Who are the Amish? Harbingers of a new race from the past? Who are the Amish (16 facts).
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The Amish is a movement of followers of Jacob Amman.
It arose in 1693 in Switzerland, but, due to persecution, the Amish had to leave Europe and move to America.
Most of the Amish now live in the United States, but they also live in Canada. 10 facts about the Amish
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Lost world, or come in large numbers here ...
Village photographer's notes
There are several religious ethnic groups in America such as Mormons, Quakers, Orthodox Jews, and others. One such group is the Amish, of which there are about a quarter of a million in the United States.
The largest populations of Amish in the United States are found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and northern Indiana. Central Illinois also has Amish Country, home to about a thousand Amish families (about 4 thousand people).
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Last Saturday, heading to Urbanovka, we made a detour to Arkola (about 30 miles to the south) with purely mercantile goals - namely, to buy normal meat and chicken for ourselves and friends. We flew by with meat - the slaughterhouse closed at 3 o'clock, a couple of minutes before our arrival, and the rest was taken from the heart (including rabbit meat, which is not trivial to find in ordinary stores).
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The Amish, for the most part, are peasants, tied to the land, and are practically subsistence farming, not using chemistry, genetics, and other remnants of civilization. They eat only what they have grown themselves, and are happy to sell the surplus of production in the form of meat, poultry, milk, eggs, cheese, and other products. Often they supply food to the civilized world in normal stores, but the quality (and price) in their stores will certainly be better. In addition, Amish restaurants are not uncommon in those places. They are also actively involved in the production of wooden furniture, which is both appreciated and worth it.
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16. The local Amishevsky regional center is located in the city of Artur, founded in 1865.
It will be warmer - it will be necessary to ride there.
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The Amish adhere to a very simple and isolated way of life, and often do their best to avoid the benefits of civilization. So, for example, the Amish do not have cars, and in most cases they move on horse-drawn carts (which is interesting - ordinary carts, at least in the winter version, are completely closed, and the reins are twitching from the inside).
18. Carriage with a trailer.
19. A smart man snatched a sofa for himself.
The reason that the Amish don't have their own cars is quite funny - people live in communism, and having a car is considered a luxury, and this is impermissible as it provokes inequality or the appearance of such. Moreover, using non-Amishev cars from the world (taxis, neighbors) is quite acceptable. It is also quite acceptable to use agricultural machinery (judging by this guy)
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Although the cultivation of the land and other agricultural work is carried out mainly with the help of horses. The average Amish family has about 80 acres (32 hectares) of land in use - poor horses ....
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The Amish use little or no electricity. The reason is quite funny - they believe that electrical wires connect them with the outside world, which is contrary to the Bible and their religious foundations (the Amish are a closed society, and communicate with civilization only to the extent of (commercial) necessity, therefore they completely banned television, radio and the Internet). They naturally use electricity as needed (pay attention to the right turn signal). For example, in stores, they use gas for lighting, and refrigerators and cash registers naturally electrical. The trick is that electricity is produced here by a diesel or gas generator, and not taken from the central grid.
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Judging by the distributor on the pole, their generators are very powerful. Although the option of a local community power plant is not excluded.
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The average Amish family has 6-7 children and their households are very strong and solid. Moreover, they are constantly growing and expanding (the average increase in the Amish population is 4% per year! And given the closeness and the fact that all this quarter of a million Amish comes from the first 200 settlers, one can imagine the level of incest and a bunch of genetic diseases).
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Amish clothing is strict and simple. No frills, minimal range. What is fashionable women's clothing they do not know.
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By the way, for religious reasons, the Amish cannot be photographed. Oops...
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The Amish do not go to regular schools and believe that 8 classes of education are sufficient for a normal existence. They make their schools according to the old model, where all the students of the school study in one room. And only from school (theoretically) do the Amish begin to speak English. Prior to that (in the family), they speak their own Pennsylvania German dialect.
