Amish Beard-Cutting Attacks: 16 Face Trial In Ohio

[rug]

By JOHN SEEWER
08/26/12 11:50 AM ET
AP

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A breakaway Amish group accused of settling a score by carrying out hair-cutting attacks against members of their faith moved into the hills of eastern Ohio two decades ago following a dispute over religious differences.

How their community came about is quite common and on the rise among the Amish. Disagreements over church discipline and how to maintain their simple way of life amid the encroaching outside world have created dozens of splinter groups.

But there was something troubling about this one and its leader, according to authorities. They say Samuel Mullet Sr. allowed beatings of those who disobeyed him, had sex with married women to "cleanse them," and then, last fall, instructed his followers to cut the beards and hair of his critics, an act considered deeply offensive in Amish culture.

Mullet and 15 other Amish men and women are to go on trial Monday in Cleveland on charges of hate crimes in the hair-cutting attacks. Other charges include conspiracy, evidence tampering and obstruction of justice in what prosecutors say were crimes motivated by religious differences. They could face lengthy prison terms if convicted.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/amish-beard-cutting-attacks-16-face-trial-ohio_n_1831404.html

I have nothing to add other than to note the ringleader's name is Mullet.

[cbayer]

1. Had sex with married women to cleanse them?

That's a new one on me.

[rug]

2. Sounds like he's picking up where Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh left off.

[MineralMan]

3. Oh, all the cult leaders do that, you know.

It's one of the benefits of being a cult leader. Some other church leaders tend to have the same foible. Comes with the territory, I suppose, and many apparently can't resist the temptation and violate a commandment or two. But, no worry. They can pray the issue away and be forgiven, apparently. I believe it's called "The Devil in Miss Jones" Syndrome, or something like that.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Don't give Warren Jeffs any ideas . . . . .

[rfranklin]

4. Mitt Romney would endorse the practice of forcible raze...

After all, he's done it himself.

Definition of RAZE

archaic: erase

b: to scrape, cut, or shave off

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raze

[Silent3]

6. When you say "16 face trial"...

...is that 16 people going in front of a judge, or a trial concerning 16 faces getting their beards cut off?

[dimbear]

7. The current economic situation is, tho it seems odd, running against the Amish.

The prices of decent farmland fairly far north have gone thru the roof, and the rising generation of the Amish young face a future without land. It's almost as if the Amish people hadn't planned ahead.

I know that their economic situation has some advantages, namely a system that amounts practically to child slavery and of course small energy expenditures. An important question for the Amish is the price of kerosene. All included tho, the balance sheet right now just doesn't work out.

[ArthurWill]

8. Spam deleted by Paulie (MIR Team)