Moise and I are two strong-willed and opinionated people, and I knew we would have to deal with disagreements. We lead very different lives in very different ways.
In recent weeks, I’ve received several e-mails and spoken concerns from people in the community who tell me they are worried about the safety of the horse buggies driving on local roads at night.
They wonder if they could not have more brightly and clearly fitted reflectors or other devices so drivers could see them better.
They wanted me to pass on their concerns to Moise. Normally, this is something I wouldn’t do. This time, I decided I would. It is important, on both ends.
The Amish don’t really argue, they live by their long-held beliefs and practices, and they are willing to take risks and punishment to protect their identity and beliefs.
But they do dig in.
They don’t surrender their core values or change much. Their practices and beliefs often conflict with local customs, regulations, building codes, school curriculums.
Many of those beliefs are centuries old, and pushing back the many pressures to conform with the outside world are familiar ground.
It’s a part of being Amish.
Some differences are complex and extremely difficult – balancing safety with ritual and identity is one of them.
Sometimes Amish leaders have gone to jail to protect their culture, sometimes to court, most of the time they work it out a compromise. Their history is riddled with confrontations, struggles with local and state governments and local officials and inspectors.
Since I’ve never had any kind of disagreement with Moise, this was new territory, if it came to that.
I knew from my previous research that this was not a minor issue or something Moise could or would take lightly.
The horse buggies are of the deepest religious and cultural significance to the Amish people, adorning them or dressing them in any way is a major issue for most of them and even a reflector strip is a profound concession.
The Amish horse and buggy, writes Donald B. Kraybill in The Riddle Of Amish Culture, “are the archetypes of Amish identity.”
As society turned to cars in the early twentieth century, the horse became the prime symbol of Amish life by default, their most visible way of claiming identity. Everyone who sees a plain cart knows there are Amish people living nearby.
Although the Amish do not worship the horse with cultic rituals or fetish charms, the cart has become a sacred symbol, as the Cross is for Christians, the Star of David for Jews, and the Star and Crescent is for Muslims.
Since the Amish don’t defend their positions or use any public relations, the cart, more than any other single thing, speaks to the outside world of who they are and what they believe.
It sets them apart, it is their way of talking to us.
The buggy, like everything Amish, is meant to be plain, simple, unadorned, and humble. This carries their message without shouting and lobbying.
(These traditions vary slightly from sect to sect, but Moise is Old Amish, the most conservative of the Amish sects).
Colored lights or reflectors, or distractions of any kind are a sacrilege.
When the car came into their world, it was the carts that enabled them to truly stand out and tell the world they were simply embracing this great change, they wished to survive as who they were.
Keeping the plain carts was one of the most profound decisions the Amish ever made.
The letters of concern about buggy safety were not hostile or critical, they were written in sincere worry that Amish people could get hurt.
Our main road, Route 22, which runs from New York City all the way to the Canadian border, is the busiest and most heavily trafficked highway Moise and his family have ever lived on, especially in the summer.
Starting in late May, trucks, motorcycles, and tourists (many of whom are known to haul big boats and speed and drink and text on their way to Lake George) come speeding up the road in significant numbers on the way to the Adirondacks as well as the popular lake, a major tourist destination.
We all learn to drive all year carefully up here, but especially from Memorial Day on. I wondered – worried – if Moise realized how busy the highway can be. But of course, he did, that isn’t something he would overlook.
Several of the people who messaged me said they came across the carriages at night and had trouble seeing and identifying them.
“I’m worried about the families,” said a neighbor who lives nearby.” As the others did, she wondered if I could talk to Moise about enhancing the visibility of the horse buggies, especially at night.
This was something I am very reluctant to do. People can speak to Moise directly about this, they don’t need an intermediary. He is quite accessible and open to questions. But I know that’s hard for strangers to do. And I don’t ever try to tell him how to live.
When I thought about it, especially about the children, I decided I had a moral obligation to pass along the concerns. These are well-meaning people raising this issue gently and out of worry, not grievance or bigotry.