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The Amish are united by one religion, and the family and the church are the main thing. They are Anabaptists (Christians) and, as a rule, go through two baptisms in life - in infancy and in conscious age. Before getting a haircut into a real Amish, young people are given freedom of choice and allowed to go into the world, but only a few do it ... Despite the fact that the basis of Amish culture and life is the church, the Amish (at least the Old Believers) do not have classic churches ... In Arthur's area there are about 27 parishes ???, each of which consists of 30-35 families. Services are held in own homes in turn, i.e. in fact, every house is a church ...
Amish life
Amish - adherents of the old traditional image life. Most of them wear clothes and hats of certain colors and antique styles, ride in horse-drawn carts, use only steel wheels, and plow the land with a horse plow. Children and women walk barefoot in warm time of the year. Amish are forbidden to serve in the army, take pictures, drive cars and fly on airplanes, have computers, televisions, radios, wear wrist watch and wedding rings.
34 Amish in a light stroller in Lancaster, Pennsylvania May 19. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
Amish marriages are made only with their fellow believers.
35. A farmer with a dog in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
The Amish are scrupulous about agriculture, still cultivating the land with plows.
36. Farmers work in a field in Lancaster May 19. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
In their free time, Amish men make furniture, Amish women sew clothes, in both cases everything is done by hand and in fashion. early XVIII century.
37. Amish farmer plows a field in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
Since the Amish marry exclusively with representatives of their communities, genetic diseases of the same type are common in their environment, and women often have miscarriages, however, the Amish fertility is traditionally high, there are 8-10 children in families, as a result of which every generation their number is doubling.
38. Cows at Matthew Stolzfuss's farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
Upon reaching a certain age, the Amish have the right to leave Father's house for 3 years and go to live in " external world", Where they can sin as they please, but at the end of this period, the Amish must return home and make a decision: either he completely immerses himself in the traditional Amish way of life and remains in the community, observing all the rules of behavior, or he leaves the community forever, lives as he wants, and then even the closest relatives will never again give him a helping hand, no matter how much he needs it.
41. Amish farmers work in a cowshed on a farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
42. The bike lies on the edge of a farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
Realizing that they belong to the same denomination, the Amish nevertheless split into different groups.
43. A farmer carries buckets in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 19. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
44. An Amish farmer plows a field in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
45. Amish farmer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
46. The hat hangs on the doorframe of a house in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
47. Amish on a farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
48. Amish cart. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
49. Traditional Amish cart in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
50. Amish cart passes by a farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
51. Amish farmer plows a field in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
52. Amish children ride a cart in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
53. Matthew Stolzfuss (right) at his farm in Lancaster. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
One of the most famous groups religious minorities in the world, the Amish are famous for their traditional lifestyle. They live much simpler than the vast majority of people, often at the expense of Agriculture and fishing. Around this group, which separated from the Mennonites several centuries ago, there are many legends, so let's try to figure out what is really true.
1. Origin of the Amish
The term "Amish" comes from the name of Jacob Amman, a Swiss Anabaptist and Mennonite who fiercely advocated literal interpretation of the Bible. His ideas caused a split in the church, and the Amman followers who left with him became known as the Amish.
2. Baptism and marriage
Baptism among the Amish occurs most often at the age of 18-22. Until this happens, the person is not allowed to marry. Also, at the time of marriage, both future spouses must be in the church.
3. Nonviolence
The Amish are notorious pacifists and reject any form of violence. That is why they did not participate in any war.
4. Faceless dolls
Anyone who sees Amish dolls without knowing anything about them in advance will probably remember a couple of horror films. They simply don't have faces. Faceless dolls are believed to keep people from pride and vanity. Also for a similar reason, the Amish do not play on musical instruments by arguing that tools represent a method of self-expression that will stimulate the development of a sense of pride and superiority.
5. Rumspring
When a child in an Amish family turns 16, he becomes a "room spring". For a certain amount of time, he is allowed to go out and do things that are generally prohibited in the Amish community. During this time, the teenager must decide whether he will be baptized and become a member of the Amish Church or leave the community permanently.
6. Amish in numbers
The Amish first emigrated to North America in the early 1700s and initially settled in Pennsylvania. Today, more than 300,000 Amish live in more than 28 states in the United States and Canada.
7. The role of women among the Amish
A woman in an Amish family is primarily a housewife whose duties include cooking, household and helping neighbors. “In public,” a woman, as a rule, follows the example of her husband.
