The Amish

THE AMISH
A gentle people living a simple life

Who are the Amish?
► They are members of a particular Christian
denomination.
► They are best known for their simple living,
plain dress and for resisting modern
conveniences like technology.
► Amish communities are usually entirely
self-sufficient and deliberately separated from
the outside world.
► The Amish way of life originated in Switzerland,
but these days exists only in the U.S. (mainly
Pennsylvania) and some parts of Canada.
Parts of North America that contain
Amish communities
Typical Amish clothing/dress
The Amish church’s rules
► The rules of the Amish church, which is
called the Ordnung, are quite strict and
must be obeyed by all.
► These rules cover most aspects of
day-to-day living.
► Those who do not follow the rules, and will
not repent for having done so, can be
excommunicated/shunned from the
church/community.
These rules include:
▪ No powerline electricity
▪ Limiting the use of phones
▪ Not owning or using motor vehicles
▪ Wearing a specific style of dress
▪ Not buying insurance
▪ Not receiving any form of government welfare
▪ Not serving in the military
▪ Marrying partners from within their own community
▪ Only being schooled up until Year 8
▪ Using corporal punishment to discipline children
▪ Practising manual labour, mostly in rural chores
Amish forms of transportation
The “clash of cultures” between
the Amish and the “outside
world” can make for some
unusual observations.
The Amish have learned
how to get by without
An Amish sewing machine
technology very effectively
An Amish farmer at work
The Amish in popular culture
► Several films, TV programs,
books, plays and songs have
revolved around Amish themes.
► Perhaps the most commonly
known of these is the film
Witness, which will be the focus
of our film study this term.
► It is about a police investigation
into a murder which an Amish
boy witnessed, and the clash of
cultures which ensues between
the detective and the boy’s
community.
► The film won an Oscar for its
screenplay in 1985.
Other films…
► Another movie based in an
Amish community is For
Richer or Poorer, starring
Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley.
► It is a comedy about a rich
city couple who “hide out”
amongst an Amish
community after being
caught by the government
cheating on their taxes.
► They unsurprisingly struggle
with the adjustments that
this more “simple” life
requires.
Amish in the City
► In 2004, a reality TV show called Amish in the City was
produced.
► In this show, five Amish teenagers were placed in a house with
six “mainstream” American teens, and their lives were filmed.
► This played on the traditional Amish phase of Rumspringa (which
means “running around”), which allows certain short-term
freedoms to Amish teens.
► This period precedes the time when young Amish people must
decide whether or not they wish to join the Amish church (Amish
people are generally not baptised until the age of 18).
Devil’s Playground
► In 2002, a documentary called Devil’s
Playground was made.
► It was about Amish teenagers going
through their phase of Rumspringa,
and focussed on their experiences in
sampling the “English” (non-Amish)
world, which is referred to as the
“devil’s playground”.
► In the film, many of the teens drive
cars, get jobs, have romantic/sexual
relationships, and experiment with
alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
► Most of the teens return to their
community, although one girl is later
“shunned” after leaving the church.
Amish Paradise
► “Weird Al” Yankovic
released a song in 1996
called Amish Paradise,
which was a parody of the
rap hit Gangsta’s Paradise.
► In the song, the “narrator”
praises his plain,
uncomplicated existence.
► As you will come to see,
some of the scenes in the
music video are references
to the movie Witness.
Tragedy in 2006
► An Amish community made world
headlines recently when a shooting
took place in its one-classroom
school.
► It rocked the community of Nickel
Mines in Pennsylvania to its core.
► During the incident, the shooter
(Charles Roberts IV, pictured right)
took the students and their teacher
hostage before killing five young
girls and then himself.
Forgiveness….
► Following the shooting, the Amish community
shocked many by immediately and notably
expressing forgiveness for the killer, who himself
was married and had three young children.
► To many, it perfectly encapsulated the gentle
nature of the Amish people, and their willingness
to carry out God’s will.
Quotes from the community…
“We must not think evil of this man.”
“He had a mother and a wife and a soul and
now he's standing before a just God.”
“I don't think there's anybody here that wants
to do anything but forgive and not only
reach out to those who have suffered a loss
in that way but to reach out to the family of
the man who committed these acts.”
Further acts of forgiveness…
► A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbour
comforted the Roberts family just hours after the shooting
and extended forgiveness to them.
► Amish community members visited and comforted
Roberts’s widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish
man held Roberts’s sobbing father in his arms, reportedly
for as long as an hour, to comfort him.
► The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family
of the shooter.
► About 30 members of the Amish community attended
Roberts’s funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the
killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of
one of the victims.
A private people unwillingly thrust
into the world’s spotlight
► Here is a video which contains
images of the events that
occurred on the day of, and the
days that followed, the shooting.
► The community has since
demolished the school and built
a new one, which was
deliberately and decidedly
different to the original.
► It was renamed the New Hope
School.

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THE AMISH

A gentle people living a simple life

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