The Amish

billsco · #1 (**permalink**) 06-09-2004, 11:01 AM

A couple of years ago, my wife and I went on a tour of an Amish community in Southern Minnesota. I was interested in learning more about these people who are close relatives of the Southern Baptists. It should not surprise anyone that as conservative and fundamental as the Southern Baptists are, the Amish will put them to shame in their literal translations of passages in the Bible. It is, IMO, the true outcome of any one who attempts to use the scriptures as guidance in their daily lives. While the word "quaint" was often used to describe them, I thought a more appropriate word was "stunted" or "misguided".

Here is my distilled history of the Amish: They were a part of the Anabaptist movement in Europe, which attracted the most conservative-minded religionists. Around 1693, a parishioner named Jakob Ammann began to petition the church to follow more closely many of the biblical traditions, such as clothing, footwashing, and especially "Meidung", translated to mean excommunicating family members who do not closely adhere to church teachings. It is based loosely on the dark passages in Matthew 10:34-35 ("Do not think I have come to send peace, I have come to bring a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and his daughter...") The Anabaptist leaders tried desparately to reconcile Ammann and his followers, conceding nearly every point over the years except Meidung, but Ammann remained inflexible. Finally, the split occured in 1700, and the Amish tradition began. Ammann, now an old man, had one more card up his sleeve: his followers were to shun all modernity invented in the 18th century.

IMO, this is the failure of the Amish. Every generation has an old man who looks on the new generation with a mixture of bitterness and envy and decries the evil which is present there. It has been the younger generation's usual response to smile kindly at the old, decrepit man and go about the business of living in a world of change. But the generation who followed Ammann failed in their responsibilities, as I see it, and blindly accepted his pronouncements much to the detriment of future generations.

The Amish are now spread throughout America and Canada, preferring rolling, wooded farmlands to practice their simplistic lifestyles. Each community interprets differently which "modern" inventions they will use, which opens a large door to the charge of hypocrisy. In the liberal Minnesota community we visited for instance, a woodworking shop had no electricity, but a gas engine was placed outside the building and a shaft was run through the wall to supply power to the various tools used in furniture making. C'mon.

But worst of all, Meidung continues unabated in nearly all the Amish communities. It is the hammer that hangs over the head of every person. One must choose to continue the lifestyle or forever say goodbye to your loved ones. It is the most peculiarly unchristian of practices, and forces many to accept their lot in life unexamined. Quaint?

Siegfriedson · #2 (**permalink**) 06-13-2004, 09:05 PM

You may call the Amish "stunted" and "misguided", but I would much prefer to live among them (in the absence of technology) than in some inner city ghetto.

montalban · #3 (**permalink**) 06-13-2004, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billsco

A couple of years ago, my wife and I went on a tour of an Amish community in Southern Minnesota. I was interested in learning more about these people who are close relatives of the Southern Baptists. It should not surprise anyone that as conservative and fundamental as the Southern Baptists are, the Amish will put them to shame in their literal translations of passages in the Bible. It is, IMO, the true outcome of any one who attempts to use the scriptures as guidance in their daily lives. While the word "quaint" was often used to describe them, I thought a more appropriate word was "stunted" or "misguided".

Here is my distilled history of the Amish: They were a part of the Anabaptist movement in Europe, which attracted the most conservative-minded religionists. Around 1693, a parishioner named Jakob Ammann began to petition the church to follow more closely many of the biblical traditions, such as clothing, footwashing, and especially "Meidung", translated to mean excommunicating family members who do not closely adhere to church teachings. It is based loosely on the dark passages in Matthew 10:34-35 ("Do not think I have come to send peace, I have come to bring a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and his daughter...") The Anabaptist leaders tried desparately to reconcile Ammann and his followers, conceding nearly every point over the years except Meidung, but Ammann remained inflexible. Finally, the split occured in 1700, and the Amish tradition began. Ammann, now an old man, had one more card up his sleeve: his followers were to shun all modernity invented in the 18th century.

IMO, this is the failure of the Amish. Every generation has an old man who looks on the new generation with a mixture of bitterness and envy and decries the evil which is present there. It has been the younger generation's usual response to smile kindly at the old, decrepit man and go about the business of living in a world of change. But the generation who followed Ammann failed in their responsibilities, as I see it, and blindly accepted his pronouncements much to the detriment of future generations.

The Amish are now spread throughout America and Canada, preferring rolling, wooded farmlands to practice their simplistic lifestyles. Each community interprets differently which "modern" inventions they will use, which opens a large door to the charge of hypocrisy. In the liberal Minnesota community we visited for instance, a woodworking shop had no electricity, but a gas engine was placed outside the building and a shaft was run through the wall to supply power to the various tools used in furniture making. C'mon.

