Technology has found a place in some Amish communities in recent years, but still with restrictions. Some Amish people use phones and the internet for work, for example, but still ban the use of that same technology at home.
Although some Amish communities have started allowing some modern technology (outside of the home), several men are being shunned by the Amish church after their secret phones went off during the Nationwide Emergency Alert Test on October 4, according to a video shared on TikTok.
In the video, Eli Yoder, a former member of the Amish community, explained that several Amish people he knows have expressed interest in having a phone in recent years. Eli said that he tries to do what he can to get phones for people if they request them, but it's not always possible. On the day the Nationwide Emergency Alert test went off, Eli received notification that the emergency alert had gotten three of his Amish friends into some trouble within their community.
Eli said that his Amish friends said, "Hey, I’m gonna have to lay low for a while, I just got shunned." He went on to say that when he asked them what happened, they explained that the emergency alert that went off made their secret phones very apparent — even though they were on vibrate at the time.
“The one guy said the elders were coming in his driveway and they were there to speak with him about something that they heard about him, that he might have to get shunned, you know they gotta check up on it to see if it’s true," Eli explained, saying that it was at that moment that the man's phone went off, which means he now has two reasons for being shunned.
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“From now on I guess I have to remember to give all my Amish buddies a heads up if there is a planned emergency test lol," Eli wrote in a comment on the video.
Though he did not specify what shunning within the Amish community entails, Erik Wesner wrote on amishamerica.com that shunning involves social exclusion and being kept at a distance by other members of the Amish community.