8. Avoidance and excommunication
Amish can punish members of their society with two different ways... The first is “avoidance,” in which community members restrict all contact with the offender in order to shame him and point out the fallacy of his path. The more serious punishment is “excommunication”. This is a complete cessation of contact with a person and his expulsion from the community. Even parents must cut off contact with their child if the child has been excommunicated.
9. Cars
In general, it is a well-known fact that the Amish cannot use motorized vehicles such as cars. They mainly use horses and gig carriages.
10. Famous beards
If you just look at an Amish man, you can tell right away if he is married or not. After the wedding, every Amish immediately begins to grow a beard.
11. Women's dresses
Amish women have a different tradition after marriage. They put on their wedding dress (which they must sew themselves) for Sunday church services.
12. Education
Amish children study in small schools for one class with teachers from the community. After the end of this primary education the child begins to receive vocational training (for example, agricultural and carpentry skills) from his family and community members.
13. Preaching
Those looking to join the Amish Church will face certain challenges. First, you need to learn the German dialect spoken by the Pennsylvanian Amish (some speak only German), and also give up the modern conveniences that the Amish simply do not have. The new convert is settled in an Amish family to adapt to their lifestyle. After a sufficient period of acclimatization in the church, a vote is taken on the appropriateness of recognizing a potential convert as a member of the community.And in continuation of the topic about one more people with interesting story - .
The Amish is a movement of followers of Jacob Amman. It arose in 1693 in Switzerland, but due to persecution, the Amish had to leave Europe and move to America. Most of the Amish now live in the United States, but they also live in Canada.
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1. Bundling. This is a tradition according to which a young couple should sleep in the same bed for a certain time, but not touch each other. It looks like a bed for young people - an ordinary double, but with a board separating the two berths. Now this is already a rarity, but you can still find bundling in such a form, when a young bride sleeps for a month in a bag in which her mother puts her. And in the morning, the mother checks that the bag is in place and that the husband does not touch the young wife.
2. Ordnung (order). This is a list of rules that the elders of this community took for faith long ago. This is a list of not only religious but also civil rules. They are all based on the Bible.
3. Technology. The Amish are characterized by carts and manual labor. Everything is done by hand or with the help of livestock, mainly horses. For all its complexity and laboriousness, all Amish baked goods are considered the tastiest in the United States.
4. Clothes and style. Belts, gloves, ties, sneakers: prohibited! The Amish have a very simple dress code according to their general philosophy of life. Married men must grow beards at the same time mustaches are completely prohibited. Women are not allowed to wear patterned clothing or jewelry, and they are not allowed to cut their hair. The length of clothing is strictly regulated by the ordnung of the community.
5. Amish are different. All Amish are different. If we count by the main branches, then there are eight of them, but they are fragmented even more because for example, in one community, the length of the allowed hat brim may be shorter than that of its neighbors, and this is, in principle, a big problem that can lead to disputes between communities.
6. Punishments. Losing a beard is a big problem, it is a loss of status and respect. The Amish even have gangs that engage in such deeds. Recently, one such gang that cut beards was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 15 facts of such crimes.
7. Inbreeding. Let it be known to you that all American Amish descended from only 200 families. Those. Amish have a big problem with inbreeding i.e. closely related ties. Therefore, they often have sick children who often die. The death rate among Amish newborns is very high. The Amish themselves say: "This is the will of God ..."
8. Health. Amish health scores are about 2 times better than any American. All this is associated with a healthy lifestyle.
9. Rumspringa. Amish teenager has the right to choose his life. He is given a period during which he must make a decision: to stay in the community and become an Amish, or to leave the community permanently and never return and never meet with relatives.
10. Meidung. Violation of the ordnung and expulsion from the community. For example, communication with a girl outside the community, constant contact with people outside the community. Meidung is for life. You cannot go back to the community.
Many of you have probably never even heard of the Amish.
The Amish are a kind of people living mainly in the United States. Unlike the Mormons, who can be said to own the state of Utah, the Amish do not have their own country as such, although they do own land. Amish country is a figurative expression indicating the areas where the Amish live. They are a full-fledged people - with their own culture, customs and traditions.
