The Pennsylvania Dutch

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The Pennsylvania Dutch

• May 7th
• 330pm-5pm
• Host
• Michael

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The Amish
Working the fields

• Be not conformed to this world, but be
  transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye
  may prove what is good and acceptable and the
  perfect will of God." (Romans 122)

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Be not conformed

• The Amish society has little, if any, desire to
  participate in our modern world, doing so only
  when necessary. However, because of songs such
  Amish Paradise, movies such as Witness, and
  the huge Amish tourist industry, each Amish
  person accounts for 30,000 dollars per year in
  tourist revenue most of us know some basic facts
  about the Amish.

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Weird Al Yankovics Amish Paradise
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Witness (1985)
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• For example, we know that they are very religious
  people.
• We know that they dress in a particular way with
  clothes that look old-fashioned to us. The Amish
  refer to this mode of dress, and living, as
  plain.

Amish Youths
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• We know they do not use electricity or drive
  cars.
• We know that they do not like to have their
  picture taken.

Amish, Intercourse Pennsylvania
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• We know they tend to live in certain areas of the
  country, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• And, we know that family plays an extremely
  important role in their culture.

Amish Family
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• But beyond these basic facts, the Amish
  remain a mystery to most of us and questions
  still remain such as
• Why can the children use roller blades but not
  bicycles?
• Why will the Amish ride in cars but not own nor
  drive them?
• Why can they use calculators but not computers?
• And, is it true that some of the Amish have
  adopted some items from our modern world, such as
  computers and televisions?

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Historical Background of the Amish

• In 1517, Martin Luther led the Protestant
  Reformation and the breaking away from the
  Catholic Church. Finally fed up with the many
  scandals and the general corruption in the
  Church, after 1,000 years of uninterrupted rule.
  One of his complaints was the sale of indulgences
  to finance the building of Rome's St Peter's
  Cathedral.

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Anabaptists

• In Zurich Switzerland, a group of students and
  craftsmen became impatient with the slow progress
  of reform. They thought that
• Christian practices should be based more in
  Scripture
• Baptism should occur only after a person is able
  to recognize sin
• There should be more separation between church
  and state
• In 1525 the students petitioned the local church
  and civil authorities for change. When their
  appeals were rebuffed, they baptized each other
  in a secret meeting and the Anabaptist movement
  was born. Anabaptist means re-baptize". Church
  and state authorities recognized this new
  movement as a threat to their institutions. They
  quickly declared that the Anabaptists, also known
  as the Swiss Brethren, were heretics and moved to
  stamp them out. The Amish history of persecution
  began.

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• Less than five months after they had rebaptized
  themselves, a member of the Anabaptists was
  executed for sedition against the government.

Anabaptist being burned alive
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• Dirk Willems (? - 1569) was a martyred Anabaptist
  who is most famous for, after his escape from
  prison, turning around to rescue his pursuer, who
  had fallen through thin ice while chasing him.

Compassion for the enemy
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• Despite the persecutions, the movement grew and
  spread throughout Sweden, the Netherlands, and
  Germany.
• However, the persecutions also continued and
  increased. Over the next two centuries, thousands
  of Anabaptists would be killed for their
  religious beliefs. Special hunters would even
  be trained to seek them out, torture, and kill
  them.

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• The persecutions continued in various forms and
  gradually subsided in the 18th century. By then,
  thousands of Anabaptists had sought refuge in
  other countries, including America.
• Today the stories of the early days of the Amish
  religion are contained in the Martyrs Mirror,
  originally printed in 1660. The Martyrs Mirror
  is one of the Amishs most beloved books from
  which they draw strength to continue in their
  faith and beliefs.

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• Another Anabaptist, Michael Sattler, was
  sentenced to be delivered to the executioner,
  who shall cut out his tongue, then throw him upon
  a wagon, and tear his body twice with red-hot
  tongs and after he has been brought without the
  gate, he shall be pinched five times in the same
  manner After the torture, Sattler was burned at
  the stake.

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John Menno and Jakob Amman

• In 1537, a former Catholic by the name of Menno
  Simons joined the Anabaptists. His followers
  would come to be known as Mennonites and some of
  them would later settle in the Alsace region of
  modern-day France. One of these men would be
  Jakob Amman, who, in the 1690s, began to have
  problems with Mennonite and Anabaptist doctrine.

