Gov’t Revokes Off-Grid Amish Community’s Religious Rights, Forces Them to Use Electricity

In spite of the fact that they have harmed no one, a court is forcing an Amish family to violate their religious beliefs and use electricity.

6 Off-Grid Lessons From Amish Life We All Should Learn

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Visitors to my neighborhood in central Maine are often startled by the presence of Amish people.  Locals, though, are accustomed to the yellow road signs with black silhouettes of horse-drawn buggies, tracks of bicycle tires and horse hooves in the snow on the shoulder, and the sight of women in bonnets and long dresses in line at the local grocery store. The handful of families that arrived eight years ago have grown into a sizeable and thriving group which coexists well within the greater community.

As neighbors, friends, vendors and customers, the Amish provide an integral niche in the lives of other residents.  Sharing a region with the Amish is rewarding. They are my go-to for organic livestock grain, barn boots, fresh vegetables and kitchen gadgets, as well as the source for my full-sized wood cook stove.

I am a regular customer at an Amish dairy farm, as well. I drive out to the milk room every Saturday to pick up rich raw Jersey milk, leave off clean jars to be filled for next week, and drop my money into an open plastic bucket on the shelf.

Customers for ready-made buildings, bicycle repair, and charcuterie also seek out Amish businesses. But commerce goes both ways. The Amish buy from local merchants, hire drivers for transportation, provide education at agricultural events, and contribute to municipal building projects.

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Living in close proximity to Amish people as I do, it is easy to observe the way they live. I often admire the large homes with tidy no-nonsense yards as I pass by, or smile at the sight of school-aged children helping parents hang laundry on the line or hauling firewood. While they are certainly human and by no means perfect, they do portray a highly venerable lifestyle.

My experiences with Amish people have led me to believe that there are many positive things to be said for the way they live their lives. Following are six ways that I think they are doing it right.

1. Community is everything. A friend told me a story of how, when she first arrived from out-of-state for the purpose of living sustainably, she told an Amish woman she encountered of her plans. “Oh my dear,” the Amish woman said gently, touching my friend’s arm, “you need community in order to do that.”

As a homesteader, I cannot agree more with that statement. Living on the land is a tough row to hoe for a single household. The sense of isolation and the feeling of being overwhelmed are two of the most common reasons people consider giving up homesteading.

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Amish people band together for building homes and barns, tending animals and gardens, supporting one another’s economic endeavors, completing household and culinary tasks, and spiritual solidarity. They buy land and build homes in clusters that support their sense of collective cooperation in a way that much of mainstream society no longer does.

2. Technology is a tool, not a master. Contrary to popular belief, Amish people do use modern technology. They have very localized rules, enabling some groups to use technology more or differently than do other groups. I have seen Amish people ride buses, hire cars, keep telephones in outside buildings, operate chainsaws, and shop at big box stores. The line in the sand might be defined at that which keeps them adequately separated from those who do not share their beliefs.

I wonder if it is also a question of what serves whom—they seek to use that which will serve their needs and reject that which may come to control them.

3. Comfort and value trump trendy and superficial. When I see Amish people, they appear neat and put-together, in clothes that fit well and do not have holes or missing buttons. But while they do take pride in their appearance in that way—and I assume that most individuals try to look their best—they do not embrace mainstream trends.

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I see fun holey rubber clogs on their feet, but no designer bags on their arms. It seems that value is measured by actual usefulness instead of by what is perceived as valuable to others.

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4. They are not slaves to society’s expectations. Many Americans hate to let society control them, but most do not reject the insidious pressure to do so as well as the Amish. No big screen TVs. No fancy cars. No cruises. No body waxing or tanning beds. No political correctness. No four-star restaurants. No smart phones. No social media. All those things that mainstream culture tries to tell us we cannot live without? The Amish live without them.

At first glance, the Amish lifestyle seems restrictive. But when the absence of having to keep up with the Joneses is taken into account, maybe their lives are ones of freedom, not restriction.

