Amish again

How are you? :)

Here is my promised sequel of Amish life. As I have already announced today’s post is about educational systems, clothing and relation to technical development. I am going to start with something we all know very well:

School

There are three different forms of education. The first one is home schooling. The Amish people want to spend a lot of time with their children in order to “guide them in the direction of God”. For this reason, home schooling is very popular among Amish parents. The second form is the attention of Amish private schools. It is important to mention that all the teachers in these schools are Amish people themselves. This is crucial for the communities because they think that only members of the faith group can teach the children correctly. The third alternative are public schools but in fact, only a very small percentage of Amish children attends state-run schools.
In the schools the focus is not on academic subjects but on the process of socialisation. Amish traditions are much more important than profane knowledge. However, English, German, Reading, Writing, Maths, Health Studies and Theory of Agriculture are taught as well.
Amish pupils attend school until the age of 16. Third level education is not accepted within the community.

Clothing

Most of you probably have this picture of typical Amish clothing in your mind. Well, it is much like that. Clothes represent modesty and godliness. They have to be simple and demure. Amish men wear mostly blue or white shirts, a jacket, a pair of trousers with braces, black or brown shoes, stocking and a traditional hat. The breadth of the brim of the hat tells you a lot about age and status of the man. The bigger the brim is the more important is the Amish man inside the community. The style of facial hair is normally inherited from the father to the son.
Amish women tend to wear bare dresses in an unspectacular colour, an apron, a shoulder cape, a cape, shoes, stocking and a white bonnet. The head of the Amish women has to be covered at every time. This is a symbol for being devoted to god and the husband. Here is a link to a picture of a typical dressed Amish family: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ohio-Amish.jpg

Technics

Well, technical development is really fascinating in relation to these people. Electricity is even today not tolerated in most Amish communities. There are no electrical connections or outlets. Two main statements explain this prohibition: Firstly, electricity prevents you from the important things in live (in this case religious stuff). Secondly, labourers have to work on Sundays to ensure the supply. For the Amish the Sunday is a holy day and an idle period and for this reason, they absolutely do not support electricity generation. Fridges, lamps and stoves work with gas, washing machines and sewing machines work with diesel engines and also paraffin lamps are still common.
Telephones are very interesting. The problem is not the usage itself but “the cable might be a direct connection to hell”. This is not really meant to be literal; hell is more a metaphor for profane temptation. Today telephones are still forbidden in Amish households but many families have installed them in small cabins outside the house or in the barn. Regarding this point, the Amish people are incredibly creative in bending the rules without breaking them.
Driving cars is normally also prohibited. Sitting in the car someone else drives is not. This is another very vague point. Using public transport such as busses, ships or trains is normally okay but not flying somewhere using an aircraft. The typical Amish means of transport is the horse buggy: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/97/90097-004-F5155BF8.jpg
Another area very affected by the strict rules of the Amish community is the farming sector. Tractors have been banned from Amish fields in 1923. Ploughs are normally pulled by horses or mules. Today, there is an independent market branch developing farming tools for Amish purposes.

That’s it. I hope you found out what you wanted to know. I am sure you are all experts on Amish life now ;)
Bye!