The farmlands of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country are among the most productive in the nation. Many of the farmers here are different from most Americans by choice. They are the Amish also known as the Plain People.
They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life.
With our society’s current interest in
restoring “family values,” much can be learned from studying the Amish way of
life. Their devotion to family and community and their strong work ethic are
good examples for our society at large. For the Amish people, family, farm and
faith are top priorities. Below is the information needed to better understand
the Amish lifestyle.
The Ordnung (order) is the set of rules for
each Amish community. It contains both religious and civil rules. Because the
Amish believe in a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible these rules are created in order to keep their members in
line with the laws therein. Amish communities are not centrally governed so
each group comes up with their own version of the rule.
There are two types of Ordnung: those
determined in the early history of that are written down rules, and those
passed verbally within each group. The rules are mostly derived from the Bible but those which aren’t are
justified by the fact that they will cause a person to ultimately become
worldly and thus breach the Biblical laws.
Not all the Amish are the same as in
most protestant religions there are divisions within the group, each following
their own variations on the rules. The reasons for these divisions are, as
usual, over matters of doctrinal disagreement. There are eight distinct
divisions within the Amish as a whole with the most conservative “Old Order”
having split in the 1860s. Sometimes the divisions can be over very trivial
matters – for example the Troyer Amish split over a dispute about hat brims.
These differences in beliefs can often lead to bizarre forms of violence.
The Amish believe in living a life
separated from the non-Amish. They quote the Bible to justify this belief: “Be
not unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness
have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (II
Corinthians 6:14). Each community has one Bishop, two ministers and a deacon
all of whom are male.
Rather than worshiping in a church,
the Amish takes turns holding their services in the homes of the community
members with houses being built especially to accommodate large numbers of
people. Funerals are held in the home of the dead and coffins are plain (hand made by the community.
Graves are dug by hand because the
Amish believe that modern technology is a hindrance to family life) as a result they shun electricity and
machinery. In some cases, however, electricity is permitted to warm homes. This
electricity is supplied by the community itself via simple devices such as
windmills. Because of their other religious convictions, the Amish take no
government benefits (and most don’t have medical insurance) and they do not
serve in the military.
Belts,
gloves, ties, and sneakers are all banned in the community. The Amish have a
very simplistic dress style in keeping with their overall life philosophy.
Their clothes are handmade and are usually of a dark fabric. Coats and vests
are fastened with hooks and eyes but shirts have buttons (it is a myth that the
Amish shun buttons).
Men’s
trousers must not have creases or cuffs. Married men must grow their beards
whilst mustaches are forbidden. Amish women cannot wear patterned clothing or
jewelry and they are not permitted to cut their hair. The length of clothing,
like dresses, is strictly governed by the Ordnung of the community.
Because
men must grow their beards unrestricted and women their hair, it makes those
two things prime targets for violence within or amongst differing Amish
communities. The attacks involve cutting off the hair of beard of the person to
be punished. This is not a lawful form of punishment in the Amish and even
though the person being punished may not be guilty of anything in the eyes of
his own community, the loss of hair causes great shame and social shunning.
Because
most Amish descend from the families of the 200 founders from the 18th century,
they have a much higher rate of genetic disorders due to inbreeding – such as
“maple syrup urine disease.” They also have a high infant mortality rate, but
this does not phase them. These disorders and childhood deaths are seen by the
Amish as God’s will. They refuse to undertake any form of genetic testing prior
to marriage which would ensure that they were sufficiently unrelated to their
potential spouse.
If
you are one of the lucky Amish who hasn’t been born with a genetic mutation or
disease (and you actually survived childbirth) – you have the benefit of
reduced rates of cancer which may be attributed to their distinctive garb which
includes head coverings. It is also likely that their healthy lifestyle (which
includes very little alcohol or tobacco) is a contributing factor. Furthermore,
the Amish have suicide rates that are far lower (one third) the rate of
non-religious people and 50% lower than other religious people.
Bundling is
the rather odd practice of a young courting couple being bound in two separate
blankets and laid together on a bed for intimacy that does not involve sexual
contact. The practice has died out in most of the world (it was practiced by
some non-Amish too) but in the Pennsylvania Amish communities it is still to be
found. In some cases in the past (though perhaps not now) the girl was tied into
a sack and her potential husband would lie in bed with her. In modern times it
is also not uncommon to see a bundling bed – a bed with a board in the middle
to prevent touching.
Meidung
(shunning) is the Amish form of excommunication. It is usually inflicted for
breaches of the Ordnung or for other “crimes” such as marrying outside the
faith. When an individual is shunned they are expelled from the community and
all ties are cut. This means that a shunned member cannot have any contact at
all with other members of the group including his immediate family or friends.
Needless to say this is the most serious punishment available to the Amish. Meidung
lasts until death unless one repents one’s crime before the community.
The
scriptural basis for Meidung is 2 Thessalonians
3:14 (VOICE): “If someone disregards the instructions of
this letter, make a note of who it is and don’t have anything to do with that
person so that this one may be shamed.”
“You will always leave something behind, your
influence.” (Amish Proverb)[i]
 |
| Amish Couple |
[i] Sources used:
·
“10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About the Amish”
by Jamie Frater
·
“Amish and the Plain People” by
LancasterPA.com
·
“Amish People and Amish Culture”
by LancasterPA.com
·
“Shunning “by Amish America
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