The Amish Lifestyle and Religion

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Introduction

The philosophy of religion involves the philosophical study of religious beliefs.

Religious doctrines and the religious history. It is in this sense then people have the right to worship in whichever religion they wish like the Amish religion. No religion is superior to the other and religions are formed based on philosophical studies. (Brewer, 2001).

History of the Amish religion

Amish is a type of religion that was started by Jakob Amman in the 1690s. It is a protestant anti-modernist which was started by the Mennonite preacher as a result of his withdrawal from the other Mennonites since he believed that these Mennonites did not actually consider the traditional lifestyles so he went ahead and started his own religion, called it Amish since it considered the lifestyles of the tradition existing at that time.

As a result of the formation of his own religion, he actually attracted many followers from different religions, which include Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, and as years progressed they extended to the United States. It is known that the Amish mostly live in the rural areas where there are no electricity and other modern forms of living like modern dressing, modern food styles among others.

In the United States, Amish are isolated from the other religions and do not participate in most of the democratic activities like voting since they see it as modern but they do participate in the payment of the countries taxes so in this case they are taxed just like any other fellow in the united states. Amish have their own lifestyle by the name Meidung and every follower of the Amish religion has to follow that given lifestyle and if at all one fails to obey, they are ostracized by the members of that group including the family members of that person, so here, they promise to obey those rules in fear of been thrown out of that religion. (Brewer, 2001).

Daily Amish life

Amish lifestyle is much different from the other Christians even though they believe in the same bible. You find that most of the Amish practices are all traditional and reject the modern aspects of living since they believe that the modern aspects of living like the modern dressing and the new technology tend to make them different from others so for this case they tend to rely on the traditional aspects of living. Amish lifestyle is much close to the Englishers ancestor’s centuries ago.

They don’t ever pose for any photos or pictures since they actually believe that when they take these photos, they violate their biblical teachings since they believe that these photos are the graven images which are forbidden in the bible, and when they take these photos, it’s like worshipping them so in order to avoid this they have neglected taking photos. They also believe that these pictures or photos will lead to self-pride and this may lead to some feeling that they are better than others but because Amish believe that they are all equal and in order to reduce the aspect of self-pride, they have refused the taking of photos by their religion.

Amish life is much different from the other religions’ forms of living like the Christianity and Muslim standards of living. In Amish, all forms of life are written down rules known as Ordnung, which actually outlines the basics of the Amish faith and helps to define what it means to be Amish. In these rules, there are written down rules, which actually dictate the living styles of the followers, and some of these styles may range from dressing styles, eating habits, the size of the air, and also farming styles, which are different from the other religions living styles. (Brewer, 2001).

Dressing styles

Dressing style is one of the most confronting aspects of the Amish religion in the sense that they tend to be traditional in their dressing styles and their dressing styles are the most simple ones. Amish dresses differently from the other religions. They believe that dressing is a symbol of one’s faith and hence as a result, the mode of their dressing encourages humility and separation from the world. They have a unique dressing style, which involves simple ornamentation.

Their clothing is usually dark in color and the clothes are made at home with plain fabrics. The clothing of men includes wearing straight-cut suits and the wearing of coats without collars which is actually different from the modern clothing of men we know. When choosing their trousers, they should not at all have creases and they wear them with suspenders. They forbid the wearing of such things like belts, sweaters gloves, and neckties and one would wonder what sought of dressing is this since most of us believe that men should always dress in a full suit with a tie but for the Amish, it’s forbidden for men to wear ties but should only be in coats without collars and trousers that have no creases.

The men’s shirts should have the traditional buttons but not the modern ones. For the young men, they should be shaven in preparation for their marriage, unlike the old men who are supposed to let their beads grow unlike in the other religions whereby men look wore with their beard not shaven. For the cases of women, they are supposed to wear long skirts and dresses solid in color with long sleeves since they are not supposed to let any part of their body be seen but should always look more traditional. They are not supposed to cut their hair but should have a braid or bun on the back of the head and should cover the head with a black bonnet. Ladies are also supposed to wear black shoes and black stockings. (Edwards, 2001).

