By Jack Zavada
Amish life is fascinating to outsiders, but much of the information we have about the Amish faith and culture is inaccurate. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about Amish life, taken from reliable sources.
Why do the Amish keep to themselves and not associate with the rest of us?
If you keep in mind that the practice of humility is the main motivation for almost everything the Amish do, Amish life becomes more understandable. They believe outside culture has a morally polluting effect. They think it promotes pride, greed, immorality and materialism.
Amish beliefs include the concept that God will judge them on how well they obeyed the church rules during their lifetime, and contact with the outside world makes it harder to obey their rules. The Amish point to this Bible verse as a reason for their isolation: “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 6:17, KJV)
Why do the Amish dress in old-fashioned clothes and dark colors?
Again, humility is the reason behind this. Amish value conformity, not individualism. They believe bright colors or patterns attract attention to a person. Some of their clothes are fastened with straight pins or hooks, to avoid buttons, which might be a source of pride.
What is the Ordnung in Amish Life?
The Ordnung is a set of oral rules for everyday living. Passed down from generation to generation, the Ordnung helps Amish believers be better Christians. These rules and regulations form the foundation of Amish life and culture. While many of the dictates
are not specifically found in the Bible, they are based on biblical principles.
The Ordnung specifies everything from what type of shoes may be worn to the width of hat brims to hairstyles. Women wear a white prayer covering on their head if they are married, black if they are single. Married men wear beards, single men do not. Mustaches are prohibited because they are associated with the 19th century European military.
Many ungodly behaviors which are clearly known to be sin in the Bible, such as adultery, lying, and cheating, are not included in the Ordnung.
Why don’t the Amish use electricity or cars and tractors?
In Amish life, isolation from the rest of society is viewed as a way to keep themselves from unnecessary temptation. They cite Romans 12:2 as their guide: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (KJV)
The Amish do not hook up to the electrical grid, which prevents the use of televisions, radios, computers, and modern appliances. No TVs means no advertising and no immoral messages. The Amish also believe in hard work and usefulness. They would consider watching TV or surfing the internet a waste of time. Cars and mechanized farm machinery could lead to competition or pride of ownership. Old Order Amish do not allow a telephone in their homes, because it could lead to pride and gossip. The community may put a phone in a barn or outside phone booth, to deliberately make it inconvenient to use.
Is it true Amish schools end at eighth grade?
Yes. The Amish believe that education leads to worldliness. They educate their children to eighth grade in their own schools. A dialect of German is spoken in the home, so children learn English in school, as well as other basic skills they need to live in the Amish community.
Why don’t the Amish want to be photographed?
The Amish believe photos can lead to pride and invade their privacy.
They think photographs violate Exodus 20:4: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (KJV)
What is shunning?
Shunning is the practice of avoiding someone who has broken the rules.
The Amish do this not as a matter of punishment, but to bring the person to repentance and back into the community. They point to 1 Corinthians 5:11 to validate shunning: “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer,
or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” (KJV)
Why don’t the Amish serve in the military?
The Amish are nonviolent conscientious objectors.
They refuse to fight in wars, serve on police forces, or sue in a court of law.
This belief in non-resistance is rooted in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount:
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you
on the right cheek, turn to the other.” (Matthew 5:39, ESV)
Is it true that the Amish let their teenagers go into the outside world as a kind of test?
Rumspringa, which is Pennsylvania German for “running around,” varies from community to community, but this aspect of Amish life has been greatly exaggerated by movies and TV shows. In general, youth at 16 are allowed freedom to go to Amish community sings and other events. Boys may be given a buggy for dating. Some of these teenagers are baptized members of the church while others are not.
The purpose of Rumspringa is to find a spouse, not taste the outside world. In nearly all cases, it strengthens the Amish youths’ desire to obey the rules and become a cooperative member of their community.
Can Amish people marry outside their community?
No. Amish cannot marry “the English,” as they refer to non-Amish people. If they do, they are excommunicated from Amish life and shunned. The strictness of shunning varies by congregation. In some cases it involves not eating, doing business with, riding in a car with, or accepting gifts from shunned members. In more liberal communities the practice is less severe.
