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Tag Archives: reality tv

TLC’s Breaking Amish: Episode 4 and Still no Explanations

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Breaking Amish

≈ 47 Comments

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Last night I watched episode 4 of Breaking Amish. I should just stop writing now. At first it was exciting to point out the lies and fakery spewing forth from TLC’s latest farce but as the onslaught continues, writing about it just starts getting depressing.

Some people find it hard to understand why I want to defend the Amish against exploitative shows like Breaking Amish. Am I not an atheist after all? Do I not hate the Amish? Well yes I am an atheist but no I do not hate the Amish. The first eighteen years of my life were spent (sometimes, depending on my mood, I might say “wasted”) as an Amish kid. However, my entire family and almost all of my friends are Amish, and I love them. The Amish culture was a large part of my life and while I do not want that life for myself any longer, I will defend it with all the power of my pen from people wishing to make money by lying or otherwise exploiting them. The Amish, in my opinion, are philosophically misguided (as any religious group is) but as a group, they are the nicest people you will likely encounter.

This episode brings us more pretending. Jeremiah pretends to learn driving again. We know that’s not true. They pretend to have cellphones for the first time. “What is texting?” asks Kate. Yeah, right! The girls pretend to get makeovers for the first time. We have plenty of pictures that proves that just plain false. Oh, look! Here’s Sabrina with her hair down at her non-Mennonite wedding years ago: (source)

Sabrina Wedding Photo

Sabrina Wedding Photo

“We just had our first date last night,” Rebecca proudly tells us after a night out with Abe. Apparently when they started hanging out years ago and conceived a child, they called it something other than “dates”.

A lot of people probably have questions about Rebecca’s teeth, or lack thereof. I don’t know why she had all her teeth pulled, so don’t ask me. I can tell you that the barbaric dentistry that she spoke of could be true. I know that in some of the very conservative Amish communities they really have Amish dentists armed with nothing more than a pair of pliers. Many of the Amish are not too great when it comes to their teeth. I for one, never went to the dentist in all the 18 years that I was Amish. My baby teeth either fell out on their own or I wiggled them out with my fingers (and who says Amish boys don’t cry). We brushed our teeth regularly and that was pretty much it. There were exceptions when things got really bad. I remember my sister going to a dentist for a root canal several times but other than that, I don’t remember any of my family ever visiting a dentist.

My biggest beef with the latest episode is the lack of the promised and long-awaited explanations from TLC. When are they going to explain to us why they claimed that the cast members are leaving the Amish for the first time when in reality they haven’t been Amish for up to fourteen years? When will they explain to us that these kids have encountered plenty of showers, and microwaves before? When will they tell us how photos of Kate appeared on a modelling website years ago? When will they tell us about Abe and Rebecca’s baby? When will they tell us about Sabrina’s non-Mennonite wedding that happened years ago? When will they tell us about Jeremiah’s ex-wife and three kids from years ago? Do they think we’ve forgotten? Why do they keep insulting their viewers’ intelligence?

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Ex-Amish Unite in Vicious Protests Against TLC’s “Breaking Amish”

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Breaking Amish

≈ 24 Comments

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World War III has broken out on Facebook and it’s between the ex-Amish and fans of TLC’s Breaking Amish. Almost every time a fan comments on the Breaking Amish Facebook page, one or more members of the large ex-Amish community on Facebook retorts with a vicious comment about the show or one of the cast members.

Why? It’s because Breaking Amish appears to be largely staged and scripted and its cast members left the Amish a long time ago. This would be fine if the show was promoted as such but most people have the false assumption that it is real and that these kids are leaving the Amish for the first time.

Here are some comments by ex-Amish people on the Breaking Amish Facebook page: (UPDATE: The Official Breaking Amish fanpage appears to be gone as of Sept. 12, 2012)

“This show is seriously messed up!!! It’s fake as it could ever get!! I helped Abe get out of a rut when he left the Amish got him a job even Andy worked with me a couple days and I helped Andy out with a car…”

“how cute. your show is so damn fake. they havent been amish for years. and yeah i know them and i know when you filmed its not a block from my house. FYI this is rebecca abe and their kid. Rebecca and Abe got together when Rebecca was married to Rufus who both left the amish years ago. Mystery solved, lies exposed fake freaking show. And if you are so shunned why do I see you at your parents house all the time?!”

“I agree with <person above>! I had to dvr the show. Plan on watching it tonight. But after seeing bits and pieces last week on the today show I figured it would be fake. My husband used to be amish and I knew that Abe and Rebecca had not been amish for some time and on the today show they made it sound as if they were just now leaving the amish.”

