Imagine living today in the United States without electricity, a telephone, an automobile.  It seems virtually impossible, doesn’t it?   But that’s life as usual for the Amish.

The motivations for this unique way of life are widely misunderstood by the “English” (Amish term for outsiders). Many mistakenly believe the Amish have a religious conviction against modern conveniences themselves.  But in fact, the Amish simply believe their lifestyle – which emphasizes humility, simplicity, sharing, and sacrifice – cannot be preserved with the distractions of modern life.  An Amish man will go to a phone booth and make a call, but will not have the phone in his house.  He will take a ride in a car, but will just not own one.
Although the largest Amish populations are found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, more than twenty other states are home to these unique communities.  They can be found as far south as Lawrence County, Tennessee where it is commonplace to see horse-drawn buggies along the roads and highways. In town, you will see merchants offering areas for buggy parking equipped with huge water barrels for watering the horses.  Other familiar sights, especially in the spring and summer, are buggies parked on the side of roads and highways where the Amish owners, in their usual traditional clothing, display their farm fresh produce for sale.

The Amish trace their roots to the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland in 1525 at the time of the Protestant Reformation. The Anabaptists emphasized voluntary adult baptism. Because most had been baptized as infants, they were nicknamed rebaptizers or Anabaptists.  They also called for a church that was free from state control. This infuriated Catholic and Protestant leaders and brought severe persecution on the Anabaptists. The Amish were part of this movement until 1693 when they formed their own group in Switzerland and the Alsatian region of present-day France. Their first leader was Jakob Ammann; hence, they became known as Amish.

Amman administered a very strict discipline in his congregations.  He also advocated shunning excommunicated members. This issue drove a divisive wedge between his followers and other Anabaptists living in Switzerland and Alsace.

The first Amish sailed for American in 1727. Migrations continued on and off until the Civil War. The original Amish immigrants settled in southeastern Pennsylvania. Later some moved westward to into Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa.  Today they live in nearly 400 different geographical settlements in 27 states and the Canadian province of Ontario.  None remain in Europe.

The persecution that the Amish experienced in the group’s early days reinforced the biblical teaching of the separation between the church and the larger society.  They also subscribe to the biblical teaching of helping each other in times of difficulty or disaster.  Because of this, they don’t participate in government sponsored Social Security (The US Congress exempted them in 1965) or commercial insurance coverage which they view as undermining their faith in God and dependence on the church community. They pay all the taxes—income, property, sales, estate, corporate, school—that other people do. In fact many of them pay school taxes twice—for both public and private Amish schools.

Simple church services are held in members’ homes on a rotational basis. The two important rituals are baptism and communion.  Baptism is taken very seriously.  Once the commitment is made, they are expected to be accountable to the church for the rest of their lives.  Submission to the authority of the church is a core value in Amish culture. Straying from the Baptismal vows with a refusal to confess their sins results in temporary probation.  A continuance of this refusal will lead to excommunication.  Shunning follows with the hopes that it will remind the errant members of their sins and bring them back to the fold.   The Amish consider the welfare of the community more important than individual rights and choices.

They are taught to obey those with authority over them. They abhor pride and discourage it by disallowing jewelry and personal photographs.  Humility is a virtue that is taught and expected.
The Amish support education in a broad sense, but they think that beyond elementary school, vocational training is sufficient for success in their society.  The Supreme Court supported their educational plan in 1972 in a case known as Wisconsin vs. Yoder.

Scripture reading and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer opens each school day, but religion is not formally taught in the school. The classroom revolves around cooperative activity, obedience, respect, diligence, kindness, and the natural world. Little attention is given to independent thinking and critical analysis, the values of public education.
Schools play an important role in passing on Amish values, developing friendships, limiting exposure to the outside world, and preserving Amish culture across the generations.  This Amish culture is what makes them an anomaly in the contemporary world and the gentle, respectful people that they are.