10 Interesting Facts About the Amish 10. The Roots The roots of the Amish religion are found
in the Anabaptist movement, which was a splinter group that emerged during the Protestant Reformation
in 1525. The Anabaptists are firm pacifists and they
strongly believe in the separation of church and state. However, the biggest difference between the
Anabaptists and other Christian sects is that they perform adult baptisms. While this may seem like a minor difference
to us, adult baptism was against the laws of the Catholicism and it was punishable by
death. As a result, the Anabaptists faced terrible
persecution, so the Anabaptists were forced to practice in secrecy. One of the earliest groups of Anabaptists
was led by a former Catholic Priest, Dutch-born Menno Simon and his followers would go on
to be called Mennonites. Then, in 1677, a Swiss man named Jakob Ammann
joined the Mennonites and he eventually became the leader of the Swiss Mennonites. In 1693, Ammann decided to shake things up
a little bit and introduced some new rules. Notably, he thought that men should stop trimming
their beards and his congregation should stop wearing fashionable clothes. However, his most polarizing new rule was
that excommunicated members should be shunned. If someone was kicked out of the church, they
were essentially dead to everyone in the church, which is usually all their friends and family. His proclamations were controversial, and
it caused a schism in the religion. The people who followed Ammann became the
Amish. Over the next several centuries, the Amish
continued to be persecuted in Europe. Then In 1737, 21 Amish families came from
the Netherlands and settled in Pennsylvania before expanding out to the rest of America. In 2012, there were Amish people living in
28 states and in Ontario, Canada. 9. The Difference Between Amish and Mennonite There is often a lot of confusion about whether
the Amish and the Mennonites practice the same religion. And if they don’t, then what is the difference? Well, in the prior entry, we mentioned the
Amish splintered off from the Mennonites in 1693. After the schism, the Mennonites continued
to grow and expand and there are about a dozen subgroups that can be divided into two different
groups – plain clothes Mennonites and assimilated Mennonites. Assimilated Mennonites use technology, pursue
higher education, and wear modern clothing. The plain clothes Mennonites can be split
into two subgroups – those who use horses and buggies and those who use vehicles. Obviously, the horse and buggy Mennonites
get confused with the Amish. Where they differ is that the men don’t
have beards and the women can have patterns on their dress. They can also use modern technology like air
travel and electricity, including television and the internet, although they may limit
access. Another fundamental difference between the
Amish and all Mennonites is their place of worship. The Amish meet to worship in the homes and
barns of their followers and the Mennonites have meetinghouses. The final differences are their geography
and the size of their populations. Mennonites came to North America in 1683,
10 years before the Amish splintered off. The first Mennonites settled Germantown, which
eventually became a borough of Philadelphia. When it comes to the sizes of their congregation,
there are many more Mennonite people in North America than Amish people, totaling about
800,000. Also, the Amish are only found in North America,
whereas Mennonite communities are found in 51 different countries on six different continents. 8. Rumspringa Clearly, the Amish life isn’t for everyone. The Amish also know this and that is why they
give young adults, starting at the age of 16, a chance to experience the outside world
in a period known as Rumspringa. The experience is more often undertaken by
males than females and during this time, they are given more freedom from their parents. Also, since they are not yet baptized, they
aren’t under the rule of the church and this gives them freedom from that rule. What young Amish people do while on Rumspringa
can vary. Some wear modern clothes, go to the movies,
and drive cars. However, in some cases, Amish people on Rumspringa
party hard and get involved in drugs, sex, and alcohol. After experiencing the outside world, the
young people have to choose if they want to be baptized. If they choose to be baptized, they will have
to confess their sins and after the baptism, they can get married. If someone chooses not to be baptized, they
have to move out of the community, but they are not shunned like people who are ex-communicated
and they can stay in contact with their Amish friends and family. That is because the Amish value that people
choose to be baptized and want to dedicate their lives to their faith. 7. Amish Music While music is a celebrated art form in many
religions, the Amish are not permitted to play instruments or listen to music unless
it comes from their songbook called Ausbund. In the book, which is the oldest songbook
still in continuous use, there are no musical notes. Instead, the tunes of the songs are passed
down through generations. The reason the Amish aren’t allowed to play
instruments is because it’s self-expression and that could lead to feelings of pride and
superiority. Yes, that may seem harsh, but if you’ve
ever spent any time with a musician with a small amount of recognition, you’ll know
that the Amish are right about that. As for the themes of the songs, they are exactly
what you would expect from simple-living and hardworking people who were violently persecuted
for centuries. It’s all about sunshine, flowers, and rainbows. Just kidding, it’s about martyrdom and the
hardship of persecution. 6. Faceless Dolls The Amish aren’t exactly known for being
fun-loving people. However, that doesn’t mean Amish children
have to go without toys. One of the most popular toys used by little
Amish children are dolls that don’t have faces. While there is no official story of where
the faceless dolls came from, they manage to embody a lot of the tenets of the Amish
religion. The first is that the Amish believe that everyone
is equal in the eyes of God. Without an identity, the doll reinforces the
notion that we are all the same to God. The second part comes from the Book of Deuteronomy,
which says: “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath
the earth.” The Amish have interpreted this to mean that
humans should not make objects that look like humans. However, without a face, the dolls aren’t
real representations of humans. Finally, the Amish will go to great length
to avoid sinning, and having a fancy doll would be a sign of vanity, where the plainness
of the doll are a representation of the Amish’s humility. 5. Pictures (or Lack Thereof) If you were invited into the home of an Amish
family, besides the fact that they don’t have a TV or any electronics, another thing