Amish- Christian movement of Mennonite origin. The founder is Jacob Amman, a priest from Switzerland who emigrated to Alsace. Amish church doctrine can be characterized as the most conservative variant of Mennonism.
A significant part of the modern Amish (more than 200 thousand) live in the United States and Canada. Most conservative groups The Amish of the USA preserve Pennsylvania Dutch in everyday life (distorted by deutsch).
After long and widespread persecution in their homeland for the custom of baptism in adulthood and opposition to the alliance of church and state, the Amish finally found a safe haven in America thanks to the prominent Quaker William Penn. The Amish, radical Mennonites from Switzerland and the Palatinate, were repeatedly martyred in their homeland at the hands of intolerant opponents, often put in sacks and drowned in rivers. Since the very life of the Amish was at stake, they migrated en masse to Pennsylvania at the invitation of William Penn, as part of his "holy experiment" of religious tolerance. 1727 Game Empire Total war(Sega 2009)
The main feature of their creed is a stricter adherence Holy Scripture... The Amish attach paramount importance to the provision of separation of church and state contained in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. The main part of them, whenever possible, refuses any technical means that connect them with the outside world: electricity, water supply, central heating, telephone, etc.
The Amish are adherents of the old traditional way of life. Most of them wear clothes and hats of certain colors and styles, ride in old horse-drawn carts, use only steel wheels, and plow the land with a horse plow. Children and women go barefoot during the warmer months. Amish are forbidden to serve in the army, take pictures, drive cars and fly in airplanes, have computers, televisions, radios, wear wrist watches and wedding rings. Amish marriages are made only with their fellow believers. In their free time, Amish men make furniture, Amish women sew clothes, in both cases everything is done by hand and in the fashion of the early 18th century. Since the Amish marry exclusively with representatives of their communities, genetic diseases of the same type are common in their environment, and women very often have miscarriages, however, the Amish fertility is traditionally high, there are 8-10 children in families, as a result of which generation their number doubles. Upon reaching a certain age, the Amish have the right to leave their father's house for 3 years and go to live in the "outside world", where they can sin as their soul pleases, but at the end of this period, the Amish must return home and make a decision: either he is completely immersed in the traditional the Amish way of life remains in the community, observing all the rules of behavior, or he leaves the community forever, lives as he wants, and then even the closest relatives will never again give him a helping hand, no matter how much he needs it. As a result, the Amish, unprepared for life in modern society, often becomes an outcast of this society and, not finding their place in it, returns to live in the community. More often than not, Amish women from the “outside world” do not return to the community. On the gravestones of the deceased, the Amish do not write their names, surnames, dates of birth and death, since they believe that the dead no longer need it.
For all their lifestyles, the Amish are very wealthy people. They sell furniture, clothes (all this is handmade, made antique), and since the Amish conduct natural agriculture, with the arrival in America by the beginning of the 90s, fashion for healthy image During their lives, their agricultural products began to be bought up in large quantities and at high prices by Americans concerned about their health.
Most Amish do not have special religious buildings, and meetings take place in turn in the homes of community members. Services run through Sundays. On Sundays when there is no service (Friendship Sunday), the Amish rest and visit friends. Each Amish community has two preachers. The bishop and deacon serve in two congregations, conducting services in them alternately on different Sundays.
The Amish population is more than 200 thousand people, according to ethnicity they are mostly Alsatians. Realizing that they belong to the same denomination, the Amish nevertheless split into different groups. The most conservative is the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church. In 1866, the Evangelical Mennonite Church was founded in Indiana as a result of the Amish spiritual revival movement. In 1910, the Conservative Mennonite Conference was formed. Its adherents began to hold services in special meetinghouses, organized Sunday schools... Another splinter organization, the Amish Mennonite Churches of Beachy, allowed the use of cars, tractors, and electricity. The same organization conducts and missionary work which is not practiced by other Amish. On the territory of the CIS, there is a small community of Amish Beachy in Cherkassy (Ukraine).
More about the Amish
The history of the Amish dates back to the 17th century chronologically, and to Germany and Switzerland geographically. The Amish have nothing to do with Denmark and Holland. Accordingly, the Amish language is German. They still speak their own language, which is different from modern German. That is why in the USA the Amish are called “Dutch”, and they call the Americans “English”. There is even a community in Indiana where the Swiss dialect of German is spoken.
