Amish

The Amish
Seeing the Amish riding their horse drawn carriages through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, you catch a sight of how life would have been 150 years ago. The Amish, without their cars, and television and electricity appear to be a culture with many values, never changing. This, however, is just an illusion. In fact, the Amish are an active culture which is, through market forces and other means, continually interacting with the enormously tempting culture of America. So, one might be led to think how a culture like the Amish, one that seems so antiquated, has not only survived but has grown and grown while surrounded by a culture that would seem to be so disadvantageous to its basic ideals. The Amish culture consists of many unique beliefs that make their ways unlike that of any other culture. They lead a dull life and yet have very rough ways of doing things. The Amish is perhaps the most diverse culture in the entire United States.
The Amish, who are also called “The Plain People” or Old Order Amish, originated in Switzerland, approximately in 1525. According to a Book entitled, “Driving the Amish,” They originated from a movement called the Anabaptist movement; Jacom Amman was the leader (Butterfield). They truly believed in holding on to traditions and keeping themselves separated from the planet. “The Anabaptists were against the union of church, state and also against infant baptism” (Butterfield). They felt that each individual should make this choice for him or herself when he or she is old enough. They felt the age for baptism was at 18 years old. It was illegal to be baptized as an adult in the 16th century. Many Anabaptists died backing up their beliefs. According to Jim Butterfield, many organizations fought them because of their beliefs, from the government to the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches (104).  The Amish once belonged to the Mennonites, who according to an article entitled “The Amish: history, beliefs, practices and...