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• The church had drifted from many of its original
  ways, Amman declared, becoming too lenient in the
  process. He called for reform and renewal within
  the Mennonite and the Anabaptist church.
• Some of the problems he had with the church
  revolved around communion. Amman thought that
  communion should be held twice a year instead of
  the annual service that was then being held. He
  also contended that foot washing should be part
  of the communion service something the
  Mennonites had drifted away from.

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• He also disagreed with the manner of
  excommunication of those who disobeyed church
  doctrine. Amman argued that not only should they
  be cast out of the church, but they should also
  be shunned in social circles as well, with true
  believers breaking off all contact with them.
• Amman began to have open disagreements with the
  Swiss Anabaptist bishop, Hans Reist. These
  disagreements came to a head the day that Amman
  and his followers excommunicated Reist and other
  leaders of the church.

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• Despite later efforts to heal this breach, the
  damage had been done and Ammans followers split
  from the Mennonite church in 1693. They would
  later come to be known as Amish, named after
  Jakob Amman.
• After the split, Amman followers adopted their
  own doctrine that included, among other things,
  prohibitions against trimming of beards,
  fashionable dress, and the use of buttons.
  Ammans followers would forgo the use of buttons,
  utilizing hook and eyes instead. They often
  referred to the Mennonite church they had left as
  the button people.

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Amish Genealogy
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1710-1732 - Immigration to America

• Another benchmark in Amish history came when some
  Amish decided to join other suppressed religious
  groups and seek freedom in America. William Penn,
  himself a Quaker, was granted a tract of land in
  America to form a colony. Penns Woods became
  known as the great religious freedom experiment
  in the new world.
• Penn invited many persecuted religious groups to
  Pennsylvania where he promised religious freedom.
  Some Mennonites had been in the new world since
  before the Amish- Mennonite split in 1693.
  Between 1710 and 1732 several groups of
  Mennonites settled near present-day Lancaster.

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Settling in Pennsylvania

• The Amish were but a small part of a large group
  of German speaking peoples that settled
  Southeastern Pennsylvania. English soon
  identified this whole group as Pennsylvania
  Dutch. This term comes from the word Deutsch
  which means German.
• They were a diverse group with many political and
  religious beliefs. They eventually developed
  their own regional dialect which was also
  referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch.

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• These loosely organized communities were subject
  to Indian raids, droughts and crop failures. As
  time went on, some communities failed. But the
  Amish didnt accept failure. They just moved on
  and tried again and again until they found
  somewhere compatible with their Amish lifestyle.
  New Amish communities were formed as more and
  more Amish immigrated to Pennsylvania.

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1816 - Post War of 1812

• This second wave of Amish settled in
• Butler, Fulton, Stark and Wayne Counties in Ohio
• Adams, Allen and Daviess Counties in Indiana
• Woodford and Tazewell Counties in Illinois
• Henry and Washington Counties in Iowa
• Lewis County in New York
• Somerset County in Pennsylvania
• Waterloo and Perth Counties in Ontario

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Amish Demographics

• There are over 250,000 Amish people living in
  over 28 states.
• About two-thirds of the Amish live in
  Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, but they
  continue to spread west, particularly into the
  Midwestern corn belt.
• Every 20 years, the Amish population roughly
  doubles in size, largely due to an 80 to 90
  percent retention rate of Amish children.

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Amish Past and Present
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Old Order Amish

• It is the picture of the Old Order Amish with
  their plain clothes and buggies that comes to
  most peoples mind when they think Amish.
• The Old Order Amish today have deviated little
  from the regulations established by Jakob Amman
  over 300 years ago.

Old Order Amish at a horse auction
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• They still dress plain, do not use electricity,
  do not own or drive cars, do not have telephones
  in their homes, and forbid the use of most modern
  farm equipment, including air-filled tires.
• In an Old Order Amish home, all lighting is
  supplied by candle or oil and gas lamp.
  Bottle-gas appliances are acceptable under the
  Ordnung. The Ordnung, a verbal standard that the
  Amish live by, will be discussed in detail later.
  

