Do they avail themselves of modern medicine when they exceed what they can do with 19th century methods? [serious question]
The group that lives in our area will seek treatment, if absolutely necessary I guess I should probably point out that there are many Amish "sects" each with different rules regarding the use of technology. Some believe in using absolutely no "modern" technology (no electricity, use horses instead of tractors, etc.). Some will use "old" tech (seem my earlier message about using line shafts to power machines as long as no electricity is used (yeah, yeah they use electricity to heat the glow plug, go figure). Some will use tractors instead of horses (but the tractors must have steel wheels, rubber tires are a sin) "Liberal" Amish will even drive cars, but they must not have any chrome (they paint it black) and no white wall tires. All and all they are pretty friendly people (always wave when you pass their carriages, etc.). The biggest problem they face (besides attrition from younger family members leaving) is getting their carriages smashed by cars going 60+ mph with stupid drivers who don't realize how slow the carriages are. Of course the government now requires them to have slow moving vehicle signs on the back and recently, despite their objections, battery operated flashing amber lights. -Neil