The Amish are an offshoot of the Mennonites. Let me remind you that the Mennonites are a Protestant movement characterized by Anabaptism (re-baptism), which arose in the 40s of the 16th century. Mennonites, like all Anabaptists, do not recognize the baptism of children and believe that faith is a conscious matter, and everyone must decide the choice of faith for himself. Therefore, they were baptized again, at the age of 16-20, not counting early baptism (which was an unambiguous heresy for Catholics). The Amish not only share this position, but it greatly affects the very structure of their society. Already taking into account this provision of the doctrine, it is not entirely correct to speak of the Amish as a sect. The Amish have always recognized tolerance both in theory and in practice, albeit with reservations, because the Amish society itself is still mono-confessional. In addition, the Amish, unlike other Protestant movements and sects, never preached their doctrine. This is partly due to another important point in Mennonite teachings - nonviolence. Mennon rejected the political, militant purpose of the church (as preached by the Anabaptists Münzer and John of Leiden), and even wrote a special essay against John of Leiden and his claim to power. The Amish, like the Mennonites, have always stood outside of war and politics. Therefore, it would be wrong to say that the Amish do not recognize the US state, they, in principle, like consistent Mennonites, ignore politics and wars. Pacifism is a strict Amish rule that not only are not allowed to fight or use violence, but even keep weapons. The Amish did not participate in any war.
So, we have established that the Amish descend from the German Mennonites. They can be called "conservative Mennonites", and this conservatism related not only and not so much to faith as to a way of life. Or in other words, the Amish perceived the way of life as something closely related to faith and soul. The history of the church (and, accordingly, the people) of the Amish began with the split of the Mennonite group of Switzerland and southern Germany in 1693. The leader of the "schismatics" is Jacob Amman, and the Amish got their name from him. Like all Mennonites, the Amish were persecuted, persecuted, and therefore their emigration from Europe is understandable. In the early 18th century, at the invitation of William Penn, the Amish migrated south American state Pennsylvania. And now it is Pennsylvania, or rather the "county" of Lancaster, that can be called the "Amish country." They are home to more than 20 thousand people, just as many Amish live in Ohio. In total, there are now about 225 thousand Amish living in the United States (22 states) and Canada (Ontario). How did such a big people, where did it come from and how did it survive? The answer is simple - it didn’t come from anywhere and didn’t move in any way! In the 1720s, about 300 people moved to Pennsylvania, from which the Amish people originate. Emigrants also came in the 19th century, but in any case, the people as such were already formed in America. Amish large families(usually 7-8 children). Demographers estimate that the Amish population is doubling every 16-20 years. Of course, this growth is especially surprising against the background of today's general demographic crisis in developed countries. Therefore, do not be surprised that the Amish did not play a role in the history of the 18th and 19th centuries - they were perceived as a bunch of eccentric settlers, and in America there were a lot of them. Although in the 19th century they did not look very eccentric in their everyday life. In every second article in a magazine or on the Internet, you can read that they have preserved the way of life and lifestyle of the 17th century. Of course, these are fairy tales. The Amish themselves refute this, which is emphasized in the words in the epigraph. Why do superficial observers say this? Because for them, anything that does not resemble modern life is the "17th century", although the Amish have a lot from the 18th century, and from the 19th, and even from 20. The Amish are really very conservative, but their conservatism is meaningful. Only by looking closely will we understand that the Amish are not an isolated society, they are included in common civilization... But it has significant autonomy in all aspects - from political to moral and everyday life. So. The people as such arose and began to form - according to culture, according to the principles of faith, and even according to blood - in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. His history is not so rich in events, but he himself is no less interesting for that. Here we come just to the question, why are the Amish important to us, why are they so special? In what ways are they not like Mormons, for example?
