Amish society is organized around three basic social units: settlement, district, and affiliation.20 A settlement encompasses the Amish families living in a common geographical area and may range in size from a dozen families to several thousand, such as the settlement in Lancaster County. Amish and non-Amish homes are interspersed throughout the settlement. The density of the Amish population increases toward the settlement’s center, where they own most of the farms. In some townships the Amish own 90 percent or more of the farmland. However, even in the hub of their settlement, they are outnumbered by non-Amish, who live beside them in small villages and along country roads.
The congregation, or church district, is the basic organizational unit above the family in Amish society. A church district typically includes some twenty-five to thirty-five families that live in the same immediate locale. Because church services are held in the home, houses need to be large enough to accommodate all the district’s members. As the membership grows, districts divide. Four or five new districts are added each year in the Lancaster settlement. About fifteen of the settlement’s 131 church districts spill over into Chester County to the east as well as two in York County to the west.
A family heads for a favorite sledding spot. An Amish homestead frames the background.
A cluster of Amish congregations that are in spiritual fellowship is called an affiliation. Congregations in an affiliation follow similar religious practices and cooperate with each other. The 131 Old Order Amish congregations in the Lancaster area constitute one affiliation. A smaller, more progressive group of New Order Amish and the Beachy Amish are outside the Old Order affiliation because of their different practices.21 These organizational patterns are typical across the nation as well.
Today in North America, some 1,300 Amish congregations are scattered throughout twenty-four states and the Canadian province of Ontario, as shown in Appendix C. The national Amish population totals nearly 180,000 adults and children.22 Extinct in their European homeland, the Amish are prospering in the United States. Of the 250 settlements across the nation, some 70 percent were founded after 1960. Geographic settlements vary considerably in size. Many contain only one congregation, whereas the largest settlement in Ohio has more than 150 congregations. Approximately 70 percent of the Amish live in three states: Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Moreover, about half of Pennsylvania’s Amish live in the Lancaster settlement.
PLAIN COUSINS
There are about thirty different Anabaptist-related groups in Lancaster County organized into some 370 congregations as shown in Table 1.1. The Old Order Amish represent about 20 percent of the adult Anabaptist membership in the county.23 About a dozen of the county’s religious groups are dubbed “Plain” because of their traditional dress and austere lifestyle. The Plain groups consist primarily of conservative Mennonites and Amish-related groups. The Plainer churches maintain strict standards of dress and behavior, whereas the more assimilated Mennonite and Brethren groups have largely blended into the surrounding culture in recent years. The mainstream Mennonites number about 16,000 members in several different church affiliations. The Old Order Mennonites, with more than six subdivisions, have about 6,000 members.
The colorful array of religious practices in Lancaster County perplexes outsiders and insiders alike. Although many of the groups have similar theological and cultural origins, they have split into factions with spirited fervor over the use of cars, tractors, televisions, Sunday schools, and shunning. Some Plain churches permit central heating in their homes, and others oppose it. Telephones and electricity, found in some conservative Mennonite homes, are condemned by other groups. One Old Order Mennonite group prefers black cars to avoid ostentatious display. A New Order Amish church permits tractors in the field and on the road but forbids the use of cars. Each group specifies a dress and behavior code that helps to distinguish it from its Plain cousins living nearby. Meanwhile, mainstream Mennonites and Brethren dress in contemporary styles; own Internet companies; and work as surgeons, stockbrokers, and attorneys. Beneath the endless distinctions lies a fervent piety because these cultural expressions, in the eyes of believers, symbolize spiritual loyalty and obedience to the will of God.
TABLE 1.1
Anabaptist-Related Churches in Lancaster County
A FLOURISHING PEOPLE
The floundering Amish congregations that gradually took root in Lancaster County after the Civil War flourished in the twentieth century. Ironically, they grew as the larger society left the farm and embraced the industrial revolution. Families in preindustrial societies are typically large, and the Amish are no exception. Their long agricultural tradition has nurtured sizeable families. When asked how many children they think are ideal for an Amish family, older women answer, “As many as come”; but young women on the average want about six children.24 Although the Amish live in the midst of a spreading urban region, rife with temptations of all sorts, their dropout rate is surprisingly low. More than 90 percent of their children join the church as adults.25
The combination of a high birthrate and low attrition has produced vigorous growth as shown in Figure 1.3. Lancaster’s settlement expanded from merely six church districts in 1878 to sixty-five by 1980. In the twenty-year period between 1980 and 2000, the number of districts more than doubled. By the end of the twentieth century, Lancaster’s Amish population of 22,000, including children, was thirty times larger than at the beginning of the century.26
The combined pressures of their own high growth and the shrinking farmland have squeezed the Amish demographically. As a result, some families have moved to more remote sections of Lancaster County, to more rural counties in Pennsylvania, and to other states as well. The Lancaster settlement has spawned at least sixty new congregations in twenty-eight other settlements since 1940. A group of families migrated south to St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in 1940. A year later a second outpost opened in Lebanon County, bordering the northern edge of Lancaster County. The migrations halted for two decades but began again in the 1960s when new settlements were planted in a half dozen other Pennsylvania counties. In the 1990s settlements sprouted in Kentucky, Indiana, and Wisconsin.27
FIGURE 1.3 Population Growth of the Lancaster Settlement, 1900–2010. Source: Various directories of the Lancaster Settlement. Note: Includes children and adults. Children under 18 years of age constitute 52 percent of the population. The 2010 estimate is based on current trends.
