Dec. 12, 2011 issue
Ohio Amish consider renegade Bergholz Clan a cult
Accused of hate-crime assaults, clan an embarrassment to peaceful Amish
By Sheldon C. Good Mennonite Weekly ReviewThe three other men arrested Nov. 23 — Mullet’s son, Lester, 26; Levi Miller, 53; and Eli Miller, 32 — waived their detention hearings Dec. 2 and will remain jailed pending their federal court trial.
‘He’s not one of us’
Worldwide media attention has focused on the story of the Bergholz Clan and the eastern Ohio Amish ever since the beard- and hair-cutting attacks occurred in early fall. U.S newspapers have published hundreds of stories, and global news wire agencies have distributed dozens.
International newspapers covering the story include The Daily Mail (United Kingdom), The Daily Telegraph (U.K.), The Times of London (U.K.), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Die Welt (Germany), Le Monde (France), la Repubblica (Italy), El País (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald (Australia).
Media outlets originally portrayed the attacks as a seemingly random religious dispute among two Amish groups. Recent reports have noted the uniqueness of the Bergholz Clan.
Since September, sociologist Donald B. Kraybill of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College has been interviewed by the BBC, CNN, NPR, and dozens of newspapers.
Kraybill said he aims to set the record straight: Although Mullet presents himself as Amish, he is not.
“He is a renegade cult leader who masquerades as being Amish but by virtue of his behavior violates basic Amish teachings and beliefs,” Kraybill said. “He uses religion and the Amish good name to protect himself from law enforcement. For Amish people, this is embarrassing and shameful.”
An Amish man who grew up near Mullet and has known him for years, told Kraybill, “He’s not one of us. We don’t have anything to do with him.”
Comments
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It's a little too convenient for Pope Kraybill to come along and say that the followers of Sam Mullet are not Amish, but only "masquerading" as Amish, and I would guess it's also a losing p.r. strategy. If we're going to start talking about rogues who have masqueraded as Anabaptists, we'd have to go back a long way -- and some of the descendants of the early rogues are still with us, perhaps more discreet than Sam. (Jews have the same issue and their problem goes even further back.) Mennonites and Brethren with their lax church disciplines practices long ago forfeited the right to make nomenclature-pure judgments. And then we also have the occasionally disfavored but undeniably correct recognition that being Mennonite -- and moreso Amish -- is in part cultural. The men described in this article are "ethnically" Amish (one can recognize their names as "ours"), they look like Amish, they hold to many of the same customs as Amish (like not driving and shunning), and I would guess they probably self-identify as Amish. The fact that they also demonstrate beliefs and practices that are aberrant in the eyes of most Amish and Mennonites (including those of this writer) does not make them not Amish any more than it does the Amish who followed Mac Sharkey (see Patricia Hochstetler's books), or any more than the Bolivian colonists who preyed on women are "not Mennonites," and no certainly no less in need of reproof and discipline and God's correcting love. Why not just admit there are rogue splinter groups and individuals in the latter-day Anabaptist fold, just as there always have been?
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To Bruce Leichty:
Bruce, I'm not Amish or Mennonite, but I have spent a lot of time studying religion and psychology. I've taken 5 psychology courses in my years in school. I'm a Univ. of Akron grad.--majored in Computer Science.
Consider that Sam Mullet has rejected the things that make a person Amish. I have been told that Sam hasn't held church in a very long time. He calls himself "the Bishop." He and his "enforcers" have used violence to punish people trapped in his cult and to punish real Amish people outside the cult. Men in the cult have been beaten and forced into a chicken coop, even in the dead of winter. Women, married or not, have been forced to live in Sam's house and Sam has had sex with them "to purify them of the devil." Sam ordered his sons and other cult "enforcers" to go to four Ohio counties outside the cult and attack Amish people who had criticized his behavior and/or helped, or tried to help, people get out of his cult. AND, I'm just getting started!
Sam's daughter, Wilma, sued (actually it was Sam) Jefferson County officials, including the Sheriff, for $38 million and appealed the verdicts all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court! Would anyone who was a normal Amish person do that? Sam threatened to kill the Sheriff and his deputies!!! That's why the Sheriff came with his SWAT team to Sam's compound to carry-out a court order in 2007. Does that sound "Amish?" Yes, Sam Mullet was brought up in a typical Amish home in Geauga County, Ohio. But in 1995, he decided to set up a cult and then use the Amish clothes and other things (horse and buggy) that give the appearance of a normal Amish community.