One e-mailer said he was worried that he would get hurt if he couldn’t see these carts moving at night. He was in his eighties, he said, he can’t see clearly what most people can see.
Moise is the last person I want to appear to be telling what to do; he is a respected elder in the Amish faith, and the Old Amish sect, the most conservative, and reluctant to change.
My personal faith teaches me not to tell other people what to do, and not to let other people tell me what to do. I respect the differences between us.
If you know Moise, you know that he thinks of everything and misses nothing. I could tell the minute I brought it up that he was aware of the issue and had thought about it a lot.
I raised this issue two or three times this week as a question, and Moise listened but got quiet.
Personally, I have had no trouble spotting the horse buggies on the road at night, although it is not often that I see them in the dark.
I see a red light and white reflector strips. But I know what the carts look like and know what I’m seeing, a lot of traffic on our roads are newcomers or tourists heading north or south, not residents.
Most people around here haven’t seen horses and buggies for more than a hundred years. It’s tricky to assume everyone riding at night will recognize them, no matter how well marked or illuminated.
Some visiting children and visitors to our Open Houses have never seen a horse, let alone recognize a flickering red light in the dark.
I should mention that the Old Amish are plain in all that they do.
Colors like red and green reflector strips are not permitted, nor are any electric or battery-powered reflectors of any kind.
I told told Moise about all the questions, I relayed each one to him without comment. And then I asked “Moise, is there any way you might consider putting brighter or more colorful reflector on. Would you be agreeable to my searching online for reflectors that are brighter or new or different?”
I was hoping to call these people back and say it was taken care of. But that is perhaps my own ego at work, not necessarily the best outcome.
Moise and I were out in the field where he and his friends and family were just finishing building a temporary home and barn for his daughter when I told him what I wanted to talk about.
I’ve never seen Moise angry, but I thought he stiffened and looked sterner than I had seen him look. This might have been my imagination, but I don’t think so. I sensed he had been asked these questions many times, in many different places.
This was clearly an important issue for him.
I decided to push it, a first for me in my relationship with him.
As it turned out, Moise’s objections to adding more illumination to his carts are clear and pretty strong and deep.
He asked me not to search online for new or different illumination devices or strips, he said “I’ve done all that I can do. There’s nothing you can do.”
He said the reflector strips now on the cars were a concession, and I could sense that was difficult enough for him to do.
Moise explained that several years ago, he and other Amish leaders negotiated the issue of reflector devices on the buggies with state and local police. They reached an agreement that New York state has approved and signed.
It calls for a kerosene lantern shining in red on the inside rear of the buggy.
It also calls for four white reflector strips, one on the top, one on the bottom, one on each side. The length and measurements are part of the agreement. A lamp and four strips are in everyone, one of his buggies.
I’ve seen these lights, they are clear and bright in clear weather, less visible in rain or fog.
Moise said he was aware of people’s concerns and appreciated them. He then explained to me the limits of Amish flexibility on issues related to their buggies, a prime symbol of Amish individuality and commitment to individuality and to being plan.
He could not use colored reflectors. They were not about the safest way; they were about the way of God and Jesus, the Amish Way.
The state agreed that four strips forming a box on the back of the cart met their safety requirements, dressing up the cars in any other way would violate the Amish dictum to be plain and humble and low-key.
Issues relating to the buggies are not small or inconsequential matters, but primary symbols of the faith and the message of being Amish.
This includes taking risks and making sacrifices.
The Amish do not panic and sound the alarm when there is trouble, they accept pain and tragedy as God’s work, not that of man or woman. They believe sad and painful things will happen in life, they are called to be humble, generous, and loving of family and community. And especially the church.
They do not live in fear and alarm, as so many English do, or seek to protect themselves from the dangers of life, that’s God’s job if he wishes to do it.
This issue relates to being humble and not showy or flashy or colorful. It speaks to the heart of being Amish.
