Faith-based Amish traditions include wearing plain clothing, living in a simple manner and helping a neighbor in need. Church buildings with pews are traded for services in community homes, choirs for solemn hymns without music and professional pastors for community leaders. The Amish church service is an act of worship, a preservation of tradition, a renewal of faith, and an affirmation of community.
Communities are divided into church districts geographically, which enables services to be held in church members' homes, as opposed to designated church buildings. Services are conducted every other Sunday, with each family in a district hosting neighbors for worship about once a year.
In order to accommodate religious services of up to people in homes, each church district owns a bench wagon full of backless benches, which are transported from house to house for the three-hour services. The Amish men and women usually sit in separate sections for church itself. Hymns are sung from the Ausbund, a special hymnal used by the Pennsylvania Amish.
There are usually three to seven preachers and bishops at a service. These "untrained" clergy preach powerful, emotional messages, often moving about since the congregation may be seated in different rooms of the home. Some ministers present their message in a chanting, sing-song manner, in the Pennsylvania German dialect, with scriptures in High German. Common religious scripture themes include leading a right life in the eyes of the Lord; resurrection; and the idea of "judge not that ye be not judged.
After the religious service concludes, the rooms are cleared of people and some of the benches are converted into tables so that a light lunch can be served. Due to limited space, men and women eat in shifts, oldest through youngest, and usually in separate rooms. The meal may consist of coffee, bread, "church spread" a combination of peanut butter and marshmallow , jam, apple butter, red beets, pickles, cheese, and sometimes snitz dried apple pie.
Social time follows the meal. Well over years old, the Ausbund is one of the most famous and important books to the Pennsylvania Amish. First published in German in shortly after the Reformation, it is reported to be the oldest Protestant hymnal in continuous use. With hymns added over the years, editions today contain nearly pages. The Ausbund is important for many reasons, but most notably for the religious tradition that it preserves.
The core of the book consists of about 50 hymns written mostly by 16th century German Anabaptists, many imprisoned in castle dungeons for their religious beliefs. Therefore, the tone of many hymns is one of great sorrow, loneliness or protest against the world of wickedness. Hymns at a religious service are sung in German, with no organ or musical accompaniment, and in unison with no harmonizing.
It may take as long as 15 minutes to do three stanzas, and for this reason entire hymns are not always sung. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Amish singing is the fact that the hymnal contains no musical notation. Melodies have simply been remembered and passed down from generation to generation, most having originated in sacred or secular folk songs and Gregorian chants of the times.
Because certain men in the congregation have natural musical talent, they come to learn the melodies over the years and may emerge as song leaders or "vorsingers. When the modern car became a common fixture in American life, it also became the American symbol of freedom, independence and mobility - transforming the slower pace of horses and trolleys. In all of these ways, the motorized vehicle clashed with the traditional values of Amish culture.
Moreover, the very concept and progression of the automobile breeds pride and inequality in the eyes of the Amish. Travel by horse and buggy is the prominent mode of transportation, naturally limiting travel, and therefore, interaction with the non-Amish world. This also prevents the erosion of geographically-organized local church districts, because members cannot simply drive to the congregation of their choice.
While owning a car is not permitted, being a passenger is no compromise to the beliefs of the Pennsylvania Amish.
Accepting rides from neighbors or hiring a driver is a way for the Amish to use cars as a means of transportation to social functions on the outskirts of the settlement, but not disrupt the Amish culture or social structure. Amish businessmen often have agreements with non-Amish persons to haul materials as needed, or hire a non-Amish employee who provides a vehicle.
The church permits the use of trains and buses as modes of transportation to shop, work at markets or visit far-flung settlements. These are unlike a car in that they cannot be used for personal status. Travel by air, however, is prohibited because it is viewed as too modern and worldly. Moreover, it should be largely unnecessary, as the Amish in Pennsylvania are not engaged in professional occupations or vacations to faraway places. The Pennsylvania Amish church placed a taboo on the bicycle in order to keep youth close to home.
