Amish

Kyle Taylor

Contemporary Issues

3rd Period Mrs. Powers

19 December 2006

The Amish

The Amish religion contains a lot of beliefs, rules, and ways of life. It all started back to the date 1693. The founder of the Amish religion was Jacob Amman. The current countries that practice this religion are the United States and parts of Canada. The most populated Amish areas are located in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. A big part of the Amish people lives in rural areas and in small communities where everyone practices the same lifestyles and religion. The most current population of this religion is about 135,000 adults.

The basic beliefs of this religion come from the Swiss Anabaptist movement in 16th century Europe. There are a lot of unwritten beliefs in this religion known as Ordung. They are unwritten and closely followed by the followers of this religion. Beliefs include avoiding interaction with excommunications- someone who has married an outsider. This is considered Meidung. They will not eat, buy, sell, talk, or acknowledge such a person. Even someone who has robbed, been sexually corrupt, or an alcoholic; they are considered “shunned”. If this person admits to their problem and wishes to make peace with the community they are allowed back into association with the others after a couple of weeks. Another belief or practice that is known is “foot washing”. The Amish practice washing each others feet as Jesus did to that of his disciples at the last supper. They have basic Christian beliefs as well; heaven and hell, inspiration from scripture, the Church as the body of Christ, and the belief of Christ as divine. There are also beliefs in the Trinity, virgin birth, resurrection, crucifixion, sinless life, and incarnation. They believe that the church has received the authority from God to interpret his will. There is also a point where young teens get to experience life outside the Amish community called “rumspringa”. They get to go to parties, drink alcohol, date, and go out with friends. This is only allowed because there is no bound to the church until they are baptized and that takes place in adulthood. 80-90% of teens come back to the Amish culture and religion to be baptized and follow their parent’s way of life. Unmarried women are under the authority of their father and married women are submissive to their husbands. This means that only men can become church officials. The Amish also believe strongly in Salvation. They experience salvation in everyday life and continue their lives in the image of Christ.

One symbol of the Amish religion is the bonnets women wear. They wear black if single and white if married.