Moise said there was no point in my searching online, as he had studied and pondered and considered the issue for years, as did his Amish brothers and elders, and there was simply nothing more they could do.
That’s the first time I’ve been waved off in that way; I knew I had to respect that, not challenge it or undermine it. This was the boundary and the line for me. When he tells me he’s done all he can do, that’s when I stop and accept what he needs to do.
Because he doesn’t lie, ever.
Beyond that, he was convinced the carts are as safe and visible as he can make them.
Several other people I asked in town also said they had no trouble seeing the carts at night.
Moise did say the families have sharply reduced night travels in the buggies and would make sure all night trips were necessary.
I sensed no flexibility or doubt in his position.
I did ask at one point if they couldn’t place additional white strips horizontally across the bank of the carts. He said was it was just not something he could do, he didn’t go further.
He was patient – if brief – in answering all of my questions, but I felt as if I was talking to a massive stone wall, there was no getting over it.
He did suggest one important thing and suggested some openness.
He asked me if I was willing to ride with him one night and drive with him behind an Amish cart traveling in the dark. He wanted me to see how the reflectors and lamp works and make up my own mind. He wanted us to do it together.
I thought it was significant that he would ask me to do that with him, he was opening the door in one way for further discussion.
The question of the carts isn’t just another evangelical quoting the Bible as a justification for something. The cart says this is who we are, who we want to be, and who we don’t want to be. For all I know, the Amish decision to reject the car saved the faith from extinction. Very few small communities have survived,
So I will wait until he asks me to do that – he’s been by the house twice since our conversation for different reasons – and I’ll see if it goes anywhere.
I will respect his values, of course. There is a line here, and I think I can see it clearly, especially around the buggies.
We had different ideas, but our friendship easily passed its first real test.
Moise will not resent or shun me for speaking my mind. I will not offend him by refusing to accept the most that he can do, because as a truthful man, that is his truth.
I won’t argue with that. The most that he can do is a lot.
Thank you so much for addressing our concerns with Moise. Sounds like they have thought carefully about the subject and have made solid decisions for themselves. I wonder how the highway department decides when and where to post those caution signs that warn to be on the lookout for the Amish carts–the ones with the silhouette of a buggy on it?
Hi Jon,
When I lived in St. Mary’s County Maryland where 100 Amish families lived the Department of Motorville posted traffic signs with a picture of an Amish buggy. These signs worked well in letting travelers know we had Amish buggies on the roads and helped avoid accidents. It may be something your County could put in place that would help travelers become aware of the addition of Amish Buggies driving on well traveled roads. Tess
Thanks, Tess, the country put up signs all over the place..
Yes, we have the same issue in Wisconsin. Seems like the various sects have responded differently with reflective strips or triangles on the back of the buggies. The state dealt with the issue several years ago. We’ve had one or two very serious accidents in my county, resulting in death. It does seem the Amish do travel less used roads here, but in some ways I think that can be more dangerous.
One interesting incident that still amazes me involves Amish and bicycles. One Christmas Morning we were headed west on a state highway. Coming towards us were a group of Amish on Bicycles. It was one of those subzero Wisconsin winter mornings. None of them seemed dressed well enough to cope with such severe winter especially the women in their dresses. They suddenly stop as one had a flat tire. Being an extensive bike rider I can fix a flat tire in minutes.
I stopped offered to help but they said they can handle it. So I left. I hoped they got it fixed before they froze to death!
Don’t a lot of “English” feel exactly the same way about their automobiles? People who buy outrageously gaudy or expensive or hyper-powered cars to say to the rest of us “This is who I am, who I want to be?” What were those Hummers about? What are Porsches or Maseratis about? Safe transportation for the family? I’d feel a lot safer in a horse-drawn cart. Especially if people in their eighties who can’t see well decide that perhaps they shouldn’t be driving on unlit country roads at night. Who is posing the danger to whom?
