GermanAmericanHistory3

German-American History - 3

German-American History - 3
    (Continued from German-American History - 2)

           Marian Exiles
       (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The name Marian exiles is given to English Calvinist Protestants who fled to the continent
during the reign of Mary I.

Contents:

1 Exile communities
2 Strasbourg
3 Frankfurt
3.1 Troubles at Frankfurt
4 Geneva
5 See also
6 Sources

             Exile communities:

According to English historian John Strype, more than 800 Protestants fled to the continent,
predominantly the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, and France and joined with reformed
churches there or formed their own congregations. A few exceptions are exiles who went to
Scotland, Denmark, and other Scandinavian countries.

Notable English exile communities were located in the cities of Emden, Strasbourg, Cologne,
Wesel, Duisburg, Worms, Basel, Frankfurt, Aarau, Zürich, Geneva, Padua, and Venice. The
exiles did not plan to remain on the continent any longer than was necessary; indeed there was
considerable controversy and anxiety among them and those who remained in England over the
legitimacy of fleeing, rather than facing, religious persecution. Undoubtedly this concern was an
important motivation for the attention and authority given to those who remained in England
and were martyred, as in the work of one of the most famous exiles, John Foxe.

During their continental sojourn, few of the exiles became very economically and politically
integrated into their new homes. With the exception of the exile community in Aarau, the
majority of exiles were clergy (67) or theological students (119). The next largest group was
composed of gentry (166) who, with others back in England, financed the exiles. This group
included Sir John Cheke, Sir Richard Morrison, Sir Francis Knollys, Sir Anthony Cook, Sir
Peter Carew, Sir Thomas Wroth, Dame Dorothy Stafford, and Dame Elizabeth Berkeley. Of
about 500 known English exiles, there were only 40 merchants, 32 artisans, 7 printers, 3
lawyers, 3 physicians, 3 yeomen, 13 servants, and 19 men with no profession. Of the artisans 12-
17 were weavers who settled in Aarau. Strype names London merchant and exile Thomas Eton
as the host-general of all the exiles. Financial backers for the exiles but not in their
communities included London merchants like Richard Springham and John Abel. Support also
came from the King of Denmark, the Prince Palatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Württemberg,
the Duke of Bipont, and many continental reformed leaders: Heinrich Bullinger, Konrad
Pelikan, Bibliander, Josias Simmler, Wolphius, Ludwig Lavater, and Zwingli.

The Marian exiles included many important or soon-to-be important English Protestant leaders.
Former and future bishops among them included John Aylmer, Miles Coverdale, John Ponet,
John Scory, Richard Cox, Edmund Grindal (future archbishop of York, then Canterbury), Edwin
Sandys (future archbishop of York), John Bale, John Jewel, James Pilkington, and Thomas
Bentham. The conflicts that broke out between the exiles over church organization, discipline,
and forms of worship presaged the religious politics of the reign of Elizabeth I and the
emergence of Puritanism and Presbyterianism.

                        Strasbourg:

The English congregation in Strasbourg organised its services in conformity with the 1552 Book
of Common Prayer. Its leaders and membership included at times the former and future
bishops Ponet, Scory, Cox, Grindal, Sandys, Aylmer, and Bale. Others there included Cheke,
Morison, Cook, Carew, Wroth, James Haddon, John Huntington, John Geoffrey, John Pedder,
Michael Renniger, Augustin Bradbridge, Thomas Steward, Humphrey Alcocson, Thomas Lakin,
Thomas Crafton, Guido and Thomas Eton, Alexander Nowell, Arthur Saule, William Cole,
Christopher Goodman, Richard Hilles, Richard Chambers, and one or both of the Hales
brothers. Coverdale apparently made several visits to the Strasbourg community.

                        Frankfurt:

The first English exile group in Frankfurt arrived on 27 June 1554. With the help of a local
magistrate, they secured the use of a vacant church building. They held their first service on 29
July using a reformed liturgy drawn up by William Whittingham. The congregation adopted a
semi-presbyterian system where deacons were expected to preach.

At the request of local authorities in this Lutheran city, the English church order had been
made to conform to the newly established French reformed church in Frankfurt. The French
church included a number of Walloon weavers who had been brought to England by Protector
Somerset. Since then they had been under the supervision of Valerand Poullain, formerly John
Calvin's successor as minister of the French congregation in Strasbourg. In England, Poullain's
congregation had as much autonomy as the London Stranger churches and, like them, based
their church order on the models of Zwingli and Calvin.

Following this continental reformed precedent, the English exiles in Frankfurt offered
themselves as the model church for all the English in exile and put out a call for ministers from
the other congregations. However, they had gone further than many of their countrymen would
follow, particularly those in Strasbourg and Zürich who wanted to retain use of the second
(1552) Edwardian Book of Common Prayer. For that reason the English Church at Frankfurt
became preoccupied with disputes over the use of the prayerbook and church order in general.

The chief members of the Frankfurt congregation during its existence were David Whitehead,
Sandys, Nowell, Foxe, Bale, Horne, Whittingham, Knox, Aylmer, Bentham, Sampson, Kelke,
Chambers, Isaac, both Knollyses, John and Christopher Hales, Richard Hilles, Bartholomew
Traheron, Robert Crowley, Thomas Cole, William Turner, Robert Wisdome. An informal
university established by the congregation had Horne teaching Hebrew, John Mullins (who came
from Zurich after Knox left) teaching Greek, and Traheron teaching theology.

All records of the group were destroyed in World War II with the Frankfurt city archives, and
only partial transcripts from prior scholarship remain. These records disclose that native
Frankfurters distrusted the English and suspected they were being used by members of the
nobility to diminish the privileges of the burghers. The English were also accused of unfair
commercial practices and of competing with local artisans--accusations which led to detailed
censuses of the immigrants.

