Lancaster County Pennsylvania – June 9, 2008

God and FreedomToday we visited the Amish country of Pennsylvania. While there we stopped at the Mennoite Information Center. We learned about the different divisions of these offshoots of the Cristian faith. They originated as the Anabaptists who didn’t like the thought of baptising children, but baptising adults who made the choice and commitment to have it done. I had thought that Mennonites were a division of the Amish, but it is the other way around. The Amish, Founded by Jacob Amen, and John Rice thought that the Mennonites were not strict enough when disciplining their members for wrong doing. There are also different divisions of Amish, one of which are the Amish-Mennonites, which are less strict and own cars and have electricity.

Obviously these people lead a much different life than we do. One thing that I noticed right off was that these people seemed to look much younger, and by the dates on the tombstones, live longer than most of us. I think these people have their problems just like the rest of us, but I believe that are happy and content with the life they have chosen and are much less stressed than we are. It is interesting that some have made changes in their acceptance for certain neccessities that may be needed in their life. They cannot have electricity in the house but they can use electricity from a generator to do certain jobs. I saw a young man using a string trimmer, but it was OK since the motor was less than one horsepower. They are also required to use batteries to light their turn signal on their buggies, or power the electric fences around their pastures.

They are only educated up through the eigth grade, but they feel that this prepares them for the type of life that they will lead, and it seems to work well for them. However, when they are in school they must go the same number of hours required by all children livivng in the state. They also had to keep a diary of what they did on the farm up until the time they turn 16, and turn those into the state.

At the end of the day we had dinner at the Allgyer farm. This was a very memorable experience. This provided me with an opportunity to visit with a few of them and affirm what I have been told about the mannerisms and friendliness that these people exhibit.

The information I received today could be discussed when talking about the religions such as Puritains and Separatists during the Colonial period of our country. All of them were very strict. I also think that it could be taught when discussing Jeffersonianism. The Amish people are the Yeoman farmers that he envisioned the country to be. He thought that if you were are a self-sufficient farmer you would be more free, and the culture of these people has taken on this form to separate them from the rest of society or free them from it.