Today nearly 10,000 people in twenty-eight settlements trace their roots back to the parent community in Lancaster. A listing of all the settlements originating directly or indirectly from Lancaster appears in Appendix D. In addition, some Lancaster families occasionally join settlements of other affiliations in other states as well. The pattern of emigration from Lancaster is shown in Figure 1.4.
MODERN TRADITIONALISTS
The Amish are often portrayed as social antiques who have withdrawn from the modern world. This simplistic stereotype depicts them as a fossilized subculture—a relic of bygone days.28 Folks who read by lantern light, ride in buggies, and shun high school in the twenty-first century are obviously not modern. Or are they? Walk into a booming Amish shop and you will see sophisticated manufacturing equipment powered by air and hydraulic pressure. Visit a dairy farm and you will witness an efficient operation using the latest feed supplements, vitamins, fertilizers, insecticides, artificial insemination, and state-of-the-art veterinarian practices. Wander through a new Amish home in Lancaster County and you will discover up-to-date bathroom facilities, a modern kitchen with lovely wood cabinets, and the latest gas refrigerator and stove. Despite our cherished stereotypes, the Amish are quite modern in many ways.
FIGURE 1.4 Number of Amish Families Migrating out of the Lancaster Settlement, 1970–2000. Source: The Diary
The Amish do indeed cling to social customs and religious rituals that hark back to the past. Without electricity, their homes have no blow-dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, toasters, doorbells, televisions, V
CRs, or computers. But does the absence of these gadgets make them diehard traditionalists? Their unusual mixture of progress and tradition poses interesting questions about the meaning of modernization.29 What strategies have the Amish used to cope with the pressures of modern life? Why have they accepted progress in some areas of their culture and resisted it in others? Are they happier than Moderns who indulge themselves in the latest technological fads?
Throughout the twentieth century, the Amish tenaciously sought to preserve their traditional way of life. They have obviously benefited from the products of industrialization, although remaining skeptical of the long-term impact of technology. The Amish are suspicious that beneath the glitter of modernity lurks a divisive force that in time might fragment and obliterate their close-knit community. The fear that modernization might pull their community apart is not an idle one. Indeed, some analysts argue that social separation has been a major consequence of industrialization.30
The technological age has brought the World Wide Web and high-speed travel, multiplying the number of possible ties individuals might have around the globe. But in other ways modernization is also a process of separation that pulls things apart and partitions whole systems—psychological, social, and organizational—into smaller parts in the name of efficiency. Many of the social bonds of modern life are abstract, rational, complex, and detached from a particular social context. The fragmentation of modern life is often experienced on the personal level as alienation when ties with meaning, work, and place evaporate. Modernization often segments social relationships and activities. Working in a factory instead of at home, going away to college, and moving to a retirement center break up family units and separate members. Living in one city, commuting to work in another, and vacationing in a third separates family, work, and play. This pervasive process of separation threatens to rupture the traditional ties of close-knit communities.
The process of modernization also pulls people and things out of their social context. In a small village everyone knows almost everything about everyone else. Modernity decontextualizes. A photograph pulls people out of context. In a telephone conversation, especially with a cell phone, it’s impossible to know the social context of the other person. Television portrays floating images without context. Virtual reality on the World Wide Web literally has no context. On the Internet, lovers are unhitched from social reality. When things are taken out of context, we lose perspective, meaning, and clarity.
The hallmark of Amish society has been a close-knit, highly integrated community, where the threads of social life are woven into a single fabric that stretches from cradle to grave. To avoid the fragmentation of modernity, the Amish have tried to separate themselves from the larger society. In order to stay whole, to preserve their snug community, they have sought to separate themselves from the Great Separator—modernity.
Children learn to work together at an early age. An Amishman developed this machine which lays plastic on rows of vegetables to prevent weeds and preserve moisture.
One reason to remain separate is to preserve their distinctive identity as well as their social capital. Analogous to financial capital, social capital entails the social resources that can be mobilized for the well-being of the community. Social capital consists of the structures, traditions, networks, and rituals that have been invested in the social bank, so to speak, and that can be used to serve the entire community as well as individuals. In a similar fashion, cultural capital consists of the knowledge—the values, beliefs, trust, and obligations—within the reservoir of Amish life. These cultural resources help to motivate and inspire individuals to act on behalf of their fellow members and community. Both social and cultural capital—networks and values—are valuable resources that the Amish have tried to preserve and use to strengthen their community.
