Amish Country

When touring Lancaster (pronounced Lan-cuh-ster), our tour guide, Sandy Clark filled us in on the history and customs of the Amish religion. The church was founded in 1693, by Jacob Amen, who was a bishop of a Mennanite church. But a conflict arose in the church, and one of the members was shunned. Jacob Amen and a group of people disagreed with this ruling and broke off from the churhc, and called themselves Amish. When the government paid their debt to William Penn in the form of a huge plot of land, William Penn decided to open it to people of all religions. THe Amish siezed this opportunity and settled there.
They speak a mix between German and English called Pennsylvania Dutch. The men when they are married, must grow a beard. The Amish population of Lancaster is between 27,000 and 28,000. There is a one-story house that is attached to the family home called a "dotty house" that is saved for elderly relatives and singles. The upstairs of a house is reserved only for sleeping, and the colors of the house are all neutral. There is also no wall-to-wall carpet allowed. No photographs are allowed, as that is seen as idolistic, but there are drawings and art. Only 40% of the Amish in Lancaster live on farms. The rest own small businesses. They grow corn, alfalfa, and tobacco, and there are dairy farmers there as well. They also raise deer and chicken.l The power sources they are allowed to use are limited, so the kind of electricity they do use is called "Amish electricity". It consistes of solar energy and compressed air. Church is hosted at people's homes, and is hosted every other Sunday. It consistes of a three-hour service, in which the men sit oldest to youngest on the left side of the room, and the women sit oldest to youngest on the right side of the room. Church starts at 8:30 and after the service, lunch is served. The Amish are born into their own district, which consists of 25-35 families. There are 125 districts in Lancaster. The dress code for the women is that they must wear solid color dresses until they are 14, in which they can wear patterns. They cannot wear buttons, and they wear a white apron until they are married, when they cannot wear a white apron anymore. They are also not allowed to wear any jewelry. Their hair is never cut, and is worn with the side strands twisted into a bun at the nape of thier neck. A recent fashion "fad" for the Amish is to wear Crocs. The men wear buttoned pants and shirts. The Amish are also not allowed health insurance, since they feel that that would be "cheating God's will". They are allowed to go to hospitals, though, though they mostly use home remedies. 40% of the businesses in Lancaster are owned by women. Their means of transportation are buggies, scooters, or rollerblading. They are not allowed bikes, because they can go too far and too fast. They are not allowed to have credit cards because they don't believe in frivolous debt. They are allowed telephones in their businesses, but not in thier homes, though most homes have an outside telephone booth. The telephones would connect them to the outside owrld too much, and expose them to the temptations of gossip. No one is converted into the Amish religion, all that join are born into it. School is first through eighth grade, and they are not allowed to continue their education after that, though they are by law required to attend school for two hours a week until they are fifteen. They do not teach science, because they feel it is not necessary. School is taught only by single Amish women. They play baseball, basketball, and soccer, but to not compete with other schools because that would show that one is better than the other. When the kids are 16, they can join a "gang" with 50-60 kids in them. They meet every Sunday night, and they are allowed the luxury of televisions and cell phones because they have not "joined" the church yet. Most girls join when they are 17 or 18, and most boys join when they are 21-22. If you join the church and then leave, you are shunned, but if you never join the church, then your parents will be slightly embarrased, but you will not be shunned. Nine out of ten kids join the church. They are allowed to ride in cars, but not drive them. They go on vacations, but they don't fly. They do not divorce. The bride's family hosts a wedding, and they are only in the fall, and only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also a three-hour wedding service.