Shunning is a widely-known yet controversial social practice of the Old Order Amish. How do the Old Order Mennonites, close spiritual cousins of the Amish, approach the matter? An excerpt on the topic: “Members who stray from the teachings and practice of the church are reprimanded by the deacon. Persons who refuse to cooperate with the church may be “set back” from communion. If they…
The Amish-produced periodical Family Life has a feature known as ‘The Problem Corner’. Readers send in questions for other readers to offer answers on. One problem, sent in by an Amish mother in 1990, goes as follows: “…We send our children to a public school, and I venture to guess 98% of the Amish children that attend there have their yearly picture taken. We know…
David Weaver-Zercher is chair of the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. He is also the author and editor of numerous publications on the Amish, including The Amish in the American Imagination, Amish Grace (with co-authors Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt), and Writing the Amish: The Worlds of John A. Hostetler. His latest book, The Amish and the Media…
Living on an Amish farm, I get a daily look at the Amish grind. The Amish work ethic is legendary. It’s often one of the first things outsiders comment on. Weird Al even sent it up, repeatedly, in his notorious parody of Amish life (recall the enthusiastic butter-churning, if you’ve seen the video). But do the Amish really love labor? What makes them so earnest…
‘No motive for the deed is known, as he was wealthy and popular.’ Reporting of long ago can seem…a bit, well, simplistic, can’t it? As in, what was the reporter’s thought process? Wealth? Check. Popularity? Check. So what was this Shrock fellow’s problem? What else could there have been to life? This is from a 1903 New York Times article. Shrock, whatever his troubles may…
Spring is here, and that means plowing and planting time. Most Amish do not use tractors in the field. Some will keep a tractor for around-the-barn tasks, such as filling the silo. Why do the Amish limit tractors? Part of the problem is their similarity to cars. Get comfortable behind the wheel of a tractor, the thinking goes, and it’s a short hop to sitting behind…
Rumspringa: To be or not to be Amish got a lot of attention when it was released in the spring of 2006, with media such as the Wall Street Journal calling it a ‘wonderfully rich portrait and history of the Amish as a people and a faith.’ Rumspringa is also, and primarily, an on-the-scene look at a crucial period of Amish adolescence. Tom Shachtman was…
Cindy Seigle (you can find Cindy on Flickr) has shared some interesting photos of a conservative Amish settlement in southern Indiana. In An Amish Patchwork, Meyers and Nolt explain that Orange County is home to two distinct Amish communities. The newer of the two groups is comprised of ultraconservative Swartzentruber-affiliated Amish from New York and Ohio who began settling in the area in 1994. The older…
Across America in places where the Amish have set up shop, local businesses and government authorities have had to adapt some practices to accommodate the preferred Amish transportation. Traffic Jam off County Road 77 in Holmes County, Ohio Sometimes an Amish group showing up in an area can lead to disputes with locals over horse mess or hoof damage on roads. The smarter businesses, or…
photo: Bill Coleman Ah, the rural life. Birds, bees, valleys, trees, and…funky farm smells. City folk who idealize the pastoral existence often forget to take into account the odorific nature of country livin’. The clear majority of farms operated by the Amish are of the less-stinky dairy variety. Hog farms are much less commonly run by Amish, but you do see them from time to…