Health among the Amish is characterized by higher incidences of particular genetic disorders, especially among the Old Order Amish. These disorders include dwarfism,[1] Angelman syndrome,[2] and various metabolic disorders, such as Tay-Sachs disease,[3]
as well as an unusual distribution of blood types.[4]
Overview
Amish represent a collection of different demes or genetically closed communities.[5]
Since almost all Amish descend from about 500 18th-century founders,[citation needed] genetic disorders that come out due to inbreeding exist in more isolated districts (an example of the founder effect). These disorders include dwarfism (Ellis–van Creveld syndrome),[1] Angelman syndrome,[2] and various metabolic disorders,[6][3] as well as an unusual distribution of blood types.[4] Some of these disorders are quite rare, or unique, and are serious enough to increase the mortality rate among Amish children. The majority of Amish accept these as “Gottes Wille” (God’s will); they reject use of preventive genetic tests prior to marriage and genetic testing of unborn children to discover genetic disorders. However, the Amish are willing to participate in studies of genetic diseases. Their extensive family histories are useful to researchers investigating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and macular degeneration.
While the Amish are at an increased risk for some genetic disorders, researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) have found their tendency for clean living can lead to better health. Overall cancer rates in the Amish are 60 percent of the age-adjusted rate for Ohio and 56 percent of the national rate. Tobacco-related cancers in Amish adults are 37 percent and non-tobacco-related cancers are 72 percent of the rate for Ohio adults. The Amish are protected against many types of cancer both through their lifestyle—there is very little tobacco or alcohol use and limited sexual partners—and through genes that may reduce their susceptibility to cancer. Dr. Judith Westman, director of human genetics at OSUCCC – James, conducted the study. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Causes & Control. Even skin cancer rates are lower for Amish, despite the fact many Amish make their living working outdoors where they are exposed to sunlight and UV rays. They are typically covered and dressed to work in the sun by wearing wide-brimmed hats and long sleeves which protect their skin.[7]
The Amish are conscious of the advantages of exogamy. A common bloodline in one community will often be absent in another, and genetic disorders can be avoided by choosing spouses from unrelated communities. For example, the founding families of the Lancaster County Amish are unrelated to the founders of the Perth County, Ontario Amish community. Because of a smaller gene pool, some groups have increased incidences of certain inheritable conditions.[8]
The Old Order Amish do not typically carry private commercial health insurance.[9][10]
About two-thirds of the Amish in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County participate in Church Aid, an informal self-insurance plan for helping members with catastrophic medical expenses.[9] A handful of American hospitals, starting in the mid-1990s, created special outreach programs to assist the Amish. The first of these programs was instituted at the Susquehanna Health System in central Pennsylvania by James Huebert. This program has earned national media attention in the United States, and has spread to several surrounding hospitals.[11][12] Treating genetic problems is the mission of Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatments for such problems as maple syrup urine disease, a previously fatal disease. The clinic is embraced by most Amish, ending the need for parents to leave the community to receive proper care for their children, an action that might result in shunning.
DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children, located in Middlefield, Ohio, has been treating special-needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders since May 2002.[13]
The DDC Clinic provides treatment, research, and educational services to Amish
and non-Amish children and their families.
The prevalence of asthma in the Amish of Indiana was low at 5.2% as compared
to 21.3% in Hutterite schoolchildren of South Dakota; likewise the prevalence of allergic sensitization was 7.2% versus 33.3%. The lifestyles of the two groups are similar except for farming practices, where Hutterites use industrialized farming whereas Amish do not. In a study from 2016, important differences in the children’s innate immune cells and in the allergy inducing nature of the dust in their homes were found, leading to the conclusion that the Amish environment had protected against asthma by shaping the innate immune response.[14]
Most Amish clearly seem to use some form of birth control, a fact that generally is not discussed among the Amish, but indicated by the fact that the number of children systematically increases in correlation with the conservatism of a congregation, the more conservative, the more children. The large number of children is due to the fact that many children are appreciated by the community and not because there is no birth control.[15] Some communities openly allow access to birth control to women whose health would be compromised by childbirth.[16] The Amish are against abortion and also find “artificial insemination, genetics, eugenics, and stem cell research” to be “inconsistent with Amish values and beliefs”.[17]
People’s Helpers is an Amish-organized network of mental health caregivers who help families dealing with mental illness and recommend professional counselors.[18] Suicide rates for the Amish of Lancaster County were 5.5 per 100,000 in 1980, about half that of the general population.[a]
Notes
^ The overall suicide rate in 1980 in the US was 12.5 per 100,000.[19]
NO, AMISH KIDS AREN’T IMMUNE TO CANCER, DIABETES AND AUTISM — AND THEY AREN’T VACCINE-FREE, EITHER
BY PHILIP MARCELO
Published 2:34 PM EST, July 14, 2023
CLAIM: A new, comprehensive study has found zero cases of Amish children with cancer, diabetes, autism or other serious medical conditions and few deaths from COVID-19 because Amish people don’t get vaccinated.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. There’s no new research supporting the claims.