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Old Order Amish with farm equipment

• However, look inside an Old Order Amish cow barn
  and you will find a modern automated milking
  system with refrigerated tanks. Because the Amish
  must trade with the outside world to survive,
  they must conform to modern health and
  agriculture laws mandated by the various federal,
  state and local agencies. Thus, the modern
  equipment is necessary. However, it is all
  powered by gas generators, not electricity.

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• Old Order Amish follow strict clothing
  regulations. Men wear black suits without lapels
  or buttons, white or blue shirts, black
  suspenders, black shoes or boots and
  broad-brimmed hats in black felt or natural
  straw. Old Order women wear a frock type dress of
  mid-calf to ankle length with black stockings, an
  apron, black shoes or boots, black cape, and
  either a white "prayer cap" (if baptized) or a
  black hood.
• Only solid colors are worn, with darker colors
  favored over lighter ones. The idea behind the
  dress code is not only that it sets them apart
  from the world, but that is also eliminates pride
  and envy.

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• Men crop their hair, and wear beards, if married,
  but not mustaches as they are associated with the
  military.
• Women do not cut their hair but wear it tied in a
  bun on their head, which is always covered once
  she is baptized.

Amish women
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Young Amish out for a ride

• The Old Order Amish make their own clothes,
  although they do purchase the fabric. Hats,
  suspenders, and shoes can be bought ready-made.
• The buggies they drive vary according to purpose.
  The family buggy will always be covered. Young
  people drive open buggies, such as the one in the
  photo above.

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• Old Order Amish use High German for church
  services, and their Bibles are also printed in
  High German. All Amish can speak English, but
  they use a form of Low German amongst themselves
  in everyday activities.
• The name they give to those outside their order,
  the English, is not viewed by the Amish as
  derogatory, but simply refers to the language
  used most often by the world outside the order.

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New Order and Beachy Amish

• The important thing to remember when studying the
  Amish is that there are many variations within
  the culture. Some are more strict then others in
  matters of religion and society codes. Adherence
  varies from affiliation to affiliation some
  allow one thing while banning another.

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• For example, the New Order and Beachy Amish vary
  greatly from the Old Order in daily life, but not
  in religious practice.
• The New Order Amish are more progressive than the
  Old Order but still restrictive in the use of
  modern items. They use telephones in their homes,
  allow air operated equipment, electrical
  generators, bicycles, and gas pressurized
  lights.  They also allow the use of rubber
  air-filled tires, milking machines and milk bulk
  tanks. However, horses are still mandated for
  field work and transportation. They do not own or
  drive cars.

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• The Beachy Amish have telephones, more modern
  clothing, and utilize modern farm equipment. They
  are also are allowed to own and drive cars and
  meet for worship in meeting houses instead of
  private homes. All but six of the Beachy
  districts now use English in their worship
  instead of German. They refer to their churches
  as fellowships and maintain just enough
  centralization to maintain the sense of
  congregationalism that is so highly valued by all
  Amish.

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• There are approximately 150 districts of Beachy
  Amish. They have fellowships in America, Latin
  America, Africa, Australia, and parts of Europe.
  They are considered by many in the Amish and
  Mennonite communities to be a combination of both
  groups
• The New Order Amish are found almost exclusively
  in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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• Both groups still hold to the Ordnung, like the
  Old Order, but in varying degrees.
• Both groups also differ from the Old Order in the
  issues of Meidung (avoidance), Streng-Meidung
  (strict banning) what we today refer to as
  shunning.
• The New Order and the Beachy Amish practice, for
  the most part, avoidance and not total shunning,
  like the Old Order.

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Amish Religious Life

• Amish are Christians, with all traditional
  Christian beliefs in the Divinity of Christ, the
  Trinity, salvation, etc.
• The Ordnung, roughly translated it means order,
  is a set of oral laws that regulates all aspects
  of Amish society, from religion to family life.
  It is not something that is written down, instead
  all Amish just know it, thats all

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• The Ordnung is something that all Amish grow up
  with and learn by observing adults and their
  behavior.
• In some aspects of life, the Ordnung is very
  specific, such as in the case of how hair should
  be worn. Other areas, such as food issues, are
  more open to individual interpretation.

