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Amish

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Amish couple in a horse-drawn buggy in rural Holmes County, Ohio, the site of one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the United States

The Amish are a denomination of Anabaptists noted for their restrictions on the use of modern devices such as automobiles and electricity. The Amish are a tight-knit cultural and ethnic group, descending from predominately Swiss German immigrants. Most Amish speak at home a distinctive High German dialect (Deitsch or "Pennsylvania Dutch)", although the so-called "Swiss Amish" speak an Alemannic dialect which they call "Swiss". Note that the Amish are just one group of the "Pennsylvania Dutch," who are generally of German descent; the word "Dutch" being an archaism. Finally, more "progressive" Beachy Amish, especially those who were born roughly after 1960 tend to speak predominately in English at home.

History

Like the Mennonites, the Amish are descendants of the Swiss Anabaptists (1525). The Swiss Anabaptists, called the "Swiss Brethren" had their origins with Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel. The name "Mennonite" was applied later and came from Menno Simons (c. 1496 - 1561) who was an Anabaptist leader in the north. Simons was a Dutch Roman Catholic priest who converted to Anabaptism in 1536 and was baptized by Obbe Philips after renouncing his Catholic faith and office. He was a leader in the Lowland Anabaptist communities, but his influence reached gradually into Switzerland.

The Amish movement takes its name from Jacob Amman (c. 1656 - c. 1730), a Swiss Mennonite. Amman felt that the Mennonites were drifting from close adherence to the teachings of Simons and the 1632 Mennonite Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Much of the laxity was in the area of shunning excluded members, also called the ban (or Meidung in Pennsylvania German). However, the Swiss Mennonites never did practice strict shunning like the Lowland Anabaptists. The ban meant believers would terminate contact with a non-conforming member of the Mennonite society. Amman insisted upon this practice, even to the point of a spouse refusing to sleep or eat with the banned member until he/she repented of his/her behavior.

This strict literalism brought about a division of the Swiss Mennonites, who were now scattered throughout Alsace to the Palatinate due to unwelcoming conditions in Switzerland. This division occured in 1693, and led to the establishment of the Amish. Because the Amish are the result of a division with the Mennonites, some consider the Amish a conservative Mennonite group, in fact, some Amish would not disagree with this title. Some Amish began to migrate to the United States in the 18th century and many would eventually settle in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (the first immigrants actually went to Berks County, but later moved due in part to security issues tied to the French and Indian War as well as land issues). Other groups settled in or spread to Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, and even into Canada.

Amish split in two

Most Amish communities which were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. In fact, many more of the early communities eventually lost their Amish identity and gradually took on a Mennonite identity. The original major split which would result in the loss of identity occured during the 1860s. During the 1860's conferences were held in Wayne County, Ohio concerning how the Amish should deal with the pressures of modern society.

The Amish eventually split into several divisions, partly a result of the decisions of these conferences. The divisions which chose to accept more change would eventually see their churches and communities become Mennonite.

Lifestyle

Amish and modern transportation in contrast; PA, U.S.A.Foto: Nils Fretwurst

Amish lifestyle is dictated by the Ordnung of the community. Ordnung differ from community to community, and within a community from district to district. What is acceptable in one community, may not be acceptable in another community. No resume of Amish "lifestyle" can be totally adequate because there are few generalities which are true for all Amish.

Many Amish, especially the Old Order, are renown for their avoidance of modern technologies. The avoidance of items such as automobiles and electricity is largely misunderstood. The Amish do not view all technology as evil. Technologies can be petitioned for acceptance into the Amish lifestyle. In some communities the church leaders meet to review items for admittance. In others it is done whenever necessary. Because the Amish, like other Mennonites, do not have a top-down governing structure like the Catholic or Anglican Churches, differing communities often have different ideas as to which technological items are acceptable.

Electricity, for instance, is viewed as a connection to the "World", the "English" or "Yankees" (the outside world). The use of electricity also could lead to the use of household appliances that would complicate the Amish tradition of a simple life. However, in certain Amish groups electricity can be used in very specific situations. In some groups, for example, it has to be produced without access to outside power lines. Twelve-volt batteries are acceptable to these groups. Electric generators can only be used for welding, recharging batteries, and powering milk stirrers. The reasoning behind the twelve-volt system is that it limits what an individual can do with the electricity and acts as a preventive measure against potential abuses. Most twelve-volt power sources can't generate enough current to power what is viewed as worldly, such as modern appliances such as televisions, light bulbs, and hair dryers. In certain situations, outdoor electrical appliances may be used such as a lawn mower (riding and hand-pushed) and weed wackers.

