Although this week's nationwide emergency alert test resulted in LOL-inducing moments, it also left some people in extremely hot water.
According to ex-Amish TikToker Eli Yoder, “several Amish men” were shunned by the church after FEMA’s Oct. 4 test outed them as smartphone owners. While some Amish communities have slowly embraced technology over the years, they have generally prohibited its use within individual households. This means no phones, computers, or internet access for personal use, as they believe such technology could lead to assimilation and threaten their longstanding traditions.
“Several Amish men got shunned by the Amish Church for having smartphones in their pocket when the emergency alert system went off.” Yoder said in an October 4 TikTok.
Yoder said there have been “quite a few Amish men” who have reached out to him in an effort to secure a cell phone. Although he couldn’t fulfill every single request, he claimed to have procured the devices for some Amish members.
“Whenever they request to have a phone, I’ll do everything I can to try to get them a phone,” he continued. “Not always can I do so, but in some circumstances I have been able to get them a phone.”
Yoder said a handful of those men contacted him on Oct. 4, saying the U.S. alert test exposed the contraband.
“[They] said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna have to lay low for a while, I just got shunned,’” the TikToker recalled. “I said, ‘How’d that happen?’ They said, ‘Hey, that emergency alert that went off? Yeah, we had our phones on vibrate and it still went off.’”
He continued: “One guy said the elders were coming in his driveway and they were there to speak with him about something they heard about him, that he might have to get shunned. Right as that was going on, the alert went off and it was in his pocket. Now he’s getting shunned for both. Whatever they were after to shun him and also the cell phone.”
According to Exploring Amish Country, “shunning” is a punitive tactic that aims to reinforce the church’s rules. While a “shunned” member isn’t necessarily removed from the community, he/she are subjected to various social restrictions.