        Troubles at Frankfurt:

The organizational and liturgical differences between the English churches in exile soon led to
protracted conflicts concentrated in Frankfurt. These conflicts are documented in a single
printed source: the narrative and reprinted correspondence that comprise A Brieff discours off
the troubles begonne at Franckford ... A.D. 1554. This book was printed anonymously in 1575
(though one extant copy is dated 1574) and reprinted in 1642, 1707-08, 1846, and 1907. It may
have been issued in response to a sermon delivered at St. Paul's Cross on the subject of the
Genevan form of church discipline then advocated by John Field. Though it remains uncertain,
the book's editor is commonly identified as William Whittingham. Patrick Collinson has made a
case for Thomas Wood as the editor, and M. A. Simpson has questioned the assumption that
there was a single author behind A Brief Discourse who was part of the debates it concerns.
Much of its material must have come to its compiler/s from other hands, the letters it contains
vary in apparent authenticity, and the documentary sources behind it are no longer extant
except, in adapted form, parts of John Knox's account of his time in Frankfurt. Noting these
things, Simpson conjectures that A Brief Discourse was the product of several editors, the last
of whom he believes to have been John Field. The title page advertises A Brief Discourse as an
explanation of the nature and origins of the conflicts in the Church of England then taking
place and the emergence of separatism and Presbyterianism. It should by no means be taken as
an "objective" history.

According to A Brief Discourse, John Knox was sent as a minister to Frankfurt from Geneva by
John Calvin in 1554; he led the opposition to the prayerbook faction. Their first conflict
centered on the order of the communion service. Knox would not use the Genevan order since it
would offend others, but neither would he allow the use of the English prayerbook form.
Thomas Lever led an attempt to construct a compromise order. The prayerbook faction was led
by Richard Cox, who had left Strasburg to correct the situation in Frankfurt. However, others in
Strasbourg and some who had moved from there to Frankfurt, opposed the prayerbook, so both
congregations were divided from within. Some people may have remained out of the fight, and
others, like Lever, changed sides over time. (In Knox's own account, Lever--who was his co-
preacher--failed to support him and thereby exacerbated the division.) Knox found supporters in
Whittingham (Cox's former student), Richard Chambers, Anthony Gilby, Thomas Cole, Edward
Sutton, Thomas Wood, William Williams, John Staunton, William Hammon, Michael Gill, and
others. Knox and Whittingham wrote a Latin summary of the English prayerbook and sent it to
Calvin for his opinion which was that it contained "many tolerable foolish things." Knox,
Whittingham, Foxe, and Thomas Cole drafted what they thought would be an ideal order, but it
was rejected by the prayerbook faction. It was later used at Geneva by the English congregation
under Knox.

A compromise order, really a version of the prayerbook service that retained much of it, was
nearly accepted by 13 March 1555, just as a new group of English refugees, including John
Jewel, was brought in by Cox. The newcomers strongly objected to the compromise liturgy,
which omitted the litany with the congregations' spoken responses. Tensions increased since it
was known that some of the new arrivals, like Jewell, had subscribed to Roman Catholic
doctrines under Mary before they left England. Although Jewell preached a sermon in which he
confessed his fault, his presence would not have sat well with the more zealous exiles who were
also prone to dislike Cox, a considerable pluralist, as the holding of multiple benefices was
something "hot gospellers" under Edward VI had preached against. In May 1555 Knox preached
on precisely this topic in Cox's presence, attacking the prayerbook and the scandal of
pluralities. Knox nevertheless defied his own supporters in pleading that Cox's group be
admitted as members of the congregation, which gave the prayerbook faction a majority.

Despite these tensions, another settlement was in sight, but Knox's staunchest antagonists
rendered it irrelevant by notifying the local magistrates about Knox's An Admonition to
Christians (1554) which disparaged Phillip II, Mary I, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,
whom Knox compared to Nero. Some of Knox's detractors felt that such radical language
offended even sympathetic rulers and encouraged Roman Catholic persecution of Protestants in
England and elsewhere. Notably John Hooper had just been burned at the stake in February,
and his wife and children were among the Frankfurt exile community. (This was further
ammunition for the pro-prayerbook faction, which also availed itself of the highly divisive
argument that it was presumptuous to attempt to be liturgically purer than those who had
accepted the prayerbook and were martyred back in England.) Unsurprisingly, Knox was asked
to leave Frankfurt, and he did so on March 26. Sympathisers led by William Whittingham
(Thomas Cole and John Foxe among them) left for Basel and Geneva. Nevertheless, the
struggle, which had preceded Knox's presence, continued.

In the process of the prayerbook dispute, John Calvin weighed in when consulted to promote
unity and compromise, although he agreed with those who took a low view of the prayerbook.
Recalling the earlier Vestments controversy under Edward I, the concept of adiaphora or
"things indifferent" was again a centrepoint of debate, rather than being a source of consensus-
building. The effect of this was that adiaphora was eventually abandoned as an arguing point on
each side.

                     Geneva:

Led mainly by Knox, the largest, most politically and theologically radical concentration of
English exiles was at Geneva, reaching a peak of 233 people or about 140 households. (This was
approximately 2% of the city's population.) Names, dates of arrival, and other information is
preserved in the Livre des Anglais (facsimile edition by A. F. Mitchell), a folio MS kept at the
Hotel de Ville of Geneva. New members admitted to the church numbered 48 in 1555, 50 in
1556, 67 in 1557, 10 in 1558, and 2 in 1559. 7 marriages, 4 baptisms, and 18 deaths are recorded.

This was the first English congregation to adopt the wholly presbyterian form of discipline and
worship that was resisted in Frankfurt. These forms and standards were printed in 1556 as the
Book of Geneva which went through several editions after 1556 in Geneva and was in official
use in the Church of Scotland from 1564 to 1645. Sometimes titled Book of Our Common
Order, it is the basis for the modern Book of Common Order used by Presbyterian churches.

The English church in Geneva was also, of course, the scene of the Geneva Bible's production,
which was to be the most popular English version of the era and the most notorious for its
annotations that supported Reformed theology and resistance theory. At Geneva Knox wrote his
infamous First Blast of the Trumpet Blowen Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women during
the winter of 1557-58. Published in Geneva in the spring 1558, it denounced all female rulers in
the most strident language. This was opposed by many other English exiles, especially those
seeking favor with Elizabeth I, such as John Aylmer, who published a retort to Knox called
Harborowe for Faithful and True Subjects in 1559. Christopher Goodman took a more
circumspect approach in a How superior powers ought to be obeyd of their subjects & wherein
they may lawfully by Gods Worde be disobeyed & resisted for which Whittingham wrote the
preface. Laurence Humphrey, working out of Strasbourg, claimed to be clarifying what Knox,
Ponet, and Goodman really meant when he defended passive resistance only and supported the
legitimacy of female rule in De religionis conservatione et reformatione vera (1559).