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• New issues are constantly being addressed in the
  Ordnung as technology advances. It was recently
  decided that transplanting cow embryos was not to
  be allowed but that battery operated calculators
  could be used.
• However, unless a practice begins to cause
  problems within the community, or is something
  that would obviously be forbidden, it is usually
  either overlooked or not addressed within the
  Ordnung.

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• Exemptions are made in some cases. A mental
  challenged child may be allowed to have a
  bicycle, for example, or a family with medical
  problems may be allowed to connect to electricity
  to run needed medical equipment.

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Examples of Practices Prescribed by the Ordnung

• color and style of clothing
• hat styles for men
• order of the worship service
• kneeling for prayer in worship
• marriage within the church
• use of horses for fieldwork
• use of Pennsylvania German
• steel wheels on machinery

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Examples of things prohibited by the Ordnung

• air transportation
• central heating in homes
• electricity from public power lines
• entering military service
• jewelry, including wedding rings and wrist
  watches
• joining worldly (public) organizations
• owning computers, televisions, radios
• using tractors for fieldwork
• wall-to-wall carpeting

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• Amish are typically baptized around the age of
  nineteen to twenty two. Baptism is viewed as a
  vow that the person agrees to submit to the
  church, the community, and the Ordnung.
• Worship services are held every other Sunday in
  homes of members. The services traditionally last
  three hours, starting around 800am, lasting
  until 300pm with the meal that follows.

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• Men and women enter the house through different
  doors and sit separately for worship and eating.
• Except in some New Order or Beach Amish
  districts, services are held in High German.
• The worship service usually consists of
  fellowship, followed by congregational singing, a
  sermon, prayer, reading of Scripture, another
  sermon, more prayer, and a benediction. A meal is
  served afterward.

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• Who will preach is not decided until that
  morning this precludes any feelings of pride.
  However, only ordained men are allowed to preach.
  
• There is no music, offering, cross, candles, or
  any other items likely to be found in a modern
  worship service. The Amish worship as they live
  simply.
• Sunday is considered holy a day when no work is
  to be done or money transacted. Even those few
  who smoke refrain from doing so on Sunday.

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• Communion is held twice a year and only after any
  changes to the Ordnung have been agreed upon and
  the pastors feel all have fully confessed of
  their sins.
• The Communion service will last all day, from
  800am to 400pm, culminating in a foot washing
  ceremony in which all members ritually wash each
  others feet.
• Ministers are chosen by lot from a list of men
  recommended by men in the community.

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• A slip of paper with a Bible verse will be placed
  in a song book each man nominated, who agrees to
  serve, will then take a book from the pile and
  open it. The one whose book has the slip of paper
  is the one who will be ordained.
• Amish ministers receive no pay, and they serve
  for life. A saying among the Amish is only God
  can fire an Amish minister.
• Ministers are then ordained in the church, after
  which their family will be expected to follow the
  Ordnung to the exacting letter.

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• Within the Amish community, a term is often used
  to describe their life style. This word is
  Gelassenheit. It means, roughly translated, a
  yielding or submission, and it signifies the
  Amish life.

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• Gelassenheit involves submission to the family,
  submission to the community, submission to
  tradition, submission to the Ordnung, submission
  to the church, and most important, submission to
  God.

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Day to Day Life little known facts

• The Amish are exempt from paying Social Security
  taxes, however they do pay all other federal,
  state, and local taxes.
• They provide their own social security within
  their communities. Members are taken care of and
  provided for at all stages of life. Everyone is
  expected to contribute to a fund that is used to
  help members who need financial assistance.

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• Musical instruments are not allowed among the Old
  Order Amish, as they believe it would lead to
  pride and the stirring up of emotions.
• Amish do not believe in having their picture
  taken they consider photographs to be graven
  images and thus against Gods law. However, many
  photos of the Amish are to be found. This is
  because while they will not pose for photos, they
  do not object to someone taking an unposed photo
  if permission is asked beforehand.

