> The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition Well, perhaps. But two things: 1. rules with alleged reasons (for

> The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition Well, perhaps. But two things: 1. rules with alleged reasons (for someone) doesn't mean they're reasonable rules for everyone else, and 2. I initially bemoaned arbitrary parallels with TFA -- not that Amish made arbitrary rulings -- so, as noted, I'm now in the weird position where I'm defending something I didn't claim. (Anyway, you may be assuming arbitrary has a single meaning, that of being a synonym for 'random', which isn't entirely accurate. No two words are 100% synonyms, after all.) EDIT: Actually, 3 things. Amish rules are not consistent amongst all amish, as I noted above -- there's a lot of disparity between different communities, which suggests that the reasons are not especially objective (otherwise they'd all reach the same conclusion), which in turn leads to a conclusion there's some arbitrary (in the personal whim sense) aspects to them.