Monday, 21 May 2012
-
Smoke Detectors are Against My Religion
That is what Amish are saying about smoke detectors. They claim it would be against their religious beliefs to have smoke detectors in their homes.
A reporter talked to Mose Miller at his doorstep with his nine children looking on. It was cold: -15C (5F). Most of the kids were in bare feet. Their clothes were roughly sewed together - like Victorian patchwork puppets.
Mose Miller said "I use this,” he said pointing at his nose, “or him,” and his finger pointed upwards. “I don’t need a devil on the wall to tell me if my house is burning.”
When he was ask what would happen if a fire happened during the night and he didn't wake up and he and his children burned to death he replied "If God does not wake us, well, that must be part of his plan."
In other words, if something happens to my kids because of my own negligence, it must be part of God’s will. The Jehovah's Witness say the same thing with not allowing blood transfusions. Christian Scientists have the same thoughts and don't take their children to hospitals because god will fix what he wants fixed and it is all god's will.
Smoke alarms aren't the devil entering your home. Smoke alarms aren't horrible -- letting your family die in a fire that you could have escaped if you had a smoke alarm is.
Do smoke alarms violate Amish religious freedom? How far can people take things like this? I mean, really, when people don't want to do something, they yell it is against their religion. Try yelling that taxes are against your religion. How far do you think you would get with that one? How many innocent children have to die in fires that they could have escaped if they had a smoke alarm?
What are your thoughts on the Amish stance against smoke detectors? Is it their right to live out their religious beliefs as they see fit, or does it cross the line when it could risk the lives of their children? How do we view other faiths when we feel their beliefs are harmful to innocent people?
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: Kristenmomof3@xanga
- Name: Kris
- Location:
- About Me: It's not about surviving. It should be about love. When you know love...that's what makes this life worth it. When you live with it everyday. Wake up with it, hold on to it during the thunder and after a nightmare. When love is your refuge from the death that surrounds us all and when it fills you so tight that you can't express it. — Carrie Ryan
-
True Lifetime
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 27 Views: 0 39754 Comments: 0 1445 View all posts by Kristenmomof3@xanga
Comments (49)
See, this is what I hate about our society. We like to think it's okay to run around and tell others how to live their lives. We think, oh, if somebody lives differently than I because
myway is better they must be being negligent. Our culture isn't superior to theirs and yes, something as simple as using smoke detectors is apart of that. Let the Amish live their lives as they please, it's not in our place to determine what they must and mustn't do.
@shineyourlight_x@xanga - am an electrical engineer and just to let you know, batteries are electricity. they are used to store electricity in a chemical form. also there are no "battery-operated fridges" fridges use a lot of energy the batteries just cant provide, you will need like 100 car battries to power a fridge for a couple of minutes max. although there is some truth to what you say. Amish do not use power from the public electric grid due to a belief
that too much reliance on public power ties one too close to the world. Though Amish abstain from using public power, most Amish do not see problems with using electric power in limited ways. they do generate there own electricity using natural gas or diesel generators.
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - are we any better??? that stuff happens all the time in our advanced civilized society.
I think it's their own opinion, get over it.
But the hospitals and what not, that's insane. Doesn't the bible say something about don't tempt the lord?God could strike us all with lightning right now if he wanted, but I'm not going to stand on a 300 ft metal pole in the middle of a vast field during a fierce thunderstorm to see if its "in his plan"If your god didn't want smoke detectors to be invented, then they wouldn't be.
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - Last I checked those things were all pretty big issues in mainstream society too.
It sucks sure..I mean I do see your point here, but if the state laws & government were able to force the Amish to put a smoke detector in their house or Christian Science followers to give their family medical help, when they clearly say it's against their religion, we are no longer separatingChurch from State.Which allows the religious nuts free reign over public schools & what is taught [Evolution or not?] etc. It's sad..but we must respect that this is their religion & live our own lives the way we want.
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - I've known mennonite families, and none of them acted as you decribed--and their children grew up to be far more put-together, intelligent, and kind than anybody in the "real" world.
Also, how do you know that abuse is rampant? Do you go in an interview all the families yourself? Where are your sources?
I have been doing a bit of amateurish research on Amish people for a long time, partly because I was *impressed* by the good family dynamics of the mennonite families I knew, and I have come across a few cases of abuse.
But there are many cases of abuse in atheist homes. There are many cases of neglect and abuse in "modern" homes, of any belief. Shall we have the government step in and tell them what technology they can and can't accept, on those grounds?
The Amish have little going wrong for them, it's just that you disagree with their religion. That is fine. But don't force your beliefs on them. They live sequestered for a reason--to get far away from those who would take their freedoms away.
I say leave them alone. Amish do not use electricity and I never saw an open fire on any of their properties...despite all the time I have been out there. So the chances of a fire breaking out in one of their homes is slim to none so there for smoke detectors are not really needed as much as they are in the typical American home and it is hard for us to wrap our minds around the way they live because it is so foreign to our own lifestyle and they are right in the midst of us.
Considering they do not have electricity in their homes, they don't have fires to worry about.
Meh, I see it as Darwin at work.