But worst of all, Meidung continues unabated in nearly all the Amish communities. It is the hammer that hangs over the head of every person. One must choose to continue the lifestyle or forever say goodbye to your loved ones. It is the most peculiarly unchristian of practices, and forces many to accept their lot in life unexamined. Quaint?

The alternative to individual interpretation of the Bible is not to throw the Bible away altogether. It is to follow the interpretation of the Bible in the light of Holy Traiditon

apathy · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2004, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siegfriedson

You may call the Amish "stunted" and "misguided", but I would much prefer to live among them (in the absence of technology) than in some inner city ghetto.

I guess I'd rather live among them, too, than have a hot poker shoved up my bottom.

billsco · #5 (**permalink**) 07-14-2004, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apathy

I guess I'd rather live among them, too, than have a hot poker shoved up my bottom.

Thou haseth that rightest.

Perry5 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-22-2004, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billsco

A couple of years ago, my wife and I went on a tour of an Amish community in Southern Minnesota. I was interested in learning more about these people who are close relatives of the Southern Baptists. It should not surprise anyone that as conservative and fundamental as the Southern Baptists are, the Amish will put them to shame in their literal translations of passages in the Bible. It is, IMO, the true outcome of any one who attempts to use the scriptures as guidance in their daily lives. While the word "quaint" was often used to describe them, I thought a more appropriate word was "stunted" or "misguided".

Here is my distilled history of the Amish: They were a part of the Anabaptist movement in Europe, which attracted the most conservative-minded religionists. Around 1693, a parishioner named Jakob Ammann began to petition the church to follow more closely many of the biblical traditions, such as clothing, footwashing, and especially "Meidung", translated to mean excommunicating family members who do not closely adhere to church teachings. It is based loosely on the dark passages in Matthew 10:34-35 ("Do not think I have come to send peace, I have come to bring a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and his daughter...") The Anabaptist leaders tried desparately to reconcile Ammann and his followers, conceding nearly every point over the years except Meidung, but Ammann remained inflexible. Finally, the split occured in 1700, and the Amish tradition began. Ammann, now an old man, had one more card up his sleeve: his followers were to shun all modernity invented in the 18th century.

IMO, this is the failure of the Amish. Every generation has an old man who looks on the new generation with a mixture of bitterness and envy and decries the evil which is present there. It has been the younger generation's usual response to smile kindly at the old, decrepit man and go about the business of living in a world of change. But the generation who followed Ammann failed in their responsibilities, as I see it, and blindly accepted his pronouncements much to the detriment of future generations.

The Amish are now spread throughout America and Canada, preferring rolling, wooded farmlands to practice their simplistic lifestyles. Each community interprets differently which "modern" inventions they will use, which opens a large door to the charge of hypocrisy. In the liberal Minnesota community we visited for instance, a woodworking shop had no electricity, but a gas engine was placed outside the building and a shaft was run through the wall to supply power to the various tools used in furniture making. C'mon.

But worst of all, Meidung continues unabated in nearly all the Amish communities. It is the hammer that hangs over the head of every person. One must choose to continue the lifestyle or forever say goodbye to your loved ones. It is the most peculiarly unchristian of practices, and forces many to accept their lot in life unexamined. Quaint?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gyddeup bang bang. gyddyup bangbang,gyddyup bang bang.

An Amish drive by shooting.

Dzeron · #7 (**permalink**) 11-22-2004, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montalban

The alternative to individual interpretation of the Bible is not to throw the Bible away altogether. It is to follow the interpretation of the Bible in the light of Holy Traiditon

Tradition is holy?

joebrummer · #8 (**permalink**) 11-22-2004, 07:58 PM

I have family in central Pa. where there are a lot of amish farms. One of our friends has a house next to an Amish farm. The amish have a phones (in the barn), electricity, some have moved to machines to help them farm. They had to do this to survive modern times. As far as their religion. The are pretty stringent about their beliefs. They do take the bible to almost an extreme. It is facinating. They are also very private people, not so friendly to outsiders. Not saying I know much more than this, or that I am an expert. the point was some do have phones and machines.

Perry5 · #9 (**permalink**) 11-23-2004, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joebrummer

I have family in central Pa. where there are a lot of amish farms. One of our friends has a house next to an Amish farm. The amish have a phones (in the barn), electricity, some have moved to machines to help them farm. They had to do this to survive modern times. As far as their religion. The are pretty stringent about their beliefs. They do take the bible to almost an extreme. It is facinating. They are also very private people, not so friendly to outsiders. Not saying I know much more than this, or that I am an expert. the point was some do have phones and machines.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- For all of there quaintnes thay do not make war or kinn innicent people.

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