Ok so I've decided to become Amish

[koz]

So now a debate becomes who else can fundamentally oppose this legislation.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...applies-amish/

Most Americans would have to prove they have insurance or face a fine under the health reform legislation that is now nearing the finish line in Congress, but at least one group won't have to worry, on religious grounds.

Democrats are planning to exempt the Amish and similar religious groups from the health insurance mandate in the final health care bill.

That's because when the Amish need medical care, they go to regular doctors and hospitals and pay in cash often with financial help from their church and neighbors. They rely on each other, not the government or insurance companies as a tenet of their faith.

"The Amish believe it's the fundamental responsibility of the church to care for the material needs of the members of the church," said Steven Nolt, a professor at Goshen College who has written books on the Plain community of Amish.

"And so they don't buy commercial health insurance and they don't participate in public assistance programs."

So while most Americans would be required to sign up with insurance companies or government insurance plans, the church would serve as something of an informal insurance plan for the Amish.

Law experts say that kind of exemption withstands scrutiny.

"Here the statue is going to say that people who are conscientiously opposed to paying for health insurance don't have to do it where the conscientious objection arises from religion," said Mark Tushnet a Harvard law professor. "And that's perfectly constitutional."

This would not be the first time the Amish received this type of special accommodation. Congress exempted this and other communities from Social Security and Medicare taxes since 1965 for the same religious reasons.

But if the Amish can opt out, then some civil libertarians say they want out, too -- not for religious reasons but because they don't think the underlying health insurance mandate is legal.

"If they can do it for religious objection, well, I have a different type of objection," said Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute said. "I think I'm being coerced into doing something against my will, and so the challenge would be from a different perspective."

With this exemption, the Dims admit that self reliance among your community is more successful than reliance of the government. Methinks they are too dumb to realize what they are saying.

[nmap]

No need to become Amish. Simply establish your own religion, along with a church to go with it.

Perhaps one of the sacrements could be regular target practice....

[testedone]

I was actually listening to a news program about this and they stated that the conscientious objector type ruling that has been used in the past is not based in religion but based on a strong conviction or religion, the analyst that were talking about this (yes Fox) stated that if the Amish are allowed based upon their convictions/religion does this open it up to everyone else who have strong convictions ...


A conscientious objector (CO) is an “individual [who has] claimed the right to refuse to perform military service"[1] on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.

So with that if "we" have strong convictions base don our conscience does that mean we can opt out...the outcome of this will indeed be interesting...

[Richard]

Christian Scientists could present a problem for the government.

And so it goes...

Richard's jaded $.02

[GratefulCitizen]

Looks like a foothold for sharia.

Get a few precedents...

defiance of federal benevolence. It is only a matter of time before the Amish are rounded up and interred for their own good. It will be a simple matter, as they have no vehicles, much less MBT's. Is Manzanar still available?