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On Wednesday afternoon, most Americans were subjected to a fairly grating noise courtesy of FEMA, which blasted a test of its Emergency Alert System to phones across the country. While you might think members of the Amish community would’ve been immune to that message, that’s apparently not the case according to one man who left it behind.
The Amish can trace their origins back to the Anabaptist movement that began in Switzerland in the middle of the previous millennium. In this day and age, most people associate the religious order with the communities that have established a strong foothold in Western Pennsylvania, although they can be found in other areas of the United States and some parts of Canada.
The Amish subscribe to a number of tenets that define their comparatively simple lifestyle, and one of the most notable pillars is the rejection of modern technology; members of the “Old Order” eschew basically all forms of electricity, and while “New Order” members can harness it to some capacity, cellphones are decidedly out of the question.
However, that doesn’t mean everyone follows those rules.
Eli Yoder is a former member of the Amish community who still keeps in touch with some people who supposedly adhere to the religion, and earlier this week, he posted a TikTok video where he claimed three men he’s supplied with cellphones reached out to him to let them know they’d been “shunned” because the emergency alert went off when they were in the vicinity of other people who quickly realized something was amiss.
@yodertoter40 Several Amish men get shunned by the Amish church when the emergency alert system went off. Lol. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It’s worth noting “shunning” doesn’t (typically) refer to permanent expulsion from the church, although members who are caught violating the rules are subject to social ostracization that prevents them from eating, riding, and doing business with other Amish people until they’re able to prove their remorse.
That’s an unfortunate way to have your spot blown up.