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Amish
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The Amish (Amisch or Amische) are an
Anabaptist
Christian denomination in the
United States and
Canada (Ontario and Manitoba) known for their plain
dress and avoidance of modern conveniences such as
cars and
electricity. The Amish separate themselves from
mainstream society for religious reasons: They do not join the
military, apply for
Social Security benefits, take out
insurance or accept any
form of financial assistance from the government.
Most speak a
German dialect known as
Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsylvania German or
Pennsylvanie Deutsch) at home and in church services, and learn
English in school. The Amish are divided into separate
fellowships consisting of geographical districts or
congregations. Each district is fully independent and has its own
Ordnung, or set of
unwritten rules.
The Old Order Amish are distinguished from the
Beachy Amish and the
New Order Amish by their
strict adherence to the use of horses for farming and transportation, their
traditional manner of dress, and their refusal to allow electricity or
telephones in their homes. The Old Order Amish is the concept many outsiders
have when they think of "Amish".
Population and distribution
The geographic and social isolation of Amish communities
makes it difficult to determine their total population. In 2000, there were
198,000 Old Order Amish in the United States, according to calculations based on
the number of church districts and average district size in
Raber's Almanac.[1]
This number includes young people who have yet to be baptized, so the number of
people who are actual baptized members would be significantly smaller. According
to sociologist Julia Erickson, of Temple University in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Amish are among the
fastest-growing populations in the world. Old Order Amish groups include the
Byler group,
Nebraska Amish in
Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, the Reno group, and the
Swartzendruber Amish in
Holmes County, Ohio.
There are Old Order communities in 21 states;
Ohio has the largest population (55,000), followed by
Pennsylvania (39,000) and
Indiana (37,000). The largest Amish settlements are in
Holmes County, Ohio,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and
LaGrange, Indiana. With an average of seven children
per family, the Amish population is growing rapidly, and new settlements are
constantly being formed to obtain sufficient farmland. Notable Amish communities
are located in
Kent County, Delaware and
Montgomery County, New York. Some Beachy Amish have
relocated to
Central America, including a sizable community near
San Ignacio,
Belize.
Most Old Order and conservative Amish groups do not
proselytize, and conversion to the Amish faith is rare
but not unheard of. The
Beachy Amish, on the other hand, do pursue
missionary work.
Amish as an ethnic group
Amish family at Niagara Falls in
traditional dress
The Amish are united by a common
Swiss-German
ancestry, language, and culture, and they marry within the Amish community. The
Amish therefore meet the criteria of an
ethnic group. However, the Amish themselves generally
use the term only to refer to accepted members of their church community, and
not as an ethnic designation. Those who do not choose to live an Amish lifestyle
and join the church are no longer considered Amish, just as those who live the
plain lifestyle but are not baptized into the Amish Church are not Amish.
Certain
Mennonite churches were formerly Amish congregations.
In fact, although more Amish immigrated to America in the 19th century than
during the 18th century, most Amish today descend primarily from 18th century
immigrants, since the Amish immigrants of the 19th century were more liberal and
most of their communities eventually lost their Amish identity.[2]
In some circumstances, Mennonites of Amish descent may
still consider themselves Amish, especially in Canada. The former Western
Ontario Mennonite Conference (WOMC) was made up almost entirely of former Amish
who reunited with the Mennonite Church in Canada. The author
Orland Gingerich, for
instance, wrote a book entitled "The Amish of Canada" which devoted the vast
majority of its pages, not to the Beachy or Old Order Amish (although it dealt
with them too), but to congregations in the former WOMC.
History
Like some
Mennonites, the Amish are descendants of Swiss
Anabaptist groups formed in the early 16th century during the
radical reformation. The Swiss Anabaptists or "Swiss
Brethren" had their origins with
Felix Manz (ca. 1498–1527) and
Conrad Grebel (ca.1498-1526). The name "Mennonite" was
applied later and came from
Menno Simons (1496–1561). 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
Switzerland.