Interest in the Amish awakens in everyone who first hears about them. The Amish are in many ways an analogue of the Old Believers. But it’s not about traditionalism, the point is that the Amish do not recognize modern civilization! And it is not just words. The Amish society is not an archaic society unfamiliar with civilization, it is a society of people who did not accept progress in all its negative manifestations, who perceive it very wary, and borrow innovations only when necessary. Precisely out of necessity - after all, such a sharp increase in the number of people gives rise to many problems. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of the Amish still live according to the old way.
The Amish do not recognize modern technology and electricity, although they do not consider them to be something devilish. Rather harmful, for the soul and for the community. As they believe, modern technology separates people, makes them individualists. Moreover, it is a whim, a luxury not necessary for life. Therefore, they do not live in the 17th century, but they are not present in the 21st century either. This is, as it were, another dimension, a real alternative history (which, according to the usual unreasonable notion, is the lot of science fiction writers only). That's why I'm talking about Amish society as a real dystopia - they live in real world rather than on paper. This is not a utopia (as some ordinary people misinterpret Amish society), but a practical dystopia. “As if” the Amish turned into “it is,” showing us that our civilization and way of life are not the only ones possible.
A few words about the way of life and the rules of society (= people) Amish.
The Amish don't use cars. None, including the tractor. Carts, horses, plow. This immediately sets the Amish out of modern society... Of course, Amish buys a bus ticket or rides in a car when urgently needed - they have no superstitions. But owning a car, driving it is out of the question.
Further. Electricity is not used for any purpose. Houses are heated with wood. Traditional stoves or gas are used for cooking. Utensils, as you can see, are more typical for the 19th century than for the 17th and 18th centuries. But the cut of clothes is old - one-color dresses and caps for women. Black pants, white shirts, and long-brimmed hats for men. Buttons are not allowed, as for the Amish they are associated with military uniform and thus - with the army.
No computers, TVs, radios, phones, washing machines and they do not use other things. For Americans, hand-washed clothes drying on a rope are certainly exotic. Curiosity about the Amish is compounded by the fact that they do not allow any images of people (more precisely human faces). Photos of an adult Amish are rare. Why an adult? Because the prohibitions do not apply to children so strongly - they are not baptized, and the commandments do not apply to them with such severity. But pay attention - the Amish are not against photographs and cameras as such - they are against portraying people. In this, by the way, they follow the ancient Hebrew tradition.
The picture emerges more than amazing, especially since the whole life of the Amish cannot be called archaic - they use modern materials when building houses and agricultural buildings (which can be clearly seen in the photographs), plumbing, fabrics. But at the same time they have forges and they produce a lot of things, first of all furniture and embroidery.
Until recently, the Amish were predominantly farmers, but nowadays they are increasingly engaged in crafts, because there is not enough land. All this once again shows the dynamism and vitality of the Amish society, which are not trivial retrogrades and orthodoxies. Again, the Amish are not a sect, and not an island from the past. This is a unique alternative society.
What attracts the observer in this society, in addition to the unusual way of life? Undoubtedly, the proper social and cultural foundations. The Amish live in communities; there has never been any "patriarch" or "prophet" (like the Mormons). Moreover, community elders can receive own solutions, due to which there are differences between different communities, but not leading to confrontation. The Amish are pacifists and don't serve in the army. They do not recognize the state and do not participate in elections. At the same time, they pay some taxes (forcedly, of course). No medical insurance is provided. And as far as I understand, they do not have passports. Such is the amazing antisocial society, anarchism in action. But at the same time there is no confusion, this is a monolithic society with its own way of life. Most of all the Amish resemble peasants, only free peasants.
About religiosity. Yes, faith plays in their lives big role... But with other sects and even churches, the Amish have little in common. To begin with, they have no temples or houses of prayer. There are no icons, of course, and, accordingly, the home "red corner". There is no priesthood either. Baptism takes place around the age of 18, on average. And baptism is not just a ceremony, but joining a church, a change in life. That's a "religious sect"! How much people love to hang labels instead of figuring out the essence of the matter. I think the picture will be completed by mentioning the frequency of services - they are held every Sunday, that is, twice a month. And their life itself is not at all imbued with religious rigorism, as we will see later (I will give a description of life and customs in the second article).
