Trouble In Amish Paradise - BBC2
Two Families Challenge The Authority Of The Church
300 years ago a group of German and Swiss Protestants, came to America to escape religious persecution. They based their lifestyle on the teachings of the Bible they brought with them, written in ancient German. Most Westerners are familiar with some Old Order Amish ways, including the ban on cars and electricity; men always have beards and both sexes wear simple, functional clothing. Farming means hours of backbreaking work with no modern machines or comforts most people take for granted.
Trouble in Amish Paradise - Authoritarian Control by Church Leaders
What Westerners are not generally aware of, however, is just how tightly and inextricably the Amish lifestyle has become tied to the church. As the years passed, the people began to disagree amongst themselves on the best way to live a true Amish life, so different groups were formed, each with their own set of rules. Amish bishops now dictate everything, from the precise shade of grey the buggies must be painted to the width of the men’s hatbands and the way they wear their suspenders, and each community has a different “approved” way of doing things. Even a small infraction could possibly lead to excommunication from the church.
Trouble In Amish Paradise tells the story of Ephraim and Jessie Stoltzfus who, along with their wives, have become disillusioned with the amount of control the church now exerts over their lives. They are extremely proud of their Amish heritage and have no wish to leave their community, but feel they can no longer unquestioningly follow every pronouncement from the bishops.
Church And Culture Are Not The Same
As more and more Amish read the Bible in English, rather than the original German, some have begun to ask who they should be following – the leaders, or the word of God. As Ephraim observes, “They combine church and culture and that’s wrong, you cannot do that. If that’s the way it’s supposed to be then Jesus would have made those rules specific and said ‘You gotta drive a horse with a green harness or you to go hell’. And he didn’t say that.” Jesse and Ephraim, along with several other families in the community, gather regularly for bible study classes, which is strictly forbidden by the bishops.
Are The Bishops Afraid Of Losing Power?
Eventually it is revealed Ephraim and his wife Amanda have already been excommunicated for continuing to follow the Bible and are allowed very little contact with their immediate families. They also feel there is more to life than endless toil on the land, and sell their large farm (worth more than $1 million) and downsize to a smaller property. It is by no means a wholesale embrace of modern life, but little touches such as an ice cream machine and an indoor telephone make it clear that this family is following its own path. They have begun a search for a new church, one more in keeping with their adherence to the word of God.
Jesse (but oddly, not his wife Lillian) is also excommunicated, but for him giving up the church is more of a struggle. Being forced to choose between church and culture is heartbreaking, and it is obvious he is not as keen as Ephraim to abandon such a central part of his life despite the way he has been treated.
Trouble In Amish Paradise is a rather sad, but nevertheless fascinating, glimpse into a world few outsiders get to see. It is vaguely disheartening to see yet another religion splintering and imposing ever-tightening controls to keep its members faithful. Will this ultimately do more harm than good to "the quiet people of the land"?
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