The Amish Tradition: Faith, Family and Community - Essay Example

The Amish Tradition: Faith, Family and Community Introduction I have always enjoyed shopping at the Amish Market, because the foods are what are known as “organic,” at food chains, which charge much more for those foods. While the Amish live an “organic” kind of life. The foods and bakery goods that they sell at their market are, for the most part, home made goods, or home grown fruits and vegetables. There are manufactured and processed foods, but those are easily distinguishable from the “organically” grown and raised Amish products. It is the simplicity that is the Amish tradition, and I find that I am drawn to that simplicity. I do realize, however, that, in America, the presence of the Amish, dressed in their traditional holmespun – intentionally misspelled as it represents the county of Holmes – is a dual dichotomy. On one hand, the Amish serve as the source of an almost obsessive fascination amongst those rural Pennsylvania tourists. Then, conversely, the Amish are the victims of an almost abusive prejudice as members of their own greater community, the community beyond their own Amish community. Any animosity towards the Amish community is as a result of the Amish’s resistance towards integration or inclusion beyond their own community (Mason, Andrew, p. 113). Amish live their lives not just as a religious group, but as a religious organization. Their community has private schools, and the regulations for the education of boys and girls are different than the mainstream (Olshan, Marc, 1990, p. 604). The general public has little understanding of the ways of the Amish, except that their lives are succinctly regulated by their religious beliefs. This brief essay focuses on the traditions of the Amish in an effort to further the understanding of their traditions as a group within our society, which chooses to keep itself segregated from the greater community and society in order that their own traditions not become polluted by those mainstream necessities that the Amish shun. There is much to be learned from a study of the Amish tradition, if for no other reason than to remove the threat that not understanding their life style and tradition poses to those people who are intimidated to the point of hostility against the Amish. A Simple Life In order to keep their traditions from becoming distorted by those of the greater community and society, the Amish choose to disregard the greater community. It is, however, impossible for any large group to completely segregate themselves from the greater community and society. When, as it is often necessary for the Amish to do, they must move about in the greater community, it with a movement within the parameters of the laws and social norms of the greater community and society, although even then the Amish maintain their own distinct traditions. The Amish stand out in society because of their appearance, and because: “One highly significant but seldom emphasized expression of their uniqueness is their rejection of formal organization. In a world where formal organizations have become necessarily ubiquitous, the Amish have been perhaps most unique in their ability to survive well into the twentieth century without employing the degree of formal organization routinely assumed to be a prerequisite for survival (Olshan, p. 604).” The Amish accomplish a simple life style because they value their own religious community, and do seek to explain their religious tradition to the greater community (Olshan, p. 604). As a community, they have successfully designed their own rules and laws that govern their own community, but which do not prevent them from adhering to those laws of the greater community and society (Olshan, p. 604). There is no tie between the Amish community and the greater community or society on a religious or political basis (Olshan, p. 604). The Amish clergy are unpaid, and they have no formal theological training (Olshan, p. 604). Their religious leadership stems only from a tradition handed down from generation to generation, and is one that is sustained by a fundamental and shared religious belief. “The value of simplicity is relevant to organizational structure since it has translated into the use of technologies that do not require a high level of social differentiation. Adherence to all of these values explains much of the schismatic character of Amish history. More to the point for the present discussion, it explains the Amish’s limited formal intercommunity and inter-congregational association (Olshan, p. 604).” I admire the Amish as a group, as families within the group, because although very differ in their way of life, they represent a way of life that is more in tune with what many people today in the mainstream seem to be looking for: closeness in family, simplicity in life, and the spiritual completion that is the new age mood. The Amish Hierarchy One of the other reasons that some people find fault with the Amish, is that their community hierarchal structure is a patriarchal one (Stopler, Gila, p. 154). A patriarchal society in a post feminist American society is hard for many strong-minded women to take. The Amish family is one that has roles, which are shunned by mainstream America in the same ways in which the Amish shun mainstream America. “Due to the significant impact of education and of exposure to other ways of life on children, the United States Supreme Court has recognized the right of certain secluded communities, such as the Amish, to effectively isolate their children from the outside world. While this right may be compatible with protecting the religious freedom of Amish parents, it is not necessarily compatible with the best interests of Amish children. This is especially true for Amish girls who