Experts who study Amish communities say most members have some level of vaccination and that research has shown significant deaths from COVID in the communities.
They also say studies have documented cases of autism, diabetes and cancer among the Amish, albeit at lower rates in some cases than the broader population and for reasons that are unrelated to their vaccination status.
THE FACTS: Social media users are pointing to Amish communities as proof that vaccinations not only don’t work, but are harmful to our health.
Many are sharing a screenshot of a website article with the headline, “New Study Finds Zero Amish Children Diagnosed with Cancer, Diabetes or Autism.”
“A new comprehensive study has found that no Amish children have been diagnosed with chronic conditions, which widely impact the rest of America,” the first sentence of the story reads, underneath a picture of Amish children riding a traditional horse drawn carriage.
The Amish are a conservative Christian group that shuns many modern technologies, including electric and gas-powered machinery. They’re largely concentrated in the Midwest and East Coast, including in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County.
“No vaccines or processed food means no mental illness or diseases?,”
wrote one Instagram user in a widely shared post that included the screenshot.
“Who would have thought!?”
Other posts claimed Amish people died of COVID at a rate “90 times lower than the rest of America” because they weren’t vaccinated.
But there’s no new study supporting that figure or the notion that the Amish are immune to serious medical conditions because of vaccine reluctance.
Instead, the purported study is merely anecdotal evidence put forward by Steven Kirsch, a former Silicon Valley executive-turned anti-vaccine activist, during a Pennsylvania state senate hearing last month that took a critical view of the COVID-19 vaccine and inoculations generally.
In his testimony, Kirsch claimed that he’d spoken with Amish people in Lancaster County and learned that only five community members died of the coronavirus. That, he said, led him to conclude that the Amish “died at a rate 90 times lower than the infection fatality rate of the United States of America.”
Kirsch goes on to claim, without citing evidence, that Amish children also don’t suffer from cancer, diabetes, autism, autoimmune disease and a range of other ailments.
“You just don’t find any of these chronic diseases in the Amish,” he said.
Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health, was among those that took to Instagram this week to push back at the baseless claims.
“There is no ‘study’,” she wrote in a follow up email to The Associated Press. “It’s just Steve Kirsch saying he couldn’t find any unvaccinated kids with autism in that community.”
Kirsch, responding after this story was published, confirmed he’d produced no such study.
“It was an informal effort on my behalf using multiple methods to try and uncover what the health effects are for the Amish who are unvaccinated,” he said in a phone interview, noting that his efforts included offering a $2,500 reward for information about Amish COVID deaths on Twitter.
Wallace and other Amish experts, meanwhile, cited years of published, peer-reviewed research on the communities, which are found in more than 30 states and combined represent more than 360,000 people.
A 2011 study in Pediatrics, for example, found only 14% of Amish people surveyed didn’t vaccinate their kids at all, Wallace noted.
“They do vaccinate at a lower rate than the general population, but they are far from an ‘unvaccinated’ population,” she said.
Alan Shuldiner, founder of the Amish Research Clinic at the University of Maryland, said it’s also not true that Amish children don’t have diabetes.
Amish children tend to have lower incidence of the chronic ailment than non-Amish children, but it’s not because of vaccination — it’s due to a more physically demanding lifestyle that lends itself to leaner body types, he said, citing a 2013 study published in Diabetes Care that he co-authored.
Braxton Mitchell, an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who has also studied Amish communities, said autism does occur among members, despite claims suggesting otherwise.
But he said it is a challenge to gather reliable data on the subject because autism and other related conditions require clinical assessments and expert diagnosis, which Amish families may not seek out.
Indeed a 2010 paper from the International Society for Autism Research found autism was less prevalent in Amish communities than the U.S. overall, but that further study was needed to determine how “cultural norms and customs” played a role in the numbers.
Recent research also suggests Amish communities weren’t completely insulated from the ravages of COVID, said Steven Nolt, an Amish expert at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.
A study published in June in the Journal of Religion and Health found excess death rates among Amish groups rose at a similar pace as the nation during the early phase of the pandemic, and then outpaced it as death rates otherwise dropped nationwide.