Most Amish families speak a version of German known as Pennsylvania German (Deitsch) at home. The commonly-used term "Pennsylvania Dutch" comes from the original use of the word Dutch, which referred to all people who spoke one of the many German-Dutch dialects and not just people from the Netherlands.

Dress code for some groups includes prohibitions against buttons, allowing only hooks and eyes to keep clothing closed; other groups allow members to sew buttons onto clothing. In some groups certain articles can have buttons, and others can not. (The reason for the restriction on buttons is their former association with the military.) The Amish are noted for the quality of their quilts and for their farming efficiency. Some Amish have enthusiastically adopted genetically engineered crops for their efficiency.

Telephone booth set up by an "English" farmer in Marshall County, Indiana for emergency use by local Amish families.

An Amish man will typically be clean-shaven as long as he is single. Upon getting married he will grow a beard. In some communities however, a man will grow a beard after he is baptized. Mustaches are generally not allowed since they are seen as symbols of the military. This is due to religious and political persecution in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The nobility and upperclass men, who often served as military officers, wore mustaches but not beards.

The Amish and other Anabaptists do not believe that a child can be meaningfully baptized - this is, in fact, reflected in the name Anabaptist (which means "rebaptizer", as the Anabaptists would baptize adults). Amish children are expected to follow the will of their parents in all issues, but when they come of age they may lead a lifestyle of their own choice. In fact, in some communities parents may turn their back as their children try out the "English" lifestyle of the outside world for a few years (the period of rumspringa, or running-around) so that they can make an "informed" choice to be baptized and join the church for life. Some choose not to join the church but live the rest of their lives in the society at large. Some communities will actively shun those who decide to leave the church, even those going to a different Amish congregation with different interpretations of how things are supposed to be done. Still other communities practice hardly any shunning, keeping close family and social contact with those who leave the church. Some communities have split in the last century over how they will apply the shunning, as in the case of the Holmes County and area Amish settlement.

Amish communities may be slightly or even drastically different from each other. These differences can appear from district to district even within the same community. When describing details of dress codes, lifestyles, etc., a careful writer will note the specific community being discussed. These differences range from profound (such as groups like the "black bumper Amish" (Beachy Amish) who have come to accept chromeless automobiles and are widely seen as non-Amish by other groups) to what we may consider trivial (such as the disagreements between "one suspender" and "two suspender" groups or how many pleats there are in a bonnet). Groups with similar policies are held to be "in fellowship" and consider each other members of the same Christian church. These groups can visit and intermarry between one another, an important consideration to avoid problems with inbreeding. Thus minor disagreements within communities over dairy equipment or telephones in workshops can become splinter churches and divide multiple communities.

The Amish as a whole feel the pressures of the modern world. Child labor laws, for example, are seriously threatening their long-established ways of life. Amish children are taught at an early age (by modern 21st century standards) to work hard. Amish parents will supervise the children in new tasks to ensure that they learn to do it effectively and safely. The modern child labor laws conflict with allowing the Amish parents to decide whether or not their children are competent in hazardous tasks.

Like many Mennonites, many Amish also shun insurance, relying on their church and community for support. An example of such support is barn raising, in which the entire community gathers together to replace a barn, which has been destroyed by fire or some natural disaster, in a single day.

Amish Acres, an Amish crafts and tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana.

As almost all of the current Amish descend from the same few hundred founders in the 18th century they have been plagued by heritable genetic disorders. Some of these disorders are quite rare, in some cases even unique, and some are very serious. These disorders affect the children and have led to a higher mortality rate among them. The majority of the Amish accept these as "Gottes Wille" (God's will) and reject any use of genetic tests prior to the marriage to prevent the appearance of these disorders and refuse genetic tests to the fetus to discover if a child has any genetic disorder. Physically and mentally disabled children are given the same loving care as unaffected children. However, there is sometimes genetic diversity from one community to another if the historical relationships between these communities are distant enough. So, genetic diseases which are common in one community, will often be absent in another. For example, although within the Lancaster County Amish, there are only a few founding families, these founding families are quite distant to the founding families of the Perth County Amish community in Canada.

