The Amish are committed pacifists who reject military service on the basis of Jesus's teaching on nonresistance (Matthew 5:38–45) and the Anabaptist heritage of suffering nonviolently for faith. Military service — carrying weapons, using violence, and serving an earthly kingdom — is incompatible with the Amish understanding of following Jesus and living as citizens of God's Kingdom.

During World War II and other conflicts, Amish men sought conscientious objector status and performed alternative service (farming, healthcare). The community's rejection of modern technology also means that many military roles would be inconsistent with Amish practice. Nonresistance is inseparable from Amish identity and is practiced not only in war but in everyday conflicts — the Amish response to the 2006 Nickel Mines school shooting, in which Amish families publicly forgave the killer and offered support to his family, received worldwide attention as an expression of this conviction.