Why do Amish not use electricity? Shunned definition explained as TikToker's story trends post emergency alert test 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s October 4 national test seems to have put certain Amish community members in trouble. Recently a TikToker went viral for revealing that several members got “shunned” by elders. The government’s test was to make an uncontrollable loud noise which seems to have gotten certain religious sections in trouble.

For those unversed, the federal agency conducted a nationwide test in the U.S. to ensure that their emergency and wireless emergency alert system were working as expected. The test, which took place at 2:20 pm ET on October 4, would make people’s electronic devices send an alert, which cannot be silenced by phone users.

It seems like the test left certain people weary. It has also been revealed that it caused serious trouble for some members of the aforementioned community.

The community, who are also called the Amish Mennonite, are members of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church. Their way of life is poles apart from the fast-paced society one lives in.

Their non-conformist lifestyle includes being immensly self-sufficient and staying away from the regular social politics people worldwide often find themselves engrossed in, among other practices.

Recently, TikToker and ex-Amish community member Eli Yoder went viral online. He told his one million followers that- “several Amish men got shunned by the Amish church for having smart phones in their pocket when the emergency alert system went off”

Yoder also added:

“Now three of them got back to me and said- “hey I just have to lay low for a while, I just got shunned.” And I said- “how did that happen?” They said that- “that emergency alert that went off, yeah we had our phone on vibrate and it still went off””

The TikToker also shared the experience of an unidentified community member. The former revealed that the later got shunned after the elders were investigating him for another matter.

At the time of writing this article, the TikTok video had amassed nearly 700K views.

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Why did the Amish men get shunned by their community?

Those who are members of the community have restricted access to modern technology. Although they do use electronic devices such as selected computers, lighting fixtures, washing machines, refrigerators etc, it is much limited than the average person.

Valuable technology is often found in the houses of this secluded community. However, they do believe that modern devices can lead to increased dependence on them. They also believe that it can lead to materialism and steer a person away from spirituality and family bonds.

The community also values tradition immensely. Hence, they keep away from gadgets like phones, computers, iPads etc.

This must have been why the men in the TikTok video were shunned. According to Amish Baskets, shunning refers to a:

“painful separation of a person from their community. A person is no longer allowed to eat or take rides with other community members… they’re generally not included in any community activities.”

The community reportedly sees this as an “act of love and concern” for those who have moved away from their beliefs.

According to the aforementioned website, shunning is temporary or lasts upto six weeks.

Although technology is not encouraged in the community as mentioned prior, it is not a sin to use it.

Since the community does use technology to a limited extent, they require power sources. One might expect them to be under the public power grid.

However, that is not the case. They make use of alternative sources of energy like solar and wind- powered generators which includes windmills.

According to Amish Heritage, there are certain sects who do not use electricity in any manner. This includes the Swartzentrubers, who are the most conservative. The reportedly do not have any form of electrical power in their residences.