Apropos of nothing... well, nothing in particular that is.

Maybe I better start over.

And of course I wasn't "minding my own business"; gawd, what a crock that one is.

Anyway, so I was chillin' in our study, online, waiting for Dawn to return with something urgent, and, thusly constrained, I wanted to keep it simple, IYKWIM, so I just happened to Google the Amish.

And found their website.

Started surfin' it... well, in a buggy.  Since they use hand tools and gas but shun--among many other modern conveniences--electricity, I wondered whether they owned computers and, if so, what powered them (hand crank?).  Soon enough, I clicked over to their Frequently Asked Questions section.  

Turns out, the Amish eschew computers (duh), but they have friends with whom they've confided; these friends have created a place on the web for them.

I bring this up because of FAQ #6:

Q:  I understand the Amish believe in nonresistance and pacifism. Does this principle extend to personal situations where you're confronted with imminent evil, say, a known murderer confronting you and your family in your home? Can you use force to preserve your life in this situation? To what extent?

A: Both Amish and Mennonites are committed to a lifestyle of peace and non-violence.  Yes, this pervades every aspect of life.  However, no one can predict how anyone would react to an absolutely unprecedented crisis such as described in your question....

That's curious.  Never, huh?  No precedent?  

I find it intriguing that so many of us have been encouraged to think that such confrontations are constantly happening (somewhere), and that they're always on the verge of happening again, this time to us.

And yet the Amish say it's never happened.  Nope, nothing to worry about.

Not that I'm pining or bucking to be another liaison for these folks, but...

No, but really:  I'm not.  I'm not blowing their horn, and I'm certainly not thinking of joining their ranks.  To me, the Amish are barely there, and I emit a slight titter when they come to mind, which is seldom:  I think of them as often as I think of, say, Donald Trump's hair or that thing in the middle of your forehead.

So which is it, never or always?

Not that this is any time to start conceptualizing Herbie as "the voice of reason" or anything approaching such ludicrousness, but...

"Wait a minute," you're thinking.  "The middle of my forehead?"

For the same reason that my "middle of your forehead" prediction should not keep you up nights, I don't lose sleep pondering the vagaries of the Amish lifestyle.  They are a true minority, in that their numbers are few.  Yes, they do represent an extreme, but they don't pose a threat.  On the contrary, since they constitute a distinctly different "spice" in our "melting pot," they in effect function to illustrate the extent of our atomization and resultant atrophy in terms of our potential as a group.  The powers that be like it that the Amish--people who thumb their noses at conspicuous consumption, Social Security taxes and the draft--serve as yet another warm fuzzy example of just how free this place is.            

Anyway, back to my point.  Which is, is this an "always/never" situation?

Are we always on the verge of our homes being broken into by psychopaths with murderous intent?  Or has this never happened, so we shouldn't worry about it?

Or is there a nice middle ground?

FORWARD to what happened next

BACK to where this whole "Wal~Mart crisis" began

OVER to your HerbNation HOMEPAGE

herbie@herboverstreet.com

Their answer continues here.