My Amish Family

WHY HAVE THE AMISH RESISTED CHANGE? DO YOU THINK THEY WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE RESISTING CHANGE?

My Family June 2010

Dressed For Amish Wedding

I am able to provide an unusual perspective on this topic because I am related to Amish people through marriage. My husband Atlee “lived Amish” until the age of seventeen when he “jumped the fence” (the Amish slang term for leaving the community) and began to “live English.”(The Amish refer to the non Amish as English, no matter the person’s heritage.)  When Atlee left home he had not yet “joined church”, which is a good thing, because he would be shunned if he had left after joining church.   The Amish are not baptized at infancy but instead are encouraged to join church as a young adult, only once they are completely positive it is the correct choice for them to make. Because he left without having joined church, we are able to stay in contact and remain close, visiting usually at least once a year. 

This coming February I will have been part of the Miller family for ten years. During this time, I have gotten to know and love the family. From my personal experience of being involved with the Amish, I see the answer to the question of “why the Amish have resisted change” as dedication to faith and family.  I know the Christian faith is important to the Amish, but what I personally see as likely being the heavier influence on the decision to continue with the Amish way of life is the importance of family. The Amish are so close knit that the idea of being away from family and the larger Amish community is largely unappealing. There are those like my husband though, who just know they can’t live the lifestyle and do leave, but it is a small minority.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE AMISH WILL BE 20 YEARS FROM TODAY?

I’m not sure. I don’t know how the “English” will be in 20 years either.  Aside from a huge societal change happening throughout America, I think the Amish will continue to live the same way they have been, making slow, well thought out necessary changes, staying in the world but not “of” the world.