Members of the English church in Geneva included Sir William Stafford, Sir John Burtwick,
John Bodley and the eldest of his five sons (Laurence, Thomas, and Josias who was later
knighted), James Pilkington, John Scory, Thomas Bentham, William Cole, William Kethe,
Thomas Sampson, Anthony Gilby, John Pullein, Perceval Wiburne, and Robert Fills.

Ministers: Christopher Goodman (1555-58), Anthony Gilby (1555), and John Knox (1556-58)
Elders: William Williams (1555-58), William Whittingham (1555-56), Gilby (1556-58), William
Fuller (1556), Thomas Wood (1557), Miles Coverdale (1558), and John Bodley (1557-58)
Deacons: John Staunton (1555-56), Christopher Seburne (1555), Francis Withers (1556-57),
William Beauvoir (1556-58), John Staunton (1556), John Pullein (1557), William Fuller (1557),
Francis Willias (1558), Peter Willis (1558), and Whittingham (1558)

See also:

Pennsylvania Dutch
Puritanism
Anglicanism
Protestantism
Vestments controversy
Elizabethan Religious Settlement
The Protestant Reformation

Sources:

Primary:

A Briefe Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankeford in Germany (1575)
John Knox, Of the Proceedings of the English Congregation at Frankfurt, in March 1555.
John Strype, Annals of the Reformation.

Secondary:

William D. Maxwell, The Liturgical Portions of the Genevan Service Book used by John Knox
While a Minister of the English Congregation of Marian Exiles at Geneva, 1556-1559. (London:
The Faith Press, 1965.) [First published by Oliver and Boyd, 1931.]
Frederick A. Norwood, "The Marian Exiles--Denizens or Sojourners?" Church History 13:2
(June 1944): 100-110.
Brett Usher, "The Deanery of Bocking and the Demise of the Vestiarian Controversy," Journal
of Ecclesiastical History 52.3 (July 2001): 434-455.
Ronald J. Vander Molen, "Anglican Against Puritan: Ideological Origins during the Marian
Exile," Church History 42.1 (March 1973): 45-57.
Jonathan Wright, "Marian Exiles and the Legitimacy of Flight From Persecution," Journal of
Ecclesiastical History 52.2 (April 2001): 220-43.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_exiles"
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  Amish (The Plain People)
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Amish Speak Deitsch (Deutsch); Their language is Alemanni German; High German; and
English. Children 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. Old Order churches may shun or expel members
who violate these rules.

Contents:

1 Population and distribution
2 Ethnicity
3 History
4 Religious practices
4.1 Hochmut and Demut
4.2 Separation from the outside world
4.3 Baptism, rumspringa, and shunning
5 Religious services
5.1 Communion
5.2 Baptism
5.3 Weddings
5.4 Funerals
6 Lifestyle and culture
6.1 Modern technology
6.2 Language
6.3 Dress
7 Health issues
8 Education
9 Relations with the outside world
10 Portrayal in popular entertainment
11 Similar groups
12 Abuse controversy
13 See also
14 References
15 Further reading
16 External links

Population and distribution

The geographic and social isolation of Amish communities makes it difficult to determine their
total population. In 2000, there were approximately 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. The Amish are among the
fastest-growing populations in the world, with an average
of 6.8 children per family.[2] Old Order Amish groups
include the Byler group, Nebraska Amish in Mifflin
County, Pennsylvania, the Reno group, and the
Swartzentruber 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. A sizable Old Order community has been
increasing in number in St. Lawrence County and Franklin County, New York. Some Beachy
Amish have relocated to Central America, including a large 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.

              Ethnicity:

Amish family at Niagara Falls in traditional dressThe 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.[3]

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
"Anabaptism" means "baptised twice"; once as a young child, and again as an adult. 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 with the Mennonites. The last Amish
congregation to merge with the Mennonites was the 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.[4] No Old Order
movement ever developed in Europe; these communities are all 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 and Holmes 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.

Separation from the outside world:

The Amish often cite three Bible verses that encapsulate their cultural attitudes:

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (II Corinthians 6:14)
"Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord." (II Corinthians 6:17)
“And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
Both out of concern for the effect of a parent's absence on family life, and in order to minimize
contact with the "English" (the Amish term for "non-Amish," without reference to actual
English ancestry or language), the Amish prefer to work at home. However, increased prices for
farmland and decreasing revenues for low-tech farming
have forced many Amish to work away from the farm,
particularly in construction and factory-labor, and, in
those areas where there is a significant tourist trade, to
engage in shopwork and crafts for profit. The Amish are
ambivalent about both the consequences of this contact
and the commoditization of their culture. The decorative
arts play little role in authentic Amish life (though the
prized Amish quilts are a genuine cultural inheritance,
unlike hex signs), and are in fact regarded with suspicion,
as a field where egotism and a display of vanity can easily
develop.

Amish lifestyles vary between (and sometimes within) communities. These differences range
from profound to minuscule. Beachy Amish drive black automobiles, while in some
communities various groups differ over the number of suspenders males should wear, if any, or
how many pleats there should be in a bonnet, or if one should wear a bonnet at all. Groups with
similar policies are held to be "in fellowship" and consider each other members of the same
Christian church. Groups in fellowship can intermarry and have communion with one another,
an important consideration for avoiding problems that may result from genetically closed
populations. Thus minor disagreements within communities, or within districts, over dairy
equipment or telephones in workshops can create splinter churches and divide multiple
communities.

Some of the strictest Old Order Amish groups are the Nebraska Amish ("White-top" Amish),
Troyer Amish, the Swartzendruber Amish. Nearly all Old Order groups, besides the "Swiss
Amish", speak Deitsch in the home, while more progressive Beachy Amish groups often use
English in the home. Amish who leave the old ways often remain near their communities, and
in general, there are levels of progression from strict Amish to more liberal groups (usually
Mennonite).

Baptism, rumspringa, and shunning:

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 who had already been baptized as children). Amish children are expected to
follow the will of their parents in all issues, but when they come
of age, they are expected to make an adult, permanent
commitment to God and the community.

