Cross Cultural Comparison

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Cross Cultural Comparison

• The Amish
• By Miss Fiona Brown, St. Peters Catholic College

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Rules of a Cross Cultural Comparison

• Consider how their lives are similar and
  different to yours.
• Dont make value judgements on whether their
  experiences are better or worse than yours
• Avoid ethnocentrism The belief that ones 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.

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The Amish - Origins

• 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/a
  mish.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/amis
  h.htm

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Where Amish communities are located in the USA
today

• 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.

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Interaction between culture and religion

• 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.
• http//pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amis
  h_2.htm
• http//www.800padutch.com/amishpeople.shtml

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Ordnung

• 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

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Modernisation

• http//www.amish-heartland.com/?pathToFile2F2Fa
  rticles2F-AmishCulture2FfileWorldAroundThem
  .txtarticle1

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Family

• Web links to information on Amish Weddings
• http//www.windycreek.com/Brian/amish-cultural-dyn
  amics.html
• http//www.800padutch.com/amishweddings.shtml
• http//www.amish-heartland.com/?pathToFile2F2Fa
  rticles2F-AmishCulture2Ffileamishweddings.txt
  article1

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Gender Roles

• Father head of family
• Unmarried women can work
• Married women work within the family
• Older males educate young boys
• Farming and working with wood and leather
• Older women educate young girls
• Homemaking skills and business skills
• Working children give all pay to their father to
  support the family
• Family all live close to each other

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of Family?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Roles and Status

• Status for the Amish is not like in Western
  societies but there is a hierarchy of leaders,
  its 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

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Your turn to think

• 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?

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of Roles and
  Status?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Conflict, cooperation and decision making

• 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.

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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
• http//www.800padutch.com/amishshooting.shtml

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of conflict,
  cooperation and decision making?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Gender

• Male
• Leader of the community
• Provider
• Farm normally passed onto men

• Female
• 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.

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of Gender?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Communication

• 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.

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of
  Communication?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Power and Authority

• Authority
• Bishops are influential, main link to the ordnung
  God
• Council of Elders hold authority, this authority
  is rarely challenged

• Power
• Male head of family powerful position of
  organisation, experience and effective running of
  the family farm business

• Bible major source of power and authority

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Personal Reflection

• What commonalities and differences can you see
  between you and the Amish in terms of Power and
  Authority?
• Use specific examples.
• Complete this on the Personal Reflection worksheet

Hmmm
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Glossary of Amish Words to use

• The English (nonAmish)
• Rumschpringes
• Ordnung
• Anabaptists
• Shunning

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Your turn to think

• 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