So, in my opinion, Sam Mullet stopped being "Amish" in 1995. He's not operating a splinter Amish group. What he's been doing is not religious, but a typical cult with a male leader using and abusing the people under his control. He may call himself a "bishop", but it's just part of the cover.
Sam thought he could do whatever he wanted, including torturing people, beating people, having sex with whomever he pleased in his cult and punishing real Amish people who pointed out his outrageous behavior and tried to help people trapped in the cult to get out. He thought that he could use religion as a mile thick concrete wall between him and law enforcement. He thought he was invincible. So, I repeat, he stopped being Amish in 1995.
Today, he sits in a federal prison, charged with hate crimes, and with him are 6 of his "enforcers", who he sent out in September and October to attack people Sam didn't like. Sam and his men may still have beards, but the orange prison uniforms have replaced what became fake Amish clothes. Now they look like the criminals they are.
When the rest of the evidence comes out of what occurred in Sam Mullet's cult, you will be shocked and, I think, will agree this was no Amish community near Berholz, Ohio.
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Bob,
Thanks for the additional detail and perspective. I wouldn't want to judge someone unless I had heard his story direct from him, which would admittedly be difficult in this situation. You are a former intelligence officer as mentioned in the article. Your role here as a kind of driver-investigator strikes me as unusual, let's just say that. Everything you said may be accurate and balanced, but I am familiar with situations in which informants and prosecutors have distorted the facts for either express or obscure agendas. With all due respect, I would have no way of judging your veracity or motive unless I knew you.
But my real point was not about that, and not about you, but about something more subtle, and directed at an "in-house" problem that you might not fully appreciate because (like you say) you are not Amish or Mennonite. It is this idea advanced by our spokesperson leaders that "Amish" or "Mennonites" are beyond reproach and ergo, anyone deserving of reproach who self-identifies as Amish or Mennonite must not really be Amish or Mennonite. What are the limits to that logic? The issue is bigger than the extremes of Sam Mullet, "the Bishop" (normal Amish title) who may indeed be reacting (however wrongly) to what he perceives as error in other Amish groups. I doubt if you and I are very far apart in what we would agree is deserving of reproach, and certainly what you describe and what has been reported IS.
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Interesting point Bruce. And, Bob, good to hear directly from you on this website!
I think Bruce makes a fair point in saying that just because a person does something reproachable doesn't mean we can take strip them of their identity. There's a certain risk there of externalizing evil as something apart from us, rather than acknowledging that each one of us is fallible in our own right. Also, in this particular case it is clear that Mullet's cult grew out of the Amish context, therefore it does strike me as somewhat arbitrary to deny them the Amish label (if they want to claim it).
With that said, I'm pleased that Bob has a high enough view of the Amish that he would categorize Mullet's group (and their reprehensible acts) as completely outside of the scope of being Amish.
I have no fear that history will judge the Amish well, even with a few sidebar stories of digression from core values.
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Bruce, good comments. You are certainly taking a hard look at the news reports and my comments. I like that. I work very hard at being independent and unbiased. I look at the facts in this case and the facts only:
EIGHT UNDISPUTED FACTS
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The 4 county attacks, two in Sept. and two in Oct., were ordered by Sam Mullet and carried-out by 3 of his sons and 2 other cult members.
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The November attack in the cult area on the elder Schrocks from Michigan by their son and grand-children while Sheriff Abdulla waited outside (the son was later arrested by the FBI; his wife, who participated in the attack, is one of Sam Mullet's daughters, Linda.)
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The death threats made against Sheriff Abdulla and his deputies by the cult in 2007.
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The conviction for the rape of a 12 year-old girl in the cult by Sam's son, Chris.
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The $35 million law suit (Amish don't sue) filed by Wilma Mullet Troyer against Jefferson County officials who were simply carrying-out a court order giving custody of Wilma's daughters to their father, Aden Troyer. The Sheriff decided to retrieve the girls from the cult with a SWAT team in Sept. 2007, due to the death threats he got from the cult. The Wilma Mullet Troyer law suit went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court. DO a Google search on "Troyer v. Troyer" and read the Ohio Supreme Court's decisions. OH MY, you will be shocked at what the court concluded and decided!
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FBI affadavit filed with the 7 arrests of cult members detailing sexual abuse and illegal drugs found at the cult.
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The home invasion of Aden Troyer's parents in Pennsylvania, ordered by Sam and carried-out by Sam's sons and other cult members.