Rumspringa (German/Deitsch, "running or jumping around") is
the general term for adolescence and the period leading up to
serious courtship during which rules may be relaxed a little. As
in non-Amish families, it is understood as a practical matter that
there will likely be a certain amount of misbehavior during this
period, but it is neither encouraged nor overlooked. At the end of
this period, Amish young adults are expected to find a spouse and
be baptized. A small number choose not to join the church, but to
live the rest of their lives in wider society. Those young people
who choose to leave the church prior to being baptized are usually
not shunned, and may maintain close contact with their families.
Some Amish communities will actively shun those who decide to leave the church after having
been baptized, even those going to a different Amish congregation with different doctrines. Still
other communities practice hardly any shunning, keeping close family and social contact with
those who leave the church, even after baptism. Some communities have split in the last
century over how they apply the practice of shunning, as in the case of Swartzendruber Amish
who split from the wider Amish community over the strict-shunning issue. Shunning is also
sometimes imposed by bishops on church members guilty of offenses such as using forbidden
technology. Church members may also be called to confess before the congregation.

          Religious services:

The Old Order Amish have worship services every other Sunday at private homes. Since the
average district has 169 members, they are often seated in several different rooms,[1] men
separate from women. Worship begins with a short sermon by one of several preachers or the
bishop of the church district, followed by scripture reading and silent prayer, and another,
longer sermon. The service is interspersed with hymns from the Ausbund, sung without
instrumental accompaniment or harmony. Singing is usually very slow, and a single hymn may
take 15 minutes to finish. Worship is followed by lunch and socializing. The service and all
hymns are in Deitsch. Amish preachers and deacons are selected by lot (based on Acts 1:23–26)
out of a group of men nominated by the congregation. They serve for life and have no formal
training. Amish bishops are similarly chosen by lot from those selected as preachers.

An Amish hymnal or Ausbund Communion:

Generally, the Amish hold communion in the spring and the autumn, and not necessarily during
regular church services. Communion is only held open to those who have been baptised. As with
regular services, the men and women sit in separate rooms. The ritual ends with members
washing and drying each other's feet.[5]

                 Baptism:

The Amish practice of adult baptism is part of the admission into the church. Admission is
taken seriously; those who choose not to join the Church can still visit their friends and family,
but those who leave the church after joining are shunned by the entire Amish community.
Those who come to be baptized sit with one hand over their face, to represent their submission
and humility to the church. Typically, a Deacon will ladle water from a bucket into the Bishop's
hand, and the Bishop will sprinkle the head three times, in the name of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, after which he blesses each new male member of the church and greets each into the
fellowship of the church with a holy kiss. His wife similarly blesses and greets each new female
church member.

                Weddings:

Weddings are typically held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in November to early December, after
the harvest is in. The bride wears a new blue linen dress that will be worn again on other formal
occasions. She wears no makeup, and will not receive an engagement or wedding ring because
the Ordnung prohibits personal jewelry. The marriage ceremony itself may take several hours,
followed by a community reception that includes a banquet, singing and storytelling. Newlyweds
spend the wedding night at the home of the bride's parents. Celery is one of the symbolic foods
served at Amish weddings. Celery is also placed in vases and used to decorate the house instead
of flowers.[6] Rather than immediately taking up housekeeping, the newlywed couple will spend
several weekends visiting the homes of friends and relatives who attended the wedding.

                  Funerals:

A modern Amish cemetery in 2006. Stones are still plain, small, and simple.Funeral customs
appear to vary more from community to community than other religious services. In Allen
County, Indiana, for example, the Amish engage Hockemeyer Funeral Home, the only local
funeral director who offers a horse-drawn hearse and
embalms the body. The Amish hold funeral services in
the home, however, rather than using the funeral parlor.
Instead of referring to the deceased with stories of his
life, eulogizing him, services tend to focus on the
creation story and biblical accounts of resurrection.
After the funeral, the hearse carries the casket to the
cemetery for a reading from the Bible; perhaps a hymn
is read (rather than sung) and the Lord's Prayer is
recited. The Amish usually, but not always, choose
Amish cemeteries, and purchase gravestones which are
uniform, modest, and plain; in recent years, they have
been inscribed in English. The deceased are dressed by family members of the same sex: men
and unmarried women in white clothing, and married women in their wedding outfits. After a
funeral, the community gathers together to share a meal.

   Lifestyle and culture:

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. The use of tobacco (excluding cigarettes, which are considered
"worldly")[7] and moderate use of alcohol[8] are generally permitted, particularly among older
and more conservative groups.

    Modern technology:

Modern and Amish transportation in Pennsylvania.The Amish, especially those of the Old
Order, are probably best known for their avoidance of certain modern technologies. The
avoidance of items such as automobiles and electricity is largely misunderstood by outsiders.
The Amish do not view technology as evil, and individuals may petition for acceptance of a
particular technology in the local community. In some communities, the church leaders meet
annually to review such proposals. In others, it is done whenever necessary. Because the Amish,
like some Mennonite groups, and unlike the Catholic or Anglican Churches, do not have a
hierarchical governing structure, differing communities often have different ideas as to which
technological items are acceptable.

Telephone booth set up by an "English" farmer for emergency use by local Amish families.
Electricity, for instance, is viewed as a connection to, and reliance on, "the World," the
"English," or "Yankees" (the outside world), which is
against their doctrine of separation. The use of
electricity also could lead to the use of worldly
household appliances such as televisions, which would
complicate the Amish tradition of a simple life, and
introduce individualist competition for worldly goods
that would be destructive of community. In certain
Amish groups, however, electricity can be used in very
specific situations: for example, if electricity can be
produced without access to outside power lines.
Twelve-volt batteries, with their limited applications,
are acceptable to these groups. Electric generators can be used for welding, recharging batteries,
and powering milk stirrers. In certain situations, outdoor electrical appliances may be used:
lawn mowers (riding and hand-pushed) and string trimmers, for example, are known to be used
in some communities. Some Amish families have non-electric versions of vital appliances, such
as kerosene-powered refrigerators.

Amish communities often adopt compromise solutions involving technology, which may seem
strange to outsiders. For example, many communities will allow gas-powered farm equipment
such as tillers or mowers, but only if they are pushed by a human or pulled by a horse. The
reasoning is that Amish farmers will not be tempted to purchase more land in order to out-
compete other farmers in their community if they still have to move the equipment manually.
Many Amish communities also accept the use of chemical pesticides and GM crops, forgoing
more common Amish organic farming techniques.