are educated in a patriarchal system of belief that regards women as "unequal helpers of men," and in which the girls are effectively isolated from any competing vision of life (Stopler, p. 154).” Just as mainstream American children, especially girls, are educated to believe that there is equal opportunity for them, the Amish train their young girls to accept a designated role that is defined. It is expected that the Amish women will embrace their role, and, indeed, the success of the Amish communities in America would suggest that they do. It would be easier, at least for me, to find fault with the Amish patriarchal system if in fact the American system of equal opportunity were not flawed. Women in America still earn less for the same work and jobs performed by men (D’Aprano, Zelda, 2001). The argument can be made, too, that Amish women, who, at 16 years old, have the same opportunity as Amish boys to opt out of the Amish tradition, choose their lives and embrace the structure of the patriarchal society. While mainstream American women embrace the rule of equal opportunity under the illusion that it guaranteed them, and, therefore will be afforded them, when, in fact, that is not the case (D’Aprano, 2001). We do not hear cases of Amish women bringing suit against their Amish communities for sexual harassment or discrimination, because they fall into traditional roles within their communities, and they are appreciated for what they contribute through their designated role and the contribution they make to the greater community. I find that the Amish way, if not preferable, is more honest than the mainstream American guarantee of equal rights and equal opportunity. Laws Protect the Amish Way of Life The ways of the Amish of life has been challenged, and those challenges have been reviewed in legal arenas (Stopler, p. 154). Challenges to the Amish education system, which segregates its children from the mainstream, and which has a different set of academic standards for boys and girls has been challenged (Stopler, p. 154). Those challenges were met with legal rulings that upheld the Amish right to their community traditions as concerns the education of their children (Stopler, p. 154). If I have a problem with the Amish, it would be here, because education, learning, is a lifelong experience, and formal education is a gift and blessing that we should all have the freedom to avail ourselves of. For that reason, I realize, I would not be successful in the Amish community. The courts, however, have found that the Amish are entitled to their religious beliefs, which, much like Islam, govern every aspect of their lives. “There may be pragmatic reasons in some cases for exempting particular communities from the requirement that education should foster the mutual valuing of cultures by presenting children with the ideas, values and practices of a number of cultural communities to which their fellow citizens belong. If a community is self-contained, does not generate overt conflict with the wider political community, and in effect opts out of it in the way that, for instance, the Amish largely do, then this may provide a good reason for allowing them to send their children to schools which have a monocultural curriculum (Mason, p. 159).” Again, I find that the Amish are not held prisoner within their communities. They are afforded the opportunity, at age 16, to explore the world in which they live beyond the walls of their community, and some never return to the Amish community. Those that do, return with a renewed commitment to their Amish tradition after having experienced the world around them, and having concluded that their Amish heritage and tradition is the way that works best for their own lives. Mainstream Interaction As hard as the Amish try to segregate their community, it is impossible to achieve complete segregation or isolation from the greater community or greater society (Olshan, p. 606). The Amish pay property taxes, income taxes, state taxes, and must adhere to the agricultural standards of the Department of Agriculture (Olshan, p. 606). They must register for the selective service, although, in 1960s, Amish were afforded conscientious objector status, and passed over for the draft (Olshan, p. 606). They use the American banking systems, and the very nature of their beliefs and traditions, which cause them to shun modern technology, causes them to employ the services of transportation, and other necessary services that are not possible to find within their own community. It is in this way that we come to know them leading their traditional lives amongst us, and find they pique our curiosity and interest. How, I wonder, do they live without the technology and amenities to which most of us are so accustomed? The answer to that question, I think, can only be found within the Amish community. Therefore, it shall perhaps remain forever secret, since most of us do not hae the strength or perseverance to live the simple life. References DAprano, Z. (2001). Kath Williams: The Unions and the Fight for Equal Pay. North Melbourne, Vic.: Spinifex. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=113980023 Mason, A. (2000). Community, Solidarity, and Belonging: Levels of Community and Their Normative Significance. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105033952 Olshan, M. A. (1990). The Old Order Amish Steering Committee: a Case Study in Organizational Evolution. Social Forces, 69(2), 603-616. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=95183932 Stopler, G. (2003). Countenancing the Oppression of Women: How Liberals Tolerate Religious and Cultural Practices That Discriminate against Women. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 12(1), 154+. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001971155 Read More