Our friend Marvin has eight children. He tells us that each wants their own horse. Marvin is Amish. On any given day we can see the simple unadorned black buggies of the Amish plying rural roadways throughout many eastern and midwestern states. The comforting clip-clop of buggy horses drawing carts and wagons, lit only by the rays of kerosene lanterns, were common sounds during my years of growing up in my small hometown of Ashland, Ohio.
If you have lived or traveled near Amish country, you may have wondered at the bearded but otherwise unshaven countenances of the menfolk and the long cumbersome dresses of their wives that appear to harken back to a much earlier era. If you have sampled Amish baked goods and other products you have experienced a treat, and Amish made furniture and other crafts are among the very best. Amish are startlingly honest and take pride in their work.
Whenever those of us “Englishers” spot a black buggy being towed down a country road behind the dancing hooves of a cart horse, some entertain dreams of abandoning the accoutrements and attributes of modern times and fleeing to the imagined sanctity of an earlier, more bucolic era. But, nothing is perfect, and, while the Amish way of life appears so peaceful in comparison to our more frantic times, it does have its drawbacks. Dr. Paul Gaus, retired from the faculty of The College of Wooster and author of a number of excellent Amish mysteries, cautions that his subjects are not saints but peasants.
“Does anyone ever convert to the Amish religion and lifestyle?” asked a young woman among a small crowd of visitors at Beholt, the Amish museum near Walnut Creek, Ohio.
There was a certain wistfulness in her voice and demeanor. The Amish tour guide responded, “They have, but it doesn’t turn out well.”
He went on to explain, “We have problems in our community that I would not wish upon yours: cancer, birth defects, drug addition, alcoholism, spousal abuse, unruly children. My advice is to go back and try to fix whatever it is you are running from.
Life changes only at a snail’s pace among the Amish. And yet, it does change, depending upon the restrictions of the local bishop. In recent years, solar panels have appeared atop Amish homes and shops, and increasingly horse drawn buggies are being replaced by Amish women trundling along the highways and byways in their lengthy skirts while pedaling away on electric bicycles. Because such modes of transportation are natural and, thus, God given, it seems that they are approved of. Amish author David Miller tells us, “We Amish are not opposed to technology, we just refuse to be enslaved by it.”
The Amish avoid like the plague anything that smacks of vanity. Hence the strange—to us—19th century attire and the unshaven chins. In some areas, zippers are even considered a vanity, and men’s trousers have only hooks and eyes. In other areas, the number and type of suspenders used to hold one’s trousers up varies. In some, two suspenders are approved of. In others, a single suspender worn diagonally is all that is acceptable. In still others, a single suspender forming a “Y” in the back has the stamp of approval. There is one sect of so-called barefoot Amish where shoes are permitted only during the cold months.
Simplicity also dominates the livelihoods of the Amish. Modern conveniences like tractors and combines are not permitted. Instead, an Amish farmer can be seen plodding along behind his prized draft horses as he plows, cultivates and plants his fields of wheat, corn, oats, alfalfa and soy beans, hard work but rewarding. Having spent part of my growing up years trudging along behind my grandpa’s two big friendly draft horses, I can relate.
The Amish trace their history back to the Reformation period in European history. They are among the most conservative of Anabaptist sects, those who reject the rite of infant baptism. As such, they are akin to other Anabaptist groups, Mennonites and Hutterites. The bedrock of their beliefs and lifestyles is that the more prominent reformers of the time, historical figures like Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli, did not go far enough in their reshaping of Christianity. They insisted upon a strict separation of church and state at a time when a ruler such as the Holy Roman Emperor determined the religion of his subjects.
The name Amish can be traced back to Jacob Amman, who was born in 1644 near Berne, Switzerland to a family of tailors. Jacob later, according to his critics, “Became infected with the Anabaptist sect”. It is known that he did indeed convert to the Anabaptist faith sometime in the late 1600’s and that he was ordained by 1693. It was in 1693 that he moved from Switzerland to Alsace where he remained until all Anabaptists were expelled from the province by Louis XIV. Nothing much is known about him after that, only that he died sometime between 1712 and 1730.
Historically, the Amish have preserved their quiet, simple ways at a cost. Their ancestors migrated to Pennsylvania Colony in order to escape from the horrors of persecution in Europe where they suffered torture and execution for the crime of simply being different. There are two books in every Amish home, the Holy Bible and Martyrs Mirror, detailing the persecution of Christians down through the ages.
Upon being accepted as a full-fledged member of the Amish community, one promises to never serve in the armed forces. The Amish are pacifists. They will not defend themselves from bullies or criminals and refuse to even testify in their own defense in a court of law.
Amish children attend their own schools whenever available but only through the eighth grade. The basic Three R’s are emphasized. They refuse, for instance, to consider the theory of evolution.
I have only been inside an Amish home one time, a spring evening back in 1981 when I was deeply involved in the work of Amnesty International and was dispatched to debrief three recent Christian Romanian refugees who had been adopted by Old Order Amish in Holmes County, Ohio after suffering under severe persecution by the Communist government in their home country. The home was simply furnished but comfortable. Given that electricity is forbidden in Amish homes, the living room was illuminated by a gas powered floor lamp, much like a Coleman fishing lantern. I was accompanied by a TV camera crew from Ashland University that evening, and, in order to power our equipment, cables had to be run inside from the milk house. The family was very kind hearted, having opened their home to the three refugees until they could be assimilated into US society.
One has to respect the Amish for their refusal to accommodate the surrounding “Englisher” culture that so often seems hell bent upon its own destruction, their determination to maintain their simple ways and their devotion to a Christianity that is both pure and kind hearted. Their culture and lifestyle causes me to look back with nostalgia to the almost Amish world of my grandparents’ generation, the role models who informed my earliest years, fostering in me to this day a preference for simplicity and minimalism. A distant ancestor five generations back was, in fact, an Amish farmer and minister. None of his sons followed in his denominational footsteps. Had the toss of the genetic dice and the accidents of history gone followed a different trail, I might be an Amish farmer today.
My enthusiasms include fly fishing, natural history and wilderness backpacking. In 1996, I published privately a memoir, Trails of Laughter/ Trails of Tears, featuring my wilderness adventures and misadventures.I serve when needed as a Licensed Eucharistic Minister in the Episcopal Church.
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Lorin,
Thank you for a well written, informative and interesting article on the Amish.