Concept in Definition ABC

In the seventeenth century, the Mennonite community emerged in the territories of present-day Germany and Switzerland, an Anabaptist Christian current that spread throughout Russia and then the United States. In the eighteenth century a dissident branch formed, the so-called Amish. The name of this group is due to its founder Jacob Ammann.

Today the different Amish communities are found mainly in the United States, Canada, Bolivia and Argentina. There are an estimated 200,000 worldwide and most of them still use a dialect German.

Beliefs, customs and daily life

From a religious point of view, the Amish follow the Bible according to a very strict interpretation, but in their communities they do not have a hierarchy religious. They consider that electricity, the music, the dances and the radio are contrary to the sacred scriptures and, consequently, they live according to the schemes of more than 200 years ago. In this sense, they do not use motor vehicles but instead travel in horse-guided carts.

They dress in the old-fashioned way, in dark colors, and men grow beards when they get married. At the age of 16 they come into contact with society for a period of time and after that they have to make a decision: rejoin Amish life or leave it.

Amish life is peaceful, focused on work agricultural or rancher and outside of society. They have their own laws and if an Amish breaks the established norms they have to show their repentance in public in front of their entire community. Each Amish community has its own codes and rules, the ordnung.

The other side of the Amish

If an Amish makes the decision to leave the community, he cannot return to it under any circumstances and he cannot maintain contact with his community. family. Due to their isolation and inbreeding, the Amish have developed some genetic mutations that lead to mental problems, disorders in the movement and recessive diseases.

From a cultural point of view their knowledge is very scarce, since in schools they are limited to studying the Bible and the most basic rudiments of mathematics.

In recent years, some members of these communities have rebelled and disagreed with the strict norms of conduct they must follow. Is attitude rebel has caused them the rejection of their community. There have also been cases of rape of minors and because of this they have been tried by the ordinary courts of justice.

Photos: Fotolia - Lspi138 - Daniel Thornberg