Just a Few More Steps

I am so ready for tomorrow. I'm ready for this debacle to be over.  No matter who wins or what happens, this election has left us all with less dignity.  There is widespread evidence of voter suppression in the South, there are zany ploys to try and get the Amish to vote in the North.  The Klu Klux Klan is somehow in the news on a daily basis. I'm just done.
The Amish thing is peculiar to me, because I have lived in proximity to the Amish for a good part of my life.  I grew up in Chester County Pennsylvania, near Lancaster, where the movie Witness, starring Harrison Ford was set. Then I lived for ten years in Indiana County Pennsylvania in the middle of a pretty sizable Amish Community.  We had buggies go by our house on a daily basis.  Even down here in Southern Maryland, I can pop down the street to the Charlotte Hall library and go to the Amish produce stands through the summer months.
I am by no means an expert on all things Amish, but through simple contact and observation I have learned a few things about them.  First off is that they are probably what you would consider conservative in a lot of ways, however there are some key points of variation.  The most obvious would be pacifism, and this they take pretty seriously.  They do not serve in the military or believe in the practice of "an eye for an eye." They take Jesus whole "turn the other cheek," teaching as absolutely binding.
Because our government, Democrat or Republican led, is pretty much constantly engaged in waging wars and inflaming violence around the world, the Amish more or less wash their hands of the whole scenario.  Voting is not forbidden, but it is highly discouraged, on the grounds that no earthly government is actually going to truly represent or even be amenable to the values of the Kingdom of Heaven (a lesson that is being hard learned by many other Christians).
Another point of variation, which you might glaze over because it seems so quaint among the Amish, is that they are essentially communist, in what I consider to be the absolute best way.  They share the burdens of the community, they rely on one another to overcome difficulties.  They are also pretty shrewd businessmen, and their work ethic is more or less above and beyond wonderful. As much as the free market capitalist idolatry of the modern GOP would like to claim the Amish as paragons of virtues for the fact that they shun government assistance, even Social Security.  That adoption does not hold water if you consider the complexity of what it means to live the Amish way.
In as much as they resonate with the traditional "family values" that the GOP has tried to claim, it's hard to believe that they would see those values reflected in Donald J. Trump, even if they don't have Twitter accounts or television.
The one fact that might actually motivate the Plain Folk to actually vote for Trump is one that is not terribly flattering or idealistic: Hillary is a woman.  Amish society is highly patriarchal, even if it is egalitarian in many respects, women have defined roles, and leadership of the community is not one of them. Honestly I wonder if this isn't the only reason she isn't cruising to an absolute crushing victory among the general population, but that's the cynic in me oozing out again. I'm trying to keep him on a leash for about 48 more hours.
All the same, if you're excited about volunteering to drive the Amish to vote tomorrow, prepare to be underwhelmed.  They will usually gladly take a ride to Wal-Mart though, I mean if  you really want to help.