Amish

Total population
249,000 (Old Order Amish)[1]
Founder
Jakob Ammann
Regions with significant populations
United States (notably Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and New York) Canada (notably Ontario)
Religions
Anabaptist
Scriptures
The Bible
Languages
Pennsylvania German, Swiss German, English

The Amish (pronounced /ˈÉ�ːmÉ�Ê�/, AH-mish) (Pennsylvania Dutch: Amisch, German: Amische) or Amish Mennonites are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and a reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology.

The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann.^[2] Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish.^[3] These followers were originally from three main places: the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, Alsace (now part of France), and the Palatinate of Germany. In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites emigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Today, the most traditional descendants of the Amish continue to speak Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch. However, a dialect of Swiss German predominates in some Old Order Amish communities, especially in the American state of Indiana.^[4] Over the years, the Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes. The 'Old Order' Amish, a conservative faction that withdrew from fellowship with the wider body of Amish in the 1860s, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are as many as eight different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, Andy Weaver, or Swartzentruber Amish sects. As of 2000, over 165,000 Old Order Amish live in Canada and the United States. A 2008 study suggested their numbers have increased to 227,000,^[5] and in 2010 a new study suggested their population had grown by 10% in the past two years to 249,000, with increasing movement to the West.^[1]

Amish church membership begins with baptism, usually between the ages of 16 and 25. It is a requirement for marriage, and once a person has affiliated with the church, she or he may only marry within the faith. Church districts average between 20 and 40 families, and worship services are held every other Sunday in a member's home. The district is led by a bishop and several ministers and deacons.^[6]

The rules of the church, the Ordnung, must be observed by every member. These rules cover most aspects of day-to-day living, and include prohibitions or limitations on the use of power-line electricity, telephones and automobiles, as well as regulations on clothing. Many Amish church members may not buy insurance or accept government assistance such as Social Security. As Anabaptists, Amish church members practice nonresistance and will not perform any type of military service. Members who do not conform to these expectations and who cannot be convinced to repent are excommunicated. In addition to excommunication, members may be shunned, a practice that limits social contacts to shame the wayward member into returning to the church. During adolescence (rumspringa or "running around" in some communities), nonconforming behavior that would result in the shunning of an adult who had made the permanent commitment of baptism may meet with a degree of forbearance.^[7]

Amish church groups seek to maintain a degree of separation from the non-Amish world. There is generally a heavy emphasis on church and family relationships. They typically operate their own one-room schools and discontinue formal education at grade eight. They value rural life, manual labor and humility. Due to intermarriage, or inbreeding, among this relatively small original population, some groups have increased incidences of certain inheritable conditions.^[8]

[edit] Population and distribution

A lack of detailed record keeping among the Old Order Amish, along with other factors, makes it difficult to estimate the total size of their population. Rough estimates from various studies have placed their numbers at 125,000 in 1992, 166,000 in 2000, and 221,000 in 2008, for a growth rate of nearly 4% per year. The Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world, with an average of 6.8 children per family.

[edit] History

The Amish Mennonite movement descends from the 16th century fellowship known as the Swiss Brethren. The Amish movement takes its name from Jakob Ammann (c. 1656 'c. 1730), a Swiss Mennonite leader. Ammann believed Mennonites were drifting away from the teachings of Menno Simons and the 1632 Mennonite Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Ammann favored stronger church discipline, including a more rigid application of shunning, the social exclusion of excommunicated members.

Amish Mennonites began migrating to Pennsylvania in the 18th century as part of a larger migration from the Palatinate and neighboring areas. This migration was a reaction to religious wars, poverty, and religious persecution on the Continent. The Amish congregations remaining in Europe slowly merged with the Mennonites. Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. Many of these eventually united with the Mennonite Church, and other Mennonite denominations, especially in the early 20th century. The more traditionally minded groups became known as the Old Order Amish.

