Amish buggies

Why do the Amish and/or Mennonite buggies not allowed to have rubber wheels? I realize some 'sects' or 'divisions' allow it but generally it's 'no rubber tires' allowed.

 

Just curious.

 

 

 

Can't say I've ever heard that one before. Rubber tires translate to a more worldly mode of transportation, and a belief that easy transportation to other places (away from the family) takes away from family time. The same is true with farm equipment and tractors, as they believe these items are to be used for agricultural production and not a mode of transportation. It's more complicated then that but thats the simple way of saying it. Some mennonite buggies, from the Stauffer or "Team" mennonites, do have hard rubber tires that contain no air. (This is also true of the buggies that cater to tourists for rides, as they take the same routes all the time and townships have asked for rubber tires so they do not create rutts in the roads...yes it's possible) These buggies are also black rather then the Amish buggies that are Gray. This is all here in Lancaster. There are different types of Amish and Mennonites (Most of the plain/very conservative mennonite sects are here in lancaster) that have different types of buggies and varying degrees of beliefs of plainness and/or concientious objector status (tracing this back to their anabaptist beliefs.) as well as a few other minor belief differences in other parts of the country. Most of these groups developed over conflicts of progress and beliefs that surround them from the decisions of the bishops of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. These divisions and creation of other groups of sects of mennonites are known as Schisms. Some Schisms occur among groups that have devided from another conference or sect. Like I said...it's complicated...

 

From Morton the Mennonite. (Not a Piker/Team, "Black Bumper" (Groffdale Conference), 35'er, or Old Order Mennonite...)

 

Both the Amish and Mennonites developed out of the Annabaptist movement in Europe. The Amish developed out of the teachings of Jacob Aumann and the Mennonites out of the beliefs of Menno Simons. The Annabaptists believed in Adult Baptisims and peace/non-violence, among a few other things such as a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. As times progressed, groups have formed out of the main body of the church, which, like I explained before, usually become either new conferences or "schisms". In the amish, listed in progressive to conservative in views, you have the amish/mennonites, the "Beachy Amish", the Old Order Amish, and the Swartzendruber Amish. In the Mennonite faith, you have the Progressive Mennonite churches(Who are not recognized by mennonite church USA in some cases due to their beliefs), the General Conference Mennonites (Mennonite church USA. You would most likely not be able to tell one from looking at them if you didn't know what to look for. This is where I fall into place. This is also the largest group of mennonites. Within this group are conferences that have varying degrees of conservativeness. Conferences include Lancaster Conference, Franconia Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, etc. These are usually based on Geography and beliefs), the Conservative Mennonites, the Old Order Mennonites (which include the Stauffer Mennonites, the Weaverland Conference mennonites, the Groffdale conference mennonites, and the "35ers", all groups that developed either from the Lancaster Conference, or one of the groups in this group). Theres still a ton of other groups or conferences not listed, or you may know some by different names. If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to ask. I know it can be complicated at times. If your interested in learning more or trying to understand it, you can visit this article and look at this article, especially the worship, doctrine, and tradition section:

 

 

or this website for specifics:

 

 

Like I said before, any questions just ask. I'd be more then happy to explain it.