The Ordnung is the guide to community standards, rather than doctrine that defines sin. For
example, the four Old Order Amish communities of Allen County, Indiana, are more
conservative than most; they use open buggies, even during the winter, and they wear black
leather shoes even in the hot summer. The restrictions are not meant to impose suffering. In
the 1970s, for example, a farmer near Milan Center, Indiana, was ordered by his bishop to buy a
conventional tractor. He had severe progressive arthritis, and with no sons to harness the
horses for him, the tractor was seen as a need, rather than a vanity. The rest of the community
continued farming with horses.

Although most Amish will not drive cars, they will hire drivers and vans, for example, for
visiting family, monthly grocery shopping, or commuting to the workplace off the farm —
though this too is subject to local regulation and variation. The practice increases the geographic
reach of the Amish, and decreases isolation: a horse can travel only about 25 miles (40 km), and
then it must rest for a considerable period, restricting the Amish to a radius of 12.5 miles (20.1
km) from home. Moreover, a horse and buggy can only sustain 10 mph (16 km/h) over an
extended distance, and thus is impractical for emergencies.[9] Regular bus service between
Amish communities has been established in some areas, and train travel is accepted. Hiring a
taxi is forbidden on Sundays, as is any transfer of money.

The avoidance of telephone technology is also often misunderstood. The Amish dislike the
telephone because it interferes with their separation from the world: it brings the outside world
into the home, it is an intrusion into the privacy and sanctity of the family, and it interferes
with social community by eliminating face-to-face communication. However, some Amish, such
as many of those in Lancaster County, use the telephone primarily for outgoing calls, but with
the added restriction that the telephone not be inside the home, but rather in a phone "booth"
or shanty (actually just a small out-building), placed far enough from the house as to make its
use inconvenient. Commonly, these private phone shanties are shared by more than one family,
fostering a sense of community. This allows the Amish to control their communication, and not
have telephone calls invade their homes, but also to conduct business, as needed. In the past,
the use of public pay phones in town for such calls was more common; today, with dwindling
availability of pay phones because of increased cellphone use by the non-Amish population,
Amish communities are seeing an increase in the private phone shanties.[10] Many Amish,
particularly those who run businesses, use voicemail service.[11] The Amish will also use
trusted "English" neighbors as contact points for passing on family emergency messages. Some
New Order Amish will use cellphones and pagers, but most Old Order Amish will not.[12]

           Language:

In addition to English, most Amish speak a distinctive High German dialect called Pennsylvania
German or Pennsylvania Dutch, which they call Deitsch ("German"). It is not descended from
the Dutch language, but is closest to the German dialect Schwäbisch,[citation needed] the
dialect of German spoken by the Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians). The English term
"Dutch" originally referred to all forms of the German language, whose own name for itself is
Deutsch.

Although now limited primarily to the Amish, and to the Old Order Mennonites, Pennsylvania
German was originally spoken by many German-American immigrants in Pennsylvania,
especially by those who came prior to 1800. The so-called Swiss Amish speak an Alemannic
German dialect that they call "Swiss." Beachy Amish, especially those who were born roughly
after 1960, tend to speak predominantly in English at home. All other Amish groups use either
Pennsylvania German or "Swiss" German as their in-group language of discourse. There are
small dialectal variations between communities, such as Lancaster County and Indiana speech
varieties. The Amish themselves are aware of regional variation, and occasionally experience
difficulty in understanding speakers from outside their own area.

Deitsch is distinct from Plautdietsch and Hutterite German dialects spoken by other Anabaptist
groups.

             Dress:

Amish girls in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.Dress code for some groups includes
prohibitions against buttons, allowing only hooks and eyes to keep clothing closed; others may
allow small undecorated buttons in a dark color. In some groups, certain articles can have
buttons and others cannot. The restriction on buttons is attributed in part to their association
with military uniforms, and also to their potential for serving as opportunities for vain display.
Straight-pins are often used to hold articles of clothing together. In all things, the aesthetic
value is "plainness": clothing should not call attention to the wearer by cut, color, or any other
feature. Prints such as florals, stripes, polka-dots, etc., are not allowed in Amish dress, although
these styles have been adopted by fellow Mennonites.

Women wear calf-length plain-cut dresses in a solid color, such as blue. Aprons are often worn
at home, usually in white or black, and are always worn when attending church. A cape, which
consists of a triangular piece of cloth, is usually worn, beginning around the teenage years, and
pinned into the apron. In the colder months, a long woolen cloak is sported. Heavy bonnets are
worn over the prayer coverings when Amish women are out and about in cold weather, with the
exception of the Nebraska Amish, who do not wear bonnets. When a girl becomes available to be
courted, she wears a black bonnet[citation needed]. These unmarried women also wear a white
cape.[citation needed]

Men typically wear dark-colored trousers and a dark vest or coat, suspenders (Brit. braces),
broad-rimmed straw hats in the warmer months, and black felt hats in the colder months.
Single Amish men are clean-shaven; if they are available to court women, they will put a dent
in their hat. Married men grow a beard. In some more traditional communities, a man will grow
a beard after he is baptized. Moustaches are not allowed, because they are associated with the
military, and because they give opportunity for vanity. The avoidance of military styles has
origins in the religious and political persecution in 16th and 17th century Europe. Men of the
nobility and upper classes, who often served as military officers, wore moustaches but not
beards, and the pacifist Amish avoid moustaches because of this association. The wearing of
beards, however, is largely based on the same beliefs against shaving that lead Hasidic Jews and
conservative Muslims not to shave their beards. (Amish men who wear beards do not abhor
shaving: some men grow a fringe of beard around the edge of the face while shaving the hair off
the front of the face, including the moustache. These men refrain from shaving the throat.)

During the summer months, the majority of Amish children go barefoot, including to school.
The prevalence of the practice is attested in the Pennsylvania Deitsch saying, "Deel Leit laafe
baarfiessich rum un die annre hen ken Schuh." (Some people walk around barefooted, and the
rest have no shoes.) The amount of time spent barefoot varies, but most children and adults go
barefoot whenever possible.

