Despite the value placed on traditional culture in Old Order Amish society, these communities have experienced change recently. These changes include: use of legal means to regulate behavior, acceptance of technical medical services such as heart transplants, and diminished importance of farm work to the economy of the community. However, the Old Order Amish constitute a bastion of stability within the larger society. This stability is expressed in the use of draft horses instead of farm machinery, horse and buggy instead of automobile, oil lamp instead of electric lamp, home-produced food instead of commercially processed food, and in families of eight to ten children instead of the usual one to three. In addition, marriage is permanent because divorce is not recognized, and a literal interpretation of the Bible is applied to all areas of life. This means that when civil laws run counter to sacred belief, such as the mandate for Social Security taxes and inspection for enforcement of building codes, civil disobedience is practiced. (BZ)