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The documented locking of Eli Hostetler in a chicken coop in winter 2010 and then his wife was forced to move into Sam's house and have sex with him.
There is a lot more, but these 8 items point to very serious criminal behavior by Sam Mullet, his sons, his daughters, especially Wilma and Linda, and other cult members totally under Sam Mullet's control. Eli and Levi Miller are prime examples. Both are in the federal prison.
So, I would describe the Sam Mullet cult as NOT Amish. It was created and operated by a former Amish man who decided in 1995 to conveniently use the Amish clothes and other recognized objects to lure in real Amish families to his remote area, then totally control them for greedy and criminal purposes. It was, and is, very difficult for authentic Amish communities to try to deal with what Sam Mullet created. Sam only attacked Amish people and, as far as we know, only abused Amish people. But he had to use "English" people---taxi drivers---to transport his "enforcers" to Amish homes to carry-out the attacks in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
MORE TO COME? Sam Mullet, and possibly others in the cult, may, and I emphasize "may", be charged with murder! Only time will tell if that occurs. I just heard that another cult member has a warrant out for his arrest for allegedly threatening to kill someone. I'll have to check that out for the details.
Bob
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To Joseph P. - I found your comments very clear and insightful. The "cult syndrome" has been seen throughout recorded history. Cults usually end in deaths, but not always. Remember that Jim Jones murdered over 900 of his cult members in "Jonestown", then committed suicide. Look what David Koresh did in Waco, Texas. Everyone died. So, I think the actions taken by law enforcement in the Sam Mullet cult situation have prevented a possible terrible end. But the final chapters have not been written.
The people still in the cult need help to get deprogrammed and return to a normal life. How that can be accomplished is a difficult and complex issue. Are there people still in the cult who may try to take over and continue the cult? Will people currently in the cult embrace religious families (Amish or?)on the outside so that healing can begin? What do you think should or could happen / be done to resolve this bad situation? How can the children be helped / deprogrammed?
Bob
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It is worth noting that 1) the group said "We are not Christian" (and the Amish are Christians) and 2) the Amish of the area views the Bergholz Clan as not Amish. Perhaps we should shut our mouths and follow what the lead of the Amish who are labeling this group as not Amish and a cult.
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I should note that the "shut our mouths comment" was aimed more at Mr. Leichty that you Mr. Comer.
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I agree, let's silence all the disagreeable!! Back to the 19th century!! And while we're at it, why don't we all "shut our mouths" and listen to Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Bullinger about those pesky Anabaptists, too --especially those fellows who tried to take over Munster. That should go over well with the Certain Pure who thrive on righteous goat-counting. "Zealous Mennonite, thy name is Excess."
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A view from Australia!
A very interesting read of comments above. I too was thinking of Munster and would like to comment on this story against that context.
Christians of all types fall into sin and in extreme cases set up breakaway groups which may be called cults. Having studied anabaptist history I doubt that history judges the Munster uprising anything other than one group of anabaptists who got it wrong and the rest is history.
The Mullet clan grew from the Amish. The stories now emerging certainly indicate their practice was outside mainstream Amish (and dare I say moral human) behaviour and practice.
As a consultant working (voluntarily) with churches where there has been sexual abuse by church leaders, it is one of the most damaging aspects of community life and can lead to dissension and people departing their faith in God. The stories emerging of Sam Mullet if true ( and I believe he will be convicted) indicate this is a man who has grievously sinned against God and his fellow disciples of Christ. God has already judged him and a human court will only convict him of behaviour which is reprehensible and against the accepted moral order.
It is splitting hairs to argue that he was or was not Amish. From my visits to Amish communities and my two children's times in Anabaptist schools I dare ask the question has cultural Amish life supplanted the gospel of Christ and his grace. In other words are many Amish following the practices of their forebears rather than living under God's grace, having accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. History judges the Munsterites poorly. However their motivation was a religious one based on biblical beliefs. The same cannot be said of Mullet and his followers.
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Just so we are clear, Bruce. Bergholz is comparable to the likes of Menno, Blaurock, Gerbel, Dirk Willems, the early Anabaptists who were martyred rather than resist evildoers? Do I understand correctly your comparison of our spiritual forebearers to a man who, at the very least, encourages his followers to assault former members in their homes when they are asleep, who forces men who question him to sleep in a chicken coup, and "purifies" women by raping them? Do I understand you correctly? I just want to be clear that what you are saying is that this despot is morally comparable to the men and women whose stories are preserved in the Martyr's Mirror.