       Health issues:

Some Amish are afflicted by heritable genetic disorders, including dwarfism (Ellis-van Creveld
syndrome), and are also distinguished by the highest incidence of twins in a known human
population, various metabolic disorders, and unusual distribution of blood-types. Since almost all
of the current Amish descend primarily from about 200 founders in the 18th century, some
genetic disorders from a degree of inbreeding do exist in more isolated districts. However,
Amish do not represent a single closed community, but rather a collection of different demes or
genetically-closed communities.[13] Some of these disorders are quite rare, or even unique, and
they are serious enough that they increase the mortality rate among Amish children. The
majority of the Amish accept these as "Gottes Wille" (God's will); they reject any use of genetic
tests prior to marriage to prevent these disorders as well as genetic testing of unborn children
that would discover any genetic disorder.

There is an increasing consciousness among the Amish 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
Amish community in Canada.

Amish do not carry private commercial health insurance. The Amish of Lancaster County,
however, do have their own informal self-insured health plan, called Church Aid, which helps
members with catastrophic medical expense. About two-thirds of the Amish there enroll.[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] Treating genetic
problems is the mission of Dr. Holmes Morton's Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg,
Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatments for such problems as maple syrup urine
disease, which previously was fatal. The clinic has been enthusiastically embraced by most
Amish, and has largely ended a situation in which some parents felt it necessary to leave the
community to care properly for their children, an action which normally might result in being
shunned.

A second research and primary-care clinic, patterned after Dr. Holmes Morton’s clinic, the DDC
Clinic for Special Needs Children, is located in Middlefield, Ohio. The DDC Clinic has been
treating special-needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders since May 2002. The DDC
Clinic provides treatment, research, and educational services to Amish and non-Amish children
and their families. The DDC Clinic is open to all children.

Most Amish do not practice any form of birth control, hence their large families, and are
against abortion. They also find "artificial insemination, genetics, eugenics, and stem cell
research" to be "inconsistent with Amish values and beliefs".[16]

Suicide rates for the Amish of Lancaster County were 5.5 per 100,000 in 1980. The overall
suicide rate in 1980 in the USA was 12.5 per 100,000.[17]

                 Education:

                                  Amish schoolhouse
                    in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1941.

Amish schoolchildrenThe 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.[18][19] 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 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 miles (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. However, 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.
[20]

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 that 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.

Relations with the outside world:

Amish buggy rides offered in tourist-oriented Shipshewana, Indiana.The Amish 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 to work hard. Parents will
supervise the children in new tasks, to ensure that
they learn to do them effectively and safely. The
modern child labor laws conflict with allowing the
Amish parents to decide whether their children are
competent to perform hazardous tasks.

Contrary to popular belief, some of the Amish vote,
and they have been courted by national parties as
potentially 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. 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.[21]

Like many Mennonites, 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 United States Social
Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance, they need not pay these taxes. In
1965, this policy was codified into law.[22] Self-employed individuals in certain sects do not pay
into, nor receive benefits from, United States Social Security, nor do their similarly-exempt
employees. Amish employees of non-exempt employers are taxed, but they do not apply for
benefits. A provision of this law mandates that the sect provide for their elderly and disabled;
one visible sign of the care Amish provide for the elderly are the smaller Grossdaadi Heiser or
Daadiheiser ("grandfather house"), often built near the main dwelling. The Amish are not the
only ones exempt from Social Security in the United States. Ministers, certain church
employees, and Christian Science practitioners may qualify for exemption under a similar
clause. The Amish pay other taxes the same as other American citizens.

The Amish have, on occasion, encountered discrimination and hostility from their neighbors.
During the 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. 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. 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;[23] she required thousands of dollars' worth of surgery to her
face (which was paid for by an outpouring of donations from the public).

Portrayal in popular entertainment:

Movies:

Peter Weir's 1985 acclaimed drama Witness is set and filmed in the Amish community of
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The story focuses on the interaction and culture clash of an
Amish family with a Philadelphia detective hiding among them while he investigates a murder
that an Amish boy witnessed. The film won an Oscar for screenwriting, and it was nominated for
several other Academy Awards. 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, and the relationship she develops with an Amish woman who helps her to uncover
the truth. 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.

Some comic movie portrayals of the Amish include Randy Quaid’s Amish character "Ishmael
Boorg" in Kingpin, directed by the Farrelly brothers in 1996, and the 1997 For Richer or Poorer,
starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley, also about city folk hiding among the Amish. Rob Reiner's
1994 comedy, North, includes a short vignette sequel to Witness, with two of the original actors,
Kelly McGillis and Alexander Godunov, portraying what might have happened to their
characters after the end of Witness. The 1968 comedy The Night They Raided Minsky's is the
story of an Amish girl who goes to New York in the 1920s to be a dancer, and ends up as a
burlesque stripper.

Novels :

Amish farmers involved in murder mysteries are also central to Paul Levinson's 1999 Locus
Award-winning novel The Silk Code, a science-fiction mystery about biotechnology and
mysterious deaths, and Jodi Picoult's 2000 novel (and 2004 TV movie) Plain Truth, a crime
drama about the death of a newborn infant on an Amish farm. The Amish are portrayed in
other novels, including Lurlene McDaniel's 2002 The Angels Trilogy, and Beverly Lewis'
extensive series of Amish romantic fiction.

Older novels:

Helen Reimensnyder Martin's 1905 novel Sabina, A Story of the Amish, like 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 she was still a student at the University of Michigan and receiving that school's
Hopwood Award, so harshly depicted the Amish of Indiana that Joseph Yoder was motivated to
correct its harsh stereotypes with a better book about Amish life; thus, 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.

Children's literature:

An Amish family is tenderly portrayed in Marguerite de Angeli's 1936 children's story Henner's
Lydia. Many of the author's illustrations were sketched at the site of the little red schoolhouse
still standing at the intersection of PA route 23 and Red Schoolhouse Road west of Morgantown,
Pennsylvania; the building is today known as the Amish Mennonite Information Center. The
Lancaster County landscape portrayed in the end papers of the book can be recognized in the
landscape today. 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.

