For several years the Amos Miller story has been simmering, at times boiling. In 2022, the story received national attention when Tucker Carlson interviewed Rebel News’ Jeremey Loffredo about the federal government’s crusade against Amos Miller and food freedom. That ordeal ended in late 2022 with Miller paying over $80,000 to the government and Miller being required to destroy some of his products.
Then things seemingly went quiet for time, but behind the scenes the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture was tirelessly working to build a case against Miller and bring him back to court. (Typical statism: A bunch of useless government employees who produce nothing using taxpayer money to go after a man who is the epitome of productivity and service to neighbor.)
Finally, on Jan. 4, 2024, the state’s agriculture department, with the help of state troopers, raided Miller’s farm in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, and detained hundreds of products in place, forbidding Miller from selling or moving them.
Less than three weeks later, on Jan. 23, the state of Pennsylvania filed a civil lawsuit against Miller and his wife, attempting to cripple him financially and prevent him from serving his neighbors with the food they desire.
There are no consumers listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. There is no customer bringing a charge against Miller for wrongdoing. It is simply the state of Pennsylvania claiming to be the “injured party.”
A judge then issued a temporary injunction forbidding Miller from selling any raw dairy products to his private buying club.
In a statement released on Jan. 31, Miller said “it breaks our hearts that the state of Pennsylvania is forcing us to turn so many of you away when you beg us for the food you depend on for your health.”
Indeed, I have personally spoken with people who depend upon Miller’s naturally raised food products for their health. One woman in California told me she could only find the products she needs by ordering from Miller. Others drive hours from out-of-state to acquire Miller’s products. With thousands of happy customers over decades of service, Miller’s Organic Farm products remain in high demand by Americans fed up with the additives and chemicals in the government-approved food. His customers desire to make their own food choices, free from the pestering manipulation of the Nanny State.
But that sort of freedom and self-government is anathema to our statist overlords. And so, in the name of “safety,” the same government that balks at executing abortionists who slaughter babies in the womb is going after an Amish farmer who sells food to members of his private buying club.
But not only does Miller have the state against him (both Democrats and Republicans – not one Pennsylvanian Republican legislator has publicly sided with Miller, and a supposedly freedom-loving state representative in the county actually publicly sided against Miller), but he also faces the challenge of an Amish community reluctant to stir the pot and stand firm against the encroaching statism.
To be fair, many English (the Amish term for those who are not Amish) are also prone to acquiesce to statism and tyranny. (We have an epidemic of statism in the land, and for a detox I recommend Luke Saint’s book, The Sound Doctrine of Theocracy.) But, in some ways, the Amish should be the ones leading the charge in something like this. Their heritage stands as a bold reminder of the power of civil disobedience.
For example, over 60 years ago Congress extended Social Security tax to the self-employed and to farmers. Many of the Amish stood firm, practiced godly civil disobedience, and refused to pay. The IRS doubled down and even confiscated the horses of one Amishman (while he was plowing!) who refused to pay. The civil defiance of the Amish led to Congress backing off and changing the law. But it wouldn’t have happened without civil disobedience. The Amish forced the IRS to enforce the tyrannical legislation, and it turned into a public relations nightmare for the government, and they backed down.
Another part of the Amish heritage is their refusal to send their children to godless government schools. In 1937, Aaron King of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, spend a night in jail for violating the state’s school attendance requirement. Later, in 1960, nine Amishmen in Pennsylvania went to jail for defying the statist law about compulsory education. Similar incidents in other states led the Supreme Court to rule in 1972 that Amish children are not required to attend school beyond eighth grade, a ruling that still stands. It is a ruling that should never have been required, as the civil government has no role in educating children, but it still demonstrates that the civil disobedience of the Amish was a powerful tool.
The prosperity of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is owing in large part to the Amish and other plain communities that have intentionally sought to be self-reliant, rather than sucking at the teat of the Nanny State. The English should learn from the Amish history of defiance to statism. But the tentacles of statism are far-reaching, and even the Amish appear to have come under the sway of the seductive tyrants in Harrisburg.
The Amish community is divided on Miller’s case. Why not simply submit to whatever the government says? Why not let the government control our lives? Well, first, such a thing would be utter subjugation, and the Bible tells us, “Do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Second, such a course of action is unbecoming of a people raised on the values of self-government, hard work, and good old fashion defiance of worldly influences. The Amish must embrace the best part of their heritage. And they must do so now, when their community needs it most.
Amos Miller stands as an example, perhaps the vanguard among the last of a dying breed – a man who will not ask the state for permission to obey God. A man who refuses to become the slave of statist tyrants. A man who risks his neck to serve his neighbor.
But without the support of the Amish community, Amos Miller will fall. He is, after all, only one man. But if the Amish rally around him and his cause, as they did around other causes in the past, the public support would be off-the-charts. If the Amish (and the English would join them) defied the state and ate the forbidden food on the steps of the capitol in Harrisburg, we would once again see a shining example of godly disobedience in the face of tyranny and subjugation. We would see an example of what the apostles of Christ called for when they said, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Such a display would set the example for the state employees and state troopers – men and women who are too cowardly to defy an evil edict calling on them to raid an Amish farmer’s store. If the Amish would stand in defiance against such evil, it would inspire the statist slaves who enforce evil mandates to discover their moral compass and stop doing the work of petty tyrants. If we want these state agents to stop harassing their neighbors, then we need to show them what courage looks like. We need to show them what it means to say “no” to evil. If not, the state will not stop with Amos Miller. They will not rest until they have control over every area of life, including those areas that the Amish fought so hard to protect decades ago. And that’s why the Amish need to lead the way, stand with Amos, practice civil disobedience, and set an example for the rest of us, as they have done so often in the past.
Chris Hume is the host of The Lancaster Patriot Podcast and the author of several books, including Seven Statist Sins. He can be reached at info@thelancasterpatriot.com.
“(Typical statism: A bunch of useless government employees who produce nothing using taxpayer money to go after a man who is the epitome of productivity and service to neighbor.)”
“. . . the same government that balks at executing abortionists who slaughter babies in the womb”
I appreciate the strong language, Chris. We need more of this type of prose rather than soft, toothless words which offend no one.
Isaiah 30:9-11