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On the way to a wedding

• Families are a cornerstone of the Amish
  community, and as such, marriage is an important
  part of life.
• Nine out of every ten adult Amish are married.
• Marriages are traditionally held on a Tuesday or
  Thursday in November, after fall Communion

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• Most couples meet at singings, which are
  similar to country dances. Both must be members
  of the church to marry.
• In October, the names of those seeking to be
  married are published by being read at Sunday
  service. The couple will not attend church that
  day, instead the woman will fix a special meal
  for her finance, which they eat at home alone.
• Amish wedding dresses are blue and have no lace
  or train. This same dress is usually used by the
  woman to wear to church, and she will more than
  likely be buried in it as well.

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• The wedding service lasts for up to five hours,
  after which is a huge feast which continues long
  into the night. The marriage night is spent at
  the house of the brides parents.
• The newlyweds will spend the rest of the winter
  visiting and spending time at various relatives
  houses. It will be spring before they establish a
  home of their own.

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• The Amish believe large families are a blessing
  from God, so contraception is not practiced. The
  typical Amish family has 8.5 children.
• By the age of forty-five, an Amish woman has
  probably given birth to seven children.
• Under the Ordnung, divorce is not allowed

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• Children are usually born at home and attend
  school only through the eighth grade.
• Amish children walk to school, which are usually
  one room buildings.

An Amish classroom
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• After the eighth grade, children are schooled at
  home, learning and working alongside their family
  until they marry and start a family of their own.
  In 1972, the Amish won an exemption from the U.S.
  Supreme Court, granting them exemption from
  Federal or state mandated school attendance. They
  had argued that their religious beliefs teach
  that a child should be schooled at home beyond
  the eighth grade, and to send their children to
  school beyond that would violate their religious
  teaching.

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• In Amish society, woman are viewed as equal
  partners in the marriage, but it is the man who
  holds authority in the family and the church.
  Wives are expected to submit to their husbands.
• Women do help with all aspects of family chores,
  although the men seldom help with household type
  work.

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• While womens rights is not an issue among the
  Amish, some women do wish for more equality and
  more modern conveniences to make their household
  job easier.

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• While more Amish women today own their own
  businesses than in the past, their traditional
  role is still viewed as being in the house taking
  care of home and family.
• The Amish have no prohibition against using
  modern health services or medicines. They view
  these as ways of healing that are blessings from
  God.

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• While the Amish do not celebrate some national
  holidays such as Memorial Day or the Fourth of
  July, they do observe Thanksgiving Day,
  Christmas, New Years Day, and Easter, as well as
  other holidays that spring from their European
  roots, such as St. Michael's Day.

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• The Amish barn rising is another aspect of their
  culture that most people know about. The barn is
  started in the morning and finished by that night.

Seven in the morning
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• One day work/social events, like the barn
  raising, are called frolics. Hundreds of people
  may come together to build a school, help plant a
  field, or women may gather to help clean a house
  or make a quilt. Women also hold Sisters Day,
  where all the sisters in a family gather one day
  a month to visit and chat. They will usually work
  on a quilt during that time, or clean a house.

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• While the Old Order Amish can not own cars, they
  often pay someone to drive them to various places
  too far to drive their buggy.
• Amish also take vacations to such places as
  Europe. Although they are forbidden to fly, they
  can take a train or a boat to their destination.
  One popular vacation spot is an Amish community
  in Florida, which attracts hundreds of Amish on
  their vacations every year.

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Amish Gangs

• The Rumspringa is a time of life for Amish that
  typically begins at the age of sixteen and lasts
  until they are married. It loosely translates as
  sowing wild oats.
• During this time, a young person will join a
  gang with whom they run around with on the
  weekends.
• During this period of their lives, the youth are
  viewed as falling between the authority of their
  parents and the church because they are not yet
  baptized.

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• In Lancaster County alone, there are over twenty
  six Amish youth gangs, with names such as the
  Bluebirds, Canaries, Pine Cones, Drifters,
  Shotguns, Rockys, and Quakers.
• Youth are free to join the gang of their choice.
  The gang will then become their primary social
  group until their marriage.
• Gangs vary in the intensity of their activities.

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Trouble in Amish Paradise

• While some gangs are reserved and do no more wild
  behavior than hold a dance on Saturday night or a
  volleyball game, others may hold parties where
  beer kegs will be present, modern music played by
  live bands with electric instruments, and all
  attendees dress in secular clothing.
• Some gangs place fancy reflective tape on their
  buggies, which may have a radio or CD player
  hidden inside.

