SW BD-082 The Amish of Lancaster County

Amish Country

 

Lancaster County has become synonymous with Pennsylvania Amish Country. The families, farmers and craftsmen here follow a deeply religious, family-centred lifestyle that has maintained this tradition through a simple way of life that has not adopted the mainstream culture, yet has adapted in many necessary ways throughout the last 300 years. Forgoing "outside world" luxuries, the Amish in the small towns and farmlands of Pennsylvania present a fascinating and authentic horse-and-buggy contrast to the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. Pennsylvania Amish Country is a picturesque landscape.  Rolling hills with lush grasses and crops, farms with windmills dotting the horizon and horse and buggies sharing the road indicate that things are simpler in Lancaster County.

Brief notes on the Amish

The Amish are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships, closely related to but distinct from Mennonite churches, with whom they share Swiss Anabaptist origins. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons.

Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on Demut (humility) and Gelassenheit (calmness, composure, placidity), often translated as "submission" or "letting-be". Gelassenheit

is perhaps better understood as a reluctance to be forward, to be self-promoting, or to assert oneself. The Amish's willingness to submit to the "Will of Jesus", expressed through group norms, is at odds with the individualism so central to the wider American culture. The Amish anti-individualist orientation is the motive for rejecting labour-saving technologies that might make one less dependent on community. Modern innovations like electricity might spark a competition for status goods, or photographs might cultivate personal vanity.

This postcard came from chillegass (7 May 2014) Swap-bot.
See my other postcard of the Amish and Menonnite in Shipshewana, Indiana.