I need some answers.
What I don't understand is if one believes there is a good reason for the Sabbath restrictions, why does one dream up ways to follow the technicality of the law but not the spirit? Having a machine do the prohibited acts for a person seems like cheating.
It is like building a machine that wishes your wife happy birthday and happy anniversay, sends her cards and flowers. Technically, we are showing her we love her, but is she really impressed? It also reminds me of people I have seen at cemetaries who take flowers from someone else's grave to put on the grave of a loved one. If the loved one is watching from the hereafter, do they think, "Oh, he really must love me!"
Is God happy that people are clever and have figured out ways around the prohibitions or does He say, "Dang, tricky little devils! I never thought they would come up with that idea! I should have worded it a bit tighter."
Is the spirit of the law the important thing or is it just the law? I would think if it were the former, none of these crazy gadgets would exist. If it is the latter, why even bother following the law if it has no "spirit" behind it?
Could I make a machine that would pull the trigger of a gun and have it kill someone I don't like and get away with it? Would God say, "Alright! Good one! You aren't guilty. The machine killed the guy!"
Someone please explain.
From what I know about Amish in NE Ohio, they can use machinery that is not fixed in place. A mobile sawmill is OK, but you can't bolt it down. You can't have a phone, but you can have a neighbor make your calls for you. (Tricky!) I think they can use some machinery to help pay off the mortgage, but once the bills are gone, so is the machinery.
I also think these are decided by the local bishops and probably vary from place to place. But again, if you are shunning a lifestyle, it seems like cheating to still take advantage of certain of its benefits. They can't own a car, but I can drive them to work. They can't own a car, but they can get a job driving a car or a truck or a taxi for a non-Amish company. Some of those taxis are used to pick up Amish people and take them to work. What a wonderfully convoluted way to beat the law! They can get a job working in a factory using all kinds of electrical machinery to make a living. Hmmm. Sounds like cheating again.
Again, what is the purpose of obeying the law? To show obedience or respect to God by following the spirit of the law or is it just to fulfill the law because it is a law? If I were God, (I can't put words into His mouth) I might have a warmer feeling toward those who are not trying to be tricky.
But I imagine God doesn't work that way. Wouldn't it be funny if, when we die, He says, "You dummy! You actually think I wanted you to do those stupid things and follow those stupid laws? I was hoping you would use your brains and figure out some loopholes to get around them! What a moron! I am going to reincarnate you as a platypus. Get thee hence!"
I don't know about that... I have a specific example with the manna above.
But as a broad answer, God rested on the 7th day, but all the machinery that He set in motion on the first 6 days -- stars, planets, oceans, weather, plants, animals, and man, continued to operate.
Therefore, I don't think it breaks the spirit of the law to set up machinery on days 1-6 that will continue to work into the Sabbath. After all that's what God did -- and if He hadn't, the universe would have ended on the 7th day.