Amish Cultures example essay topic

What is it that makes a culture of people separate themselves from the world and everything that it has to offer. Some people think that it is because they do not like the direction the world is heading in. Others believe that society does not accept them for the person that they want to be. But in some cases the reason is as simple as religion. The Amish is a perfect example of a traditional culture that has sustained themselves in America for over three hundred years. Their belief in the bible is the bases for their structured lives, specifically Romans 12 of the Old Testament, "Do not be conformed to this world".

Trying to maintain their cultural identity will prove to be a challenging task. For the last two hundred years the American culture and the Amish culture have ran side by side in their ability to survive and succeed as a society. It has only been in the last hundred years that the Amish have become so behind in their modernization compared to America. Inventions such as the automobile, airplanes, the internet, and telephone have given the Amish the inability to communicate and travel to any part of the world, but that is their goal, to stay simple and focused on religion.

The Amish community has acquired acres of land and have been able to separate themselves from the rest of the world. Which allows them to live without having to be around America's modernization of the rest of the land, and enabled them to continue to exist as a traditional culture. A traditional culture refers to the values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects, that together form a people's way of life. The Amish culture is based on their religious beliefs.

The roots of the Amish culture came from the Protestant Refromation in Germany and Switzerland. "In January 1957, the Anabaptists held their first baptism of adults who previously had been baptized as infants in the church. It was because of this practice of re baptizing adults that they were given the name "Anabaptists" or "again-baptizers". This practice, along with other convictions such as refusing to swear oaths or participate in wars among nations, resulted in their being declared heretics by the Catholic and Protestant churches and many of them were imprisoned or put to death". This is the bases for their culture and beliefs. Their society is the people who interact in a defined territory and share culture.

The Amish community is also a perfect example of Structual Functionalism. Structual Functionalism is defined as a framework for developing theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Solidarity and stability are the bases for the Amish people. It is the only thing that has allowed them to continue to succeed as a society, almost another world, in the United States of America.

The U.S. is a dominate power in the world, and for a small society like the Amish to continue on is certainly a testament to their solidarity, and stability. The tale of how the Amish found a way to live a life free of persecution is an interesting one. The catholic and Protestant churches continued their onslaught of these simple people. The Anabaptists at the time fled into the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. It was at this time that they began holding their holy day services in their homes, and established a tradition of farming for a way of life.

It wasn't untill 1737, that the Charming Nancy carried its first Amish families to America. They landed in Philadelphia, in the early 1760's about five hundred Amish had come in search of religious freedom. William Penn declared Pennsylvania the home of the "Holy Experiment". Here there will be total freedom of religion and a fresh start free of persecution. The first settling Amish continued to speak a German dialect.

So the Amish and German immigrants were named the Pennsylvania Dutch. No matter where the Amish cultures are located today they all continue to use Pennsylvania Dutch as their language of home and family. Through the years the Amish mainly spread throughout the South and found land to tend in Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, and eventually Illinois. Th Amish, also known as the Old Order Amish live a very different life than a typical American. They are up in the morning milking the cows and collecting the eggs for breakfast. After that they are hard to work in the fields or in the wood shop.

The Amish use a tool called a till to uproot the soil so they can play their crops in fresher soil. Their or dung (rules), prevents them from using any kind of electricity. The wives and children of the Amish maintain a spotless house and are always sewing, preparing food, and performing many of the tasks an "America's Housewife" would do. The Amish are also known for their ability to erect huge homes and buildings with the use of man made tools and their hands. Their ability to work as a team no doubt has a huge impact in the quality and determination to provide for their families. Services are held at their homes and they travel to and from service by horse and carriage.

On the back of their buggy they have state mandated power red lights. A 12-volt battery runs the lights and some Amish even have small stereo's that run off the same battery. The Amish pull up their reins to their horse drawn buggy for their weekly service of worship in one of the twenty four church districts that they have. The Amish religious structure is built up into church districts, and a district is made up of the surrounding families that live next to one another. The first church leadership was Bishop Jonas Keim. He had two brothers that were later ordained ministers.

They helped to continue too so read the word of God to its followers and anyone else who wants to listen and learn their beliefs. Amish families have utilized farming to allow them to stay away from the larger societies around them. In the beginning the Amish were able to aquire land for as little as twenty five cents an acre. Allen Campbell owned much of the land in the west Prarie. The poor drainage was the soul purpose for the three thousand aces of land being sold at such cheap's prices.

Eventually, the Amish began to multiply and it was at that time that Campbell began charging eight to ten dollars per acre. As the years have gone on the Amish agricultural necessities have increased. The drastic increase in the price of land, and the reduction of crop prices have forced the Amish to find other lines of work. Tourism seems to be where the money is, and some Amish families have been forced to accommodate themselves to tourists in ways that could have been avoidable in the years before. Tourists compose the largest number of customers for Amish businesses.

This has allowed the families to continue to work in a unit continuing along the lines of structural functionalism. You can see that the Amish businesses are finally giving into the use of modern technology. Telephones, vehicles, and power tools are slowly being accepted by the Amish communities. Although, no electricity and the use of horses for transportation and farm work are still expected at the home. The Amish educational system also has an interest in history. When the Amish first came to Illinois they sent their to rural public schools.

With the a approval of the U.S. supreme court the Amish were able to obtain their own parochial schools. Amish children are only giving an eighth grade level of education. After that.