In Bergholz, Ohio, sixty-six year old Amish Bishop Samuel Mullet Sr., four of his children, and eleven of his followers have been
convicted of hate crimes against an Amish man and his wife whom Mullet accused
of rebelliousness and straying from his religious teachings. The man and his wife were awakened to
several persons holding them down and cutting off their hair and the man’s
beard.
Old Order Amish men all grow beards and the women do not cut
their hair. The hair-cutting
attacks were taken to shame the couple.
Those convicted of the hate crimes face up to ten years or more in
prison. The hair cuttings were
considered to be hate crimes because they were motivated strictly on the basis
of differences in religious beliefs.
Mullet, the founder of the twenty-five family group about
twenty years ago, has been
described as an authoritarian leader who has abused his authority to coerce
sexual favors from female members and who has enforced many practices at variance
with traditional Amish culture.
The attacked couple were among those resistant to Mullet’s leadership.
Some of the other members of the group shielded their faces
as they left after the reading of the verdict. Because of their tradition which favors separation from the
outside culture and because of biblical instructions to settle church issues
within the church, many were quite ashamed of the church leader being dragged
into court.
The Amish are a subsect of the Mennonite faith. Most are of German or Swiss-German
ancestry. They are Anabaptists
(they practice adult believer’s baptism rather than infant baptism) and, while they
aware of modern technology, they do not use it. Most Amish live as farmers and they are known for their
sturdy and beautiful furniture.
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