Perceived Deviance In Amish Society
The Amish are considered “deviant” in modern society firstly because they reject modern conveniences and technology. They express their material culture by living like it is the 1800’s. The men wear “broad-brimmed black hats and the women in bonnets and long dresses. ” They have lived with industrialized America for over two and a half centuries Have retained many of the customs and small scale technologies that were common in rural society in the nine-teenth century. Traditon-directed group. “The old is the best, and the new is of the devil,”The Amish are considered “deviant” in modern society because religion is a large part of their lives. Religon and custom blend into a way of life. The core values of the community are religious beliefs. Their beliefs determine their conceptions of the self, the universe, and man’s place in it. Religious considerations determine the hours of work and the daily, weekly, seasonal, and yearly rituals associated with life experience.
Occupation, the means and destinations of travel, and choice of friends and mate are determined by religious considerations. The Amish are a rural subculture comprised of a religious sect that has successfully resisted homogenization in modern times. They are comprised of small communities. They reject violence and are farmers and thrifters. They live on the eastern seaboard. They claim that they are ruled by the laws of love and redemption. They care for the members of the community and may be transient for the community is what is important. A commonwealths inhabitants feel comforatable with their own ideas and customs, and the “place” possesses a sense of distinction from other parts of the country. They have respect for locality, place, custom and local idealism. They have separated themselves from others on the basis of beliefs, practices, and institutions. The sects rejected the authority of established religious organizations. They have turned to “psychic insularity and contexts that protect them from mainstream values and competing systems. The group is viewed as a shelter from the complications of an overly complex society to an onlooker. To the participant it provides and authentic way of realizing new forms of service and humility as well as protection from mainstream culture. They practice their beliefs in everyday life. The Amish recognize the evil circumstance of man, attempt to moderate its influence upon them, and retreat into a community to experience, cultivate, and preserve the attributes of god in ethical relationships. They do not demand that others conform to their practices. They do not claim to base all actions on holy writ. They are not in conflict with the dominant culture. They make almost no attempt to communicate their message. They recognize instinctively that authentic communication would mean greater literacy, education, sophistication, and this would mean the beginning of the end. A way of living is more important than communicating it in words. The ultimate message is the life.
An Amish person will have no doubt about his basic convictions, his view of the meaning and purpose of life, but he cannot explain it except through the conduct of his life. It is a small, isolated, traditional, simple, homogenous folk society in which oral communication and conventionalized ways are important factors in integrating the whole of life. Shared practical knowledge, custom, and personal and emotional associations are more important. They are uncomforatable with the idea of change. Leadership is personal and there are no gross economic inequalities. The goals of life are never stated as matters of doctrine, but neither are they questioned. Custom tends to become sacred. Religon is all pervasive. Planting and harvesting are sacred in their own way. The amish are highly visible and distinct. They speak perfect English with outsiders, they speak a dialect of German among themselves. Recognize themselves as the “chosen people of god. ” Do not seek to master nature or work against the elements but to work with them.
