Re: cooling via natural gas, was: Gas shortage UK

Not hardly. What the Amish discourage is direct connections to the outside. Keep in mind that Amish tend to be farmers, and tend to do a lot of dairy. So, in order to sell their product, they must comply with safety rules applicable to all farm products. They will use on-site generators for power, Absorption chillers (propane-fired) for cooling, and stationary engines to run fans and other devices via belts or pulleys.

Some of their farms are incredibly sophisticated in terms of energy use, between turbines, solar panels, even, in some cases, hydropower.

Note also: Amish may use a (Cell) Phone, but may not dial one. And they may ride in a IC vehicle, but may not drive one.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I thought it was any machinery. As in a combine harvester, a car, etc. Refridgeration is machinery.

So they go against their own customs to please the morons in power?

That's illogical and sounds like cheating, like a Jew I know who sets timers for Sunday so he doesn't have to go to the trouble and energy of pushing that really heavy lightswitch.

So this refridgeration is ok as long as they hire a non-Amish bloke to press the power button? I'd love to have that job....

Like they say, it's complicated. There isn't an Amish pope so each colony has their own rules. One Indiana colony split over whether rubber tires on a buggy were the work of the Devil.

I loaded furniture at a plant that was was staffed, if not owned, by Amish. The machinery was modern but when I had to go to another warehouse the guy loading the truck wouldn't ride over, but galloped across the fields to meet me there.

Besides furniture, quite a few mid-west RV factories employ Amish.

It's disconcerting to see a guy in the traditional clothing and beard smoking a cigarette and drinking a can of Coke or a bottle of beer for that matter. In many ways they're a lot more liberal than some of the tight-assed Protestant sects derived from Calvinism.

You must be one very, very blissful person.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I expect that you do not - another indication of your blissful state.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Where in the Bible does it state they may not dial cellphones and drive cars?

Another blissful person! The Amish way of life is not based on the Bible, but on their history of persecution before they left Switzerland and later, Germany. There are many peculiarities within the religion - for instance, they eschew buttons and zippers, they are non-violent, use long-guns, but not hand guns, and much more. Again, nothing at all to do with the Bible - but to keep themselves separate from the "English", their generic term for what is Not-Them. They are not Luddites, they are Separatists. They fully understand technology, and use what they must to comply with the law and with codes as they relate to selling their products. But no more. By the way, the technical name of their religion is Anabaptist.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Yes, well my question was intended tongue-in-cheek as you presumably must know. Well, it's an interesting belief system for sure - and as religions go, a very harmless one from what I can tell. Not many religions can claim that.

I would think most of the Old Testament laws - dietary restrictions, clothing restrictions, circumcision, etc. - are exactly the same. The purpose is simply to maintain a separate identity.

That is certainly a result, and the typical modern perception of those laws. But, from an historical perspective, their roots are quite practical - and practiced by many contemporary groups for exactly the same reasons:

Dietary laws: Pork and some wild game carries Trichinella, a parasite that causes a very painful disease. Shellfish from warm waters carry multiple diseases, both viral and bacterial. draining animals of their blood greatly increased how long they could be kept. Carnivorous (obligatory vs. opportunistic) birds (including robins) carry all sorts of parasites that vegetarian (not vegan) birds do not. The milk/meat connection is one of the few that is very much behavioral, not practical - and that has to do with some of the pagan animal sacrifice rituals of the time. Circumcision reduces genital infections - no small thing before antibiotics, practical indoor plumbing, and water-poor environments. As to Clothing: The basic laws are simple—cover the knees, the elbows, and the collarbone, and don't wear anything skintight. Ever been in the Middle East? Even in the winter, the weather is not very forgiving of exposed skin. In the rainy season (and even Saudi has a rainy season), the mosquitoes, while not as bad as those in Alaska, are pretty nasty and very persistent. Skin-tight - not comfortable at 125F in the shade!

The separate identity expectation is common to many religions, not just the big-three. And the various & sundry rules promulgated to that end Mostly (NOT always) have practical roots that have grown into a life of their own rather than being still connected to their first-causes.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Just like the appendix!

So, a thought did cross your mind. Must have been a long and lonely journey!

Both blissful and invincible!

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I take back everything about blissful and invincible. Ignorance is curable.

You are, for the record, incurably stupid, and entirely unencumbered by the thought process.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA