The Amish households are easy to detect by the clothes hanging on the clotheslines and the absence of
electrical lines going to the homesteads.

 

The Amish in Choteau, Oklahoma
And the Election

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

 

The nation is poised to re-elect the existing U.S. President or to name a new one, today. So, I felt compelled to go to the Amish Country of Northeastern Oklahoma, and see if they were engaged in the politics of this nation or if they by-passed the process and failed to participate.

Nationally, only about 5-10% of the Amish in the U.S. choose to vote, although it is not forbidden in most Amish communities, most choose to not get involved, unless it is something local, such as zoning or something that effects them directly.

 

 

The large Amish settlement near Choteau, Oklahoma, is made up of families that are engaged in farming or cottage businesses, such as bakeries, carpentry, meat processing, and the sale of homemade products.

 

 

 

 

This particular group of Amish travel around mainly by their tractors. You'll see them driving their tractors up and down the country roads, as they do not have automobiles. Their neat and well maintained farmsteads are especially attractive and they maintain their simple life of hard work and religious and family values.

 

 

 

I stopped by a dairy farm, where a number of Amish men were gathered and asked them about their thoughts in the upcoming presidential election, on Tuesday. "We let God take care of that!" exclaimed one elderly gentleman. "We'll let the English elect a president and make the best of it!"

 

 

 

 

"We pray about it and ask God to take control!" expressed another.

Meanwhile, I stopped at the local Amish bakery and asked a young woman if she was going to vote. "I won't be voting!" she said emphatically. "We serve a God who takes care of everything, and we'll leave that up to him. We can't do anything about what the English do, so we leave it up to God!"

 

 

Meanwhile, I certainly enjoyed a great meal at the Dutch Pantry Restaurant and went on my way. Learning that the Amish are likely going to "blame" the rest of us, for the outcome of the election!

 

 

 

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