Theater:

An early portrayal of the Amish, the 1955 Broadway musical show Plain and Fancy, is also set in
Lancaster County, but with a much lighter tone: it tells the story of a couple from New York
who encounter the quaint Amish lifestyle when they arrive to sell off some property. This show
brought depictions of shunning and barn-raising to the mainstream American audience for the
first time. Another play that features the Amish people is Quiet in the Lands, a Canadian play
about the Amish struggles in World War II.

Television:
In 1988 NBC aired a family drama called Aaron's Way about an Amish family who move to
California and have to adjust to a non-Amish lifestyle; numerous TV shows have had individual
episodes with Amish characters and storylines, including Pinky and the Brain, Picket Fences,
Murder She Wrote, MacGyver, Grey's Anatomy, Tales of the Gold Monkey and Cold Case,
among others.[24]. In the summer of 2004, a controversial reality-television program called
Amish in the City was aired on UPN, where Amish teenagers are exposed to non-Amish culture,
by living together with "English" teens while the Amish teens decide if they want to be baptized
into their church. [25] On October 7, 2007, the CBS TV show Cold Case featured the episode
"Running Around," in which the team re-opens the 2006 case of a missing Amish girl who was
murdered during her rumspringa journey to Philadelphia.

Music:

"Weird Al" Yankovic's 1996 parody Amish Paradise and the accompanying music video was an
affectionate send-up of Coolio's earlier hip-hop song Gangsta's Paradise, with Yankovic in
Amish garb, and lyrics reflecting Amish themes.

Similar groups:

As Anabaptist religious groups that avoid automobiles and live apart from the outside world, Old
Order Mennonites, Hutterites, and Old German Baptist Brethren are sometimes considered by
outsiders to be the same as the Old Order Amish. However, all were distinct groups before
emigrating from Europe, with different dialects and separate cultural and religious traditions.
The Hutterites, who live communally, come from the same broad Anabaptist background, but
were never Mennonites. They use the most modern farming methods on their colonies' farms,
including extended- and crew-cab pickup trucks for personal transportation.

Quakers are unrelated to the Amish, although the early Quakers were influenced to some
degree by the Anabaptists, and were also "plain people" in manner and lifestyle. Modern
Quakers have since abandoned their traditional dress.

Despite the vast differences between the two groups, the French version of the film Witness
mistranslated "Amish" as "Mormon."

Abuse controversy:

Several recent high-profile cases have brought attention to sexual abuse of children among the
Amish in some of the smaller more isolated communities, which has been called "almost a
plague in some communities."[26] Bishops and preachers of Old Order groups settle conflicts
and mete out punishment for sins (generally in the form of shunning), and sexual abuse may
therefore be less-often reported to law enforcement. Those who are mistreated have little
recourse, and may be shunned for seeking outside help. Mary Byler was raped over a hundred
times between the ages of 8 and 14 by her brothers; she was excommunicated and shunned for
reporting her abusers.[27] David Yoder, who grew up in a conservative Swartzentruber Amish
family, recalls one man who committed incest with his daughter, and was punished with 90 days
of shunning.[28] Another young woman was repeatedly raped by her brother-in-law, who was
eventually punished by being shunned for two-and-a-half months.[29] Some groups have also
been accused of tolerating severe physical abuse of children.[30] Although the rate of physical
or sexual abuse does not appear to be higher in the Amish community than in the general
public, their physical and social isolation from the outside world makes it difficult for victims to
seek help.

The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Intelligencer Journal published a four-part series on
domestic abuse, child abuse, and child sexual abuse inside Amish (and Mennonite) families from
the heart of PA Dutch country. These articles suggested that abuse may be systematically
silenced inside Amish (and Mennonite) churches, because of the emphasis on Gelassenheit and
male authority in the church. The series, published on August 4, 2004, won a state-wide award
for Best Public Service reporting in Pennsylvania. It began with an article entitled "Silenced by
Shame: Hidden in Plain Sight," and ended with an article entitled "The Ties That Bind Can
Form the Noose." As the article "Beliefs, Culture Can Perpetuate Abuse in Families,
Churches" makes clear, child and spousal abuse is often concealed and denied in the service of
other church ends. One reaction from an Old Order woman was the following: "They made
Plain women look too stupid and ignorant to know how to get help."[31]

The Amish community recently has started to address the issue of abuse awareness. The Amish
publisher Pathway Publishers, for example, has run several series in its magazine Family Life
that touch on the subjects of sexual and physical abuse. Pathway Publishers has also distributed
free-of-charge resources for the abused and their families. Some Amish communities have
objected to the articles, preferring that the subject not be raised, and claiming that these
problems exist only among the "English".[32]

        References:

^ a b Amish Country News — Ask Uncle Amos

^ Julia A. Ericksen; Eugene P. Ericksen, John A. Hostetler, Gertrude E. Huntington (July
1979). "Fertility Patterns and Trends among the Old Order Amish". Population Studies (33):
255-76. ISSN 00324728. OCLC 39648293.

^ Nolt, S. M. A History of the Amish, Intercourse:Good Books, 1992, p. 104

^ Nolt, S. M. A History of the Amish, Intercourse: Good Books, 1992

^ Brad Igou (1995). Amish Religious Traditions. Amish Country News. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.

^ See this page and this page for more about the tradition associating celery with Amish
weddings.

^ "The Amish vs. Tobacco." by Brad Igou. 1992. Amish Country News. [1]

^ "Ohio's Amish seek help for underage drinking." By Amy Beth Graves (AP). Sunday, May
21, 2000. Cincinnati Enquirer [2]

^ Purdue University

^ See, for example, [Dan Morse "Still Called by Faith to the Booth: As Pay Phones Vanish,
Amish and Mennonites Build Their Own"], The Washington Post, September 3, 2006, p. C1; see
also Diane Zimmerman Umble's work on the subject of the Amish and telephones.

^ Kraybill, Donald Amish Enterprise: From Plows to Profits, Baltimore:Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2004.

^ Howard Rheingold "Look Who's Talking", Wired, January, 1999, http://www.wired.
com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html

^ Hostetler, J.A. Amish Society 4ed., Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p.
328

^ Rubinkam, Michael (October 5, 2006). Amish Reluctantly Accept Donations. The Washington
Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.

^ The Daily Item — Doctors make house calls in barn

^ Margaret M. Andrews and Joyceen S. Boyle (2002). Transcultural concepts in nursing care.
Lippincott. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.

