Amish community members across the country are being “shunned” after the recent nation wide emergency test exposed insiders with secret phones.
Shunning doesn't mean a member is removed from the Amish community but will result in isolation from the community.
Former Minnesota Amish Community member Eddie Swartzentruber describes some of the consequences.
"In my community, we were not allowed cell phones," Swartzentruber said. "If somebody had a cell phone and the test went off, they would take the cell phone on the spot, break it in half and go burn the cell phone."
Swartzentruber says once a member is shunned it usually leads to leaving the community all together.
"People who get shunned, one, they back, they make the promises and they are accepted back," says Swartzentruber. "And then over the slightest little thing, they get shunned again and then they leave the community."
While some Amish communities have started to accept some technology, traditionalists continue to enforce a strict no tolerance policy.
Amish lifestyle is regulated by the Ordnung ("rules") which differs slightly from community to community and from district to district within a community. Working hard is considered godly, and some technological advancements have been considered undesirable because they reduce the need for hard work.
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