However, non-motorized scooters are viewed as a compromise between walking and the bicycle, and many youth ride them to school. Despite their separation from modern culture, the Amish in Pennsylvania are entangled with the larger economic system. They lean heavily on the broader world for raw materials and supplies, and they use banks.
Just like other citizens, they pay all taxes, with the exception of social security. Similarly, the Pennsylvania Amish pride themselves on being self-sufficient and do not collect social security benefits, unemployment or welfare checks. Financial security and protection come from the community itself, most outwardly visible in the Amish barn-raising.
But the Lancaster County Amish have also created other ways to help church members in time of need. An Amish Aid Society was formed, by which members are assessed and money collected to help rebuild after a disaster. This is a modest system of fire and storm insurance.
Those with medical bills to pay are helped by church alms. Again, in Lancaster, an Amish Church Aid was developed for serious problems as an informal version of hospitalization insurance. Rather than going away from the home to parks or movies, Pennsylvania Amish children enjoy activities in the house and around the farm.
One exception is a small but growing number of Amish organic cooperatives such as Greenfield Farms, which have made savvy use of the lucrative niche market for organic produce and other products, and benefit from outsider perceptions of the Amish as being wholesome and close to nature.
Many Amish work in the wood products industry, where they have carved out a reputation for furniture craftsmanship. With a few exceptions, however, the Amish are not at the forefront of careful logging practices and take a relatively short-term view of forests because they see this world as transient.
One Amish sawmill operator told us, "Even though we want to take care of it, it's not going to be quite as much of a priority if we know it's temporary. Animal breeding has also experienced rapid growth among the Amish. It echoes the farming ethos, using animals for livelihoods, but requires only a few acres of land and can be very lucrative. Dog breeders produce purebred or designer hybrid puppies, while deer breeders select for antler size to create "shooter bucks" that are sold to private hunting preserves.
Dog and deer breeding are controversial even within the Amish community, but both are driven by economic pragmatism and by a willingness to use tools of science, such as artificial insemination, to produce traits desired by and tailored to non-Amish consumers. We also wondered how the Amish respond to local and global environmental challenges and how they think about ecological limits to human activities.
In several Midwestern states, the Amish have come under fire for farming practices that contribute to watershed degradation, such as spreading manure, or barnyards perched on the banks of creeks. Efforts to remediate the situation are often hampered by deep distrust among the Amish of government, environmentalists and the science that underpins much environmental regulation.
The Amish we spoke with also cast environmentalists as extremists, frequently referring to them as tree huggers or animal rights activists.
In one survey we administered, their views were less environmentally inclined than all but one of 69 populations reported by other researchers.
This skepticism does not automatically preclude Amish involvement in solving environmental problems, however. Dog and deer breeding are controversial even within the Amish community, but both are driven by economic pragmatism and by a willingness to use tools of science, such as artificial insemination, to produce traits desired by and tailored to non-Amish consumers. We also wondered how the Amish respond to local and global environmental challenges and how they think about ecological limits to human activities.
In several Midwestern states, the Amish have come under fire for farming practices that contribute to watershed degradation , such as spreading manure, or barnyards perched on the banks of creeks. Efforts to remediate the situation are often hampered by deep distrust among the Amish of government, environmentalists and the science that underpins much environmental regulation. The Amish we spoke with also cast environmentalists as extremists, frequently referring to them as tree huggers or animal rights activists.
In one survey we administered, their views were less environmentally inclined than all but one of 69 populations reported by other researchers. This skepticism does not automatically preclude Amish involvement in solving environmental problems, however. You can catch a lot more flies with honey.
When it comes to global issues, the Amish are climate change skeptics. The Amish we interviewed also said they support efforts to protect biodiversity only up to a point. Otherwise, we should just open the doors and let in all the flies.
0コメント