[edit] Religious practices

Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on Demut (humility) and Gelassenheit (calmness, composure, placidity), often translated as "submission" or "letting-be". Gelassenheit is perhaps better understood as a reluctance to be forward, to be self-promoting, or to assert oneself. The Amish's willingness to submit to the "Will of God", expressed through group norms, is at odds with the individualism so central to the wider American culture. The Amish anti-individualist orientation is the motive for rejecting labor-saving technologies that might make one less dependent on community. Modern innovations like electricity might spark a competition for status goods, or photographs might cultivate personal vanity.

[edit] Way of life

Amish lifestyle is dictated by the Ordnung (German, meaning: order), which differs slightly from community to community, and, within a community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one community may not be acceptable in another. No summary of Amish lifestyle and culture can be totally adequate, because there are few generalities that are true for all Amish. Groups may separate over matters such as the width of a hat-brim, the color of buggies, or various other issues.

Having children, raising them, and socialization with neighbors and relatives are the greatest functions of the Amish family. All Amish believe large families are a blessing from God.

[edit] Health

Amish populations have higher incidences of particular genetic disorders, including dwarfism (Ellis-van Creveld syndrome),^[9] various metabolic disorders,^[10] and unusual distribution of blood-types.^[11] Amish represent a collection of different demes or genetically closed communities.^[12] Since almost all Amish descend from about 200 18th century founders, genetic disorders from inbreeding exist in more isolated districts (an example of the founder effect). Some of these disorders are quite rare, or unique, and are serious enough to increase the mortality rate among Amish children. The majority of Amish accept these as "Gottes Wille" (God's will); they reject use of preventive genetic tests prior to marriage and genetic testing of unborn children to discover genetic disorder. Amish are willing to participate in studies of genetic diseases. Their extensive family histories are useful to researchers investigating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and macular degeneration.

While the Amish are at an increased risk for a number of genetic disorders, researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center'Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) have found their tendencies for clean living can lead to a healthier life. Overall cancer rates in the Amish population are 60 percent of the age-adjusted rate for Ohio and 56 percent of the national rate. The incidence of tobacco-related cancers in the Amish adults is 37 percent of the rate for Ohio adults, and the incidence of non-tobacco-related cancer is 72 percent. The Amish have protection against many types of cancer both through their lifestyle'there is very little tobacco or alcohol use and limited sexual partners'and through genes that may reduce their susceptibility to cancer. Dr. Judith Westman, director of human genetics at OSUCCC-James, conducted the study. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Causes & Control. Even skin cancer rates are lower for Amish, despite the fact many Amish make their living working outdoors where they are exposed to sunlight and UV rays. They are typically covered and dressed to work in the sun by wearing wide-brimmed hats and generally wearing long sleeves to protect their arms.^[13]

The Amish are conscious of the advantages of exogamy. A common bloodline in one community will often be absent in another, and genetic disorders can be avoided by choosing spouses from unrelated communities. For example, the founding families of the Lancaster County Amish are unrelated to the founders of the Perth County, Ontario Amish community.

The Old Order Amish do not typically carry private commercial health insurance. About two-thirds of the Amish in Lancaster County participate in Church Aid, an informal self-insurance plan for helping members with catastrophic medical expenses.^[14] A handful of American hospitals, starting in the mid-1990s, created special outreach programs to assist the Amish. The first of these programs was instituted at the Susquehanna Health System in central Pennsylvania by James Huebert. This program has earned national media attention in the United States, and has spread to several surrounding hospitals.^[15][16] Treating genetic problems is the mission of Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatments for such problems as maple syrup urine disease, a previously fatal disease. The clinic is embraced by most Amish, ending the need for parents to leave the community to receive proper care for their children, an action that might result in shunning.

DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children, located in Middlefield, Ohio, has been treating special-needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders since May 2002.^[17] The DDC Clinic provides treatment, research, and educational services to Amish and non-Amish children and their families.

Although not forbidden or thought of as immoral, most Amish do not practice any form of birth control, hence their large families. They are against abortion and also find "artificial insemination, genetics, eugenics, and stem cell research" to be "inconsistent with Amish values and beliefs".^[18]

People's Helpers is an Amish-organized network of mental health caregivers who help families dealing with mental illness and recommend professional counselors.^[19] Suicide rates for the Amish of Lancaster County were 5.5 per 100,000 in 1980, about half that of the general population and a third the rate of the non-religious population.^[20]

[edit] Education

Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1941.

