Friday, December 30, 2011

Related?

I read somewhere that most Amish are related and have to marry cousins and second cousins. Are you and LV related?

No, LV and I are not related. As far back as I have been able to trace there are no connections. My parents and grandparents weren't related to each other either. LV's parents and grandparents can say the same about their marriages.

There are communities where there is a lot of intermarriage where there are hardly any options other than marrying your second cousin unless they are willing to marry someone from another community. So far I am not aware of any Amish community where it is acceptable to marry a cousin.

7 comments:

  1. A number of states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, don't allow first cousins to marry, so I guess a first-cousin couple there would have to relocate to tie the knot. Not that that would be impossible - but getting married wouldn't be just a matter of having the approval of the local Amish community.

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  2. Geez, where do people hear these things ? I have never heard any negative comments about the Amish other than they don't pay taxes.
    I apologize for other peoples ignorance !

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  3. The Amish pay taxes. Apparently, some are exempted from the Social Security (and Medicare?) tax, but I've never heard of any other exemption.

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  4. Ben, the Amish do pay taxes. Clisby is correct that some are exempted from Social Security but only if they sign a form stating they will never collect from it or any other form of insurance.

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  5. Thank You,another urban legend destroyed ! I hear they are exempt from Military service as well,is that true ?

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  6. Shoot, if you could get out of paying all taxes by being Amish, there wouldn't be any shortage of Amish people to marry.

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  7. I wonder where people get some of these ideas from...

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.