AMISH DRUG ARRESTS HIGHLIGHT THREATS TO TREASURED CULTURE

GAP, Pa. - Some Amish drink their share of beer when they're young, a taste
of temptation that is a rite of passage even in a place as mythically moral
as Amish country.

But selling cocaine? Mingling with a motorcycle gang called the Pagans?
With bikers known as "Twisted" and "Fathead"?

Amish residents of this eastern Pennsylvania town picked up their
newspapers yesterday morning and read about two of their own, young Amish
men from Gap with the most common last name in town - Stoltzfus - young men
reared in a strict but increasingly threatened culture in which people
abstain from material pleasures and adhere to a spartan life of decency and
faith.

The two young men were indicted in federal court in Philadelphia Tuesday on
charges that they bought cocaine and methamphetamine from members of
another local subculture - the Pagans - and then sold the drugs to youths
at Amish hoedowns in Gap or at meetings of three Amish youth groups in
Lancaster County: the Crickets, Antiques and Pilgrims.

According to the indictment, the Amish men were cogs in a drug ring that
united two seemingly incompatible cultures for five years.

Abner Stoltzfus, 24, and Abner King Stoltzfus, 23 - who are not related -
were at home with their families yesterday and would not comment while
awaiting arraignment next week on charges that could send them to prison
for life. Eight Pagans were also indicted.

An Amish juvenile also participated in the scheme but was not charged,
authorities said.

"I guess it goes to show you we're human beings, just like everyone else,"
observed Abram Stoltzfus - no relation to the defendants - as he stood on
the stoop of his immaculate white farmhouse. "These things are going to
happen. It's sad."

At the time of the alleged drug-dealing, both young men were in a period of
their lives that the Amish call a "timeout," a rite of passage when young
men ages 16 to 24 are encouraged to sow their wild oats before deciding
whether to rejoin the faith for the rest of their lives.

During that time, Amish youths often form groups that drink and explore the
"ways of the English" - a term for non-Amish U.S. society.

"I'm not suggesting that the Amish hierarchy condones drug use or anything
like that, but they're going through a period of time when they are allowed
to be rebellious," said John Pyfer, the lawyer for Abner Stoltzfus, who
added that his client will plead not guilty.

The indictment of two Amish men on charges of pushing drugs is particularly
jolting because many Americans consider the Amish a national treasure, a
plain-living, hard-working and God-fearing people who eschew such luxuries
as cars, electricity and colorful clothing in favor of family and faith.

Yet people who study the Amish culture, and even the normally reticent
Amish themselves, say it's getting harder for members of this Anabaptist
religious sect to maintain their lifestyle, particularly in a place like
Lancaster County, where suburban sprawl and outlet malls are leaving too
little land for the Amish to farm and too little room on the road for their
horse-drawn buggies.

"It's a big myth of Amish society being perfect, a bunch of puritans living
an idyllic life out in the country," said Daniel Lee, a Pennsylvania State
University professor who has researched the Amish.

The sprawl from cities and dwindling farmland have driven many Amish to the
West, and to Canada and Mexico. There are an estimated 150,000 Amish in
North America.

Many who have remained in the Northeast have prospered by moving into
trades such as cabinetmaking, welding and construction. Amish-built deck
furniture, for example, is almost a staple of back yards across the
Northeast. Amish grocery stores have a cachet among upscale young
professionals who have moved out to the country.

But the subsequent increase in contact has also made them more susceptible
to outside influences.

Gap District Magistrate Isaac Stoltzfus, whose parents left the Amish faith
when he was a baby 46 years ago, said he isn't seeing more Amish in the
criminal-justice system, except for underage drinkers. But he said the
Amish seem more willing to use the criminal-justice system to prosecute
people who have wronged them than they have in the past.

Material from Knight Ridder Newspapers is included in this report.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)