David Letterman said:
This kind of stereotype always bothered me a lot. Amish and Mennonites do not speak in archaic English (at least in Ohio they don’t). The speak in English, sometimes with a German accent, sometimes not. No thee or thou or art, etc.
Back to the OP: Is the rumspringa a term for something that some or many teens do (like teen rebellion in the “English” world), or is it something that is a more formal part of the culture? The article from NPR wasn’t clear. In other words, do they say “X is in his/her teens, and going through the rumspringa; so their behavior is to be expected if not excused” or is it more like “X, now that this is your 16th birthday you can go our and rumspringa for a while to test your faith”?
FWIW, there are a lot of Amish in Southern MD, and they do excellent cabinet work as well as being the best and least expensive chair caners anywhere. Their way is not mine, and I wouldn’t especially recommend it to anyone, but I don’t fault the Amish for choosing it.
I’d just like to add that a lot of what ZipperJJ points out is cultural, rather than religious. For instance, many Mennonite men grow beards when they marry, as well, and Mennonite worship services may be held in members’ homes.
By the way, in regards to pacifism: A member of any religion, or none at all, can request CO status in a draft, but in no case is it guaranteed. It may be the case that Mennonites and other members of traditionally pacifist religions are more likely to get their requests honored, though.
I have noticed a lot of other places with Mennonite communities added to my post, but no other foreign locations (besides my Belize) – did they mainly come to north america (the US and Canada), or are there agricultural Mennonite communities in Argentina?
I think it’s more like, “X, you’re an adult now. It’s up to you whether or not you’re going to be part of the church and be baptized a Christian or not.” I think it’s more of an “expected” thing.
Are there Amish communities in French Quebec, and if so are the outsiders still referred to as “English”?
To expand on what was noted earlier, it is increasingly difficult to make a living farming in competition with industrialized agriculture and imported goods. As a result, more Amish are turning to carpentry and so forth. However, the exceptions to child labor laws have usually been focussed on farming, and so sending your son out to the shop to work with a lathe the day he graduates from 8th grade may run afould of legal restrictions.
Here’s a brief article on this from the BBC.
Bernse,
While the Mennonites (Menno :1496-1561) were founded in northern Germany/Netherlands, around the same time the Hutterites (Jacob Hutter, d. 1536) developed in Moravia-- hence the Moravian brotherhood, I think-- similar thing, developing stable anabaptist groups after the Müntzer and the whole Münster thing. Like all the other Anabaptist sects they had trouble in Europe and moved to north America. The groups have parallel lives, I guess.
The Mennonites tend to be the more militant, hence dangerous, of the Anabaptist sects. Rumors circulate about plans for sudden, commando-style barn-raisings in heavily populated urban areas.
Might as well check in with my first-hand knowledge, again. (Although I don’t seem to know as much about the Anabaptist sects as a whole as some here do …) One subject that we spent a good bit of time on in Sunday School was on developing a ‘pacifist file’ for future use. When you claim CO status, the drafters don’t necessarily back off because you were baptized in a pacifist church-they want to know about you, that you’re not just a, um, ‘foul-weather pacifist’. The teachers stressed making public statements, personal journals, letters to editors, etc., to make a trail of paper and testimonials to confirm that you didn’t suddenly become a pacifist when war broke out.
Oh, and when I came back from my first year of college with a beard, my pastor suggested I shave the mustache & go with the ‘traditional look’. I’m fairly sure he was joking. 
capybara: The Moravian Church was founded by John Hus who lived in Prague. He was born in 1369 and was burned at the stake by the Catholics in 1415. I was raised in the Moravian church and they have no restrictions like the Amish. The Moravians are the oldest continuous protestant group in the world.
I stand corrected-- the Hus branch is what is called the Moravian Brethren, as Stella said. The Hutterites were founded also in Moravia but later. I didn’t say the Moravians (either bunch) had anything to do with the Amish, which is an even later subsect. No, Hus and Wyclife don’t get enough credit.
I know my grandmother has spent a lot of time abroad on Mennonite missions. I don’t know if the people they “converted” out there (for instance, Ecuador) are considered Mennonites or just Christians.
I do know that my grandmother spent a good part of her life (after graduating from Mennonite college) in a central office of sorts in Canada for Mennonite missions. She showed me her stamp collection from working there, and the office seemed to have gotten mail from missionaries in every country of the world, even ones that no longer exist.
Mennonites are big on evangelizing and they have some bitchin’ conventions and do a lot of international travel.
Honest question here:
Which of the two religions (?) has a major settlement in Paraguay?
I remember that when I was deployed (USN) to South America, charts of Paraguay showed a rather large scale settlement of one of the two in the northern part of the country and I can’t remember which one it was.
Now for the tough question. Why?
Although I know nothing about the Mennonites, where I am, the Amish are very prevelant. The will not drive a motorized vehicle, but are very willing to ride in one.
It is also very common to see them at the local bars (not that I frequent them much:D ). They are able to build extemely durable structures (barns, sheds, additions to houses, etc.) at incredibly great prices due to their work ethic. They are also able to party with the best of us.
Although not asked, the biggest problem around my parts with the Amish (or Mennonites), is that they do not pay taxes.
Perhaps, in the Church of the Brethren, he was. However, among the Amish it is not a joke. One of the reasons that the Amish beard is so distinctive is that they do not grow mustaches. Mustaches have long been a tradition among various Germanic military groups and the eschewing of mustaches was a deliberate effort to use a physical sign to show their pacifist differences from the militaristic mustache wearers.
In the Middlefield, Geauga County, OH area (third largest population of Amish in the world–Holmes County, OH is #1, Lancaster County, PA is #2), the Amish use “Yankee” more often than “English” (although “English” is used).
Are you saying that they are scofflaws? Or that Pennsylvania or some municipality has provided some exemption for them?
The only tax that I have ever heard that they do not pay is Social Security. They have been exempted from that because they have established to the satisfaction of the Federal government that, as a community, they will guarantee that no one in their community will ever be left destitute in their old age.
They certainly pay property, income, and sales taxes in Ohio and the IRS takes a cut from them, the same as anyone else.
Well, yes. It’s been at least a hundred years since this was common in the CoB. Or the Mennonites, in most areas. Which is, I think, on topic … Most of the Amish traditions are old Anabaptist traditions, which they carefully preserve. Other denominations in the Anabaptist group decided long ago the the details are less important than the general principles behind them. (Really, does growing a mustache dilute your commitment to pacifism?)
That said, there are other pastors I’ve seen in the denomination that I would have suspected were serious … this particular reverend was remarkably liberal, which didn’t make him that popular in our church, come to think of it.
An interesting note is that the majority of plain people in and around Lancaster County have one of six surnames:
Beiler
Esch
Fischer
King
Lapp
Stolzfus
an interesting problem the Amish may have, especially in the Lancaster settlement, may be the issue of genetic problems due to the intermarrying that goes on with various families and the complex genealogies of the families.
Phouchg
Lovable Rogue
They do not pay property taxes - which in effect means they do not pay school taxes.
I should clarify my previous statement. They are not “Scofflaws” in the slightest bit.
I live in a rural area that is also populated by a significant amount of Amish people.
The Amish are an intergral part of the community (where else would I get Silver Queen) and should be applauded for it. However, they get to hunt, fish, and basically live off of the land without interference (which a lot people envy).
I did not wish this to become an issue. As far as I know, nobody wants the Amish to have to pay taxes. They have their own schools, and are not subject to regulation.