Amish Evangelicalism: "Leaving Amish Paradise"

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) religious series, Compass, has just aired an hour long program on the Amish of Lancaster, PA, entitled, "Leaving Amish Paradise," which tells the story of two families that have left the Amish community to join an evangelical church that evangelizes the Amish (here).  The families were excommunicated by their Amish community.  While the program provides insights into the Amish way of life and thinking, it projects a somewhat negative tone about them—in part because it depends on former Amish for information about the Amish.  Since we have an Amish community here in Lewis County, programs such as this help us to better understand them as our neighbors.  Happy viewing!

P.S. The show is also on YouTube - just search for the title,"Leaving Amish Paradise."

How Can This Be?

As noted in an earlier RPK posting (here), some of our very best neighbors here in Lewis County are Amish.  They add a great deal to the quality of our lives and detract from that quality in no ways that most of us can discern.  So, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that Amish immigrants don't always receive the welcome they have here.  Such is the case, evidently, in Schuyler County, Missouri, according to a news feature by Phillip O'Connor entitled, "Curiousity, criticism follow Amish in Midwest migration to Missouri."  Soon after the first Amish settled in the county, rumors began to circulate that they "hated government, didn't pay taxes, and wouldn't fight in a war."  They are not, that is, loyal and patriotic Americans.  There were other uglier rumors as well.  Others continue down to the present to criticize the way the Amish raise their children, supposedly make women work too hard, and refuse to use electricity.

In other areas of New York as well, the Amish have fallen foul of local codes and people object to horse manure on their streets and roads.  Sometimes, according to one survey of the Amish in New York (here), these differences have ended up in court.  It is the most conservative Amish groups that often have these problems.  Still, the Amish living in the Lowville area are reputed to be one of the more conservative groups, and there still is little complaint if any about them.

It's hard to believe, in fact, that anyone could object to the Amish in the ways described above.  While it is true that some Amish are somewhat stand-offish and many are apparently shy, others are easy to chat with and happy to sit and talk a spell.  And, frankly, they contribute to the cultural richness and diversity of places that are otherwise a bit monochrome when it comes to such things.  Sure, the rest of us have to meet them half-way or even a little more on some things, but there's far more good than harm that comes of it.  The practice of kindness is its own reward especially with neighbors such as the Amish who themselves provoke little else but kindness.

Amish Insights

The Amish buggy has become a common sight in and around Lowville, and the Amish themselves are a growing presence as they buy up farms one after another.  They are good neighbors, and local officials credit them with "saving the family farm" in Lewis County.  They offer a variety of services while draining virtually none of the tax payers' dollars.  But, one often wonders how they decide which technologies to reject and which to embrace.  CNN recently posted an informative interview with Eric Brende, who with his wife, Mary, lived for a year with the Amish.  The interview answers some of the questions you might have about the Amish, technology, and how they decide things. You can access the interview (here).

P.S. For some basic information on the Lewis County Amish see the Mayville, New York, section of the Amish America website (here).