this is.....bizarre
[q]Beards and hair shorn in Amish-on-Amish attacks
Police in the US state of Ohio are investigating a rare violent feud in the Amish community, in which members have had beards and hair cut off.
Spiritual differences were said to be behind the attacks on more than half a dozen men and women, said police.
The investigation is being hampered by Amish reluctance to seek police help.
The tiny American Christian group, who call themselves the Plain People, generally shun modern conveniences such as electricity, televisions and cars.
Amish people rejected by the mainstream community are suspected of having carried out the attacks.'Extremely rare'
Over the past three weeks, at least six men and women have been assaulted in four different counties, losing their beards or, in the case of the women, clumps of their hair.
The victims have included a 13-year-old girl and a 74-year-old man.
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says one man was dragged from his home by the beard before his attackers tried to cut it off.
In religiously conservative Amish communities, women do not cut their hair and men grow beards only after they marry.
The attacks appear to target cherished symbols of Amish identity, our correspondent says.
He says that what makes them so baffling is that the attacks have been carried out by fellow Amish, apparently members of a particular clan from the town of Bergholz in rural eastern Ohio.
A 57-year-old woman in Trumbull County told police her sons and a son-in-law had cut her hair and her husband's beard last month. She claimed the estranged family members were involved in a cult.
The feud is thought to involve 18 Amish families, most of whom are said to be related.
Sheriff Fred Abdalla said some of the suspects had previously come to the attention of police after a threat against him, and a conviction of sexual contact with a minor.
He added that no charges had been brought and the investigation was moving slowly because of Amish reluctance to seek police help.
"You see this crime being committed, and I'm sitting here with my hands tied," the sheriff said. "I can't do a thing."
Attacks have taken place in Carroll, Holmes, Jefferson and Trumbull counties, regions heavily populated by Amish.
Professor Donald Kraybill, an Amish expert at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, told the Associated Press news agency that Amish-on-Amish violence was "extremely rare."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15219225
― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Sunday, 9 October 2011 01:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
update - there's been 4 arrests http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15231033
― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Sunday, 9 October 2011 03:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
who knew that the amish feuds would become this decade's equivalent of the east coast/west coast gangsta rap wars.
― Like Iraq (latebloomer), Sunday, 9 October 2011 04:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
weird al is a prophet
― Like Iraq (latebloomer), Sunday, 9 October 2011 04:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
haha i forgot about that video
― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Sunday, 9 October 2011 19:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ezekial plows FOOL!
― triple black belt in ILX-fu (snoball), Sunday, 9 October 2011 19:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
I've never known the Amish in Ohio to be violent or aggressive, but I guess these are troubled times, even for them.
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Sunday, 9 October 2011 19:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
There were a whole bunch of Amish at the Cleveland Zoo yesterday while my wife and I were there. Luckily no drive by pitchforkings or anything.
― You people are supposed to be some kind of music culture intelligentsi (Phil D.), Sunday, 9 October 2011 21:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
did any bells ring?
― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Monday, 10 October 2011 13:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
i talked to my mom (in ohio) and she thought this was going on in pennsylvaniawhy was this big enough news to reach the UK?
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 28 October 2011 18:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
There are Amish in Ohio too? UGH! That is where we might be headed next.
― *tera, Friday, 28 October 2011 21:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
Oh yeah, plenty of them. (But they are mostly confined to certain areas, not forcibly)
Ohio Amish Country is a 3-5 county area of Ohio where approximately 40,000 Amish people live and work. It consists of Holmes County, where nearly half the county's residents are Amish, plus Tuscarawas Coshocton, and Wayne Counties. (There are Amish families living in neighboring Ashland and Knox counties and a settlement near Middlefield.)Ohio Amish Country is located in the rolling hills of east-central Ohio. Easy to get to with Interstates 77 to the east, 71 to the west, and 70 to the south. Remember, you are coming here to relax, so you don't need an Interstate highway!!
Ohio Amish Country is located in the rolling hills of east-central Ohio. Easy to get to with Interstates 77 to the east, 71 to the west, and 70 to the south. Remember, you are coming here to relax, so you don't need an Interstate highway!!
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 28 October 2011 21:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
I just saw something about this on lol CNN and apparently these are the folks behind the attacks (allegedly) -- some kind of breakaway group?
their noses are freeeeeaking me out
― Yasmine Teeth (La Lechera), Thursday, 3 November 2011 00:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Their haircuts are freaking me out.
― They're coming to get you, (Jenny), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
there are 'bowlcuts' & then there are instances in which someone literally cut around a bowl which was placed atop someone's head.
― now they know how many holes it takes to fill buffandmaxsmom (Pillbox), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
i can't believe how calm they're being as that camera steals their souls.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
I would be so happy to be bald if my alternative was one of those haircuts.
― They're coming to get you, (Jenny), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
I made a barber give me the black version of that haircut when I was in 10th grade
― he carried yellow flowers (DJP), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
speaking as a bald, i agree.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
I looked like a hip-hop mushroom. I need to find my sophomore yearbook and scan it.
― he carried yellow flowers (DJP), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
Having that haircut aged 3/4 in the Midwest was a right of passage for everyone I knew.
― owenf, Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
I looked like a hip-hop mushroom.
dying
― They're coming to get you, (Jenny), Thursday, 3 November 2011 01:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Hardy Rock Anthem (crüt), Thursday, 3 November 2011 09:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Conclusion of this trial has led to possibly the greatest headline in the history of major daily newspapers, if you break it in the right place.
― a shark with a rippling six pack (Phil D.), Friday, 21 September 2012 13:20 (7 months ago) Permalink