Amish family life

Family is one of the important social units in any society. It is in the family whereby most of the family activities are done and it is the family, which shapes the family members. For the Amish, they believe that family forms one of the most social units whereby their culture should evolve. You find that they believe in large families with at least ten children. When doing the family duties, you find that they divide the family activities based on their gender.

The role of the woman at home is to cook for the husband, wash utensils, look after the animal, and till the land. On the other hand, you find that the husband’s role is to look after the farm and ensure that there is always food available at home for the women to cook for the children. It is also the father who is actually considered to be the head of that family and the rest are supposed to be his inferiors. During the marriage, they are supposed to marry each other in the sense that the Amish should marry the Amish. They are not allowed to marry other religions and divorce is at all not allowed by the Amish religion. They also speak German and sometimes English. (Edwards, 2001).

Amish education

Amish have got their own private schools whereby they are supposed to take their children. Here they learn formal education, which is taught by the Amish teachers only since they have a strong belief in education. It is in education whereby Amish have a small similarity informal education like the other religions even though they have their own Amish private schools. In the Amish schools, they basically concentrate on reading and writing and focus on some subjects, which includes, math, social subjects whereby they are taught how to socialize with the other Amish but not to socialize with the other religions practicing modern aspects of living.

There is also vocational training, which actually trains them to be preachers of Amish but not any other religion. The belief is that educations mounds the child to good standards of living and prepares the child in gaining most of the important skills like farming and homemaking. (Edwards, 2001).

Amish and technology

Amish reject the technology, which they think will weaken the family structures. They believe that some of the modern aspects of new technology like watching televisions, electricity, and telephones are termed as temptations which could actually weaken the families who buy them so they believe that these conveniences are seen to be temptations and can lead to inequalities in the families so they don’t go for them. also when farming, they don’t use the modern tools of cultivation like the tractors but they prefer using the horse-drawn machines since they believe that since not everybody could afford these machines, then they go for the cheapest machine which is the horse-drawn machine which can be afforded by everyone in that community and hence as a result, this can help reduce inequality since they believe that all Amish are equal.

Some of these services can sometimes be used when need be like electricity but can not be used at home but only used in areas where they can benefit everybody like in their places of worship, telephones can also be used but still not at home. You find that most of the Amish share these facilities like the case of the telephone they share it and is normally located near farms where everyone can have access to it. They normally use the windmill to generate their power and this power can be used in fencing and flashing electric lights. (Edwards, 2001).

Amish agriculture/farming

Most of the Amish are primarily farmers and depend most of their life on farming. Some are also seen as carpenters and others as blacksmiths since they are supposed to be traditional as their religion dictates them to be. Due to these lands becoming expensive, some of the Amish are forced to move and work in the factories in order to cater to their basic needs. Most of the Amish buildings are white in color and this shows cleanliness. They don’t plant for commercial purposes but they do plant what actually the family can consume since they believe that if they farm for commercial purposes, then this will lead to inequalities since some will be rich than others. They usually harvest the crops by use of horse-drawn carts. (Potishman, 1999).

Transportation

In this case, the horse and the buggy are the main sources of transportation. They do not have automobiles but when they need them, they just hire them to drive them wherever they want to go but they don’t believe in owning them. (Potishman, 1999).

Conclusion

Amish is a type of religion that is much different from Christianity but does use the same biblical teachings. Amish was started by Jakob Amman in the 1690s. It is a protestant anti-modernist which was started by a Mennonite preacher as a result of his withdrawal from the other Mennonites since he believed that these Mennonites did not actually consider the traditional lifestyles. Amish are isolated from the other religions and do not participate in most of the democratic activities like voting since they see it as modern but they do participate in the payment of the countries taxes so in this case they are taxed just like any other fellow in the united states. It is their religion, which actually differentiates them from the other cultures.

Reference

Blending Genders (1996). Social aspects of cross dressing and sex changing. Richard Elkins and Dave King, Eds. London, New York: Rutledge.

Potishman, N (1999). Causal criteria in nutritional epidemiology. American journal of clinical nutrition.

Edwards, W. (2001). Amish family life. Edmonton public schools.

Alberta education. (2006). Guide to education: ECS to grade 12.Edmonton, AB, Alberta education.

Brewer, J. (2001). Amish lifestyles. Resource development services, Edmonton public schools.

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