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…
Once church lets out around noon, the Youngie hit the streets. Some do hang around for the post-service meal, but a number get going right off the bat. Between the hours of 1 to 3 especially, you notice a lot of open buggies, ones with ‘un-Amish’ decals and quite a few sporting excessive ‘reflectorization’. This shot is from a heavily-trafficked North-South route in Lancaster County,…
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…
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…
A little piece of an interview with an Ohio Old Order Amish friend, ‘Leon’, speaking back in September of sports, cars and other matters adolescent: ‘When we first started we were 18-and-under’ Leon explains, talking about his softball team, ‘and we won the state of Ohio tournament, went down to Texas, and won the world tournament–Amish guys, Amish boys, 18-and-under.’ ‘I think I was 22…
I’m not a big television watcher but caught wind of the latest appearance of our friends the Amish in the media, this time propping up the plot of a CBS show called Cold Case. Admittedly, being involved in another task at the time I could spare just one ear and one eye on the show, but what I saw and heard seemed pretty dodgy… …from…
My two-month excursion in Lancaster County is over. I’m back in Ohio now. Lancaster was a fantastic experience but now that I’m back here, I’m reminding myself why Holmes County is perhaps my favorite of all Amish settlements. Holmes County is more diverse, (much) more rural, arguably a smidgen more beautiful, and I guess I just have known more people here for longer so that…
I winced when I saw the cover. I was sure this book would be another lightweight voyeuristic Hollywood look at the Amish. Yet Shachtman seems to reserve judgment and present the Amish even-handedly throughout Rumspringa: To be or not to be Amish. He seems to have a heart for the kids involved, presenting their tales with compassion and respect. At the same time, like a…
Amish youth “run around”during adolescence. A Rumspringa-age Amish youth’s buggy in Lancaster County.
Just got back from my leisurely Sunday walk through downtown historic Strasburg, the borough where I’m living this summer. Amish buggies go past my window on a regular basis; horse manure lines the streets of stone and brick homes, many of which date from the 1700’s and 1800’s. One of the buggies rolling down main street today was a bit different though–from far off, it…