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Posted on 08/17/2026 5:02:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
The Amish are what are known as "plain people" … religious Christians who value tradition over change. They dress modestly, and most don't use technology like cars, computers or phones.
So, what exactly is going on here?
VIDEOS AT LINK..........
Meet Lovina Hershberger Zook, the unlikely 23-year-old social media creator who has amassed some six million followers with her recipes and stories about the Amish.
She comes from one of the most conservative subgroups in the Amish, and grew up speaking a dialect of German known as "Pennsylvania Dutch." She's no longer Amish – she left the faith five years ago. But she maintains many of their traditions at home. She made her dress, and prefers to wear it around the house.
Online, she's known for cooking Amish dishes – simple, practical fare that ranges from the super-traditional to the unconventional, like a coffee soup made with hot milk, instant coffee, sugar, and saltine crackers. Her favorite way to eat it is with cottage cheese and meat.
Sometimes it's what's in a name that matters most. She made us an Amish cheeseburger – that's two pieces of homemade bread slathered with butter and layered with cheese, grilled in a cast-iron pan until golden-brown and gooey. (What the non-Amish call a grilled cheese.)
"I've only had an Amish cheeseburger; I have never had a grilled cheese!" Zook laughed.
And that's the thing: She doesn't always know what she doesn't know – what traditions and what words are ones the "English" (as the Amish call the non-Amish) might not know.
Zook had never used a phone before, and didn't know what a computer was. "Like, I knew people worked on their computers. But I didn't know what a laptop was," she said. "And then I bought a laptop, like, a couple years after I left the Amish. Apparently it's a laptop computer. And now I just call it a computer … Why is it called a computer? That's a weird word. Computer. I don't know why, sometimes I say words and I'm like, 'Why is it called that?'" she laughed.
So, when Zook was growing up Amish, if someone had said to her, You're going to be a social media star, what would that have meant? "Nothing," Zook laughed. "Because I didn't know what social media was. I would've been scared, because I would go, 'What is social media?'"
Zook got her start online talking not just about food, but about the culture she left. Her most-watched video is a tutorial on how Amish women do their hair. It has more than 50 million views on TikTok.
Asked what it was it like growing up Amish, Zook replied, "We just live our life. We're like, 'Ooh, I know there's people who live different lives. I know there's people with electricity. But that's wrong. And so, I'll just, like, stay Amish and I'll live an Amish life.'"
And that meant more than just no electricity. It meant no makeup, no dancing. The list of prohibitions was long. "I didn't smoke; was not allowed for women," she said. "No drinking; that's not allowed for anybody. And no cursing. Absolutely not. You can't even say, 'Oh, my gosh.' That's considered a bad word."
Gosh?!? "You can say, 'Darn it!' or something like that. Like, 'Cheese and crackers!'" Zook said.
And any transgressions came with serious consequences. For example, Zook was told, if she left the Amish, she would go to Hell.
Zook is one of 13 children. Her older brother left before her. When she finished eighth grade, she became a schoolteacher. "I loved being a schoolteacher. That was the best part of my life at that time," she said. "But they were paying me $12 a day, and I was driving eight miles a day with horse-and-buggy. So, the wear-and-tear on the horse-and-buggy wasn't covered by what I was getting paid."
Her father said she was going to have to change careers, because teaching did not pay enough. He told her, "You're gonna work at the saw mill."
The last straw for Zook came when her mother criticized how she dressed for church. "She's like, 'You're gonna have to use a smaller band around your neck because people are gonna start talking.' And in that moment – I didn't say a word, but I was like, I'm so tired of people telling me what to do. And I'm always trying to be perfect. And it is never right. And I was just done. And I was like, okay, this is the moment I start planning."
She planned for two weeks, before escaping while her family slept – which she compared to escaping from prison. "I was like, I have to time this so they're sleeping, like, really deeply when I leave, 'cause the stairs creaked a little, and I had to, like, figure out which stairs creaked," she said. "And the day before, I sneakily oiled all the door hinges so they don't squeak when you open and close them."
Zook says she didn't like living with all of the Amish rules, but she still respects a lot of their ways. And she misses her family: "My siblings, especially, 'cause I was the second oldest and I feel like they always called me Momma #2."
Once she left the Amish, she had to learn all the ways of the "English" world. She stayed with her brother and other family members while she got settled, and five years later she drives. She makes a living making social media. She sells a self-published cookbook. And she's married to an ex-Amish man named Eli.
She says that, rather than believing God will send her to Hell, she is living the life that God wants her to. "Oh, yes. I believe that 100%," she said.
Lovina and Eli are expecting their first baby next month. And she's not done yet: "I want a house. I want a garden. I want to farm. I'd like to someday maybe have an Amish restaurant, and an Amish market. Our plans for the future seem very busy, [and] very bright. My life just seems to get better and better and better every day."