The Amish are not at all ascetics, they fully recognize games, decorating things, delicious food. Even their attitude towards sex is not as strange as in ordinary Christianity - there is no attitude towards it as a sin. Morality is present at the same time. And the foundations of morality are simplicity, modesty. Again, our observation shows the unity of everyday life and psychology in the life of the Amish. Moderation is a virtue for them, but not an ideal, but rather a norm, everyday life. Women's clothing expresses it well - dresses different colors, but all solid, long and without cutouts. The furnishings of the rooms are simple and uncomplicated, but they make a very pleasant impression due to their coziness and neatness.
Amish motivation
Why do Amish live like this and not otherwise? The simplest answer is because you are used to it. Of course, habit is always present in everything. A student, transferring from class to another, gets used to new teachers and classmates. There are a lot of examples. But a habit, and even more so rules, principles of life can be consciously developed! Those who talk about the natural, spontaneous development of society should not forget about it. Civilization is not nature, and society in many respects lives according to developed principles, ideas voiced, turned into commandments. Only among the Amish are these principles more meaningful, more reasonable and more natural. They are not just protest, they are positive. By rejecting violence and politics, the Amish placed themselves outside the society of their time. Rejecting modern technology, they put themselves outside of all civilization. But the refusal took place not through cutting off, not through impoverishment, but through the preservation and strengthening of one's own, built on a different basis. The Amish Society is a vibrant alternative society whose purpose is not to protest, but to live a fulfilling, friendly life. This is not paradise, in the daily life of the Amish there is a lot of work, sometimes difficult (but not "work" for strangers). A hard, but at the same time more natural and joyful life than we all know. And let's not forget about the proximity to nature, which may not be recognized by the Amish, but is beautifully visible to us from the outside. Such an anachronism, from the point of view of the majority, is a stupid archaism that has no future, sectarian quirks. But look at the pictures of children at play, look at the pictures of everyday life ordinary people not aiming for the stars. Personally, I have the feeling that I have fallen into a fairy tale, and it becomes kindly enviable. There are also disadvantages in Amish society, and there will be more talk about them. But to study such a unique society of people who consciously live differently from everyone else, we simply have to. If, of course, we want to better understand ourselves, see our possible future. To illustrate, she is a worldly parable, a story about a visit by tourists to the Amish. The story is taken from the Amish site (I will explain: the sites are not made by the Amish themselves, but by their friends and well-wishers, so this is more of a site about the Amish).
“So let me tell you a story. A few years ago, a group of 52 people took the bus to see how the Amish lived. A meeting was organized for them with one Amish who answered their questions. The first question was, "What does it mean to be Amish?"
Amish thought for a bit, and then he asked a question of his own. "How many of you have a TV in your house?" Fifty-two hands went up. "Now tell me, how many of you think that perhaps you would be better off without TV?" Again fifty-two hands went up. "Okay. Now, how many of you are going to go home and get rid of the TV? " Not a hand went up.
“Now I’ll tell you what it means to be Amish. In our church, if we see that it is harmful to our soul, we will do without it. And the rest of the world does not know what to do in this case. We believe that posing for photographs is part of a worldwide delusion aimed at glorifying our bodies. The Bible tells us that inner man matters more. And facial features should not influence our attitude towards a person, his assessment. We will return to dust and dust. Why take shots and decorate the walls of the clay house in which we live with photographs? Let us beware lest we exalt ourselves by turning into an idol. "
Amish ideas not only lay at the origins of their society, but also continue to guide the thoughts of today's Amish, trying to dissociate themselves from modern America, and thus with the modern civilized world as a whole.
Amish is a movement of followers of the Mennonite ideologue from Switzerland Jacob Amman, which appeared in Europe at the end 17th century... Persecution forced many Amish people to immigrate to America. To this day, they jealously cherish their traditions, strikingly different from modern Americans.
Following the letter of the scripture
The Amish take literally everything the Bible says. If it says “be fruitful and multiply,” then so be it. This is why the Amish population in America is doubling every 20 years. While among the general population of the United States, the average birth rate does not exceed two children per family, the Amish have 6-7 offspring. Today at North America is home to about 200,000 Amish.
Given that all North American Amish prefer to find mates within their community, they are faced with the problem of inbreeding - closely related incest, which generates a lot of genetic abnormalities and high level mortality among newborns. Realizing the danger of endogamy, the Amish impose a ban on marriage between cousins sisters, but the union between second cousins is still allowed.
