Amish

The Amish are a large, conservative Christian sect that attempts to live in an eighteenth-century manner in a twentieth-century world. They prefer to be left alone, but must relate politically, commercially, and socially to others within the wider American communities in which they reside. Most of what they produce, like tobacco in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , is not intended for subsistence but for market. Their appearance and customs attract the curiosity of tourists who regard them as quaint, like living cultural fossils. They dislike this, but even worse, from the Amish insular perspective, they are constrained by the same laws and regulations that govern their neighbors. The outside world is a threat to their integrity, and for several centuries they have largely avoided the penetration of polluting influences from without.

Amish do not like being the object of attention, whether by tourists or anthropologists. Thus much of our intimate knowledge of them comes not from movies like Witness but from former members, like Hostetler For readers who relate Amish society and culture with halcyon old ways of (despite the smell) organic farming and horse-and-buggy transportation, and see Amish life as as idyllic oasis protected from the stresses and social forces of modern times, Hostetler's account is revealing. Amish are not immune from internal strains, personal dissatisfactions, or rebellious youth, and even show an astonishingly high rate of suicide. But we should not take such uninvited observations merely as the means to declare titillating revelations. The imperfections disclosed by our intrusion backstage also affirm the humanity shared by Amish with all of us. They are remarkable Americans who merit our admiration not only for their farming and husbandry skills, their productivity and material self-sufficiency, but above all for the extent to which they have succeeded in determining their cultural destiny.

In Amish society behavior is oriented to absolute values, involving a conscious belief in religious and ethical ends entirely for their own sake and independent of any external rewards. This orientation to Wert-rational, or absolute values, as Max Weber (1947: 305-306) states it, requires of the individual unconditional demands. Regardless of personal considerations the members are required to put into practice what is required by duty, honor, personal loyalty, and sacrifice. Behavior is tradition-directed by unwritten norms. In Amish society there is an almost automatic reaction to habitual stimuli which guides behavior in a course which has been hallowed by the habit of long experience.

The consistency of "charter" in Amish society has been noted by a number of social scientists. Gillin (1948: 209 - 220), for example, has termed the Amish culture "remarkably compatible with the various components of its situation." Kollmorgen (1942: 105) observed that the integrative aspects of the culture "must have qualities that make for survival." Huntington ( 1956: introduction) states that in Amish society "Each community is integrated, but not self contained." Freed (1957: 55) has noted the absence of class differences in Amish society as a factor in the acceleration of change.

The generalization that the Amish are a stable people, consistent in their moral values, has led to several misconceptions and over-statements about Amish social organization. One recent source ( Schreiber 1962: 58 ), for example, states that "juvenile delinquency is unknown among the Amish." Consistency of major points in the charter does not mean that Amish life is relatively free from stress, sustained personal conflicts, or rebellious behavior.

The whole of the Old and New Testaments, in the German language, and to some extent the Apocrypha as well, constitute the sacred writings for the Amish. The codifications and moral principles have their basis in the teachings of Christ and his proclamation of a kingdom.