The "A Few Facts About Lancaster's Amish You May Not Know" Story

Over the life of my blog I have shared many stories about my life amongst the Amish community.  Every thing from taking you with me when I visited a shop where buggies are made to buying food at Lancaster's Central Market from an Amish stand holder.  From time to time I am asked questions that seem like they should have a simple answer, but I may not know the answer.  So, today's story will give you a more in-depth look at The Amish with hopes your questions will be answered.  You may have tuned in the Discovery Channel's show, The Amish Mafia that debuted the end of 2012.  At first it was portrayed as a documentary, but it featured very little that was true.  The series was said to have been bigoted toward and defaming the Amish culture.  That is a pretty good summation of the show.  I hope you realize that just about every feature of the show was meant to sell products during the commercials and not a bit of truth about the Amish.  During my lifetime, which is a bit over 3/4 of a century, the Amish have made a few changes such as inside flush toilets and one telephone for the community.  But, that's about it!  Yeah, you may find a few that have a cell phone or hide a car somewhere that they will drive, but that may be it.  The Amish still speak their own dialect of German which is known as Pennsylvania Dutch.  There are a few other customs that are part of their culture which I will attempt to address at this time.

• The word Amish is a derivative of the name of Jakob Ammann who was a Swiss Anabaptist in the Mennonite church who stressed a literal interpretation of the Bible.  His followers became known as Amish.
• Anabaptists refuse to baptize infants and believe baptism should be done once an individual is able to willingly confess their faith.  Thus, baptism most often happens between 18 and 22 years of age.  Amish may only marry after they are a member of the church.
• The Amish reject any form of violence, thus they never enter the military.  
• Amish dolls are faceless to deter against pride and vanity.
• When a Amish youth turns 16 they enter a period known as Rumspringa.  During this period of time they are allowed to do something that they have been forbidden to do in the past.  Go to a movie, drive a car or even consume alcohol or drugs might be an option for some.
• Today there are over 300,000 Amish in over 28 U.S. states and Canada.
• Musical instruments are verboten since they are said to be a method of self-expression which might encourage feelings of superiority and that's not permitted.
• The woman in the family is to be a homemaker.  In public she is expected to follow her husband's lead.
• An Amish person who doesn't follow the rules may be shunned by members of the community limiting contact with that person to shame them back into the church or by excommunication which will banish them from the community.  If a child is excommunicated, their parents must cut contact with them.  In the "English" world, we would be prosecuted for child abuse!
• The Amish horse and buggy must be the only means of communication that is used.  But, community members who are not Amish may be used for transportation if absolutely necessary.  My wife's cousin drove the Amish for many years in his van.
• Church services are held in members homes.  A different member usually hosts the community each week.  It is not unusual to drive around Lancaster County on a Sunday and see many buggies in the yard.  Means they are hosting the service that week.
• Barn raising are a common sight in Lancaster County.  It is both an economic and social event where the community comes together to build a new or destroyed barn for an Amish neighbor.
  
• If you look at an Amish man, it they have a beard it means they are married.  
• An Amish woman is expected to wear her hand-sewn wedding outfit to church every Sunday after she is married.
  
• The Word of God is above government, but they do separate church from state.
• Amish go to school in a one-room schoolhouse taught by Amish teachers.  They go only until the 8th grade, but might go to a vocational school with family members of the community to learn skills in farming and carpentry.
• You may be excommunicated for owning a computer, drinking alcohol or refusing to kneel in church.
• Amish do not engage in missionary work or evangelism.
• Outsiders are referred to as "English" and Amish are normally not comfortable around them.  The Amish aim for a peaceful existence with the outside world.
• Since Amish have no insurance, they generally do not use modern medicine, but in a serious case they will pool together funds to help one another.
• The Amish do not care to be photographed because they feel the photo is a fixed or graven image which is forbidden in the Bible.
• 80-90% of Amish children stay within The Amish Church.  This fact, plus a high birth rate means that The Amish population doubles every 20 years.
• Finally, if you would care to become Amish, you must learn German and leave behind modern luxuries which are in contrast to Amish society.  You will be put with an Amish family and the church has the final say as to if you would be a member.

There are many other things that you may want to know about The Amish, but I hope I have covered most of them today.  My question to you might be, why would you want to be Amish?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.