This blog has helped me to understand the Amish culture. Through my research I have learned a great deal about them as well. I have studied photography, schooling, their view on medicine, Amish youth, marriage and family life, death, and even gender roles. Through each of these subjects, I have learned to practice cultural relativism. The Amish are truly very happy with the lives that they live. I was surprised to find out that of the teenagers that have the opportunity to test the “outside world”, about 90% of them choose to remain with the Amish community. I have enjoyed researching and learning more about their culture. They choose to remain separate from the world to pursue their own goals and belief system. In our modern world, this is perfectly acceptable. What I didn’t understand before that I am beginning to now, is that they separate themselves from mainstream society not because they think that it is “bad”, but because they do not believe in the same things.
Mainstream society may look at the Amish and wonder how they can live the simple lives that they live devoid of modern technology, but the Amish are actually very happy about their chosen lifestyle. I am really glad that I have had the opportunity to understand this about them and their culture. I will never view the Amish in the same way again. To me, I will view the Amish as a people who desire to live their life in their own way.
Bibliography
BBC
2009 The Amish. Electronic document,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/amish_1.shtml
Stevick, Richard A.
2007. Growing Up Amish. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
The lifestyles and culture of the Amish is a subject that also greatly interests me because I have also never fully understood their choice of lifestyle. Once while vacationing with my family we saw a family of Amish people and since then I have always wondered why they choose to live outside of the modern world and without technology when it has the potential to make their lives so much easier. As I began reading your blog I thought that it did a good job of explaining exactly what the Amish believe in and how the typical Amish person lives their every day life. After reading all of your different research your explanations of why they live in the ways they do make sense.
ReplyDeleteIt was especially interesting for me to learn about the lives of Amish teenagers and how they have the choice when they get to a certain age to experience mainstream culture then decide in which culture they would like to live. For me, it seemed like they would obviously choose mainstream culture, but after reading the explanations you give of why the teens most often return to Amish lifestyles it makes sense. The insight you give into Amish community and their choices is very interesting and a strong point in your blog. I also think that your blog does a very good job of explaining all of the different aspects of an Amish person’s life and giving the reader a knowledgeable overview. Another thing that I thought was really interesting was the way gender roles are expressed in Amish communities. To me, when I first read that men and women are not considered completely equal I was confused. As your entry on this subject went on though I learned why to the Amish this makes sense and that in their culture it is completely appropriate.
This blog has a lot of very good information that can teach someone who has little or no previous knowledge of Amish culture (like myself) a lot. I think though that more of your opinions and reactions to the information that you learned would have been interesting to read about. It would be fascinating to hear more about the differences between your own life and Amish culture and how the information taught you about both. I also think that more connection to the course material would add another dimension to your blog. In all though, I think your blog does a good job of providing a cross-cultural encounter that many can learn from.