It seems that our chosen methods of transportation do say alot about ourselves either intentionally or unintentionally. It’s kind or curious, isn’t it? I drive a Prius for its lower environmental impact & also because it’s cheaper on gas. I am not, however, a liberal Democrat. Some people assume that about Prius drivers. I’m a moderate, non-party affiliated person who cares about the environment & is frugal!
Nice message Nora, I drive a Toyota hybrid, and I have no idea what label to put on myself any longer..
In Wisconsin we have had some deadly crashes involving the Amish carriages. Drivers swerving (especially around curves and hills) to avoid a buggy they didn’t see can also be deadly for motor vehicle drivers. I’m sure most of us have swerved to avoid an accident. Sometimes with tragic consequences.
Yes, I’ve read about them, I’m sure every Amish person has as well..
Jon, you can easily blow this fragile relationship. You are meddling.
Don’t think so, Ruskin, it feels quite healthy and nourishing to me, on both ends. It’s hard to make judgments like that from afar, and on a screen. I’d be careful of that. I see Moise every day just about, and we are in good shape.If being honest would derail our friendship, then it isn’t a friendship at all.
Doesn’t seem Christ-like at all to be so committed your religious right to drive an unmarked, black horse buggy on a busy public highway that you’d imperil the lives and psychological well-being of other people that might inadvertently clobber you in the dark with their motorized vehicle, maiming or killing you and your family and your horse.
I would think there might be more meaningful ways to follow Jesus than to be willing to purposefully risk life and limb for such a reason.
Then you should pursue them, no need to denigrate people who think differently. Is someone stopping you from pursuing meaningful ways to follow Jesus? If so, please share how the Amish have imperiled your psychological well-being?. Quite dramatic, dwertz, but you seem pretty intact to me..
I don’t know New York geography too well, but I found this article dated from 2015 on KCPR Public Radio in Canton, NY up near Ottawa and Montreal. It tells an interesting story of the discussion about Amish carriage visibility that began up there back in the ’80s. I found it interesting that some Amish groups will put an orange triangle reflector on the backs of their carts, while other groups will not. I found it especially interesting at the end of the article that “Bishop Moses Miller said he’d even be willing to ride along in a police car so he could see what the buggies look like from behind.” I can certainly picture Moise doing the same thing – I’m almost sure he has, being as steadfast as you describe him in his thoughts on reflectors. Might be some common ground to talk with him about after you drive behind him…? Just a thought. Love your posts about your Amish experiences, please keep them coming 🙂
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/28450/20150522/www.cloudsplitter.org
Thanks Kent, Moise talks often about his dealing with this issue in Candon and we are planning rides together. As you know, there are many Amish sects and each one has the freedom to deal with the issue in their own way. Moise is Old Amish and quite conservative and this is a big issue for him. I suspect our riding together is a way of keeping the lines open, but as he tells it, there is really nothing he can do. We’ll see. We both know what a car looks like from a car riding behind. The Amish are well known for making sudden shifts in attitudes and policies, I don’t sense a lot of give on this one. But he is a good and honest man and if there’s a solution to be head, I think we will find it. Appreciate the message. FYI Canton is up by the Canadian Border, five or six hours from here by car. Thanks for digging out the radio interview,it was useful.
I am glad you mentioned your concerns (and those of others) to Moise. You are friends, and this is what friends do. And….you respect each other enough to know not to interfere- you are merely expressing concern and caring. I believe Moise knows this…. he would express the same concern for you and your safety if he felt it warranted being addressed. Your friendship can continue to grow through this shared mutual respect and boundaries…….. good for you!
I used to live in NY and visited an Amish family often. Everything you have written is familiar. I believe if a person is driving a motor vehicle they should be using their best defensive driving habits. Coming upon a buggy in the dark is much like coming up on a person on a bicycle, a random dog on the side of the road all difficult to see but as a good driver you should expect the unexpected, be aware of your surroundings, keep your speed down. Us “English” don’t always follow the rules of the road and in today’s world there are too many distractions. So my message, be a good defensive driver and hold yourself to the rules of the road.
