First Liberty: Minnesota County Has ‘Essentially Criminalized Being Amish’

The Amish community in Minnesota is pushing back amid claims of unfair government policies that purportedly fail to offer religious accommodations — and even reportedly led to one Amish man's arrest. First Liberty attorney Ryan Gardner said his firm is representing two Amish congregations in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, arguing that the county itself has "essentially criminalized being Amish." "As you might know, the Amish community lived by a pretty strict set of religious principles, and many of those involve not being involved in technology," Gardner said. "And kind of keeping to themselves ... they want to be able to live according to their religious beliefs, and a lot of what those beliefs require, frankly ... to be set apart from modern society." According to First Liberty, problems began for these congregations during COVID-19 when county officials reportedly implemented a new system for their permitting system for building new structures and homes."It went from a paper form to an electronic form," Gardner said. "As you might imagine, the Amish don't really use electronic forms or the internet, so this was a significant problem, and they had no alternative for a long time." With no other option for simply getting clearance to build homes, he said "a lot of the people in these congregations just proceeded to build anyways because they didn't have a choice." Gardner said Mille Lacs County did eventually change the policy to make a paper option available, but added that there's an extra $50 fee for requesting permitting on paper. "Pretty much the only people who are actually using that are the Amish, and so now they're having to pay a special fee just to even start the permitting process," the lawyer said. "And once they get in there's more problems because they're trying to impose all kinds of modern requirements that are just inconsistent with the Amish way of life."Give to CBN: https://go.cbn.com/un2xCWant more news from a Christian Perspective? Choose to support CBN: https://go.cbn.com/ugWBnCBN News. Because Truth Matters™Download the free CBN News App: http://cbnnews.com/appSUBSCRIBE to the CBN News Channel for more: http://youtube.com/c/CBNnewsonline/?sub_confirmation=1SUBSCRIBE to the QuickStart Newsletter by visiting quickstart.newsSUBSCRIBE to the Quickstart Podcast. New episodes every morning at 7am: cbn.com/cbnnews/quickstartWhat's coming up next? Have a look at our program guide: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2Fcbnnews%2Fnewschann&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_descriptionCBN features 24-hour TV news from a Christian perspective. The CBN News Channel provides independent news programming to an underserved audience to enlighten, entertain and inspire Christians around the world. Comments below do not necessarily reflect the views of CBN.Share this live feed with your friends and family:https://www.youtube.com/c/CBNnewsonlineLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbnnews/Like us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBNNewsFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbnnews/Contact News Editors: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2Fcontact%2Fcontact-&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_descriptionQuestions about other CBN programs: Visit WatchCBNNews.com or call (888) 700-7000.Questions about supporting CBN News? Visit JoinCBNNews.com or call (888) 700-7000 for more information.Questions about Helping the Home Front? Call: 800-700-7000 https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2F700club%2Fhelping-&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description#breakingnews #politicalnews #christiannews #christian #christianity #church #breakingnews #cbnnews