Amish Community

The Amish is a group of traditionalist Christians that rely on simple living, plain dress and refuse to adapt to modern technology. The history of the Amish started in Switzerland in 1693 led by Jakob Amman. Today majority of the traditional descendants of the Amish live in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

It’s very easy to find the differences between Amish and American societies and even though it may not seem like it at first glance there are some similarities between the two. Such as religion, yes America has a diverse set of religion, but both societies believe the right to religious freedom. That is why Amish societies are located in America because they are allowed to express their religion. Another similarity in both societies is education. Even though Amish children mostly only go to an eighth grade education, both societies prepare the children for adulthood and teach them skills that will help them in society.

Amish culture has been an attention grabbing field of study for many anthropologists. Currently, there population is only present in United States due to various historical events. Although Amish community has been living in United States for a considerably long time now which comprises of centuries but despite all the cultural influences from external forces, this community has successfully managed to retain its original character and essence. Where other communities have showed adaptation to sociological and cultural changes, Amish culture is present in its original form because of their closed social system. Their main mode of subsistence of Horticulture. Although this mode is considered to be a derivative of their way of obtaining financial independence but in reality this mode of living defines their Beliefs and values, Economic organization, Gender relations, Kinship Political organization and Social organization.

The family care for their own and the Amish community gives assistance as needed. Therefore, the way how mainstream American life is driven by technology, I don’t think many Americans will take on the Amish culture.The Amish culture believes in the idea that everything has a reason in life. Their philosophy comes from their deep-rooted Christian faith from the church. They follow the basic tenets of the Christian religion by emphasizing on adult baptism, simplicity, community, separation from popular culture and the division of the church. In 1693, the Amish people formed their own branch of Anabaptism in Switzerland and eastern France under the leadership of their founder Jakob Ammann.All of the Amish communities today are from that group. We already know that within the Amish culture they do everything with hands, but there is some selective technology they do use by permit for agriculture. They use the tractor to help with the farming and time management. For the American society, farmers use computers, cell phones, cars and other technology, but for the Amish, they reject this technology because they believe it will do harm in their

A powerful sense of community and others before self is expressed by the Amish, according to the Encyclopedia of American Religious History.

The Amish people are a subculture group. This culture is one of the more distinctive and colorful cultural groups across America. Their rejection of modern technology is what has kept them apart of the high tech culture. They start back in the sixteenth-century Europe when a rebaptism of adults was then a crime punishable by death. Anabaptists or rebaptizers were groups’ that threatened civil and religious authorities. The Swiss Anabaptists followed a Jesus life were they loved their enemies, forgiving insults, and turning the other cheek. While other groups we’re more into violence. The Amish came in 1693 when the Swiss and the South Germans Anabaptists split into two groups: Amish and Mennonites. Looking for political stability and religious freedom they moved to North America where they first settled in southern Pennsylvania then to Ohio, Indiana, and to other Midwestern states. Were they have been able to maintain a distinctive subculture. They try to maintain cultural customs to preserve their identity. Amish speak a dialect of German known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch. This language is not a written language. Amish use the English when conversing with non-Amish individuals. When talking in Pennsylvania German to each other they tend to switch to English

In a culture rife with cheaply made, mass-produced items, Simply Amish of Castleton sets itself apart with impeccably handcrafted furniture. Every uniquely beautiful, American-made piece from this Indianapolis, IN, store will enhance your home.

The Amish and the State is wrote with the intent to identify the cultural values and social organizations of the Amish order along with how the traditional values of the Amish counteracted with the modernity of the state. This book covers the most prominent aspects of the Amish order dating all the way back to their very existence during the Radical Reformation in the sixteenth century. It entitles one to see and feel the persecution the Amish order has faced since 1525. Donald Kraybill believes that the Amish order, even though some individuals view their religious practices as being extremely impractical, is a major attribute toward the freedom

The old order Amish worship in individual homes compared to the New Order Amish. Old Amish send their children to elementary school but do not believe in them attending high school. The Old Order Amish are descendants of the colonial Amish who came to Lancaster and Berks counties Pennsylvania from 1738 to 1756 from Switzerland, Palatinate, Waldeck, Hesse- Cassel, Alsace, Bavaria, and Montbeliard ("Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online," 2012).

This semester I chose to focus on the Amish religion. Many people assume that the Amish are just people who drive horses and buggies, but there’s so much more to them than that. “The Amish are a church, a community, a spiritual union, a conservative branch of Christianity, a religion, a community whose members practice simple and austere living, a familistic entrepreneuring system, and an adaptive human community” (Hostetler 4). I believe this quote expresses what the Amish religion really is. Amish was founded in Europe over 280 years ago. Eventually, they migrated to the United States. Now they are found in many U.S. states, primarily Northeast Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Amish started as a reform group, before it became a religion. Throughout this semester, I have learned about all the aspects of the Amish religion.

The Amish live a more simple, family oriented, and work driven society. They run a society that is far more balanced than today’s crazy tech filled world. The Amish are careful to any new technology whereas the United States embraces change with open arms without looking at the repercussions of doing such. The Amish are very inclusive and very open to people outside of their group.

Any person who observes an Amish community may catch a glimpse of a lifestyle that looks as if it adheres to no modicum of logic. Why would a whole group of people choose to live without the technology that makes life so much easier? The answer is simple and uncomplicated; cultural preservation. The Amish are culturally aware of themselves, and as such have put forth the effort to sustain their traditions and way of life for hundreds of years (Kraybill, 2001). The further technology advances in the world outside of the Amish

This culture is made of people than ban pretty much all modern technology. They are farmers living off of their own land. Apparently do it in a manner that makes them live 10 year longer. Researchers studied 177 Amish people from Indiana, and found out that 43 of them had a mutant copy of the gene SERPINE1. The Amish with this gene lived to about 85 years old. The

Jacobb Amann He was a mennonite from Bern, Switzerland born in 1644 and he traveled to america to form what is now today named as the Amish religion. Throughout his 20s he was a member of the anabaptist church, it was until he was 35 when he became a priest, the starting of one part of the separation started when Jacobb had a concern about the communion only happened once a year instead of twice, he believed that mennonites were not following tradition of anabaptist doctrine, he favored foot washing instead. The Amish was being created during the Reformation, 1693 was the year when Jocobb broke away from the mennonite church to create the starting of the Amish movement.

The Amish are a small group of people that live in a secluded area of the eastern United States of America. The cultural group known as the Amish has constituted themselves as a unique entity in America's diverse landscape. Amish life is centered on religion, agriculture, and the family. For most people who live outside of the Amish culture, this group seems out of touch with the present time; a culture of another era. This belief is primarily attributable to the Amish belief in simplicity and their rejection of modern technologies (The Amish 2011). One of the most important aspects of Amish life and livelihood is agriculture; the Amish focus much of their life on the growth and harvest of food and other crops. The various factors that affect the culture are based upon agriculture; including the Amish beliefs and values, economic organization, gender relations, kinship, political organization, sickness, social change, and social organization.