The Amish and the State

Front Cover
Donald B. Kraybill
JHU Press, 2003 - Law - 351 pages

In this new edition of The Amish and the State Donald Kraybill brings together legal scholars and social scientists to explore the unique series of conflicts between a traditional religious minority and the modern state. In the process, the authors trace the preservation—and the erosion—of religious liberty in American life. Kraybill begins with an overview of the Amish in North America and describes the "negotiation model" used throughout the book to interpret a variety of legal conflicts. Subsequent chapters deal with specific aspects of religious freedom over which the Amish and the state have clashed. Focusing on the period from 1925 to 2001 in the United States, the authors examine conflicts over military service and conscription, Social Security and taxes, education, health care, land use and zoning, regulation of slow-moving vehicles, and other first amendment issues. New concluding chapters, by constitutional expert William Ball, who defended the Amish before the Supreme Court in 1972 in the landmark Wisconsin v. Yoder case, and law professor Garret Epps, assess the Amish contribution to preserving religious liberty in the United States.

 

Contents

The Amish View of the State
23
Military Service and Conscription
43
The National Amish Steering Committee
67
Education and Schooling
87
The National Committee
109
Social Security and Taxes
125
Slowmoving Vehicles
145
Health Care
163
The Role of Outsiders
213
Encounters with the State 19902002
235
First Amendment Issues
253
The Amish and the American Oyster
267
Notes
289
References
317
Contributors
341
Copyright

Land Use
191

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About the author (2003)

Donald B. Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. Widely recognized for his work on Anabaptist groups, he has authored and edited many books, including The Riddle of Amish Culture and The Amish and the State, both available from Johns Hopkins.