Cross Cultural Comparison
The Amish
By Miss Fiona Brown, St. Peter’s
Catholic College
Rules of a Cross
Cultural Comparison
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Consider how their lives are similar
and different to yours.
Don’t make value judgements on
whether their experiences are better or
worse than yours
Avoid ethnocentrism – The belief that
one’s own group or culture is superior
to all other groups or cultures.
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Generalisations – broad conclusions that
cover information about the majority of a
group rather than detailing specific
variations within groups - may be made.
Generalisations are valuable in case studies
for the purpose of broad comparisons but
any conclusions drawn may not apply to all
Amish people.
The Amish - Origins
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The Amish people are direct descendants of the
Anabaptists of sixteenth century Europe.
Anabaptism is a religion that came about during the
reformation era. During sixteenth century Europe,
people were changing their ideas about religion.
Prior to this time, Europe was traditionally united in
"One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church".
However this "One Church" did much more than
regulate people's spiritual needs. It was highly
connected with the state and politics, and during the
Reformation, people began to take a stand against
the Church. After 1517, the Roman Catholic Church
began to lose much of its political and moral
authority, and at this time, reformers such as Martin
Luther stepped in and made changes to Church
structure and doctrine
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The term Anabaptist first started out as a nickname
that meant "rebaptizer", because this group rejected
the idea of infant baptism. They said that because
an infant does not have the knowledge of good and
evil, it can not have sin. The Anabaptists were seen
as a threat to Europe's religious and social
institutions and were therefore persecuted. As a
result of this persecution, Anabaptists emigrated to
find refuge in places such as Moravia, Alsace,
Palatinate, and the Netherlands.
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/amis
h.html
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The Amish movement was founded in
Europe by Jacob Amman (~1644 to ~1720
CE), from whom their name is derived. In
many ways, it started as a reform group
within the Mennonite movement -- an
attempt to restore some of the early
practices of the Mennonites.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/amish.htm
Where Amish communities are
located in the USA today
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Question: How many countries do the Amish live in
today?
Answer: The Amish live in 24 states of the United
States (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York,
Maine, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia,
North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois,
Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana and
Washington) and the Province of Ontario, Canada)
Data provided by THE BUDGET and Courtesy of
America's Amish Country II.
Interaction between culture and
religion
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There is a close reciprocal relationship
between the areas of religion and culture.
Religion is profoundly influenced by its
cultural context because religion cannot be
expressed other than through a particular
cultural setting and context.
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http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amish_2.htm
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http://www.800padutch.com/amishpeople.shtml
Ordnung
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Electricity and telephones are not connected
to Amish houses because they are
considered ‘worldly’
Amish will not own cars
Amish travel in horse drawn buggies
Education is completed in Year 8
Breaking of rules may result in ‘shunning’
Modernisation
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http://www.amishheartland.com/?pathToFile=%2F%2Fa
rticles%2FAmish+Culture%2F&file=World+Aroun
d+Them.txt&article=1
Family
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Web links to information on Amish Weddings
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http://www.windycreek.com/Brian/amish-culturaldynamics.html
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http://www.800padutch.com/amishweddings.shtml
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http://www.amishheartland.com/?pathToFile=%2F%2Farticles%2FAmish+Culture%2F&file=amishweddings.txt&article=1
Gender Roles
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Father head of family
Unmarried women can work
Married women work within the family
Older males educate young boys
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Older women educate young girls
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Farming and working with wood and leather
Homemaking skills and business skills
Working children give all pay to their father
to support the family
Family all live close to each other
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of Family?
Use specific examples.
Hmmm
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Roles and Status
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Status for the Amish is not like in
Western societies but there is a
hierarchy of leaders, it’s commonly
based on Religion.
Males provide leadership
Council of Elders
Church Bishop –
Established leader of
community
Church ministers and
deacons support
them
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Adolescents can experiment with the
world of the “English” (nonAmish)
before committing to Amish life. This
time is known as ‘Rumschpringes’
Your turn to think
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What positives do you see coming out
of such a “time out” period for Amish
adolescents and what challenges do
you see them having to face as a
result of “time out”?
How is cultural continuity of the Amish
threatened by Rumschpringes?
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of Roles and Status?
Use specific examples.
Hmmm
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Conflict, cooperation and
decision making
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Society is based on cooperation. All accept
the ordnung therefore common set of values
for all.
In the community people accept authority of
God and bishops, ministers and deacons
In the family children accept parental
authority.
Ultimately all must be personally
responsible.
Shunning of people who break baptismal
vows often occurs.
Barn raising shows
cooperation
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Amish tend not to see much of the media
but with modernisation, conflict with the
media begins to occur
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http://www.800padutch.com/amishshooting.shtml
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of conflict, cooperation
and decision making?
Hmmm
Use specific examples.
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Gender
Male
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Leader of the
community
Provider
Farm normally
passed onto men
Female
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Homemaker
Marry to be a
farmwife
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Gender stands to be challenged by
modernisation and change in today's
world and becoming harder for
continuity to prevail especially in
regards to females.
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of Gender?
Use specific examples.
Hmmm
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Communication
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Interaction and communication occurs
in the family first and foremost then
through the church providing
community activities as an opportunity
to communicate with other.
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Amish are bilingual
German – used at church
Dutch/German – create a dialect for
everyday conversation
English – children learn it and talk with
nonAmish in English.
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of Communication?
Use specific examples.
Hmmm
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Power and Authority
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Authority
Bishops are
influential, main link
to the ordnung &
God
Council of Elders
hold authority, this
authority is rarely
challenged
Bible
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Power
Male head of family
– powerful position
of organisation,
experience and
effective running of
the family farm
business
major source of power and authority
Personal Reflection
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What commonalities and differences
can you see between you and the
Amish in terms of Power and
Authority?
Hmmm
Use specific examples.
Complete this on the Personal
Reflection worksheet
Glossary of Amish Words to
use
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The English – (nonAmish)
Rumschpringes
Ordnung
Anabaptists
Shunning
Your turn to think
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Writing Task
What are the most significant
differences between your life and that
experienced by a typical Amish
adolescent?
Use your Personal Reflection sheet
and notes taken during the case study
to answer this question