Do the Amish Drink Alcohol? - Amish Heritage (2024)

Do Amish People Drink Alcohol?

Today I am addressing the question, "Do the Amish drink alcohol?"

Since the Amish try to abstain from the things of the world, it would make sense that they would not be allowed to drink alcohol. So you might be thinking that the answer to this question would be "No, they don't drink alcohol."

But, I am here to give you the facts and answer the questions. I started my blog to give facts because I know that a lot of people have questions about the Amish people.

I grew up Amish and left the Amish, but I try to remain unbiased with the information that I share.

So, "Do the Amish people drink?" As with a lot of questions regarding the Amish, there is not one cut-and-dry answer. The truth is that some Amish people do drink alcohol and some don't.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, there are lots of differences among Amish groups.

Old Order Amish and Alcohol During Rumspringa

I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the term "Rumspringa". Beginning at the age of sixteen, there is a period of time when many of the Old Order Amish teenagers (who are not members of the church yet) are permitted to "sow their wild oats".

They are allowed (although not encouraged) to experience life outside of their strict Amish rules before they decide to settle down and join the church.

Many of the young men get a driver's license and buy a car. They can wear store-bought clothing, etc.

Most of them still live at home during this time, but there's lots of drinking, partying with their friends, and dating.

So many of the Amish young people drink a lot of alcohol during this time. And sometimes it creates problems.

But sooner or later they get tired of this lifestyle and give up their worldly freedoms. They have to be a member of the church if they want to get married as Amish. So most of them decide to settle down, join the church, and get married.

Do the Amish Youth Give up the Alcohol When They Join the Church?

Some of the Amish young people make a huge change when they decide to join the church, and they quit drinking alcohol, sell their cars, etc. They give it all up and become upstanding members of the church.

Others have a harder time giving it all up. And, even though drinking alcohol is discouraged in most Amish churches, many of them don't have a hard set rule against it.

Although, you won't typically see an Old Order Amish member of the church in a bar or drinking a can of beer. It's highly discouraged in most groups. So if they do drink (the majority of them don't), it's usually behind their closed doors.

Schwartzentruber Amish and Alcohol

I grew up in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster County, PA. The only Amish in that area were Old Order or New Order, and I never (in my 25 years of living there) saw a married Amish person leave a store with cases of beer.

But I live in Missouri now, and we are surrounded by Swartzentruber Amish. And obviously, they have no rules against drinking alcohol. Because it's very common to see Amish men leave the grocery store with several cases of beer in their cart. I was pretty shocked the first time I saw this because I didn't know that any Amish church members would openly drink alcohol.

The Swartzentruber Amish are stricter on many things, such as having no indoor plumbing, no motors, etc. But sadly, it seems that the stricter the Amish are, the more darkness is in their community.

Do the New Order Amish Drink Alcohol?

Drinking alcohol is forbidden in the New Order Amish churches.

One of the reasons that the New Order split off from the Old Order church was because they didn't want their young people to go through "Rumspringa". They didn't want anything to do with alcohol or tobacco, and both of these are strictly forbidden in the New Order Amish groups.

And the same is true for the Beachy Amish/conservative Mennonites as well. They also have rules against alcohol and tobacco use.

In Conclusion, "Are the Amish Allowed to Drink Alcohol?"

I think many of us could agree that the world would be a better place without alcohol and drunkenness.

And because of their strict rules and trying to follow the Bible, it is surprising that any Amish churches allow alcohol consumption and tobacco use. But it's another one of their inconsistencies. The church leaders make the rules. And if the bishop likes to drink alcohol, he probably won't make a rule against it.

So in answer to the question concerning alcohol, "Yes, some of the Amish drink alcohol."

"Are the Amish allowed to drink alcohol?" Some of them are not allowed to. Others are strongly discouraged from drinking alcohol. But a few groups seem to have no problem with it.

So it all depends on the Amish community or even the individual. Some of your Amish neighbors might have a problem with alcohol, and others would be abhorred by the idea of drinking.

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