“That the truth alot of the stuff thay said was not the truth”

“jeremiah is like 32. if he was really living the amish life before this show he would have joined the amish church way back when he was 18 to 20 not 32 and divorced. these shows p**s me off because the only reason they can get away with the lies about the amish and the way they portray them is because true amish ppl wont be watching the show. my husband comes from the amish community and has a wonderful family that I consider my own. I am very protective of the Amish because they have accepted me the way I am and have helped make my life so much better. Every Amish community is diff but the one my husband comes from only shuns u if u join church and then leave. They do this because they feel when u join church u are making a commitment to God to live ur life this way and when u leave after doing this it is like breaking ur promise and lying to God”

“jolene, u dont have 2 feel sorry at all. these adults left on their own. I know some of these youth personally & the whole show is a big fib. its all about the $$$$”

“yea, very hard. but, bahaha, fake as crap..” <referring to Jeremiah separating from his “girlfriend”>

“sorry guys but I think the only thing hard for him in this scene is keeping a straight face. he does have a gf but this is def not her. his gf is english and always has been.” <referring to Jeremiah separating from his “girlfriend”>

“Well guys i hate to BREAK IT to you this is his payed movie girlfriend it is staged .I grew up neighbors to him he left the Amish back in like 04 might have been before even i know his parents and siblings.They are nice and caring people.I grew up Amish to i left when i was 18 my dad is a pastor and i can go and visit then when i please so not all Amish are like what they say they are.”

“And iva isn’t Amish either anymore she left awhile back…
And I don’t miss it myself….”

“Fake! He’s divorced with 3 kids. Hasn’t been Amish for at least 10 yrs!”

“I’ve known him since before he left and the whole thing is scripted. The HYSTERICAL part is people believing Reality TV is real!!!”

“Breaking Amish what a joke Jeremiah has not been Amish for at least 14 years I know this because he was my roommate for a year and a half he has 3 children that he don’t take care of and he claims all he left was a girlfriend. If you want to know who Jeremiah raber really is search public records for Holmes and tuscarawas county Ohio…“

“By the way he hasn’t been Amish for 20 yrs. he was English and married… You ppl are stupid for watching this crap!”

I can’t attest to the accuracy of all the comments above but the ones I’ve listed are just a small portion of the emotionally-laden comments you can find on Facebook and other sites by ex-Amish. There are few things that will cause a lot of ex-Amish to come out of the woodwork, but lying about the Amish is one of them.

UPDATE (Sept. 12, 2012): A new moderated Facebook community page has gone up where people familiar with the show or its cast are posting proof of the show’s deception. See Breaking Amish the Truth

Here’s a recap of what we do know:

Jeremiah is divorced, has 3 kids, and hasn’t been Amish for years.

I also have reason to believe that Abe and Rebecca are dating or married, have a child together, and have not been Amish for a long time. As soon as I can dig up proof of these allegations, I will post it. So far, I’ve found Facebook pages for Andy (Abe’s brother) and the two Bens (cousins of Rebecca). On those pages are pictures which indicate that these guys haven’t been Amish for some time.

Since posting about Breaking Amish, the views for my blog have jumped about 5000% so I guess these revelations are getting out to people. I see no reason to stop digging…

TLC’s Breaking Amish: The Scandal of Jeremiah Raber

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Breaking Amish

≈ 99 Comments

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Jeremiah Raber is one of the main characters on TLC’s new drama show Breaking Amish. On the show Jeremiah is portrayed as being Amish and experiencing life outside of the Amish for the first time. That is not true.

Jeremiah Hasn’t Been Amish for Years:

By some accounts, Jeremiah hasn’t been Amish for up to 14 years. Link

Jeremiah’s Myspace page has been deleted but by using Google’s page cache, we can still see it here, and here. Notice the picture thumbnails dating back to March 5, 2007 in which he isn’t dressed Amish.

If the links provided above don’t work for you, open the images below to see the cached Myspace pages I’m referring too. After clicking on a thumbnail, click “View full Size” and then click the picture and you should see the full-sized version.

Luckily for us, Jeremiah hadn’t set his Myspace profile to ‘private’. Note the children in several of the images are they his? Update: At the request of the mother, I have censored the pictures of the children. My deepest apologies go to her if I caused her any distress. I also censored the pictures of other people, since this page isn’t about them and there’s no reason to cause stress for them.

Divorce Records for Jeremiah Raber:

On February 10, 2011, Jeremiah’s wife filed for divorce against him, charging extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. They had been married since February 27, 2005 and have three children. To see the court documents for yourself, go here and do a search for Last Name: Raber, and First Name: Jeremiah.

The Amish generally don’t accept back into the fold those that are divorced. So the scene in the first episode of Breaking Amish where Jeremiah tells his “girlfriend” that he’s leaving for New York, must be staged. If the girlfriend really was Amish, she would not be allowed to date Jeremiah. I’m just speculating here but possibly she is ex-Amish and an aspiring actress.

Even before the divorce case, Jeremiah was embroiled in custody and child support issues. Those court records can be found here by doing a search for Last Name: Raber, and First Name: Jeremiah.

Given all the above, is it any wonder that TLC didn’t reveal Jeremiah’s last name? Or that he had to delete his MySpace and Facebook profiles? His Facebook name used to be “Rebel Amish”. Now that page can’t be found. Update Sept. 21, 2012: It looks like the Facebook page is back online but using a different name.