The Encyclopedia of World Religions

12 S Amish

with them. Other Mennonites thought that shun ning was too harsh. It meant, for example, that one might have to avoid one’s own children. At one time Amish Mennonites lived in sev eral parts of Europe: Switzerland, Alsace (east ern France), southern Germany, Holland, and Russia. Today the Amish live in North America, where they began to settle around 1720. The earli est immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, especially Lancaster County. Amish immigrants also settled in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. In the last years of the 20th century many Amish were leaving Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and moving farther west, some to the Midwest. Land in Lancaster County had become too expensive. (It is traditional for Amish families to purchase farms for their sons when their sons become adults.) Many Amish also found the publicity they were receiving in Lan caster County distasteful. Amish beliefs and practices are very similar to those of other Mennonites. The Old Order Amish conduct their WORSHIP services in a dialect of Ger man known as Pennsylvania Dutch; this is the language that they ordinarily speak. Other Amish conduct their services in English. Old Order ser vices are known for the slow, prolonged manner in which they sing in unison; a single hymn may take as much as half an hour. Other Amish sing more quickly; like other plain people they sing without instruments and often in four-part har mony. Old Order Amish worship in homes. Other Amish have constructed church buildings. Men and women sit separately. Like other plain people, the Amish celebrate the E UCHARIST in the context of a “love feast.” At this special service, often held in the evening, participants not only partake of the Eucharist but also wash each other’s feet. In doing this, they follow the example of J ESUS , who washed his disciples’ feet at their last meal together (John 13.3–15). The Amish have traditionally shied away from Bible study and THEOLOGY . In their eyes, study sym bolized the sin of pride. But in the late 20th century many Amish were finding E VANGELICAL C HRISTIANITY attractive ( see E VANGELICAL C HRISTIANITY ; F UNDAMEN

TALISM , C HRISTIAN ). They liked its emphasis on the Bible and on cultivating a personal relationship with G OD . Amish groups have bishops, preachers, and elders, all of whom must be men. To avoid pride, these leaders are chosen by lot from candi dates recognized as worthy of the office. A person becomes Amish by being baptized, generally around the age of 15 or 16. Once bap tized, a person is subject to the community’s dis cipline or way of life. Technically, unbaptized chil dren are not subject to the discipline’s rules, and many teenagers from Amish families experience the wilder aspects of life before being baptized. For example, some keep cars “hidden” in distant pastures on their parents’ farms. Nevertheless, an Amish childhood does not simply conform to what is common in the surrounding society. For exam ple, the Amish do not think a modern education is necessary for those who drive horses and buggies, do not use public electricity or telephones, use horses to pull ploughs, and insist that men wear untrimmed beards. In cases of need they may ask their non-Amish neighbors for rides or to take tele phone messages. All plain people are strict paci fists; because soldiers in Europe wore mustaches, their men are not allowed to have them. Despite the extremely plain lifestyle of the Old Order Amish, it would be a serious mistake to see them as unchanging. They change in different ways. Many Old Order Amish own tractors. They use them for power. Amish farmers have invented many pneumatic (air-driven) farm tools. Amish buggies may look plain and old fashioned on the outside. But within the limits of the discipline, the interiors of many buggies are plush. Some even have special sound systems. Further reading: Carl F. Bowman and Donald B. Kraybill, On the Backroad to Heaven (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); John A. Hostetler, Amish Society, 3d ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980); Lucian Niemeyer, Old Order Amish (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993); William I. Schreiber, Our Amish Neighbors (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978).