The Amish movement takes its name from that of
Jacob Amman (c. 1656 – c. 1730), a Swiss-German
Mennonite leader. Amman believed the Mennonites were drifting away from the
teachings of Simons and the 1632 Mennonite
Dordrecht Confession of Faith, particularly the
practice of
shunning excluded members (known as the ban or Meidung).
However, the Swiss Mennonites (who, because of unwelcoming conditions in
Switzerland, were by then scattered throughout
Alsace and the
Palatinate) never
practiced strict shunning as the Lowland Anabaptists did. Amman insisted upon
this practice, even to the point of expecting a spouse to refuse to sleep or eat
with the banned member until he/she repented of his/her behavior. This strict
literalism brought about a division in the Swiss Mennonite movement 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.
An old Amish cemetery in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, 1941. The stones are plain; the inscriptions are simple.
The first Amish began migrating to the colony of
Pennsylvania in the
18th century, and were part of a larger migration from
the Palatinate and neighboring areas. They came, along with their non-Anabaptist
neighbors, largely to avoid religious wars and poverty, but also to avoid
religious persecution. The first immigrants went to
Berks County, Pennsylvania, but later moved, motivated
both by land issues and by security concerns tied to the
French and Indian War. Many eventually settled in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Other groups later
settled in or spread to
Alabama,
Delaware,
Illinois,
Indiana,
Iowa,
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Michigan,
Minnesota,
Mississippi,
Missouri,
Nebraska,
New York,
Ohio,
Maryland,
Tennessee,
Wisconsin,
Maine, and
Canada. The Amish congregations left in Europe slowly
merged withthe Mennonites. The last Amish congregation to merge with the
Mennonites was Ixheim Amish congregation which merged with the neighboring
Mennonite Church in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in
Alsace, are descended directly from former Amish congregations.[3]
No Old Order movement ever developed in Europe and all Old Order communities are
in the
Americas.
Most Amish communities that were established in North
America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. The original major split
that resulted in the loss of identity occurred in the 1860s. During that decade
Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held in
Wayne County, Ohio, concerning how the Amish should
deal with the pressures of modern society. The meetings themselves were a
progressive idea; that bishops should get together to discuss uniformity was an
unprecedented notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the
conservative bishops agreed to boycott the Dienerversammlungen. Thus, the more
progressive Amish within several decades became
Amish Mennonite, and were then later absorbed into the
Old Mennonites (not to be confused with
Old Order Mennonites). The much smaller faction became
the Amish of today. As the non-Amish world's usage of electricity and
automobiles increased, a
tourist industry sprang up around the Amish in places
such as the
Pennsylvania Dutch Country and
Wayne County, Ohio.
Religious practices
The Old Order Amish do not have churches, but hold their prayer services in
private homes. Thus they are sometimes called "House Amish." This practice is
based on a verse from the New Testament: "The God who made the world and all
things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples
made with hands..." (Acts 17:24). In addition, the early Anabaptists from whom
the Amish are descended were religiously persecuted, and it was safer to pray in
the privacy of a home.
Hochmut and Demut
Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are
their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value
they place on Demut or "humility" and Gelassenheit (German, meaning: calmness,
composure, placidity) — often translated as "submission" or "letting-be," but
perhaps better understood as a reluctance to be forward, self-promoting, or to
assert oneself in any way. The willingness to submit to the Will of God, as
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; or which, like electricity, might start a competition
for status-goods; or which, like photographs, might cultivate individual or
family vanity. It is also the proximate cause for rejecting education beyond the
eighth grade, especially speculative study that has little practical use for
farm life but may awaken personal and materialistic ambitions. The emphasis on
competition and the uncritical assumption that self-reliance is a good thing —
both cultivated in American high schools and exalted as an American ideal — are
in direct opposition to core Amish values.
Wikipedia contributors, 'Amish',
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 October 2007, 07:35 UTC, < http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amish&oldid=165361899>
[accessed 18 October 2007]
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