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Thanks for the thoughtful post. I would agree that arguing whether Sam was Amish or not is irrelevant. Every time the name Amish is involved it draws fire from a few different corners. The question is not Amish or not Amish. The question is Christian or not Christian. We do not need to argue the fact that some of Mullet's actions were pretty far removed from biblical teachings.
"Has cultural Amish life supplanted the gospel of Christ and his grace?" Please bear in mind that there are many different Amish cultures and practices. Your question is legit however, and there are groups among us trying to help those who are living in spiritual darkness. Some of this darkness may well be because of a false believe that they are saved by their works or their heritage.
I will assure you however that I believe only in the saving Grace of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I also assure you that most other Amish believe the same way I do. Help me in praying for the ones that do not.
Respectfully, Paul
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I danced this same dance with John A. Hostetler years ago who claimed that Leroy Beachy a well known Amish historian and author from Ohio was not Amish. According to Ohio Amish where he lives he is. I know him and he is Amish.
The Amish Church has a wide range of variation but once you are put out you are no longer Amish.
Excommunicated Catholics are not catholic whatever they do,wear or say.
Being "put out" is Amish excommunication. Ask anyone who with the experience.
One of my realitives and his wife were put out. His family never spoke to him again until funerals where they had to eat elsewhere from the family. They would cross the street to avoid eye contact or communication. His mother on her death bed would not speak to him.
This is serious business not just a bit of " I don't like you any more".
Devil Sam and the Burgholz gang were put out of a conservative Amish Church for cause. What you have read so far is only some of the cause. More is coming.
They do not need academics who have fallen away for whatever the reason to make those judgments for them.
My understanding was that John's family was put out for cause. That adds a cloud of prejudice to anything he said about Amish life.
Bottom line of all of this is that the Amish Church says who is Amish and who is not. Devil Sam Mullet and his gang are not Amish according to Ohio Amish Bishops. They were put out for cause. In order to be Amish they have to rejoin an Amish Church.
Torture a definition all you like for your purposes.
Amish people do not act this way.
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Dr. Schmit,we know LeRoy Beachy well. You may want to double check your claim that he is Amish,ie. Old Order Amish. He drives a car.
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Did you read that I said "Old Old Amish" ? I did not write that. The Amish Church has many levels from the Beachy Amish to the Schwartzentrubers; Old Order , New Order , all Amish. My cousin who is a Bishop in the area says Leroy is Amish. Good enough for me. If an Amish Bishop says you are Amish, you are. When he says you are not it is time to trim your beard. Drive up to a Beachy Amish Church and tell them they are not Amish and report back. For real enlightenment go tell Leroy that he is not Amish and report on that.I would like to hear that. Plenty of Amish people drive cars. Torture definitions all you like but don't argue with misquotes. Amish churches decide who is Amish and who isn't. Quote me on that.
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To be precise I have not seen Leroy in years. He may be a Morman by now as far as I know.I doubt that . My comments refered to the 1970s when I had this contretemps with John Hostetler. He , Leroy , was Amish then and likely still is. Please report back when you tell him he is not. I would like to update.
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Has anyone here considered what makes Amish, Amish? Driving a horse and buggy? No more than driving a black car makes you conservative Mennonite or driving a van makes you Baptist! The Amish church is just that, a church. So it is matters of theology and ecclesiastical authority that make you Amish. Like us the Amish are above all Christians, then Anabaptists. And through Anabaptist history there have been certain doctrines defining us. These include, among others, the practice of nonresistance. So is any group that does not practice nonresistance (as Bergholz evidently does not!) really Anabaptist? They are an offshoot, yes, but their own comments about not being Christian are telling. They may look Amish, but they do not live it.
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It is hurtful to see Don Kraybill referred to as "Pope Kraybill." How does this "ad hominem" attack contribute to the discussion? Don Kraybill is a respected sociologist who has spent an academic career studying the Amish and related Anabaptist groups. He gave his very informed opinion regarding Sam Mullet's group. What is the basis for the writer to suggest that he does not have the standing to make such an assessment or that his motives are somehow suspect?
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RE: Professor Don Krabill. It has been my experience that Don Krabill is a gentleman and a scholar. He is always searching for the truth and it is clear to me that he has spent a massive amount of time reading, researching, teaching and exploring the history of the Anabaptists. His students have a professor who is a walking encyclopedia on his subject. He gets an A+ from me.
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