Rules Of The Internet Vary With Conservatives! Story

It was a ordinary day.  Sitting in my "office", right by the window and wondering how we might get a few inches of snow when the weather looks great with sunny skies, no wind and fair weather outside my window.  But, I'm no weatherman, so I just have to believe what I read and hear on my TV.  Doesn't really matter, since my computer will still allow me to type yet another story...this one about the Mennonite and Amish groups in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where I have lived my entire lifetime.  Just how do members of conservative Mennonite and Amish churches deal with usage of the internet?  This question was posed to newspaper columnist, Jack Brubaker...aka "The Scribbler".  The question was sent to the Scribbler by Amos Lapp, an Old Order Amish man who lives in nearby East Earl Township.  The letter appeared in "The Diary", a monthly publication of the Older Amish churches.  Mr. Lapp attended the Conestoga Valley Mennonite Church which evidently had "split off from the Eastern Mennonite Church.  The Scribbler asked about the split and found that this new church does not have anything to do with the internet.  But, why was an Amish man attending a Mennonite church?  Seems that Mr. Lapp, the Amishman, went to the Mennonite service on his week off, since the Amish only hold church every other Sunday.  The church where Mr. Lapp was a member had split from the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church.  Eastern is not Old Order Mennonite but extremely conservative.  No TV or radio.  Plain dress. Schooling only through 10th grade, no Social Security, etc, etc.  In recent years, however, some members of this church decided the internet was necessary to do business in the 21st century.  So, in 2018, the church permitted internet access under extremely limited and filtered conditions.  And...that was just too much for some members, so they started the Conestoga Valley Mennonite Church and affiliated with the Appalachian Mennonite Conference.  Those churches maintain a total ban on internet use.  But...just how does the Old Order Amish church where Mr. Lapp belong handle internet use?  Have I lost you yet?  Well, usage varies depending on the congregation.  Unlike many Mennonite churches, which expect all members to adhere to the same rules, the approximately 260 church districts in Lancaster's Old Order Amish settlement are "semi-autonomous."  Mr. Steve Nolt, director of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College reports that a church can't get too far out of line with the others, but there has developed a range of practice in which some districts recognize that their members are going to be using the internet pretty regularly for business with many of those same folks using it for personal or less direct business reasons.  Mr. Nolt knows Amish people who use the internet frequently with work-related computers and sometimes with personal smartphones.  Others rely on non-Amish friends to use computers to complete their taxes.  Some have internet connections at home, but for accountability, send a list of websites they visit to another person to be reviewed.  As you can see...the Internet is a source of discussion and debate.  Mr. Nolt says that he hasn't heard of any Amish church districts splitting over the issue.  If an individual felt very strongly opposed to internet use, he would move his family to another church district in which computer use is not so acceptable.  Seems Lancaster County might soon be split between groups who use and don't use the internet.  I wonder where you can find information in the Bible to help with an answer to that problem.  Perhaps the Scribbler can find an answer!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.