Death

"The Lord giveth; the Lord taketh away."

In the simplest way, this is how the Amish view death. Above anything else in their lives, God is the most important. When a person in an Amish community dies, they are buried in an Amish cemetery in a plain coffin with a plain tombstone. Flowers and other decorations are lacking. During the funeral service, the Amish do not sing. They may speak a hymn or two, but will never sing. A reason for this can be explained by the Amish’s belief in God. They believe that once a person dies, their souls leave their bodies. Because of this belief, they do not decorate, sing, or even visit the site of the dead person because they believe that the person’s soul has already moved on. The body holds no significance anymore.

This belief is somewhat different from the beliefs that can be found in mainstream society. People decorate coffins, place flowers and other decorations at grave sites, and sometimes visit the burial site. Songs are usually song at funeral services to remember the life of the person who had passed away. This differs from Amish society because there are many different beliefs in mainstream society. Not everybody believes in God or the afterlife.

I can understand why the Amish would treat their dead in this fashion. They believe that everyone has a soul. In a way, I can also see that they might be able to believe in brain death. Even if a heart is still beating or lungs taking in air, the brain is dead. I think that the Amish may believe that the person is truly gone because they would believe that their soul has already left the body. This may seem like a strange connection to make, but to me it makes sense. I can understand why the Amish treat death in this way without honoring the dead individual’s body.

Bibliography

Deathcare
2009 Historic Funeral Traditions: The Amish. Electronic document,
http://www.deathcare.com/2009/historic-funeral-traditions-the-amish.html

Meaningful Tributes
2000 Amish. Electronic document,
http://www.meaningfultributes.com/dbID/1550.html

Robinson, B.A.
2008 The Amish: Practices of Various Groups. Electronic document,
http://www.religioustolerance.org/amish4.htm