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• In 1998, two Amish men were arrested in
  Pennsylvania for buying cocaine, which they then
  sold to other members of their gang.
• This very public incident, coupled with an
  increase in alcohol abuse among the youth in the
  gangs, prompted members of the Amish community to
  rein in the gangs to some extent. Many events are
  now chaperoned by adults and a closer eye are
  kept on the youth during these years.

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Minnesota Amish Convicted Of Hate Crimes In
Beard-Cutting
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Excommunication

• Members who are excommunicated and shunned are
  avoided by active members in all social and
  business activities. However, the offenders are
  always welcomed back to the community if they
  repent.
• Reasons for excommunication vary from owning an
  automobile to owning a computer from drinking
  alcohol to the refusal to kneel during religious
  ceremonies.
• Members who refuse to shun the offending
  individuals risk excommunication themselves.
  Life-long friends and family members are also
  required to shun the wayward individual. Even
  parents must shun their own grown children. It is
  felt that by avoiding the transgressing
  individual, the faithful won't become defiled by
  their sin. Usually, the excommunicated member
  drifts away from the church and the Amish
  community.
• Amish practice shunning out of "tough love" in
  order to get a deviant person to see the error in
  his ways, change behavior, and re-affirm his
  commitment to the church.
• In Old Order Amish communities, there are cases
  where young people who have left the Amish faith
  are shunned, despite the fact that they did not
  join the Amish church.

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Amish and Technology

• The Amish have found it increasingly difficult to
  moderate their beliefs with technology. This has
  resulted in some unusual practices throughout the
  years.
• For example, phones are not allowed in homes, but
  the use of them is allowed, so you will see Amish
  using the phones of their non-Amish neighbors or
  the community phone that can be found outside
  stores or some houses.

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• The use of cell phones is increasing among the
  Amish, as they are easily hid from inquiring
  neighbors eyes.
• Electricity generated from batteries or gas
  powered generators is allowed under the Ordnung.

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• These electricity may be used for things such as
  fence chargers, cow trainers, agitators for bulk
  milk tanks, calculators, adding machines, reading
  lights for the elderly, hand-held drills, small
  motors to operate equipment in shops, welders,
  the electrical tools needed by mobile
  construction crews, and to recharge batteries for
  a variety of uses.

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• It can not be used for general lighting in houses
  or barns, computers, hair dryers, or other
  similar modern electrical appliances, among other
  things.
• If an Amish buys a house from an English, he
  has one year to tear out all electrical wiring in
  the house or face sanctions from the church.

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• Owning a car is grounds for automatic expulsion
  from the order.
• A child may ride a scooter, but bicycles are
  forbidden. When asked why, one Amish replied, I
  dont know, they just are.

Boy and his scooter
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When the Amish Leave

• One young Amish woman joked that the the men
  make the rules so thats why more modern things
  are permitted in the barn than in the house.

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Conclusion

• There are three Biblical passages the Amish often
  quote to define who they are and why they live as
  they do.

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• The first verse is Peter 29 "But you are a
  chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
  nation, a peculiar people.
• The Amish feel this passage applies to them and
  that if it did not, then it is an indicator that
  something is wrong and must be corrected.

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• The second verse is Matthew 516 "Let your light
  so shine before men, that they may see your good
  works, and glorify your Father which is in
  heaven.
• This verse is viewed as being directed towards
  themselves. The Amish feel that their plain
  clothes, honesty, generosity, life style, piety,
  and obedience to God are ways the world may see
  their good works and they may glorify God.

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• The third passage comes from 1 Corinthians 214
  "But the natural man receives not the things of
  the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
  him neither can he know them, because they are
  spiritually discerned.
• This third verse is seen by the Amish as
  explanation as to why the rest of the world does
  not follow their way of life and why their
  culture seems foolish to those outside their
  community.

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• The Amish today face increasing pressure to
  conform to the world. Until now they have managed
  to meld modernity with their beliefs without much
  social upheaval. Only time will tell if they can
  continue to do so successfully.

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