Rumspringa

During Rumspringa, Amish youth go out on their own into the outside world. (Many for their first time ever. ) After Rumspringa, the majority return home to live with their families and be baptized and continue in the Amish life without artying and partaking of the English lifestyle. The individual decides when their Rumspringa ends when they agree to be baptized into the church and take up responsibilities of an adult in the Amish community. -Amish are similar to most mainstream Americans by: they are of “white” European stock, and they come from families that have been in America for more than one generation. –
Amish differ from the majority by: they practice an intense Christian religiosity and they deliberately try to live separately from the larger society and refusing to adopt the practices and roducts of our mainstream society. Adolescence is a Journey from childhood to adulthood; Amish youth experience the temptations and Joys and ills differently because it comes in a very concentrated form during Rumspringa. -Mennonites do not have Rumspringa. Rumspringa is practiced mostly in the larger Amish communities like Holmes, LaGrange, and Lancaster. -More than 70% of male Amish adults do not farm. -In Northern Indiana only about half of the Amish youth attend parties. -Today there is about 200,000 Amish individuals. And about half of them are under the age of ighteen.
The Amish make up only 1% of the population in America but they are growing rapidly because of the high Amish birthrate. The average family has seven children. -Every five weeks, a new Amish settlement is established in the United motto: “to be in the world but not of the world. ” -Mennonites are named after their earlier leader; Menno Simmons. -Once Amish are baptized and enter back into the Amish culture and way of life after Rumspringa, it is very difficult for them to leave again because of such harsh consequences. “Demut” : a central tenant of the Amish to cultivate humility) -“Hochmut” : wrongful, arrogant pride -Important biblical phrase to the Amish: 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. ” (This is where the Amish get their reasoning to be so separate from the world. ) -“Ordnung” : Unwritten list of rules. -Many Amish parents confiscate their children’s earnings from their Jobs and promise that when the youth get married they will give them large gifts of land, or money. – The ordnung must be followed by the members of the Amish community.

The Amish hope that these rules will help lead members to achieving their social goals. Each church district has its own ordnung, and there are more than 1,400 Old Order Amish church districts. The ordnung is ratified and agreed to twice yearly by the members in the congregation of the church. The rules have evolved over the years to govern things from garments, appearance and facial hair to forbidden technologies and careers. -Between 1907 and 1910 there was a large argument in the church over the use of cell phones and it resulted in a splitting off from the Old Order of “liberals” who wanted to use phones and cars. Anyone who could not live without phones or ars could not be in the Old Order. ) -1930’s: Some areas began to allow phones in stores, but the phones were forbidden elsewhere. -Amish believe that the Holy Spirit tells a young person when it is time for them to be baptized. -Amish childhood have been structured to block out sensations of mainstream culture. -Many say that if the children are forced too soon to choose between a mainstream “English” life or the Amish lifestyle they are more likely to permanently turn away from being Amish so it is better to Just allow the children to have Rumspringa until they are ready to decide.
Amish believe in being submissive and that it is seen as Christ-like. -“Brauchers” Amish healers who manipulate peoples bodies like chiropractors. -Ordnugs three meanings: 1. To arrange or draw up a rule of degree to induce equality. 2. It creates a vision of contentment. 3. God’s example of the universe. -Mental problems in the Amish community are equally divided between men and women. -In June of 1998, Amish communities became very aware of drug problems. Dimensions of Culture: Different areas, religions, beliefs, ect. shape how we function as a society.
We are products of our language and what happens around us. – Material/Nonmaterial Culture: the physical/nonphysical artifacts that reflect the lives of members in a particular society. -Mennonites are an example of a subculture because they go along with the majority of the Amish beliefs but do not participate in Rumspringa and have a few other variations as well. – Amish culture as a whole is a perfect example of a counterculture (actively opposes values of the dominant culture and rejects the dominant cultures way of life. -Mores are generally used more by the seriously.
The Amish believe in Sexual Dichotomy: belief hat two biological sex categories, male and female, are permanent, universal, exhaustive, and mutually exclusive. -Culture provides society with common interests/bonds. Because a culture lives together, they share a certain amount of knowledge that is the same. -Norms: Rule all social encounters. -There will be more clashes and arguments in a culture the more ethnic it is because the cultures vary so much with different beliefs and traditions and languages and cultures. -Amish take small norm violations very seriously compared to mainstream.