
Read MoreIntroduction: About Amish and Beyond
Prepare for the new; expect the new; embrace the new. Otherwise, you’ll just repeat what’s old. ~ Marianne Williamson Ever so long ago (in 2009), I started my first blog, About Amish. At that time, I felt like a lone voice trying to challenge widespread misconceptions about the Amish. Many of them came from the…
Read MoreLiberating Lomie for Sale and Interview with BBC Radio 4
When we think of a community with fewer modern technologies, our minds usually go directly to the Amish. By eschewing many modern technologies, do the Amish also avoid the unintended consequences of the technologies most in the mainstream adopt without question? This question is explored on a program called Digital Human on BBC Radio 4…
Read MoreRelease Date for Liberating Lomie
I am pleased to announce the release date for Liberating Lomie: Memoir of an Amish Childhood. June 22, 2022. Yay, Hurray! I plan to have books in hand to fulfill orders by the 22, and it will also be available through Amazon for retail sales, and through IngramSpark for wholesale to bookstores and libraries. You…
Read MoreFilm Series about Sexual Abuse among Plain People: “Sins of the Amish”
I have written this on my blog before about the Amish culture, and I will again. Abuse can only exist in the dark shadows of silence and secrecy that shroud abuse in all cultures. However, the insular nature of Plain communities makes the silence so thick, it becomes nearly impenetrable. This makes it dauntingly difficult…
Read MoreFrom My Amish World to My Vermont One — The Second Time
David’s “Faithful Charger” outside my parents’ home in 1981 Lately I have been reading my journals that I wrote in the months and years following the second and final time I left my Amish community. I’ve also been reading letters I received from “home” during that time. What I am concluding is that I would…
Read MoreAmerican Experience Goes to the Emmys!
The PBS documentary "The Amish: Shunned" that aired on American Experience in February has been nominated for an Emmy Award for "exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking." The American Experience film "JFK" has also been nominated for an Emmy. I was very honored to take part in both "The Amish" and "The Amish: Shunned." I was…
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