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PBS had a program on tv last night. To find it go to this link:
http://pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/amish/ Through out the program, I found some similarities with our church. To name a few:
1. They emphasize the importance of supporting the community above the individual.
2. They dictate the appropriate (acceptable) dress & attire of the membership in the community.
For example, buttons on a shirt & the style of beard men can wear.
3. The practice of “shunning” & excommunication. For example, one Amish community had a devastating event where a person came into their school & killed a number of their children. By the end of the day, members from the amish community went to family of the person who committed this act & told them that the victims family forgave them. In another part of the program they talked about when members leave the amish community, they are “shunned” & not permitted to return in their fallen state.
FWIW. I thought it was interesting to compare with some of our beliefs.
In alot of ways, it was like looking at our church in the 1800’s without the missionary emphasis.
Mike from Milton.
I agree that there are a lot of similarities, but I like the fact that our excommunication isn’t supposed to be a case of shunning. Too many members actually do shun the excommunicated (at least, in theory, by only associating with them if they stop doing whatever led to their excommunication), but I like that it’s not supposed to be that way. Fwiw, I think the Amish are a fascinating case study, especially since many of them actually are finding ways to let go of some of the most divisive and isolating aspects of their religion and intermingle more with the non-Amish. I have lived and worked in two areas with pretty large Amish populations (the last one being where I just left in MO – where the grocery store had a small “Amish parking lot” [a spot for the horses to stand covered from the elements]), and I have seen them start to mix more and more with “others”. It’s interesting to watch them try to strike a new balance – and I can relate, as you said in your post.
I live near Pennsylvania Amish country (in Maryland across the border). I think the most significant parallel is really that both Mormons and Amish are lifestyle religions. It’s all encompassing, not just a building you go to on Sunday for an hour sermon occasionally. There are some very key differences though with the Amish when it comes to excommunication and “shunning.”
Children are NOT official members of their religion by default. And you have to be an adult to join. Children who grow up in their community, in an Amish family, can stay in their community without joining and not have to follow all the rules precisely, as long as they are respectful and all that. I met a young man who wanted to become a veterinarian and planned to go to college for it. That would make him ineligible to join unless he “repented” of getting advanced education (which would mean never practicing as a veterinarian again). He said he still wanted to marry a nice Amish girl and live in his home town though, and it didn’t seem like he thought it was a problem at all. The youth also get a lot of opportunity to see the world and be in the world before making the decision to join their religion. It is encouraged so that they make a careful, informed decision.
He said as along as he never official became Amish, he would not be shunned. Being shunned is very serious business though. You can not conduct business in Amish communities if you have been shunned. Period. You’d pretty much have to leave and go somewhere else outside their world.
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