Am interested in learning about the Amish.

[Sitka]

I am writing an article for The Old Farmer's Almanac about the Amish.
I have noticed that quite a few folks on BYC know Amish people. I'd be interested to hear what you think is the most interesting part of their culture. Also, what MYTHS about the Amish have you heard?
Thanks for any insight!

 

[PeepsInc]

I met an Amish family once. They were very nice people. They teach there children German so they wont be corrupted by outsiders. I don't know at what age they learn English. The little boys wear gowns just like the little girls until there potty trained. . From what I saw, the words German Craftsman describe the Amish. I wish I knew more about there way of life. Peace!

 

[19hhbelgian]

I can't say I've heard any myths... Although I might just let them go in one ear and out the other if I have.

The amish kids reach a certain age, and are left to go explore the world and do what ever they want. That is when they are supposed to decide if they are going to stay in their culture, or leave (if they'd leave, they would be shunned and never welcome again, from what I understand).

Only the old order amish follow the no electricity,no new "gadgets" ... Others it is ok to use a cell phone, or have electric. (heck, I've seen them coming out of victoria secret with bags at the mall

)

They will not own a car, but believe me, they will spend THOUSANDS of dollars to buy a flashy buggy horse!

The amish are people just like we are, just with different beliefs. They are not exempt from being dishonest or anything of the sort - it's just that a lot of people like to think they are... We have Amish friends, and they talk to us and joke around just like our non-amish friends do

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Hmmmm, all I know is that Harrison Ford movie.

 

[Carole AM]

We live in the heart of Amish country. They are like us in a way that there are good & bad people in all of us. We have Amish friends too, but my experience with them & their animals is another story altogether.

I won't go into details here, but I know they don't pay taxes, don't give their animals needed shots and are high on the list for puppy mill breeders. PM me if you want to know my experiences.

 

[Rosalind]

I grew up in Lancaster, PA. My dad's side of the family is Amish and Mennonite.

It's not true that they refuse to use any technology at all. It's more like, they are extremely judicious about use of technology, and take the attitude, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." A horse and buggy works better for them because repairing modern cars is a lot harder than fixing a broken buggy wheel. And they are extremely frugal. We have old farming implements in our family that are identical to displays that you'll see in museums--except ours are still in use, because they still work and we took care of them over the centuries. They do use modern medicine.

Socially, it very much resembles Communist Russia, in the sense that there is little incentive to excel at anything; in fact, if you excel or are very creative at any particular thing, you'll be accused of "breaking up the community" because your success makes other people feel bad if they are not also successful. Also, they have had many centuries of experience in being self-sufficient and they don't like to mess with a method that works for maintaining a society. Conformity is the rule.

Economically, the large families provide lots of cheap labor, and if you have cheap labor and plenty of good farmland, then it's far less expensive to run a farm self-sufficiently and without electricity or diesel.

They don't marry outside of their religion--that would mean leaving the entire community, and few people want to leave all their families and friends. So they have a much higher rate of genetic disorders due to inbreeding: polydactyly, deafness, metabolic disorders, autism, MR/DD, etc. Some are so rare that only two or three people in the whole world have ever had those genetic disorders. There's a clinic in Strasburg PA for helping the families cope with such disorders, and they work with geneticists to figure out what gene exactly is causing the problem.

The Anabaptists (Amish & Mennonite) came to the US in the early 1700s after confirming with William Penn that land was available. They paid the local Native Americans (Delaware and Susquehannock) and William Penn for the land in cattle, processed fiber, some metal goods. They originally left their homes in South Germany and Switzerland because they refused to join the army or serve a turn in the canton government. They don't take any oaths for religious reasons, believing that the Bible forbids it, so they refused to take the citizenship oaths to the Swiss cantons and the loyalty oaths to the South German kings. A few religious leaders were beheaded, and they emigrated to tolerant Holland before leaving for Pennsylvania.

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them, but since my dad quit the community in favor of college and modern technology, I don't know as much as someone raised in it. They do use the internet, believe it or not--it's great for farm sales of Amish-made gift baskets and so forth--so maybe someone here will be of more help.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Well, I don't know too much about their beliefs, jsut know that they choose to shun a lot of modern technology (or not), but I remember when they had an horrific shooting in one of their schools and killed several children. It was horrible, a man went in and lined them all up and shot them. Then he killed himself. All the mothers of those children visited family of this man, and brought home made pies. On TV they allowed one person to interview him, the wuestion was put "Why (or how) do you forgive this man for such an act on your children" His response was "If we don't forgive hm, who will forgive US when we get to Heaven?" It was so, so heartbreaking to watch hundreds of them attend the funeral for all these children. They later tore the school down

 

[kuntrygirl]

do they have websites where they sell things that they make? if so, can someone post some websites?

 

[Rosalind]

Link to a directory of lots of Amish products.

 

[kassy68]

Quote:
Well I'm in the Amish Community here.. They do teach the children german, by the time they are 5 they have learned some english through the adult converstations. We are called "English" to them and they reach an age of right of passage for lack of a better word. They have the choice to go out and be English or stay with their group. We've had a few Amish kids go on to college and such. They are very very kind people and generally hard workers. Like Carol said , you find all types.. good and bad.
Also, they do not pay all of the same taxes we do.. But they DO pay land and state tax like the rest of us. I would not want to be them , but I do respect the way they live and the strong community bond. If a house or barn or business burns to the group. They all pitch in to rebuild it, they do not carry insurance for medical or property.. but surrounding Amish communities also pitch in and somewhere they have like the "head" of them which has funding saved for situations that may arise. Maybe I can snap you some pictures today.. They don't pose for pictures so they may be candid.. but I'd love you to see the 12 yr old boys out doing hay or running the horse driving plows they use. forgive all the grammer and typos.. still working on my first cup of coffee.
the biggest complaint here from people is that they will take rides into town and use English neighbors phones often.