I will tell you sth. about the Amisch people.
It´s a religious group , who have their roots from the anabaptist movement in
Europe in the 16.th century.
In this time it was usual, that only babys get baptized. But the Amish
believed, that only Adults should be beptized, because they can confess their
belief.
Babys can not choose, they got baptized if they want or not.
Becaue adult- baptism was forbidden, they were persecuted and killed by
Protestants and Catholics.
So they had to escape and went to the USA
Today there live about 150000 Amish people in 22 States of the USA
In Europe there are no amisch people anymore.
The Amisch can be categorized in two groups, the New Order and the old Order
Amisch.
The new Order are not as strict as the Old Order. They are allowed to use
electricity and many other technological things. For the Old Order they are
forbidden.
The Old Amisch live completely secluded from the non- Anisch world. They have
their own towns and communities, where only amisch people live.
They mustn´t have electricity and other modern things.
Tractors for example are only allowed on their farms for transportation but not
on their fields.
Computers, TV or telephones are completely forbidden.
Because of their plain lifestyle they are called "Plain People"
They have to worke very hard. for example:
working on field is very hard because they have to do the whole work only with
the help of horses
They build houses without cranes only with their own hands.
They have no cars! they have to use buggies that are pulled by horses
The community is like a big family.
If a person is ill, the neighbours make his work on the fields
Or the neighbours help when for example a barn burned they help to rebuild it.
They have their own rules of dressing, too.
Women and girls have to wear long sleeves and a full skirt. They never cut
their hair. They wear their hair as a bun on the back of the head
On the bun , they wear a bonnet, that is white if they are married and black if
they are not married.
Men and boys have to wear dark suits, broad trousers with suspenders, black
socks, shoes and a broad hat. After marriage they must have a beard, but no
mustache .
Another typical attribute for the Amisck is, that they worship at home and not
at a church. They do this, because they want to honor their forefathers, who
had to worship in secret, because of the persecution in Europe
The Amisch have their own schools. The pupils have to go to scholl for only 8
years. They are taught humility, queitness and shunning of technological
things. It seems that their education is not sufficient, but in a test by the
U.S. Poffice of Education the Amisch pupils were above the norm, when they were
compared to non Ammisch pupils.
They grow up bilingual, too. At home they speak German and at school they learn
Englisch.
After finishing school they learn to work on their farm and on the fields
Baptism marks entry into the Amish church.
Joining the church is a decision that cannot be made before the age of 16.
16 year old peaple may leave the community of their own choice to experience
life outside. If they choose to return and join the church, they do so with
full knowledge of what they are giving up in order to be part of the community.
