Amish sect wins reflector dispute

The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat ^ | October 22, 2003 | SANDRA K. REABUCK

[Catspaw]

And I think they've won lawsuits for the right to use outhouses.

[Between the Lines]

Are the Amish people politically active?

Do a web search on Amish politics... nothing.

[Willie Green]

The tape has microscopic retroreflective crystals embedded in it. It looks gray in diffuse lighting. Shine a bright white light on it (like an automobile headlamp) and it is as bright as any mirror, though does not form an image.

Sounds like one of Liberace's sequinned suits.
I can't picture them going for that, day-glo orange is simpler, IMHO.

[Petronski]

This tape, made by Scotch, is bright white when struck by headlights at nighttime:

3M Scotchlite 2" Reflective Striping

Two-inch width of striping helps to fully customize your professional vehicle. Striping comes in easy-to-handle 2" x 150' rolls. Rolls are ideal for fleets with multiple vehicle styles.

It's used on law enforcement vehicles and ambulances, and the effect is uncanny. Black in indirect light, brilliant white in direct headlight beams.

[Twinkie]

They don't vote. They do advocate obeying the laws of
man when they do not violate the laws of God. However,
this orange triangle issue seems very strange. God
created the color orange. God created the triangle. The
orange triangle isn't being used as a "decoration" as much
as their "hex" signs on barns. Though I agree with the
Amish on many things, this is one area where it appears
to me that they are straining at a gnat and swallowing a
camel.

[AdamSelene235]

And I think they've won lawsuits for the right to use outhouses.

Wunderbar. My entire neighborhood is full of those!

[ArrogantBustard]

Sounds like one of Liberace's sequinned suits.

No. Microscopic retroreflectors. You see this stuff on firemen's coats, road crew vests, highway signs, spots on running shoes, etc. It comes in various colours: day-glo orange, red, green, yellow, neutral gray. Under diffuse lighting it usually has a matte finish appearance. Direct, point source lighting is always reflected back at the source. You can make a macroscopic version of the crystals with three mirrors; it's called a "corner cube". Shine a flashlight into it from any direction and the light comes right back at you. Search "alltheweb.com" for "retroreflector" or "corner-cube" ... you'll get the basic physics.

[Graybeard58]

...Thanks to all for the replies. One more thing comes to mind.
...Several years ago I remember reading about the Amish, I think in Pennsylvania, went to Federal court over the issue of Social Security. Their stand was that since they refused benefits from the system that they should be exempt from paying in. Did they ever get anywhere with this?

[gridlock]

I gotta go with the Amish on this one.

Apparently modesty and an avoidance of garish displays is very important to them, so much so that they are willing to put their lives on the line to avoid them. The red triangle on the back of a black buggy is garish, no doubt about it.

Since the people overwhelmingly most likely to be killed or injured in a car/buggy accident are the occupants of the buggy, why can't they decide how best to protect themselves, within the limits of their religious beliefs?

Or is this one of those "Gummint Knows Best" things?

[Grit]

The Amish and Taxes.

[gridlock]

Did they ever get anywhere with this? (opting out of Social Security)

If they did, I gotta start working on my Rector to get us signed up. Lets face it, if you took the money you now dump into Social Security and instead put it into a collective run by your Church, you could have better benefits, more security, and enough money left over to run the whole operation and buy the Rector a Cadillac every year!

[f.Christian]

This is going to prove evolution right because the smarts ones will use eelektricity and the less fittest will freeze to death !

[Willie Green]

Kool! Learn something new every day!
I'm gonna have to pick up a roll of the stuff and monkey around with it.
Maybe I can figure out a way to use it to decorate the house for Halloween.

[dirtboy]

Apparently modesty and an avoidance of garish displays is very important to them, so much so that they are willing to put their lives on the line to avoid them. The red triangle on the back of a black buggy is garish, no doubt about it. Since the people overwhelmingly most likely to be killed or injured in a car/buggy accident are the occupants of the buggy, why can't they decide how best to protect themselves, within the limits of their religious beliefs?

I drive through Amish country every day. Now that it's gonna be dark on the drive home again, I hope I don't run across any of these guys. Because they are not just endangering themselves, they endanger drivers - the buggies are hard enough to see at night, and the instinct upon suddenly encountering a hard-to-see buggy at night is to try to swerve to avoid them - right into oncoming traffic, as the roads are old and often sunken down below ground level.

As far as I'm concerned, the more reflective surfaces, the better, and most buggies are heavily festooned with reflectors of red and orange, along with flashing lights. I can marginally agree that the SMV triangle is not all that important - but they also wish to use gray tape instead of orange tape which is much more visible.

[f.Christian]

---

To: governsleastgovernsbest

As I've written elsewhere, my policy (which I've never had to apply) is simply to note in the letter that the student has creationist beliefs, since this is likely to be relevant to certain medical fields, and let the Med. School make its own decision. But the faculty member is well within his rights. Creationists want to enjoy the fruits of modern biology while denying its foundations. Modern medicine is become increasingly genome-based. The genome makes no sense except in the context of evolution.

Is it religious discrimination to deny an Amish a job as a truckdriver because he won't drive a vehicle fueled by an interal combustion engine?


53 posted on 01/30/2003 8:13 AM PST by Right Wing Professor

[dirtboy]

The Amish have no problem with diesel trucks hauling off their milk production every day, or having trucks cart off sheds and gazebos they have built.

[f.Christian]

They became wealthy because years ago they wouldn't refrigerate their milk on their own properties so now they are going to control the cheese making - markets !

[Grit]

"Tucked into the 138 page bill was a clause exempting the Old Order Amish, and any other religious sect who conscientiously objected to insurance, from paying Social Security payments, providing that sect had been in existence since December 31, 1950.

After Senate approval in July, the signing of the bill by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 13, 1965, made it official and canceled tax accounts of some 15,000 Amish people amounting to nearly $250,000."

[george wythe]

This is a slow-moving vehicle sign and should be mounted on all farm machinery, including road construction equipment and animal-drawn vehicles. The sign should signal motor vehicle drivers to slow down. Vehicles displaying the slow-moving vehicle sign are prohibited by law to go faster than 25 mph

[dirtboy]

"Tucked into the 138 page bill was a clause exempting the Old Order Amish, and any other religious sect who conscientiously objected to insurance, from paying Social Security payments, providing that sect had been in existence since December 31, 1950.

Dang, I'm gonna grow a beard and get a straw hat. Just pretend that my SUV is a buggy.