5. They do not expect anything for free. Amish people work hard and expect to be paid accordingly, but do not ask to be paid extra. They ask nothing of the greater public and nothing of the government. They pay taxes like everyone does, and occasionally grumble about them like everyone does. But I would be surprised to see many Amish people applying for state benefits.

6. They do not lose sleep over politics. Without television or social media in their lives, many issues that flood mainstream airwaves can be lost on the Amish. Whether or not Sarah Palin knows about foreign affairs or whether Hillary Clinton used a specific email account to send sensitive documents—none of that matters to those solely focused on home and family. Amish people do hold strong opinions on many subjects, but do not get caught up into distant controversies.

It is true that no one culture has all the answers, and no single way of doing things is right for everyone. But the Amish do practice a lifestyle admired by many, and I count myself as fortunate to share my neighborhood with them. I appreciate the value they bring to the community, and I love the ways they do things right.

Do you agree or disagree? What would you add to this story? Share your thoughts in the section below:

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Amish Farmer Sold Herbal Salves. The Feds Sent Him To Prison For 6 Years

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Making money by selling your off-grid homemade products apparently can land you in prison.

An Amish farmer in Kentucky discovered this the hard way when he was sentenced in late June to six years in prison for selling homemade herbal products and then impeding an FDA investigation.

A federal court determined Amish farmer Samuel Girod mislabeled his herbal home remedies, which were for sinus infections, skin disorders and cancer.

Even though the local sheriff stood in Girod’s corner, the 57-year-old homesteader was convicted on 13 charges.

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A petition supporting Girod garnered about 30,000 signatures. A rally in support of the Amish farmer was held outside the Kentucky federal courthouse.

“I don’t need the FDA to protect me from an Amish farmer,” read a sign held by T.J. Roberts, a college student who supported Girod.

“I feel what happened here is an example of judges making the law,” Roberts told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “What the FDA did here is an example of executive overreach in which they are choosing what Americans can put in or on their own bodies. I struggle to find where the victim is in this and where the crime was committed.”

The Kentucky Amish farmer made his own herbal products, including salves, and sold them to folks in his Bath County community.

Court records maintain Girod defied a federal order to stop selling the salves until his business was inspected.

The Amish farmer “brazenly placed the public at risk, openly hampered law enforcement, and intentionally impeded the judicial process,” according to acting U.S. attorney for Eastern Kentucky, Carlton Shier.

Girod represented himself and claimed the court did not have jurisdiction over him.

Supporter Richard Mack of Arizona told the Herald-Leader, “This is a national disgrace and outrage. … He is being punished for being stubborn.”

Sheriff John Snedegar of Bath County wondered why the FDA is “attacking and victimizing such peaceful and law-abiding Americans.”

When FDA agents tried to inspect the business in 2013, Girod and others blocked them.

What is your reaction? What should the federal government have done? Share your thoughts in the section below:

Amish Father Arrested, Facing Decades in Prison for Selling Products with Essential Oils

Lexington, KY — Samuel Girod, an Amish farmer from Lexington, Kentucky, will go to trial on February 27th, charged with conspiracy, distributing misbranded drugs, and threatening a witness. The reason: he makes a healing salve, an ointment he’s been producing for over 20 years, and the Food and Drug Administration isn’t happy about how he markets it.

Girod became a targeted individual of the federal government’s FDA, since someone from Missouri, in 2013, reported the Amish man to the state health department. At issue, were claims the company made about its balm, which is made from ingredients like rosemary, beeswax, peppermint, chickweed, eucalyptus oil, olive oil, lavender oil, and comfrey.

Officials with the FDA say it’s not what’s inside his product that concerns them, but rather, the claims the farmer made about his product, principally, that it cures cancer. Girod said that a customer who had skin cancer used the all-natural product and reported to him it had cured his cancer. So the Amish farmer put that report in his advertising of the product.

