Figure 1.--hese Amish or Mennonite children have a vacation with their family in Hampton, New Hanpshire. We don't know exactly which group to which they belong. Surely they don't belong to Old Order, that would regard a seaside vacation as something frivolous. They do ,however, belong to some quite conservative group. They can go on the beach, but wearing the same clothing that they wear everywhere. No swimsuits allowed. Hamptin Beach is a poular tourist detination. It looks like the fmily mayhave come after the main tourist seson.

There is some difference as to what modern groups fall within the Anabaptist umbrella, but we would include the Amish, Bretheren, Hutterites, and Mennoites. There are a range of theological differences both between and within these different groups. As they often emigrated in groups, there islso an ethnic dimension to the various Anabaptist groups. Most are of German ethnicity. Some even speak a German dialect. The United States has the largest modern and most popular population of Anabaptists in the world primarily of the Constitutional protections for religious freedom and diversity. This occured at a earlier in America than Europe and is part of American excptionalism. Many American Anabaptists came from the most repressive countries in history. Many came from Tsarist Russia. And those who managed to escape the Tsarfound them selves in the clutches of Stalin and his totalitarian state. The major problem in America for these groups has proven to be not Government interference and untrusiona , but rather the attractions of freedom that draws members away from the various Anabaptist groups. It is very difficult for the hose and buggy tocompete with television and cellphones. This is one reason whu several communities have made compromises and mosed away the Old Order tital rejection of modrn society.

Amish

The Amish are a religious group who live in settlements in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. The oldest group of Old Order Amish, about 16-18,000 people live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish stress humility, family and community, and separation from the world. Although Lancaster Amish are Pennsylvania Dutch, all Pennsylvania Dutch are not Amish. The Pennsylvania Dutch are natives of Central Pennsylvania, particularly Lancaster and its surrounding counties. Unlike the Amish, they are not all one religion. Instead, their common bond is a mainly German background (Pennsylvania Dutch is actually Pennsylvania Deutsch, or German). They also have Welsh, English, Scottish, Swiss, and French ancestry.

Bretheran

Hutterites

The Hutterites are another communal Anabaptist group. Their origins date to the Radical Reformation (16th century). They were founded and take their name from their charismatic leader--Jakob Hutter. The first Hutterite communities were organized in Austria (especially the Tyrol) and southern Germany. King Ferdinand ordered Hutter tortured and burned as a heretic (1536). Their discenting views on baptism resulted in persecution by both other Protestants and Catholics. They also developed a communal society in which labor and goods were shared--using the early church in Jerusalem as their model. Opposition to many taxes and absolute pacifism resulted in persecution by civil authorities. The result was first leaving Austria and later Moravia fleeing Austrian authorities, Their history is a communsl odessey through much of Europe ending up in the Ukraine--than part of the Russian Empire. Here they nearly died out (18th-19th century). A small group found a refugee in North America and while they were not free from repression, their numbers have increased and new colonies have been founded. The Hutterites today live primarily in the upper Great Plains of the United States and in the neighboring Prairie Provinces of Canada. Here they are organized into colonies of 60 to 150 persons which operate collective farms (Bruderhof). One Hutterite source tiday summarizes their belirfs as, "... respect for the authority of God. God has established a hierarchy of relationships, with the lower always obeying the higher—the younger person obeys the older, the woman the man, and man obeys God. They feel that the individual will must be broken—people should accept self-denial rather than self-fulfillment. But individuals are never secure before God—only their daily behavior gives them security, not their baptism or verbal affirmations. Since the will of God is expressed through the decisions of the community, the individual must be obedient to group will. Communal living is God's order, and private possessions express man's greed."

Mennonites

Religious persecution in Europe drove the Mennonites to America, This was essentially the same process that earlier brought the Puritans to America. America at the time was not a utopia of religious toleration. But on the frontier, religious orthodoxy was difficult to enforce and civil authority was weak. And the new colony of Pennsylvania ws fonded by a Quaker and was where the idea of religious toleration began to develop. The Mennonites settled areas of eastern Pennsylvania. One in America, the New World the Mennonites branched into several factions. The (Old) Mennonite Church is the parent group and continues to be the largest group. Smaller groups include the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Brethren Church. The first Pennsylvania colony was at Germantown (1683). The best known Memmonite group in America is the Amish. The Amish are one of the Mennite groups in Pennsylvania. The Amish are a religious group who live in settlements in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. The oldest group of Old Order Amish, about 16-18,000 people live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish stress humility, family and community, and separation from the world. Other Mennite colonies were established in Ohio and other mid-Western states. The Amish Church, named for Jacob Ammann, a 17th century Swiss Mennonite bishop, remains particularly insular and conservative. The Old Order Amish reject much, but not all of modern technology in both their personal lives and farming. They wear plain ans what are nmow seen as old fashioned clothing which use hooks and eyes as dastners instead of more modern buttons. They worship in private homes. They at sirst spoke German, but bow speak a kind of German-English amalgam which curiously is called Pennsylvania Dutch. (This is a coruption of the German word Deutsch.) The Mennonite churches every 6 years at the Mennonite World Conference. Most American Mennonites are found primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas. There are also substantial numbers of Mennonites also live in Canada.

Sources

Created: 8:20 AM 1/23/2016
Last updated: 8:20 AM 1/23/2016