Amish Success in Freezing the 16th Century

The Amish were part of the early Anabaptist movement in Europe, which took place at the time of the Reformation. The Anabaptists believed that only adults who had confessed their faith should be baptized, and that they should remain separate from the larger society. Many of the early Anabaptists were put to death by both Catholics and Protestants, and many others fled to the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. This move sparked the Amish tradition of farming and holding their worship services in homes, instead of churches. In 1536, a young Catholic priest from Holland, Menno Simons, joined the Anabaptist groups, who were nicknamed Mennonites. In 1693, a Swiss bishop named Jacob Amman broke off from the Mennonite church. His followers were called the Amish. Although the two groups have split several times, the Amish and Mennonite churches still share the same beliefs concerning baptism, non-resistance, and the Bible. They differ in matters of dress, technology, language, form of worship, and interpretation of the Bible. The Amish and Mennonites both settled in Pennsylvania as part of William Penn's holy experiment of religious tolerance. The first sizeable group of Amish arrived in Lancaster County in the 1720s or 1730s. Since the early colonial days the Amish have lived in the United States preserving their distinctive culture, dress, language and religion in peace and prosperity. Throughout the twentieth century, the Amish have stubbornly sought to maintain their traditional way of life. The Amish have managed to freeze time in the 16th century, shunning the attractions of the modern world, by obedience to shared common beliefs and practices that help maintain unity and strength on a group level. They are wary that beneath the dazzle of modernity lurks a disruptive force that might fragment or destroy their close-knit society.

Gelassenheit is a German term that roughly means submitting or yielding to a higher authority. Not common in speech among Amish communities, it is more of a concept that carries an array of explicit denotations - self surrender, resignation to God's will, yielding to God and to others, self-denial, submission, thrift, and simplicity. Gelassenheit is the master cultural outlook, deeply embedded into the Amish psyche that governs perceptions, emotions, and behavior. Gelassenheit stands in stark contrast to the daring, hostile egoism of modern culture. The submissive nature of Gelassenheit becomes more clear to the individual as they acquiesce to higher authorities: the will of god, church, elders, parents, community and tradition. Gelassenheit exposes the Amish culture for what it really is, a subculture whose core values collide with those of modernity, individual success. Modern culture tends to produce individualists committed to personal accomplishments. "By contrast, the goal of Gelassenheit is a subdued, humble person who discovers fulfillment in the service of community. In return for giving themselves up for the sake of community, the Amish receive a durable and visible ethnic identity."1 They use this term to communicate the compliance of fully succumbing to God's will with a committed heart and neglecting all egotism. They believe that Christ called them to discard self-interest and follow his example of suffering, modesty, humility and service. A true Christian, in their eyes, will not take revenge on their enemies but should turn the other cheek at the appearance of opposition. "The higher the cost of joining a group, the more attractive it becomes to its members."2 Groups that require very little will not be valued very well by their members. Amish values of simplicity, humility, and discipline lead to personal sacrifice. They provide the cultural assets to build obligation to society and assemble social capital. Amish attempts to control selfishness, pride, and supremacy are not based on the assertion that the modern world or enjoyment itself is evil. "Recreation, comedy, and having fun, in the proper time and place, are welcomed. Evil, the Amish believe, is found within human desires for self-adoration, not in the material world itself."3

Yielded individuals are obedient. Obedience to the will of God is a fundamental religious requirement. Disobedience is unsafe; it is an indication of self-will and, if not dealt with, leads to eternal separation from God. Obeying church regulations shows a personal obedience to the will of God. Those who agree to rid themselves of selfish worldly desires will gladly comply with church policy. Those who challenge the order of the church are believed to lack spiritual surrender. The Amish stress the importance of raising a child appropriately:

Childhood training ingrains obedience into daily customs making it a taken-for-granted practice. Learning this at an early age is an influential means of social control. Children are taught from the Bible: 'Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.'4

The Amish believe that parents should be ready to punish disobedient children, they must insist on obedience, and allow nothing that the child says take precedence over their own orders; realizing that if orders are disobeyed and action is not taken it is likely that disobedience will ultimately continue. Back-talking and disputes from children, sometimes considered amusing in forms of self-expression in typical modern culture, are not put up with in Amish culture. Learning to yield at an early age is an essential step in training a child to live a life of obedience. Adult members are expected to obey church regulations and traditions. A husband and a wife converse over various topics together, but in the end a wife is expected to obey her husband. Deacons and ministers are obedient in the presence of a bishop. Young bishops obey their senior bishops. "Obedience to divine and human authority regulates social relationships from the youngest child to the oldest bishop, who in turn is called to obey the Lord. To disobey at any level is tantamount to rebellion against God."5 These levels of surrender are sacrifices for the bigger goal of an organized and cohesive community.

The Amish divide the social world into two categories: the straight and narrow way to life and the wide, easy road to destruction. The Amish seek to mimic the straight and narrow way of self-denial, while the larger social world represents the broad, easy path of vanity and vice. To the Amish, the term worldly refers not to the globe, but to the entire social system outside Amish society, its people, values, vices, and institutions, basically to modernity itself. Values of a secular system that relishes individuality, competition, and disintegration threaten the Amish spirit of Gelassenheit. This striking split between world and church came to a head in the sixteenth century, when many Anabaptists