If you don't evolve, you lose your advantage and this can simply be interpreted as a form of natural population control based on intelligence.Don't need to argue about what God wants, because that debate is unending.We can not be so concerned about barging in the private sphere of citizens, unless the argument is that part of the family wants smoke detectors and other members are arguing against it.
if they don't want fire alarms then they don't want fire alarms. what's wrong with that? sure it may not be safe, but look at other religions who stone women or the people who nailed christ. religion is religion and every religion has its own beliefs. just because we don't agree doesn't mean we have to judge or try and change them.
@P753159@xanga - Religious belief is not inhereted genetically, so there is no possible mechanism for natural selection to come into play here.
I could take out the smoke detectors in my house if I wanted to... who would stop me? What could they do about it?
I am honestly a little surprised to see this post from this poster. I had thought she would be more respectful of people with sincerely held beliefs, who are different from the norm and who are okay with it. You say that there are lots of sexual abuse problems in the Amish community. There are plenty who say that the same is true for the LGBT community. Is either one of those claims true? I don't know. I do know that there are lots of parties interested in discrediting groups who stray from the norm.
@shineyourlight_x@xanga - It does depend on the specific Amish community in question, but generally, the manner of thinking is that with a smoke detector, you are putting your faith in a man-made object rather than in God. Which they simply do not do.
It is a very difficult issue to tackle, and has been the issue of several legal discussions in the New York North Country, because New York State building codes require the use of smoke detectors in homes.
I think this is where, for many people, cultural relativism and religious freedom become extremely complicated issues. It's easy, for example, for us to understand the non-use of electricity or automobiles, but when the rejection of such a simple device with life-saving potential is involved, our understanding becomes clouded. The use of a smoke detector seems trivial to us, standard, but that is also a construct of our culture (i.e. fire safety education from a young age).
Also, I would encourage everyone to note that not all Amish communities are the same. Different communities will use varying levels of technology, and it is important not to group everyone together. Just as with any other culture or religion, there are various ways that those religions and cultures manifest themselves.
The government doesn't force the rest of us to have smoke detectors. Neither do they force us to own radios to warn us about floods, tornados, etc. Nor should they.
Live and let live? really? when you are putting the life of innocent children in danger? Fuck no.
and i have no idea how it works in the US, but it is illegal not to have a smoke detector in your house in Canada and firemen check to make sure it is there and that the batteries are changed. And for good reason. that will save your life and the one of people you love.
Why is this even an issue? Its just a smoke detector, let them be.
Who fricking cares? You can't force people to buy anything.
@NeverSubmit@xanga - because we need to make sure that second option REMAINS ILLEGAL. We are losing that fight, and soon our constitution will be replaced by sharia law. It's coming! We had better all wake up and prepare to revolt.
@WoundedWanderer@xanga - If you think the wall of separation between church and state is under attack, you're right. If you think Muslims are the only ones doing it, you're wrong. There is no way in hell the constitution will be replaced by the Koran. There aren't nearly enough Muslims in this country (even assuming every one of them supported a Muslim government in the US, which is unlikely).
@NeverSubmit@xanga - better wake up man! It's already happening in states like Minnesota. The liberal media is not telling us these things, but the information is out there. Our constitution is being shredded a little more each day. NOTHING obama has done has been done in accordance with the constitution. Iran has already made it known they intend to nuke us as soon as they get the capability to do it, and obama has made it clear he's not going to defend us from any such attacks. There are more muslims in this country than you think, and it is their stated goal to take over our population. Take a look at what they've done to the population of other countries, such as France. Christianity is being attacked hard and heavy, not only by muslims, but MOSTLY by muslims, and muslim backing. Christians are going to be persecuted in this nation soon. Oh, they won't say it's becasue we're Christians, that would stir up too much stink. Christians have already been distinguished by this administration as "potential terrorists", and sooner than anyone thinks, there will be prison camps in this country for Christians, under the guise of other charges. There is a plan in place to make this a muslim nation. obama himself has already stated we are the largest muslim nation on earth, and no longer a Christian nation. It is his aim to prove it, and make it happen. States like mine have already started preparing for this by making Sharia law illegal within our borders, and are being sued by this administration for drafting such legislation. It's time we smell the roses and wake up.
It is their religious beliefs, let them have them if they want. I don't agree with them. but if that's what they hear let them 'suffer' if they don't listen. instead of saying they are wrong, I'm saying, let them use their god given free will, until it hurts others intentionally. Here is the only thing i have an issue with, towards those who do not accept the help from the modern civilization. God says to trust in him. He does not say to be stupid or ignorant. maybe yes they could understand that god may be giving these new advancements into our lives to increase our well being. maybe god wants us to have them. but then again, maybe he does not want others to have them. we don't fully know, because we are not god. I don't know an Amish person. but again, here is another argument for the Amish; something could be a sin to one person, but completely fine for another. unless you know exactly what god wants for their life, we should just back off. maybe they know something we don't. don't knock a religion just because we don't agree. instead learn more about it and understand them more. maybe this practice allows them a connection to god, that most don't have. we just don't know because we are not them. so stop attacking, and start accepting. DO NOT PUSH YOUR BELIEFS ON OTHERS, INSTEAD, LET THEM ACCEPT THEM, FROM YOUR EXAMPLE.