Many parents are using modern technology to care for their children. The large majority received special dispensations for the use of some electric appliances from their religious leaders but in some cases it was impossible to obtain and has led to some parents to leaving the traditional lifestyle and subsequently being "banned" by their community.

Although the Amish do pay taxes, they are exempt from Social Security under a provision of the Medicare bill enacted in 1965. As part of shunning insurance, the Amish do not accept government welfare, such as Medicaid/Medicare, and food stamps. So, although the Amish do not pay into Social Security, they do not take from it either. Also, the Amish pay school taxes for schools they do not use, and for many other services which they do not use.

Amish buggy rides offered in tourist-oriented Shipshewana, Indiana.

Status

The Amish reside in close-knit communities in 22 states of the United States as well as Ontario, Canada. The largest concentrations of Amish in the United States are in Holmes County, Ohio and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. By state, the largest Amish population is in Ohio, and the second largest in Pennsylvania. There are an estimated 228,000 Amish in the United States in all groups, and another 1500 in Ontario, Canada. Some Beachy Amish have relocated to Central America in an attempt to remove themselves from the influences of modern society, including a sizable settlement near San Ignacio, Belize.

The strictest Amish groups are the Nebraska Amish, Troyer Amish and the Swartzendruber Amish groups. The language used in all Old Order Amish homes and in many Beachy Amish homes is Pennsylvania German (or "Pennsylvania Dutch"). English is used with the outside world.

Amish that leave the old ways often remain near their community, and in general, there are levels of progression from strict Amish gradually to more liberal groups (usually Mennonite).

Other

People who are not well acquainted with Mormonism and the Amish sometimes confuse the two, despite the vast differences between them. These misconceptions can sometimes be perpetuated in the mass media. For example, the film Witness is centered on an Amish community. However, the Spanish and French versions of this film mistranslated "Amish" as "Mormon". Roseanne Barr has played on this misconception by referring to Mormons as "Nazi Amish". Perhaps this confusion arises in part from the similarity between the words "Mormon" and "Mennonite."

The 2002 documentary The Devil's Playground is another film about the Amish community, focusing on the Amish tradition of Rumspringa.

The Amish have, on occasion, encountered discrimination and hostility from their neighbors; in some places, this has taken the form of systematic harassment, particularly claipping, the act of pelting the horse-drawn carriages used by the Amish with stones or similar objects as the carriages pass along a road, most commonly at night (claip is apparently a derogatory term directed at the Amish in some localities; its origin is uncertain). A 1988, made-for-TV film, A Stoning In Fulham County, is based on a true story involving one such incident, in which a six-month-old Amish infant girl was struck in the head by a rock and died from her injuries. In 1997, a young Amish woman in Milverton, Ontario, Canada was struck in the face by a beer bottle believed to have been thrown from a passing car; she required thousands of dollars' worth of surgery to her face (which was paid for by an outpouring of donations from the public). It was later found that this was not a case of 'claipping', as the bottle had been thrown by another group of Amish youth in a passing buggy.

On July 28, 2004, UPN began airing Amish in the City, a reality television series which involved five Amish teenagers being installed in a house in the Hollywood Hills to experience "American" culture and to decide at the show's end whether to rejoin their own culture (a variant of the Amish tradition of Rumspringa). It was later revealed that these Amish youths were already living apart from their Amish parents prior to the show.

Amish enjoy a special legal status, as proved in Yoder vs. Wisconsin, which stated that Amish adolescents can be exempt from the state law prescribing compulsory education until the age of 16 because their religion requires them to live apart from society. To compel them to visit school would therefore violate their rights under the Free Exercise Clause.

Sociology professor John A. Hostetler (1918-2001), who was born into an Amish family, wrote several books about the Amish, Hutterites, and Old Order Mennonites, and was considered one of the foremost academic authorities on the Amish.

See also

Amish Culture and Tourism

Amish, Government and the Law

Amish Genetic Disorders


Amish and Technology

In Pennsylvania Dutch

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