Government entities in the U.S. are increasing their attacks on the peaceful Amish by filing lawsuits against them and employing stiff fines. It centers around their arguement they don't need to conform to laws that contradict their beliefs, as they relate to building their own homes.
Here's how one government official described it in Wisconsin:
"They just go ahead and don't listen to any of the laws that are affecting anybody else. It's quite a problem when you got people next door required to get permits and the Amish don't have to get them," said Gary Olson, a county supervisor in central Wisconsin's Jackson County.
According to one Amish, Samuel F. Stolzfus - who is being fined $9,450 for building a house and driveway without permits - to sign a permit would be tantamount to lying, as there would be no way he could follow a number of parts of the code included with the permit.
As University of Michigan law professor Douglas Laycock says, the Amish have a good argument.
He says the government must prove that their regulations trump the religious freedoms of the Amish. Building officials say their permits and codes provide structural safety, but that has to be considered a smokescreen, as when's the last time you heard of significant structural safety issues with Amish homes? When have they started collapsing?
It shows the level of hate people have for those that are dissenters and refuse to conform to the system the world employs.
On the surface this seems to look like a simple case of sensible government regulations that any normal person would adhere to. But when you dig deeper, it's a form of control deliberately put forth to force the Amish to do something against their beliefs; which are known quite well by most officials.
I've seen this type of thing before against Christian dissenters who have no connection to the Amish other than being fellow dissenters.
It can be people visiting homes for meetings where anything from alleged noise to parked cars can be an issue. Even people that decide to live in neighborhoods together can be bothered because they do a lot of things together and are in the public eye.
None of this should surprise us. People will always use the government to attack those that don't conform to their way of doing things. Jesus is the obvious example, as the religious authorities of His day got the government to murder Him on trumped up charges.
If we truly follow Him the same will happen to us.
The point is we need to be aware of the continuing hatred of people against those who take the Lord seriously. You don't have to adhere to the practical way the Amish live out their beliefs to know they could be coming after us next.
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