Without leaving home
Traditionally, Amish communities do not build places of worship and conduct all services at home, following in this scripture, where the church is not defined as a building, but as an assembly of people. During the liturgy, which lasts 3 hours, men and women stand separately, listening to the sermon and singing chants in the Pennsylvanian dialect of German.
If many people gather in the house where the service is held, then the pastor has to move from room to room in order to bypass all the parishioners. By the way, Amish pastors do not undergo special training, as is customary in other churches, but are determined by lot.
Ban on civilization
The Amish are an extremely gated community. They don't recognize technical progress, effectively isolating oneself from the benefits of civilization. Ordnung (the Amish code of life) bans the use of mains electricity, telephones and computers. Refrigerators and bathrooms are prohibited in the most conservative communities.
Amish are not allowed to drive a car, much less have one, but they can use a bus or train. Traditional view Amish transport - a horse-drawn carriage, however, the maximum travel distance should not exceed 40 kilometers, since the animal cannot be overloaded.
Amish clothing is also strictly regulated. Only simple garments made from natural materials - no sneakers, jeans, belts, gloves, ties, pockets or even buttons (they are replaced by fasteners or pins).
Only necessary
Reject Amish and traditional school education, since, in their opinion, it is overloaded with completely unnecessary disciplines. Their children attend small community schools where they learn only reading, writing and arithmetic.
After the end of the 8th grade, boys and girls receive vocational training primarily in the field of agriculture, as well as all kinds of crafts. The Amish leave only what helps them survive. Everything else is from the evil one.
Selective violence
The Amish reject any cooperation with the outside American community: they refuse to serve in the army, to obey any order from the authorities or the police. In their own way of interpreting the sermons of Christ, they do not allow themselves to be drawn into the judicial system, viewing it as a manifestation of violence and aggression.
However, in some cases, violence within the community is highly encouraged. When children show disobedience, they make faces, curses, or outbursts of anger, they inevitably receive corporal punishment.
The main advantage
Amish men follow a strict rule. Once they get married, they are obligated to grow a beard - only a beard, not a mustache. A beard for them is a sacred attribute, and its forcible cutting, which can occur during a quarrel between representatives of different families, is equated with sacrilege. Such a crime is punishable by a prison term.
The fact is that, according to American law, cutting off the Amish's beard is tantamount to a crime against religious freedom, and here community representatives are ready to cooperate with the authorities. For example, in 2013, an Ohio jury sentenced the organizer of a beard-cutting attack to 15 years in prison, and his 15 accomplices received sentences ranging from one to seven years.
There is a board between us
Typically, an Amish couple who are about to tie the knot do not have an intimate relationship prior to the wedding. Young people can lie in the same bed, but they will be fenced off from each other by tucked-in blankets and a board fitted between them. Sometimes the mother of the bride can sew her child into a canvas bag, in which the girl will be until the morning. And so on for a month.
Do what you want
One more interesting custom among the Amish - "rumspringa" (literally "fugitive"). In the period from 14 to 16 years, every teenager receives the right to independently explore the outside world, subjecting himself to all its temptations. After all, the Amish are consciously baptized only at the age of 16 and before that they are not considered full members of the religious community.
Rumspringa will not be condemned by its brethren for wearing youth clothing, not for driving a car, not for sexual promiscuity, not even for using drugs. Moreover, the teenager may no longer return to the community, but typically over 90% of the fugitives end up with the Amish.
Don't make an idol
Curious that Amish baby dolls are deprived of distinctive features- face, hair, fingers and in general coloring. This can be explained simply: the Amish believe that only God has the right to create images of people, even if it is a toy. Faceless dolls create a uniformity that prevents one toy from looking better than another, or a desire for vanity.
This can explain the ban on posing for photography. The Amish believe that taking such pictures is tantamount to breaking the commandment "do not make yourself an idol." However, a photo or video taken in a relaxed manner is allowed by the Amish. Therefore, in the Amish passport, we will either not see a photograph at all, or there it will be captured in a natural environment, say, against the background of nature.