I worked on the Amish in Nashville, MI a couple years ago. They like natural medicine but I noticed that because of some of their traditions they weren’t very healthy. They eat a lot and most are overweight.

The women don’t get out of the house as much as the men and their diet is very heavy on sweets and baking. Nevertheless, they keep outsiders out and I was honored they let me in. It was a great experience. Their children sing like absolute angels and are kept from the avarice and evil of the larger American society. That is a good thing.

NEWS from The Pulse

BY JOE MARTINO
NOVEMBER 25, 2021
3 MINUTE READ

IN BRIEF

The Facts:
Amish communities of thousands in Lancaster, PA chose to not lock down and instead went on with life in 2020. Their communities were infected by COVID but death rates were not any higher than in other places. They lived life normally, did not wear masks, and stuck to their values and culture.

Reflect On: How much value should we put on living life to the fullest instead of focusing on reducing COVID cases at all costs? How many lives were lost as a result of harsh lock downs?

In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, thousands of Amish families took a different approach to COVID-19. Their outcomes are a story you probably won’t hear anywhere in mainstream media. By May 2020, the Amish were through COVID and had obtained herd immunity according to those studying the communities. They did not adhere to lock downs, vaccinations, mask-wearing, or distancing. They instead stuck to what they valued most, community, contribution, family, health, and tradition. Values that were pushed to the back seat in most areas of the world put reducing COVID cases above everything else.

Calvin Lapp, an Amish Mennonite living in Lancaster, PA, told Sharyl Attkisson during an interview about three core things Amish don’t like about modern society.

“There are three things the Amish don’t like; government – they won’t get involved in government, the public education system – they won’t send their children to education, and the health (sick care) system – they rip us off. Those are three things that we feel like we’re fighting against all the time. But those three things are part of what COVID is.”

Calvin Lapp, an Amish Mennonite

Initially, the Amish adopted a very brief shutdown at the start of COVID. Like many others, they were trying to find out what was going on. But once they knew, they took a unique approach.

As COVID continued on, the ‘outside’ world began locking down, and governments were telling their citizens to lock down, stop working, wear masks, social distance, etc. The Amish didn’t feel this was in alignment with what they believed in.

“To shut down and say that we can’t go to church, we can’t get together with family, we can’t see our old people in the hospital, we got to quit working…. It’s going completely against everything that we believe in and you’re changing our culture completely in trying to act like they wanted us to act the last year. We’re not going to do it.”

Calvin Lapp, an Amish Mennonite

During a Christian holiday when the community went back to church, everyone began getting coronavirus and developed immunity.

“When they take communion they dump their wine into a cup and they take turns drinking out of that cup. So you go the whole way down the line and everybody drinks out of that cup. So if one person has coronavirus the rest of the church is going to get coronavirus. The first time we went back to church, everyone got coronavirus.”

Calvin Lapp, an Amish Mennonite

As their population got COVID, some chose to go to hospitals while others didn’t. They felt it would be better to have people close to them around than to be isolated. What is clear is, there is no evidence that there was more death amongst the Amish than in any place that shut down their economies, worse masks, and was vaccinated.

The good news for the Amish in this community is that natural immunity has been shown to be very robust time and time again. The latest data indicates it is the best protection against re-infection and severe disease.

To dive more deeply into this story, the nuances, and how these cases were studied, I encourage you to check out the brief report below by independent journalist Sharyl Attkisson.