Religion
Related: About this forumAmish beard-cutting: Shears cut symbol of manhood, expert says
By Rene Lynch
August 29, 2012, 1:28 p.m.
To an outsider, an Amish man's chest-length beard or an Amish woman's long locks might not appear all that remarkable. But they hold great religious significance to the Amish: They are symbols of one's devotion to God and to the Amish community.
That's why the head of an Amish splinter group and his followers are facing federal hate-crime charges in an unusual case playing out in Cleveland, Ohio.
Prosecutors have charged Sam Mullet Sr. with leading a band of 16 followers on a series of violent attacks targeting religious rivals: Defendants allegedly slashed off men's beards and hacked off at least one woman's hair. The assaults left victims shaken and in some cases, bloodied and battered.
Steve Nolt, a history professor at Goshen College in Indiana, and author of several books on Amish culture and history, told the Los Angeles Times that such forcible hair cutting is far more than a prank.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-amish-beard-cutting-20120829,0,2414485.story
Drale
(7,932 posts)I hope they are charged with more than a hate crime, like assault.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)So you have to be charged with something, then it is determined whether to additionally charge it as a hate crime.
Rug probably knows more about this than I, though.
rug
(82,333 posts)They took it out of state court.