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| Raquel Lapp waiting The Beans arrival |
Anton Bean is a great fan of History. He loves reading books and reports about culture, traditions and anthropology. He stores lots and lots of information in his tablet and he likes knowing new things every day and checking them with old ones.
Anton is excited today because The Beans have decided to visit Rachel Lapp and her family, members of the Amish Community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It’s near Philadelphia and in the way to Washington, DC and it is a good chance to visit them and discover how their life-style closer to 19 century full of old traditions and an ancient religion afect the new Amish generations.
More information: New York Times
The Amish are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss Anabaptist origins. They are closely related to, but distinct from, Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish.
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| Rachel Lapp and John Book in 1985 |
In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Today, the most traditional descendants of the Amish continue to speak Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch, although a dialect of Swiss German is used by Old Order Amish in the Adams County, Indiana area.
Amish church membership begins with baptism, usually between the ages of 16 and 25. It is a requirement for marriage within the Amish church. Once a person is baptized with the church, he or she may marry only within the faith. Church districts average between 20 and 40 families, and worship services are held every other Sunday in a member's home. The district is led by a bishop and several ministers and deacons.
More information: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
The rules of the church, the Ordnung, must be observed by every member and cover most aspects of day-to-day living, including prohibitions or limitations on the use of power-line electricity, telephones, and automobiles, as well as regulations on clothing.
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| Anton Bean travelling in an Amish transport |
Most Amish do not buy commercial insurance or participate in Social Security. As present-day Anabaptists, Amish church members practice nonresistance and will not perform any type of military service. The Amish value rural life, manual labor and humility, all under the auspices of living what they interpret to be God's word.
Members who do not conform to these community expectations and who cannot be convinced to repent are excommunicated. In addition to excommunication, members may be shunned, a practice that limits social contacts to shame the wayward member into returning to the church. Almost 90 percent of Amish teenagers choose to be baptized and join the church.
More information: Discover Lancaster
During an adolescent period of rumspringa or running around in some communities, nonconforming behavior that would result in the shunning of an adult who had made the permanent commitment of baptism, may meet with a degree of forbearance. Amish church groups seek to maintain a degree of separation from the non-Amish world. Non-Amish people are generally referred to as 'English'.
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| The Beans entering in an Amish shop |
There is generally a heavy emphasis on church and family relationships. They typically operate their own one-room schools and discontinue formal education after grade eight, at age 13/14. Until the children turn 16, they have vocational training under the tutelage of their parents, community, and the school teacher. Higher education is generally discouraged as it can lead to social segregation and the unraveling of the community.
Amish lifestyle is regulated by the Ordnung or order, which differs slightly from community to community, and, within a community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one community may not be acceptable in another.
More information: Exploring Amish Country
It is agreed upon within the community by the elders prior to the annual Communion. These include matters such as dress, permissible uses of technology, religious duties, and rules regarding interaction with outsiders. These elders are generally men.
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| The Beans arriving to an Amish farm |
Bearing children, raising them, and socializing with neighbors and relatives are the greatest functions of the Amish family. Amish typically believe large families are a blessing from God. Community is central to the Amish way of life.
Working hard is considered godly, and some technological advancements have been considered undesirable because they reduce the need for hard work. Machines such as automatic floor cleaners in barns have historically been rejected as this provides young farmhands with too much free time.
The Beans are very interested in knowing how this community can work together building great structures without any kind of occupational hazards rules.
There can be no assumption that today's majority is 'right' and the Amish and others like them are 'wrong.' A way of life that is odd or even erratic but interferes with no rights or interests of others is not to be condemned because it is different.
Warren E. Burger
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