^ Kraybill et al. "Suicide Patterns in a Religious Subculture: The Old Order Amish,"
International Journal of Moral and Social Studies 1 (Autumn 1986).

^ Dewalt, Mark W (April 10, 2001). Amish Schools in the United States and Canada — Abstract.
Education Resources Information Center.

^ Ediger, Marlow (1992). Reading in Old Order Amish Schools — Abstract. Education Resources
Information Center.

^ Hostetler, John A. (1993). Amish Society 4th ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, p. 188.

^ Nolt, pp. 66-67

^ U.S. Code collection

^ "Amish girl hit with beer bottle"

^ Brad Igou, "The Amish in the Media," Amish County News, 2001/2005

^ It should be noted that the conduct of the teenagers involved, and the allowance of the
community for the teens to participate, would not be condoned by the majority of the Amish.

^ Legal Affairs — The Gentle People

^ ABC News: Sexual Abuse in the Amish Community and ABC News: Sex Abuse Case Shocks
Amish Community

^ Amish Deception 1: Learn the truth about the Swartzentruber Amish community in Ohio:
Chapter 5 Page 2

^ Amish Deception 1: Learn the truth about the Swartzentruber Amish community in Ohio:
Chapter 5 Page 3

^ Amish Abuse: Amish Deception

^ Kraybill, D.B. and J.P. Hurd (2006). Horse-and-Buggy Mennonites : hoofbeats of humility in a
postmodern world. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, p. 159-160.

^ Rensberger, Susan. (2003) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding the Amish. New
York, Alpha Books (Penguin Group), p. 181 - 183

Further reading:

Die Botschaft (Lancaster, PA 17608-0807; 717-392-1321). Magazine for Old Order Amish
published by non-Amish; only Amish may place advertisements.

The Budget (P.O. Box 249, Sugarcreek, OH 44681; 330-852-4634). Weekly newspaper by and for
Amish.

The Diary (P.O. Box 98, Gordonville, PA 17529). Monthly newsmagazine by and for Old Order
Amish.

DeWalt, Mark W. Amish Education in the United States and Canada. Rowman and Littlefield
Education, 2006. 224 pp.

Garret, Ottie A and Ruth Irene Garret. True Stories of the X-Amish: Banned, Excommunicated
and Shunned, Horse Cave, KY: Neu Leben, 1998.

Garret, Ruth Irene. Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life, Thomas More, 1998.

Good, Merle and Phyllis. 20 Most Asked Questions about the Amish and Mennonites.
Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1979.

Hostetler, John A. ed. Amish Roots: A Treasury of History, Wisdom, and Lore. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989. 319 pp.

Hostetler, John A. Amish Society, 4th ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. 435
pp.

Igou, Brad. The Amish in Their Own Words: Amish Writings from 25 Years of Family Life,
Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1999. 400 pp.

Johnson-Weiner, Karen M. Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 304 pp.

Keim, Albert. Compulsory Education and the Amish: The Right Not to be Modern. Beacon
Press, 1976. 211 pp.

Kraybill, Donald B. The Riddle of Amish Culture. Rev. ed.: Baltimore, Md.; London: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2001. 397 pp. Kraybill, Donald B. ed. The Amish and the State.
Foreword by Martin E. Marty. 2nd ed.: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. 351 pp

Kraybill, Donald B. and Marc A. Olshan, ed. The Amish Struggle with Modernity. Hanover, NH:
University Press of New England, 1994. 304 pp.

Kraybill, Donald B. and Carl D. Bowman. On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites,
Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. 330pp.

Kraybill, Donald B. and Steven M. Nolt. Amish Enterprise: From Plows to Profits. 2nd ed.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. 286 pp.

Kraybill, Donald B., Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher. Amish Grace: How
Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. New York: Jossey-Bass, 2006. 256 pp.

Nolt, Steven M. A history of the Amish. Rev. and updated ed.: Intercourse, Pa.: Good Books,
2003. 379 pp.

Nolt, Steven M. and Thomas J. Myers. Plain Diversity: Amish Cultures and Identities.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. 256 pp.

Schachtman, Tom. Rumspringa: To be or not to be Amish. New York: North Point Press, 2006.
286 pp.

Schlabach, Theron F. Peace, Faith, Nation: Mennonites and Amish in Nineteenth-Century
America. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1988. 415 pp.

Schmidt, Kimberly D., Diane Zimmerman Umble, and Steven D. Reschly, eds. Strangers at
Home: Amish and Mennonite Women in History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
2002. 416 pp.

Scott, Stephen. The Amish Wedding and Other Special Occasions of the Old Order
Communities. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1988. 128pp.

Stevick, Richard A. Growing Up Amish: the Teenage Years. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2007. 320 pp.

Umble, Diane Zimmerman. Holding the Line: the Telephone in Old Order Mennonite and
Amish Life. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. 192 pp.

Umble, Diane Zimmerman and David L. Weaver-Zercher, eds. The Amish and the Media. Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2008. 288 pp.

Weaver-Zercher, David L. The Amish in the American Imagination. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2001. 280 pp.

External links:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Amish"Amish" from Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Amish at the Open Directory Project

Amish 101 — Amish Beliefs, History & Lifestyle

Amish in Lancaster County

Amish links

"Amish Series & Articles" — from Amish Country News

Amish Studies

Countries and Their Cultures: Amish

The Gentle People — Legal affairs article about how incest is handled in the Amish community
An article about a hate crime against the Amish in Wisconsin

Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard — from 60 Minutes, CBS News

"Family Ties" — Article from University of Miami "Medicine" magazine, Spring 2004 —
During a lifetime of studying the Old Order Amish in central Pennsylvania, University of Miami
professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences Janice Egeland, Ph. D., discovers the genetic
clues behind the mystery of bipolar disorder and helps generations of families cope with the
devastating disease.

The Amish Get Wired — The Amish? — 1993 article by Paul Levinson in Wired about the
Amish's selective and not technophobic use of technology

Look Who's Talking — 1999 article by Howard Rheingold in Wired about the same topic
Article in Baltimore Sun on Amish Grief

The Amish in Missouri, from the Missouri Folkore Society

Annotated Bibliography of the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Adrian
L. Whicker, MA, MLIS.

One Room Schoolhouse