Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - The Amish people in Pennsylvania are often misunderstood because of their somewhat unusual avoidance custom. The Amish avoid certain modern technologies, don’t drive cars, and refuse all participation in election activities.
The Amish People of Pennsylvania. Credit: Adobe Stock - Andrey-G
The Amish also don’t educate their children past the eighth grade because they feel acquiring more knowledge is not necessary to follow the lifestyle of their people.
They also avoid using buttons on coats and vests and still employ “hooks and eyes in their place.
If a member is censured by his church, he is “avoided” also and must be ignored by all other Amish, his family included.” 1
Being a religious sect, as they are sometimes referred to, it’s easy to assume the Amish avoid so many things because they consider them evil, but that’s not quite the case.
The Amish people in North America originate from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
The Amish people have Anabaptist origins. Anabaptism is a Christian movement that traces its beginnings to the Radical Reformation.
The Anabaptists were persecuted during the Counter-Reformation by Roman Catholics and Protestants alike. Anabaptists believed in adult baptism and rejected infant baptism, which was unacceptable to other Christian movements.
Living conditions in Europe became difficult for the Amish people who immigrated to Pennsylvania and neighboring states in their search for religious tolerance in the early 18th century. In time, from being just a couple of hundred, they managed to grow to 300,000 members.
The Amish don't have television or radio, but they are curious about other people. They are friendly and polite if treated with respect. They do not consider technology evil, and if someone is disabled, they can apply for an electric wheelchair.
Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA. Credit: The Cad Expert, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Amish are not anti-technology, but they want to maintain a separation from the wider world, and technology is not considered helpful to their traditional rural way of life.
“Throughout their history the Amish have used the same religious materials – song books, prayer books, and favorite Biblical passages – that were used by their people back in the early 1700s. Biblical passages such as “… and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:1) and “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…” (II Corinthians 6: 14) support a posture of semi-isolation from the non-Amish community, reminding members that there should be as little interaction as possible with outsiders.” 2
Regarding health issues, education, and relationships, the Amish people rely on the Bible.
Some would say that living as the Amish do has many advantages, but on the other hand, their primitive and isolated lifestyle can sometimes also create problems. Amish populations may have genetic disorders or other problems in closed communities.
Updated on January 13, 2023
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
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Expand for references- Marjorie Tallman -Dictionary of American Folklore
- Schwieder, Elmer, and Dorothy Schwieder – The paradox Of Change In The Lifestyle of Iowa‘s Old Order Amish, International Review of Modern Sociology6, no. 1 (1976): 65-74.