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Some friends and I were at a restaurant a few years ago. One of them is former Amish. A song came on the radio and one of the guys said he hadn’t heard it since high school.
My ex-Amish buddy said “The only music I remember from high school was clip-clop, clip-clop.”
Good for her getting out.
bkmk
“What Is Rumspringa?
Rumspringa is a period in Amish culture when young adults, usually between ages 16 and 20, experience greater independence before deciding whether to be baptized into the Amish church. “
This is what happens with the Amish around here. They all choose to be Amish. I’ve never heard of one having to “escape”.
How long before Amish women are on Only Fans?
There was a couple TV series on cable a few years back about that..........
BRAVE AI:
Breaking Amish
Breaking Amish is an American reality series that debuted on September 9, 2012, and concluded on November 20, 2014. The show followed five young Anabaptist adults (four Amish and one Mennonite) who moved to New York City to experience modern life and decide whether to return to their communities or remain outside them. It ran for four seasons and was produced by Hot Snakes Media.
Suddenly Amish
Suddenly Amish is a newer series that premiered on January 13, 2026. This show features a “reverse Rumspringa” concept, where six non-Amish outsiders leave their modern lifestyles to join a traditional Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The series addresses an existential crisis in the community, such as dwindling populations and genetic concerns, as Bishop Vernon offers outsiders the chance to integrate.
Related Series
Return to Amish: A companion series focusing on former Amish individuals finding love and navigating life outside the community.
Amish Love Stories: A program within the TLC lineup featuring former Amish participants.
How about their brutal puppy mills?
“reverse Rumspringa”
That’s interesting. I would expect some non-Amish would find that attractive for a couple of months.
They’d be way way behind on skills though. How many regular people can handle an ex- race horse pulling a buggy?
CBS would love to see the end of the Amish.
Like saying 'like' all the time....
"I was like, I have to time this so they're sleeping, like, really deeply when I leave, 'cause the stairs creaked a little, and I had to, like, figure out which stairs creaked," she said.
"Like, I knew people worked on their computers. But I didn't know what a laptop was," she said. "And then I bought a laptop, like, a couple years after I left the Amish. Apparently it's a laptop computer. And now I just call it a computer … Why is it called a computer? That's a weird word. Computer. I don't know why, sometimes I say words and I'm like, 'Why is it called that?'" she laughed.
The Amish are people the MSM simply cannot abide.
From what I have read about 90% of those who go through Rumspringa decide to stay Amish.
Yes, I’ve read that. It may be higher than years past. Modern culture is a lot uglier than it was years ago.
“I’m so tired of people telling me what to do. “
LOL... That is very typical teenager. She left the Amish about age 17.
The problem with women’s rights is that they fight for the right to make the same mistakes men have made for centuries!
I am very familiar with the horse & buggy Amish, working with them as clients on a daily basis. Our office does the tax returns for about a thousand of them.
As a group, they have the diversity just like the general population they call the “English.” English to them is anyone that is not Amish. They have their share of thieves, child molesters, wife beaters, and those that commit fraud on others. In general, they are very good folks.
I have helped several young Amish leave the group. The worst part is that they are very vulnerable to be taken advantage of by the public. People cheat them as they know that they will not go to court or sue. I’ve had them sell me their accounts receivable from people who cheated them so I could go to court to collect the money.
Is it a cult? Absolutely. But so is the general population with all their special interest groups. Most legalistic fundamentalists are, no matter their religion. Hate to say it, but political parties also act as cults, forcing adherence to their doctrine and shunning anyone who strays.
Identity groups can be beneficial or detrimental. The greatest strength I see in the Amish is their strong sense of community. They go out of their way to help neighbors in need, often to their own detriment, even when the people they help are not Amish. If my barn or house burnt down, their would be hundreds of them arriving to help in any way they can.
The most humorous part of helping Amish who leave the church is teaching them to drive, especially the women. They think the car should only go as fast as the horse & buggy did. It takes them a while to drive at a normal speed.
Had an Amish client ho needed some extra money to pay his bills. So He decided to follow his family tradition and began training buggy horses as a side business.
He had one really stubborn horse that would lay down every time he hooked it to a buggy. This can be very dangerous as a horse laying down can flip the buggy and injure the passengers.
After trying everything he knew to get the horse to stand up with no success, he remembered an old trick his grandfather used that worked every time. He rolled up an old newspaper, stuck it under the horses back end, and lit it on fire.
The horse jumped up quickly, and the fire never touched the horse. It just scared it.
Problem was, the neighbor across the street was not Amish, she was a liberal animal rights activist and had filmed his lighting the newspaper. Then she shared the video with the SPCA and PITA. Thus, the nightmare began.
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