Amish schoolchildren

The Amish do not educate their children past the eighth grade, believing that the basic knowledge offered up to that point is sufficient to prepare one for the Amish lifestyle.^[21][22] Almost no Amish go to high school, much less to college. In many communities, the Amish operate their own schools, which are typically one-room schoolhouses with teachers (young unmarried women) from the Amish community. These schools provide education in many crafts, and are therefore eligible as vocational education, fulfilling the nationwide requirement of education through the 10th grade or its equivalent. There are Amish children who go to non-Amish public schools, even schools that are far away and that include a very small Amish population. For instance, there have been some Amish children who have attended Leesburg Elementary School in Leesburg, Indiana (about 12 mi (19 km) from Nappanee, Indiana), because their families lived on the edge of the school district. In the past, there have been major conflicts between the Amish and outsiders over these matters of local schooling. But for the most part, they have been resolved, and the educational authorities allow the Amish to educate their children in their own ways. Sometimes, there are conflicts between the state-mandated minimum age for discontinuing schooling, and the younger age of children who have completed the eighth grade. This is often handled by having the children repeat the eighth grade until they are old enough to leave school. In the past, when comparing standardized test scores of Amish students, the Amish have performed above the national average for rural public school pupils in spelling, word usage, and arithmetic. They performed below the national average, however, in vocabulary.^[23]

On May 19, 1972, Jonas Yoder and Wallace Miller of the Old Order Amish, and Adin Yutzy of the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church, were each fined $5 for refusing to send their children, aged 14 and 15, to high school. In Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this, finding the benefits of universal education do not justify a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court quoted 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 then considered the foremost academic authority on the Amish. Donald Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, is one of the most active scholars studying the Amish today.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Relations with the outside world

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

As time has passed, the Amish have felt pressures from the modern world. Child labor laws, for example, are threatening their long-established ways of life, and raise questions regarding the treatment of children in an Amish household, and also in the way the Amish view emotional and medical support. A modern society places little emphasis on the emotional and spiritual bonds found in an Amish household that bind them together as a people. There is instead a negative perception regarding how the Amish choose to view some medical conditions as being 'The Will of God', without always receiving modern medical treatment found in hospitals or medical clinics; though many Amish communities maintain communal telephones to reach others in cases of emergency. Amish children often follow in their faith's long-standing tradition of being taught at an early age to work jobs in the home on the family's land or that of the community. Children are taught the traditions of their parents or immediate family until adolescence, when they are able to go into the world and compare their family's teachings with those of the world through rumspringa. Viewed as a respectful and enduring group, the Amish still spark controversy in modern society relating to their methods of raising young children, which vary greatly from the non-Amish.

Contrary to popular belief, some of the Amish vote, and they have been courted by national parties as potential swing voters: their pacifism and social conscience cause some of them to be drawn to left-of-center politics, while their generally conservative outlook causes others to favor the right wing.^{[citation needed]}

They are nonresistant, and rarely defend themselves physically or even in court; in wartime, they take conscientious objector status. Their own folk-history contains tales of heroic nonresistance, such as the insistence of Jacob Hochstetler (1704'1775) that his sons stop shooting at hostile Indians, who proceeded to kill some of the family and take others captive.^[24] During World War II the Amish entered Civilian Public Service.

Amish rely on their church and community for support, and thus reject the concept of insurance. An example of such support is barn raising, in which the entire community gathers together to build a barn in a single day. It means coming together to celebrate with family and friends.