When a child is born in an Amish home, several adult women mysteriously appear. A grandmother, sister, or aunt typically assists the new mother for several days. They know the folklore and wisdom surrounding the care of newborn babies. Within two or three days of a fire, the community erects a new barn. This gigantic task happens ritualistically, seemingly almost without effort. A young mother in need of babysitters can easily find safe care across the lane or fencerow. In these ways the values and structure of Amish society generate an abundant supply of cultural and social capital that serves the common good.31
In many ways the Amish emphasis on separation from the world enables them to preserve their cultural and social capital. Understanding the link between the fragmentation of modern life and the integration of Amish society unlocks many of their riddles; for only by being a separate people have they been able to remain together, and only by shunning modernity have they been able to survive. Many of the odd Amish riddles that perplex outsiders are in fact social devices that shield their society from fragmentation, protect their ethnic identity, and preserve their social capital.
Cultural minorities use a variety of strategies to protect their way of life. When things get too bad, groups may migrate in search of a more serene setting. From the early days of European persecution, the Amish have done exactly that when faced with harsh conditions. Despite a trickle of migrations over the years, most of Lancaster’s Amish have chosen to resist and negotiate with modernity, rather than run from it. Resistance and negotiation are the two primary strategies that the Amish have used to protect their identity and preserve their community in the face of modernization. The traditional side of Amish life, maintained by resistance, tilts backward toward the past. But had they only resisted, they would surely be social antiques. By contrast, their willingness to negotiate with modern life reflects an openness to change and progress. How do they both resist and negotiate?
RESISTING MODERNITY
When athletic teams, armies, corporations, and ethnic minorities face adversaries, they use defensive tactics to resist being overwhelmed by their opponents. A group under cultural attack typically develops an exclusive set of beliefs—an ideology—to justify its existence and motivate its members. Finding ways to rally members behind collective goals is a pressing problem for threatened groups. The aspirations, whims, and rights of individual members must be sacrificed for the common good if a group is to survive. Personal aspirations must give way to collective ones if armies, sports teams, corporations, and marriages are to succeed. Defensive groups must find ways to suppress individualism or at least to persuade individuals to find personal fulfillment through collective goals. Groups on the defensive tend to emphasize obedience, surrender, sacrifice, commitment, and discipline in order to harness personal resources for the collective mission and purpose. To resist being swallowed up by their cultural opponents, minorities must develop social controls to keep members in line with group objectives and to preserve the cultural barricades that ward off outside influences.
Two cornerstones of Amish religious doctrine are obedience to the church’s teachings and separation from the world. Only members who are obedient to the church and separate from the world will receive God’s blessing of peace and eternal life. These cardinal beliefs funnel individual energy toward the shared goal of preserving a disciplined and distinctive community.
Groups such as the Amish that believe the surrounding culture threatens their survival will likely engage in at least five defensive tactics.32
1. Decisive leadership. Threatened groups often welcome decisive leadership because it speeds decision making and offers a sense of security. Clear lines of authority more easily marshal collective resources against a perceived threat. Diffused authority, on the other hand, cripples a group’s ability to respond quickly to external threats.
2. Comprehensive socialization. Like other defensive groups, the Amish must find ways to pass their worldview on to their offspring as well as to newcomers. Indoctrination in the group’s “story,” through formal and informal schooling, must start early in life and be repeated again and again in order to build allegiance and loyalty.
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p; 3. Controlled interaction with outsiders. The fewer the opportunities to mingle with outsiders, the less likely that members will become contaminated with foreign values and leave the fold. When interaction with outsiders is necessary for economic survival, the time, place, and mode of interaction must be carefully regulated. A special dialect, private schools, taboos on public behavior, restrictions on marriage, and limited use of public media are some of the ways the Amish stifle interaction with outsiders. Such cultural fences make it more difficult for members to leave and join the larger society.
4. Social sanctions. A system of social rewards and punishments is necessary to bolster conformity to group standards. Leaders must establish the standards and administer the sanctions (both formal and informal) to keep members compliant with group norms.
5. Symbolization of core values. Cardinal values are symbolized by objects and rituals that call for group loyalty and accent ethnic identity. Uniforms, badges, flags, special jargon, rituals, and ceremonies help to strengthen the cohesive ties that bond members to the group and their common destiny.
The Amish have used these defensive tactics and others to preserve and safeguard their distinctive cultural heritage. Defensive ploys are not distinctive Amish practices; they are generic social strategies used to some extent by virtually all groups. The emergence of defensive tactics intensifies in direct relation to the amount of perceived hostility in a cultural environment. Thus, teams facing aggressive opponents, corporations battling stiff competition, and armies engaged in combat will likely fortify their defensive stance. The Amish have simply applied to community and religious life the standard techniques of social control that are routinely used by other groups for different objectives.
The Riddle of Amish Culture Page 3
