How do the Amish manage to brainwash their children so severely without the children resenting it?
It’s not like they keep their children completely unaware of the world outside their 18th century communes, or do they? Do they isolate the children and feed them stories of how corrupt and doomed the outside world is?
They don’t feed them stories about the outside world, but they instruct them in their own inside world. This is the case with most religions that too many fail to understand. Sure, there are a few nut jobs and cult members that do this, but that is not the majority of denominations, where instruction is edifying not fear-based, regardless of the claims of those who reject (how would they even know when they fail to attend?!)
Of course they also provide them with the opportunity to leave for a time to experience the outside world and decide for themselves which life will be theirs. Some do leave, while the majority return after realizing that debauchery doesn’t necessarily bring the joy that those who glorify it promise.
I wonder how the people you "manage to brainwash", keep from resenting you.
their peaceful simple life is the only one they know. They feel like an outsider in ours. And there are some Amish that return to society, its just we only see the ones that decide not to. Plus they would probably feel like they are abandoning their family and heritage if they decide to move to the city.
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but i agree with you, once they find out how theyve been living their lives and what theyre missing out on how do they continue to be amish and start the cycle all over again? if i was amish and found out what my parents did i would be so pissed off at the life i was missing, i probably wouldnt talk to them ever again lol
p.s. GO CANUCKS
I’m sure a lot of their kids do end up resenting them.
but Amish people are just doing what they think is right
and who are any of us to say they’re wrong.
they’re not hurting anyone..leave em alone
Rumspringa
That is the term for Amish teenagers’ period of experimentation and freedom from religious rules, when they are able to live on their own, drive cars, drink, and experiment with other aspects of mainstream American culture without worrying about consequences from their elders. The term rumspringa is a literal translation of the Pennsylvania German expression, "running around."
Rumspringa is a coming-of-age experience that generally begins around the age of sixteen. Though many Amish teenagers will continue living in their parents’ house during this time, others may move out. During rumspringa, teenagers often experience the "English" way of life, which is how they refer to mainstream American culture. They may go to bars or nightclubs, drive cars, and date non-Amish people. At the end of the rumspringa period, which traditionally lasts about two years, teenagers are expected to return to the Amish community so that they can be baptized, after which point they are expected to follow all the laws of Amish society.
If an Amish teenager is baptized and then leaves the community, he will be shunned. His family and community will refuse to speak to him or associate with him ever again. Though a few Amish teenagers will decide to marry "English" partners and assimilate into American society, or decide to live independently, the vast majority of Amish teenagers return to their communities. Some teenagers may extend the rumspringa period for many years before returning home.
No, I don’t think it is possible in this day and age for Amish parents to completely shield their children from the outside world. In fact a lot of Amish teenagers will "rebel" by getting into drugs and such. And many eventually choose to leave the Amish community.
yes they do, and yes it is
but they have rumspringa or whatever its called when they can raise hell guilt-free and make their own decision. if they choose an "english" lifestyle (ours) then they probably will be shunned by their family and community forever. thats no good.
Nope. In fact, they send their children (as young adults, late teens, early twenties) out in to the world, to make certain they want to come back and commit themselves to the Amish lifestyle.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455572
I’m not Amish but I think they will agree that you are ethnocentric.
Some call it being satisfied with what you have.
I guess sad people can’t handle the fact that there are people who are actually content with their simple living.
You on the other hand, can have all the tech gadgets that money can buy and you still can’t sleep at night.
Because deep inside you are empty.
Yes, we know they keep their children sheltered. We don’t know to what degree they are told the outside world is doomed. I heard one former Amish say, they are only given an 8th grade education as one method of keeping them in community after they turn 18. There are not many prospects for them outside the community. They can’t even join the US military. I don’t know why the US would allow them only to get an 8th grade education when everywhere else it is considered educational neglect. I’m sure the Amish portray high school years as "vocational training," but I don’t know how that can slide.
Why would they grow up resenting it?
Not everyone sees eye to eye, so of course some will resent it, but their given the chance to make their own way in the world by leaving the Amish.
I’m guessing most Amish kids don’t resent the way their brought up, they accept it as a fact of life they happened to of been brought up into, just like any of us accept that none of us could control the childhoods we had (whether we grew up in poverty/ or wealth, whether we grew up Christian or Atheist, German or Italian) we are given what life is thrown at us.
The resentment I’m sure exist in a small number, but what we accept as normal is not universally accepted as normal or righteous, so for the Amish I’m sure they appreciate their childhood the same way we do.
For them to survive and live that way they have traditions of family, religious, cultural bonds. It’s not that they are up against the world teaching their children that the outside is doomed, because that’s just silly. I live not very far from some Amish and most Amish are aware of the outside world, their aware of the gadgets, and the latest news, etc. They aren’t isolated in the general sense of the word, but culturally they isolate themselves, and they do it on their own.
Cultures change, an American born in 1900 wouldn’t recognize 2010 America, and they’d probably not want to adapt to the majority culture. But what is American culture? To me it does not exist. There are numerous cultures (currently the most popular culture is the hip hop culture), but there are numerous other cultures that everyday Americans grew up with. In the mid-west many people grow up in small towns and on farms, they dress in blue jeans and cowboy hats and listen to country. In Appalachia people chew tobacco, live on hills, dress in overalls and listen to bluegrass. In Southern Texas people speak Spanish, wear modest or poor clothing and listen to Spanish music. In the inner-cities people wear baggy pants and listen to hip hop. Everyone, is a product of their cultural environment, and it’s no different from the Amish. One could say Americans were brainwashed before 2001 into thinking the whole world loved us, but again, we grew up believing that because it was a product of our environment.
No offence to Amish but the majority of Amish people don’t allow rumspringa, which means “running around” this is their chance at 16 to leave the comunity, although some do, most groups don’t anymore and most Amish are so fearing of God and the “outside” world the don’t go anyway
Also you are shunned from your family if you choose to stay in the “outside” world, when fmily is all you have had your entire life would you leave with no option to return?
Originally, “rumspringa” just meant “running around” and was a time when young people would move around to various Amish communities to meet new people and try different jobs. However, in recent years it has been associated with wild behavior in some Amish communities. Most Amish youth are not part of the extreme behavior. Amish life offers many simple pleasures and close friendships which make up for its austerity. Many Amish who are frustrated with the technological restrictions or overly traditional religion join a slightly more liberal group such as a conservative Mennonite or “Beachy Amish”(car driving) group. Since it is a pleasant life, many who leave depart because their particular family or group is dysfunctional; the vast majority stay in the Amish or in a slightly more liberal sect.