you may notice is that there are no personal pictures, like wedding pictures or baby pictures. That is because pictures violate several tenets
of their faith. First, they believe that pictures of people
emphasizes individuality and the Amish believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Secondly, an important rule is not to make
graven images, and they believe that pictures violate that rule. Finally, Amish people want to be remembered
for their contributions and the way they lived rather than their physical appearance. However, it’s important to clarify that
it’s not against their religion to appear in pictures, but it is against their religion
to pose for a picture. So if you happen to be traveling in Amish
country, which can be tourist attractions, and want to take some pictures, the Amish
people would prefer not to be in them. However, if you have to have a picture of
Amish people, ask if you can take their picture, but don’t ask them to pose. Lastly, if possible, please take the picture
so their faces aren’t recognizable. 4. Relationship with Technology By far, what sets Amish people apart from
many other people in society is that they do not embrace technology. The reason they do this isn’t because they
think it’s evil, instead, they worry that it will lead to assimilation with the rest
of society, and being their own separate independent community is a tenet of the Amish faith. This is the reason they do not embrace any
sort of mass media like television, pop-music, and the internet. If they do use electricity, it is often propane,
battery, or solar powered and it does not come from public utility lines. For example, lights on their buggies that
are powered by batteries that are charged with solar panels are perfectly acceptable. When the Amish determine if they will embrace
a new technology they first discuss if the community will use it. They do not automatically accept that new
is always better, like many other people in society. Since they discuss it in their community and
there is no higher Earthly governing body, like the Pope for the Catholic Church, technology
use varies from subgroup to subgroup. For example, the most conservative group of
the Old Order Amish is the Swartzentruber Amish, who mostly live in Holmes County, Ohio,
have no modern luxuries including indoor plumbing. On the other end of the spectrum is the Lancaster
Amish, which is the biggest subgroup of Old Order Amish. They have indoor plumbing, they use their
own self-generated electricity, and they use pneumatic tools. Also, there are no Biblical or religious reasons
that prohibit the use of modern medical technologies, so what extent of medical care an Amish person
wants to take advantage of usually depends on the family. 3. The Amish Have Higher Rates of Genetic Disease The Amish are a unique Christian subgroup,
because they do not try to attract new members. Yes, people do convert, but it’s pretty
rare. What’s interesting is that while they do
not get a lot of new members, the church’s population doubles every generation. In the early 1900s, there were about 5,000
Amish people living in North America, but today there is 250,000. This happened because they have a retention
rate of 80 to 90 percent and then couples have six or seven children. The problem with this system of population
growth is that it creates a shallow genetic gene pool and this creates a genetic bottleneck
called founder’s effect. When there is a bottleneck, genetic defects
have a greater chance of being passed along to the next generation. In the Amish population, founder’s effect
increases the likelihood that Amish offspring will inherit rare genetic diseases. Some of these diseases are so rare that they
don’t even have names and they can leave the person crippled. Other diseases that are known and that are
common among the Amish are Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, which is colloquially known
as “bubble boy disease;” Cohen’s Syndrome, a disease that affects muscle skills and mental
development; and dwarfism. One such person who was Amish and has a genetic
disease caused by founder’s effect is Verne Troyer, who is best known for being Mini-Me
in the Austin Powers series. Sadly, genetic diseases are such a problem
among the Amish that a special facility, the Clinic for Special Children, was opened in
1989 in Pennsylvania to treat and study the genetic diseases that affect the Amish community. 2. The Amish Have Lower Rates of Cancer, Diabetes,
and Cardiovascular Disease While the Amish have a greater risk of getting
genetic diseases, their lifestyle also does appear to have several health benefits because
they have lower rates of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. There are several explanations for this, however,
researchers believe the main reason is the lifestyle that the Amish live. Notably, tobacco and alcohol are prohibited. They also eat food that they grow themselves,
so they eat very little, if any, processed foods. Also, their work is very active, so everyone
gets plenty of exercise. As a result of their diet and the amount of
physical activity they get, sometimes Amish people are overweight, but obesity is rare. The Amish also live in a rural setting, so
they are further away from pollutants. Finally, while the Amish life isn’t completely
stressed-free, people live and work in a very supportive community. This would lower overall stress and when problems
do happen, there is a large support network. Finally, it is possible that there is something
in their genetics that helps lower the cancer rate and research is currently being performed
on Amish people’s genetics that could have wide reaching effects on the treatment of
genetic diseases in the general population. 1. How do You Become One? After reading all of this information, you
may be thinking that the Amish life is great, and you want to join the fight. If you do, what you need is time and dedication
and to get rid of the whatever piece of technology you’re using to read this list. First, you need to live in the Amish community
for a year. Some Amish families will even allow potential
converts to live with them for this year. During this time, new converts must attend
home worship service every Sunday and find a job working with Amish people. They also have to learn to speak Pennsylvania
Dutch, which is a variation of German. This is the language that is most commonly
spoken in Amish households. In fact, children learn Pennsylvania Dutch
first and then learn English when they attend school. After all that, and the person is sure that
they still want to be Amish, they go through another period where they learn the ordinances
of the church. Finally, the members of the church vote on
the candidate, and if the vote is affirmed, the person becomes a full-fledged Amish. Obviously, due to the drastically different
lifestyle from contemporary society, only several dozen non-Amish have joined the fight.