Be safe everyone.
Hello, Jon,
I’m hesitant to post a comment about this topic, as I think you’ve handled it well and with the integrity your friendship with Moise appears to enjoy.
My only questions are to help me understand the context of the buggy marking requirement agreed to by the state of NY and the Amish community. From your photos, I see the reflective strips that outline the rear of the buggy. I also see the very visible red lantern in the second photo of your post. However, your text says: “a kerosene lantern shining in red on the ‘inside rear’ of the buggy.” Clearly the photo shows the lantern on the outside, left rear (?) of the buggy which confuses me with “inside rear.” I’m guessing perhaps you meant the “exterior rear, right-side of the buggy”
– viewing the buggy from behind.
If that is the case, there is a reflective element to the red lens on the lantern that should show up regardless of whether it is on the left or right. And if so, in the lead photo of the post, I fail to see a lantern on the buggy leaving your driveway or on the rear of the buggy in the barn which clearly shows the reflective strips. The lantern may not have been in place while it was in the barn, but looking at the rainy weather, I thought it might be visible in the lead photo?
We are enjoying your excellent writings about the Amish. Their way of life is intriguing and an inspiration for us in this modern, fastmoving English world.
Thanks Steve, the lanterns are not on the carts used at night, the strips are as I described them, one on top, one on the bottom, one on each side of the back card along with a kerosene lamp. Some carts are used in the daytime, some at night. That is all I know and I don’t want to interrogate Moise further about it right now. We’ll take our ride together and we’ll take it from there. Thanks for the good words.
My guess is Mr Miller is Swartzentruber Amish ~ the most conservative sect of all. Amish from the same part of upper NY state moved to my village 5 or 6 years ago. They have enriched our lives incredibly. Like Moise, their buggies have white reflective strips and kerosene lanterns. They will not use orange triangles nor other suggestions made by our town officials. On these hilly roads here, it is not easy to see them at night and there have been several car/buggy accidents due to this failure to properly light their buggies. It is very scary to come close to an accident when you cannot see them, trust me. The Amish believe ” God makes no mistakes” and accept what life deals them. I cannot accept the risk to me in that way and my feeling is that any kind of vehicle on roadways needs lighting that meets current standards. I find myself reluctant to drive at night and on certain roads I have used for years as I am fearful of an accident.
Thanks for the message, Montsweag, we know what accidents are like, we have many here. Thanks for sharing your point of view, and for being civil and thoughtful about it. It’s a difficult contest of wills. You can’t accept the risk of driving up there, and they can’t accept the risk they feel is inherent in putting colors on their carts and altering their identity and sacred symbol. A case for Solomon…
I agree with Montsweag Adams especially what she wrote about any kind of vehicle on roadways needs lighting that meets current standards. I’m not going to be passive/aggressive. No matter what your religious beliefs you must make sure your beliefs don’t injure or cause the death of other people on the roadways. I’ve been in several car crashes and have obtained injuries. All caused by drunk or otherwise impaired drivers. It limits me but I’m getting older and I don’t drive at night. When my mother was losing her eyesight, I had to take the keys away. I didn’t want her hurt, and I certainly didn’t want her to hurt someone or wipe out an entire family. Believe me I didn’t win daughter of the year award for my actions.
I understand what you’re saying, Jean, I appreciate the clarity and passion. For me, it’s a bit more complicated. I believe the Amish are keenly aware of the suffering of other people, it’s a huge part of their faith. When we ask someone to abandon their faith, even in a good cause, it takes patience, listening, and perseverance. Let’s see what happens. I’m not big on ultimatums and for me, nothing is black and white. I’ll keep talking, and we’ll see where we get…One note, there are standards for these carts, and the Amish and the state has agreed on them. They are not defying or breaking the law. If the law is to be changed that takes thoughtfulness and respect. It’s easy to go straight to war, but not always effective..