“He’s not allowed to say that…so he changed the label. And then he called it ‘Healing Chickweed Salve’,” said one supporter. Ultimately, she said Girod was forced to call his product “Original Chickweed Salve.” Another of his products, To-Mor-Gone, also made similar claims about its ability to heal cancerous tumors. The product contains bloodroot plant extract, said to be caustic to the skin.

The father of 12, and grandfather of 25 doesn’t seem to understand why he cannot make claims about his products, nor does he understand how the oppressive system works to keep innovators like himself, from bringing natural medicines to market.

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While officials use the argument they’re protecting consumers from products and manufacturers who make incredible claims about their untested products, even if Girod’s healing balm did in fact cure cancer, he could never tell anyone that fact. The first reason he could not do so is the barrier of testing, research, and approvals process the FDA has in place to bring pharmaceuticals to market. It’s lengthy, expensive, full of bureaucracy, and would bankrupt any Amish farmer who attempted to get a product certified through the FDA.

One controversial aspect of the FDA’s certification process is that it is redundant. For example, GW Pharmaceuticals has already gone through the United Kingdom’s certification process to bring their product, Sativex (a cannabis-derived sub-lingual spray for pain, spasms, and epilepsy) to market. But now that the company wants to sell the product in the U.S., the company has to, once again, go through all of the approval processes, a process which has lasted well over 3 years now in the U.S., costing the company millions of dollars. So it’s easy to see how and why one lone farmer, whose product has no chemical medicines inside of it, would even care to attempt the approval process.

It’s not just that the farmer makes claims about his product which has gotten him in trouble, it’s also that he’s put those claims in writing, has refused to allow the FDA to inspect his production facilities, and has treated any attempts to do so with hostility. “Prosecutors pointed out that back in 2013, a federal judge in Missouri banned Girod from distributing these products until he met certain conditions. Those conditions include allowing the FDA to inspect where Girod made the goods. According to the indictment, the FDA says their officers were prevented from conducting an inspection at the farm. They also say Girod continued to sell the products without letting his customers know they were the subject of a court-ordered injunction,” writes WKYT.

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However, local residents and family, who’ve bought his product for decades, disagree.

“I think everybody in the community has heard about it,” said Bath County resident, Suza Moody, explaining how everyone in the community is up in arms over how this man is jail and facing 68 years — for a homeade salve he sold to willing customers.

“I can’t even figure out what he has done wrong,” said Moody. “They live at the foot of the cross and the thought of one of them intentionally doing something wrong is outrageous.”

Being Amish, and not trusting lawyers, Girod is representing himself. He failed to be present for a court hearing, and was later arrested on “failure to appear” charges.

“Sam is a very literal person. This hearing didn’t say, ‘Hey Sam you’ve got to be here.’ It just said there’s a status hearing in your case and he thought he didn’t have to show up. It was a mistake on his part, but because he is not an attorney, he just doesn’t understand,” said family friend, Sally Oh.

Moody pointed out a possible reason for this attack on Girod, “They are targeting the Amish because they don’t threaten. They don’t fight back, and they don’t like lawyers.”

“They are just devastated. I mean when they brought him out in handcuffs. It was awful,” said Oh.

In the meantime, the makers of OxyContin, the drug responsible for thousands of deaths a year, are likely enjoying a $25,000 lunch with department heads in the FDA. Shameful, indeed.

Let’s Take Action!

As the Homestead Guru points out, if you think the FDA is wasting time and resources prosecuting a “drug distributor” like Samuel Girod, here are  five things you can do to make your voice heard:

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1. Sign this petition to issue an immediate Presidential pardon for Samuel Girod. http://bit.ly/freeamishsam. His trial is in just 3 weeks.

2. Email President Trump directly, here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

3. Email the Attorney General too: https://www.justice.gov/contact-us

4. Call or email your legislators, both Federal and state, even if you don’t live in Kentucky:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

5. Donate to Samuel Girod’s legal fees here: https://www.gofundme.com/supportsamnow