Making Sense of the Amish Beard Cutting Trial

I’m not sure I know what to think of the trial of Sam Mullet Sr. and 15 other Amish defendants that started today in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio.  I’m not sure I even know how to think about it.  The most troubling aspect of the matter is that these people are charged with hate crimes, because, the prosecutors reason, the defendants were motivated by religious differences.  But the incidents involved Amish people hurting other Amish people, and the defense will argue that government authorities have no business interfering with internal church discipline.  The verdict may well hinge on whether or not the jurors find that Mullet’s sect is a break-away cult, not truly Amish at all.  Do you see the tangled complication this produces?  I don’t envy the jurors their task.

The best reporting on this trial comes from John Seewer at Associated Press (Link: Jurors Seated in Ohio Amish Beard-Cutting Attacks), who has managed to report the facts as straightforwardly and clearly as anyone.  I encourage you to follow his coverage of the trial if you are interested. 

As for me, I have done quite a lot of thinking about the incidents and the trial, and one fact stands out for me.  Amish beard cutting is exceedingly rare.  It is more rare than shunning, and that is rare enough.  When or where have you heard of another beard cutting incident?  If you know of one, I’d be happy to have you post a comment here.  But even if we collect a few legitimate examples, I maintain that beard cutting still is vanishingly rare.  Most Amish people are not hurtful toward anyone.  Like the rest of us, they are just people, and they’re subject to anger and aggression from time to time.  But beard cutting?  That’s as rare as thirsty fish.  And to be charged with hate crimes in federal court?  The defendants must be bewildered and maybe even a little resentful.

So how can we think about this trial?  It is not at all straightforward.  It is not at all simple.  The best advice I have is to follow John Seewer’s reporting, and do your best to withhold judgment.  The easiest prediction to make is that this will have more twists and turns than a good mystery novel.