James Bernard Shoemacher, Æ' ±JBÆ', has been a friend and business associate of mine for about three years. He was born and raised in an Amish community in New Harmony, Indiana. JB spent twenty three years inside the community until he was married, then he left to join his brother who lived closer to town than the community was. Together they make up the New Harmony carriage MFR., this is how I came into contact with him. I first met JB and his brother Jed in a draft horse auction in Waverley In., he was there with several of their hand crafted carriages. I got to talking with him and soon thereafter started a business relationship with him that has lasted already five years. Over the time that IÆ' ve know JB I took in a lot of knowledge about his culture and heritage, thus making him a prime suspect for my interview. That, and IÆ' ve always been intrigued by the Amish people. After talking with JB for a while I started to understand his English dialect as if it were the country bumpkin slang I have grown to love. .
Premeditating the oncoming interview I developed a series of twelve questions that I hoped would help me better understand the Amish people and there never changing way of life. I wanted to be able to sympathize with the man in the horse-drawn buggie on the side of the road and be able to see the world from their perspective. As we sat in one of the finished carriages in JBÆ' s barn I began my quest for enlightenment. First I asked, what are the main differences between the Amish and American cultures? He stated that the Amish teach separatism and that they are not allowed to go to war, take oaths, or hold any public offices. They are not allowed to use any kind of electrical element inside the home, E.G. telephones, computers, and televisions. Amish people focus a lot on togetherness, the whole community will be involved in what has been made popular by Hollywood as a Æ' ±Barn Raising.