Amish Culture

3 Pages 806 Words

Paper Two- Folk Culture


There are many folk cultures still alive throughout the world, but the one
that seems to be the most vivid of all has to be the Amish folk culture. First we have to
have a clear idea of what a folk culture represents to understand the Amish way of life,
their beliefs and their values. The word folk describes a rural group that still lives the
old-fashioned way, following some simple rules and practices. A group of people that
generally stick together and are less influenced by modern technology than the overall
population. The Amish people fall under all these characteristics. The Amish are a very
conservative Christian faith group. Many of their beliefs are identical to those of
Fundamentalist and other Evangelical churches, including baptism, a literal interpretation
of the Bible, etc. Of course, there is some differences such as their belief in remaining
separate from the rest of the world and their rejection of involvement with the military or
warfare. Each district is self-governing, there is no centralized Amish organization. They
have traditionally avoided attempts to seek adaptation. Recently, some Amish groups
have become active in converting to Christianity. The Ordnung is an oral tradition which
regulates the Amish way of life, specific details of the Ordnung differ among various
church districts.

Some Amish migrated to the United States, started in the early 18th
century, and started settling in Lancaster County, PA during the 1720's. Other groups
settled in or moved to New York, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio. They have
attempted to preserve the elements of late 17th century European rural culture. They
reject most of the developments of the modern society. During the 1860's, a series of
conferences were held in Wayne County OH to deal with modern pressures. Partly as a
result of these conferences, the Amish split into a number of divisions, including t...