{"id":787,"date":"2009-08-24T11:14:57","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T00:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=787"},"modified":"2009-08-24T11:27:31","modified_gmt":"2009-08-24T00:27:31","slug":"amish-encounter-9-the-riddle-of-amish-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2009\/08\/24\/amish-encounter-9-the-riddle-of-amish-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Amish Encounters No.9 – ‘The Riddle of Amish Culture’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Riddle of Amish Culture<\/strong> by Donald B. Kraybill, The John Hopkins University Press, Maryland, 2001(rev. edn.) is an outstanding examination of the Amish people.<\/p>\n

The \u2018riddles\u2019 of Amish culture are many and varied to the outsider. Professor Kraybill, an acknowledged authority on the Amish, takes the reader on a fascinating journey of discovery of these people. The book focuses on the culture of traditional or \u2018Old Order\u2019 Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, although other Amish and Mennonite groups are noted.<\/p>\n

\u2018Riddles\u2019 include: Why do the Amish use horses to pull modern farm machinery? Why can a car be used but not owned? Why can a telephone be installed in a shanty in the barn or yard but not in the house? Why the uniformity of beards, bonnets and buggies in the 21st century? Why can young Amish be allowed to \u2018sow their wild oats\u2019 during \u2018rumspringa\u2019 but not be permitted to attend local schools?<\/p>\n

\u2018The big riddle, however, eclipses all the smaller ones: How is it that a tradition-laden people who spurn, electricity, computers, automobiles, and higher education are not merely surviving but are, in fact, thriving in the midst of modern life?\u2019<\/p>\n

The answer to these riddles lie in the social and cultural capital of the Amish. These are the resources needed for the Amish to engage creatively and productively as they negotiate with the forces of the modern world. Cultural capital is seen in Christian values: yieldedness, self-denial, obedience, trust and mutual aid. Social capital includes the social rituals, networks, extended family, locally based life and organizational structures.<\/p>\n

The ability of the Amish to negotiate with the forces of the modern world in seeking to preserve their community is well illustrated in the book by stories and quotes.<\/p>\n

Consider the car. Negatively, a car gives freedom to individuals, independence from the community, disrupts the slow pace of Amish life, mocks humility and equality and enables interaction with the modern world. Positively, the car helps in emergencies and with visiting distant family. The resolution: the Amish can use but not own a car.<\/p>\n

Consider the telephone. A telephone is permitted if it is located away from the house so as to avoid it interrupting family life and work. Stopping incoming calls to the home gives control of the phone to the family regarding the people who can enter into conversation with family members and denies access from the world of violence, egotism and consumerism. On the other hand, the telephone can be very helpful in emergencies, for business and with family living further away in newly established Amish settlements. So a \u2018telephone shanty\u2019 that is away from the house is permitted. See photo below.<\/p>\n

I found Chapter 2 which explores the cultural underpinnings of Amish life, of particular value. The Old Order Amish emphasis on \u2018tradition before all else\u2019 is based on Gelassenheit<\/em>: the yielding of self to the family, church and God. As mentioned in earlier articles this underpins a process of socialization from cradle to grave in a cultivated social life of church, family, home, school, work and recreation.
\nA suggestion: This chapter lends itself to a reading group for discussion.<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s concluding chapter, Exploring our Common Riddles<\/em>, presents this challenge:<\/p>\n

Is it possible to forge a culture \u2013 a social habitat \u2013 where the individual and the community are not pitted against each other as adversaries, but where they supplement, complement, and enrich each other? That is the common riddle that begs all of us \u2013 Amish and Moderns alike \u2013 for a solution.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I highly commend this easily read, clearly structured and well illustrated book that answers many of the \u2018riddles\u2019 of the Amish and advances a challenge to ourselves.<\/p>\n

Of related interest is Amish Studies, an academic website<\/a> developed by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (Pa.) to provide reliable information on Amish life and culture. The principal investigator, Professor Donald B. Kraybill, is the author of the above reviewed book.<\/p>\n

\n

\"ar\"<\/a>The \u2018Riddle<\/em>\u2019 of Amish Culture is symbolized on the book\u2019s cover by two young Amish women in traditional dress of bonnet and plain clothes and yet skating on modern roller blades. The Riddle: how are tradition and modernity held together by the Amish?<\/p>\n

\"as\"<\/a>A \u2018telephone shanty\u2019 is located away from the house.<\/p>\n

\"at\"<\/a>Horse drawn machinery – why persist with horses?<\/p>\n

\"au\"<\/a>No quilt sales on Sunday: how can the Amish be in the world but not of it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Riddle of Amish Culture by Donald B. Kraybill, The John Hopkins University Press, Maryland, 2001(rev. edn.) is an outstanding examination of the Amish people. The \u2018riddles\u2019 of Amish culture are many and varied to the outsider. Professor Kraybill, an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":806,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions\/806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}