Amish Culture

The Amish, without their electricity, cars, and television appear to be a static culture, never changing. This is just an illusion. The Amish are a self-motivated culture which is, through market forces and other means, continually interacting with the enormously tempting culture of America. The Amish have not only survived as a gemeinschaft type of society, but has grown and flourished while surrounded by a culture that would seem to be so detrimental to its basic ideals. The Amish, through population growth, resistance to outside culture, compromise, and a strong religious values have managed to hold off an outside culture that waits to enclose them. The Amish, have largely remained an agricultural society. Amish farms tend to resemble
Amish children usually attend single-room school houses until the eighth grade, taught by a young unmarried women. Amish schools do not focus on religion, though there is a strong emphasis on Christian values. Most Amish don't attend high school and college is not permitted and because Amish youth are kept from high school and college, they do not have the opportunity to assimilate modern ideas or philosophies that could lead them stray. While the Amish educational system may seem inadequate for today's world, it fits perfectly into Amish society, preparing Amish youth for further roles in Amish society. A ruling by the US Supreme Court in 1972 (Wisconsin v. Yoder) recognized their right to limit education of their children. Amish education also serves as a major way to prevent socialization by the outside world. It is the Amish way of asserting social control over its youth to remain distinct from the rest of
Clothing and language are two examples of those traditions that will never change. If such changes did take place, Amish culture would loss much of its identity and symbolism. Such things as fabrics and construction material which are not the defining philosophies of the Amish are much easier to change and often do. These changes do not reflect religious belief, but rather survival and necessity. These social changes are also not universal but vary form different church districts and even then from farm to farm. Amish survival in America would not have occurred if not for American society. American political culture is as responsible for Amish survival in America as anything the Amish have done. America's political culture emphasizes liberty, equality, and democracy. These beliefs allow for religious freedom and tolerance which, without, would have inhibited Amish