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

In 1961, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced that since the Amish refuse Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance, they need not pay these taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law.^[25] Self-employed individuals in certain sects do not pay into, nor receive benefits from, United States Social Security, nor do their similarly exempt employees. Internal Revenue Service form 4029 grants this exemption to members of a religious group that is conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits of any private or public insurance, provides a reasonable level of living for its dependent members and has existed continuously since December 31, 1950.^[26] A visible sign of the care Amish provide for the elderly is the smaller Grossdaadi Heiser or Daadiheiser ("grandfather house"), often built near the main dwelling. Amish employees of non-Amish employers are taxed, but they do not apply for benefits.^[27] Aside from Social Security and workers' compensation, American Amish pay all required taxes.^[28]

The Amish have, on occasion, encountered discrimination and hostility from their neighbors. During the two 20th century World Wars, Amish nonresistance sparked many incidents of harassment, and young Amish men forcibly inducted into the services were subjected to various forms of ill treatment.^{[citation needed]} In the present day, anti-Amish sentiment has taken the form 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 girl was struck in the head by a rock and died from her injuries. In 1997, Mary Kuepfer, 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;^[29] she required thousands of dollars' worth of surgery to her face (which was paid for by an outpouring of donations from the public).

[edit] Portrayal in popular entertainment

[edit] Film

Peter Weir's 1985 drama Witness is set and filmed in the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Harvest of Fire is a 1996 Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie about an FBI agent's investigation of cases of suspected arson in an Amish farming community. The 2002 documentary Devil's Playground follows a group of Amish teenagers during rumspringa, and it portrays their personal dilemma with both the 'English' world and the decision on whether or not to be baptized as adult members of the church. Michael Landon Jr's 2007 film Saving Sarah Cain shows the removing of young Amish children to the big city and realizing the life they can have with both the Amish and English world. Producer Larry Thompson's 2010 Lifetime Original Movie "Amish Grace" portrayed the events surrounding an Amish school shooting in Nickel Mines, PA.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Modern novels

Paul Levinson's 1999 Locus Award-winning novel, The Silk Code portrays Amish farmers involved in a science-fiction mystery about biotechnology and mysterious deaths. Jodi Picoult's 2000 novel (and 2004 TV movie) Plain Truth, deals with a crime concerning the death of a newborn infant on an Amish farm. Other novels dealing with the Amish are Lurlene McDaniel's 2002 The Angels Trilogy, Beverly Lewis's extensive series of Amish romantic fiction, Paul Gaus's Ohio Amish Mystery series, set among the Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio, and Richard Montanari's Philadelphia crime series features a homicide detective named Joshua Bontrager who grew up Amish.

[edit] Older novels

Helen Reimensnyder Martin's 1905 novel Sabina, a Story of the Amish, similar to her 1904 novel Tillie, a Mennonite Maid, so harshly depicted its subjects as to provoke cries of misrepresentation. Anna Balmer Myers' 1920 novel Patchwork: a Story of "the Plain People," like her 1921 novel Amanda: A Daughter of the Mennonites, are generally regarded as gentle correctives to the work of Martin. Ruth Lininger Dobson's 1937 novel Straw in the Wind, written while a student at the University of Michigan and receiving the school's Hopwood Award, so negatively depicted the Amish of Indiana that Joseph Yoder was motivated to correct the severe stereotypes with a more accurate book about the Amish way of life. In 1940, he wrote the gentler Rosanna of the Amish, a story of his mother's life (and his own). He later wrote a sequel, Rosanna's Boys (1948), as well as other books presenting and recording what he regarded as a truer picture of Amish culture.

[edit] Children's literature

Marguerite de Angeli's 1936 children's story Henner's Lydia portrays a tender Amish family. The author sketched many of the illustrations at the site of the little red schoolhouse still standing at the intersection of PA route 23 and Red Schoolhouse Road, just west of Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Today the building is the Amish Mennonite Information Center. The Lancaster County landscape, portrayed in the end papers of the book, can be recognized throughout the area. De Angeli's illustrations of a nearby bank barn were sketched just hours before the barn was destroyed by fire. She incorporated the incident in her 1944 Caldecott Honor book Yonie Wondernose, a story about a curious Amish boy, younger brother to the Lydia of Henner's Lydia. Another popular children's book, Plain Girl by Virginia Sorensen, was published in 1956, and is still in print.

