“Rumspringa” - By Jason Sanford

“Rumspringa”

By Jason Sanford

I began writing "Rumspringa" after a visit to Holmes County, Ohio,

 which contains the largest concentration of Amish settlements in the world

 and is only a short drive from where I live. While there, I realized

 how many misconceptions we English-what the Amish call outsiders to their

 order-have about Amish society. I also began wondering what Amish

 society would be like in the future. Hence the story.

There are a number of stereotypes and misconceptions about the Amish in

 the popular imagination. First, the Amish do not consider technology

 evil, as many people think. Instead, certain types of technology are

 seen as harming the Amish separation from the world, a separation the

 Amish base on Biblical teachings. Certain technology is also seen as

 promoting vanity and causing dissension within the Amish community. Anyone

 who has ever watched their children pick TV over playing outside on a

 beautiful summer day can easily appreciate the Amish worldview on all

 this.

There are also different groups of Amish, each with different beliefs

 about how much technology to accept into their lives. When most people

 think of the Amish, the picture in their mind is of the Old Order Amish.

 This group shuns most modern technology, wears the "traditional" Amish

 dress, drives the traditional horse-pulled buggies, and so on.

 However, other Amish groups exist, including the New Order Amish, the Beachy

 Amish, and others, all of whom follow different Ordnung or rules of

 living. For example, the New Order Amish allow the use of electricity and

 mechanical tractors. Some Amish groups are also receptive to solar power

 arrays and kerosene-powered refrigerators. The Mennonites, who are not

 Amish but are descended from the same Anabaptist tradition, follow a

 similar pattern. Their most conservative groups prohibit a vast amount

 of modern technology, while their more liberal groups have no special

 dress requirements and little or no restrictions on technology use.

An interesting fact about the Amish is that they are one of the

 fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States (although most Amish would

 claim they are not an ethnic group, but a religious order). The Amish

 are known for settling new lands both within the United States and

 around the world-lands which are opening up as more and more English abandon

 farmlands for large cities and suburbs.

Many people today see the Amish as an antiquated group, doomed to

 disappear in the relentless pace of technological progress. I would argue

 that the exact opposite will happen. As technology pushes more and more

 of us English into lifestyles which are more and more removed from the

 land, groups like the Amish will fill that void. And like they have done

 in centuries past, the Amish will continue to adapt and thrive in the

 years to come.