[edit] Theatre

The 1955 Broadway musical show, Plain and Fancy, is an early stage-play portrayal of the Amish people. Set in Lancaster County, it tells of a couple from New York who encounter the quaint Amish lifestyle when they arrive to sell off some property. This show depicted "shunning" and "barn-raising" to the American audience for the first time. Another play featuring the Amish is Quiet in the Land, a Canadian play concerning Amish struggles during World War I (1917'1918).

[edit] Television

NBC aired, in 1988, a family drama called Aaron's Way about an Amish family who moved to California and had to adjust to a non-Amish lifestyle. Numerous other TV shows have presented episodes with Amish characters or storylines. Some of them include Arthur, The Simpsons, Dexter's Laboratory, Picket Fences, Murder She Wrote, MacGyver, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, and Cold Case.^[30] In the summer of 2004, a controversial reality-television program called Amish in the City aired on UPN. Amish teenagers were exposed to non-Amish culture by living together with "English" teens, and at the time of the show, had yet to decide, if they wanted to be baptized into the Amish church. On Wednesday 18 February 2009, BBC2 aired 'Trouble in Amish Paradise', a one-hour documentary on Ephraim and Jesse Stoltzfus and their desire to adhere to Biblical Christianity whilst remaining Amish in culture. In July 2010 Channel 4 aired a documentary titled Amish: World's Squarest Teenagers following five Amish teenagers from America being introduced to life in the UK.

[edit] Music

"Weird Al" Yankovic's 1996 parody "Amish Paradise" and the accompanying music video was an affectionate send-up of Coolio's earlier soul song "Gangsta's Paradise", with Yankovic and former Brady Bunch actress Florence Henderson in Amish garb, and lyrics reflecting Amish themes.

[edit] Similar groups

Old Order Mennonites, Hutterites, and Old German Baptist Brethren are distinct from the Amish. They all emigrated from Europe, but they arrived with different dialects, separate cultures, and diverse religious traditions. Particularly, the Hutterites live communally^[31] and are generally accepting of modern technology.^[32]

Plain Quakers are similar in manner and lifestyle, but unrelated to the Amish. Early Quakers were influenced, to some degree, by the Anabaptists. Most modern Quakers have since abandoned their traditional dress.

[edit] Abuse in Amish society

Some high-profile cases have focused attention on the sexual abuse perpetrated upon Amish children. In a few isolated areas it has been called "almost a plague in some communities."^[33] Because Amish bishops mete out punishment for sins (generally in the form of shunning), they keep discipline within the authority of the church; thus, sexual abuse may be less often reported to law enforcement. Since men dominate their society, women and children who have been mistreated have little recourse.^{[citation needed]}. They themselves may be shunned for seeking outside help.^{[citation needed]} Mary Byler was allegedly raped more than a hundred times between the ages of 8 and 14 by her brothers and was then excommunicated and shunned for reporting her abusers.^[34] The Amish community recently started to address the issue of abuse awareness. The Amish publisher Pathway Publishers ran several series in the magazine Family Life that touch upon the subjects of sexual and physical abuse. They have also distributed, free of charge, resources for abused persons and their families. Some Amish have objected to the articles, preferring that the subject not be raised, claiming that these problems exist only among the "English".^[35]

[edit] See also

• Amish furniture
• Amish music
• Amish school shooting
• Fancy Dutch
• Martyrs Mirror
• Northkill Amish Settlement
• Ordnung
• Plain people

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Hostetler, John A. (1993). Amish Society (fourth ed.). Baltimore, Maryland; London: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-4442-3. 
• Kraybill, Donald B. (2000). Anabaptist World USA. Herald Press. ISBN 0836191633. 
• Kraybill, Donald B. (2001). The Riddle of Amish Culture (Revised ed.). ISBN 080186772X. 
• Smith, C. Henry (1981). Smith's Story of the Mennonites. Revised and expanded by Cornelius Krahn. Newton, Kansas: Faith and Life Press. pp. 249'356. ISBN 0-87303-069-9. 
• "Amish America: Swiss Amish". http://amishamerica.typepad.com/amish_america/swiss_amish/. Retrieved March 26, 2009. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amish

• "Amish" from Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• Amish Studies at Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College
• The Amish in Missouri, from the Missouri Folklore Society