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Going back further, research published in 1988 in Social Science and Medicine found Amish communities have unusually high rates of breast cancer and juvenile leukemia
but relatively low rates of cervical cancer, noted Mark Louden, an Amish expert at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The study also examined incidences of stomach, colon, rectum, urinary bladder and prostate cancer among Amish communities and other similar religious enclaves.
“In a nutshell, this claim is not supported by the evidence,” Louden wrote in an email. “While Amish, including children, are overall healthier by many measures than their non-Amish counterparts, that is due to a combination of lifestyle and genetics, not their low vaccination rates.”
Kirsch, in response, dismissed the recent study on COVID deaths among the Amish as “fraudulent,” citing as evidence a critique by another Substack blogger who identifies as a musician and teacher.
But Kirsch also acknowledged that just because his efforts had not turned up any examples of cancer, diabetes or autism among Amish children, that didn’t mean they didn’t exist.
___
This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
22 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America (msn.com)
What is the average age of the Amish – Search Videos (bing.com)
The sad saga of an Amish girl with a curable cancer whose parents are refusing chemotherapy in favor of “natural healing” | Science-Based Medicine (science based medicine.org)
Court battle over Amish girl’s cancer treatment ends | Reuters
Amish Community Thwarts Medical Kidnapping; Finds Safer Cure for Child with Cancer – by Paul Fassa
(The Best Years in Life) At the age of ten in 2013, Sarah Hershberger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Amish are not automatically averse to modern medicine, so when the Hershbergers were warned their daughter would die in months with chemotherapy, they simply went for it and signed up for a series of treatments that would cover a period of two years.
What the Hershbergers were not aware of when they signed the dotted line for treatments at Akron Ohio’s Children’s Hospital was that they were offering their daughter to the hospital for a new chemotherapy drug human phase trial.
Columbus, OH – The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law today accepted the Resignation as Limited Guardian of a state official attempting to, on behalf of the State and Akron Children’s Hospital, force chemotherapy on ten-year-old Sarah Hershberger.
While the resignation still requires the signature of Probate Judge Kevin Dunn, Judge Dunn is expected to approve the resignation sometime next week, effectively ending the two-month stand-off with Sarah’s parents, Andy and Anna Hershberger, who, concerned that the chemotherapy was killing their daughter, sought the right to first try a less invasive alternative treatment that the hospital did not provide.
Andy and Anna, after the Court’s order, left the country to pursue an alternative treatment and prevent Sarah from being taken from them. The family reports that Sarah has responded well to the alternative treatment, the cancer is receding, and she is in excellent physical condition.
“We made it clear to our opponents that they were in for a protracted battle over fundamental principles and constitutional rights; and that on each, they were on the wrong side,” said Maurice Thompson, Executive Director of the 1851 Center.
“The Judge’s approval of this Resignation will pave the way for the family’s return home, which will allow Sarah to receive the family’s preferred treatment under the best possible conditions,” continued Thompson. “We hope that this Resignation also seals one of the darkest moments for parental rights and health care freedom in the State’s history: a court ordering a little girl to be ripped away from her loving and competent parents, and forced to submit to procedures that could kill or sterilize her, simply because her parents sought to first pursue a less invasive treatment option – – one the hospital disagreed with because it did not itself provide it.”
On November 19, the 1851 Center announced its representation of the Hershbergers, maintaining:
•Section 21, Article I of the Ohio Constitution, the Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment passed by 67 percent of Ohio voters in 2011 prohibits the compulsion of any person “to participate in a health care system.”
•Even before Section 21, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the Ohio Constitution ensures “personal security, bodily integrity, and autonomy,” and therefore “[t]he right to refuse medical treatment” is amongst the “rights inherent in every individual.”
•The U.S Supreme Court has repeatedly confirmed the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly provides protection to parents in the “care, custody, and control” of their children, including the right “to direct the upbringing . . . of children under their control.”
•The U.S. Supreme Court has also ruled that the “primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition,” and “[t]he statist notion that governmental power should supersede parental authority in all cases because some parents abuse and neglect children is repugnant to American tradition.”
The litigation began when the Hershbergers removed their daughter from Akron Children’s Hospital in July, in favor of a less invasive alternative treatment, after it appeared as though chemotherapy itself was a greater threat to her than her mild form of cancer. The Hospital then moved in court to take Sarah from the Hershbergers and force treatment in July.
The hospital’s move came only after county social services officials found the Hershbergers to be quality parents, and, and despite hospital demands, refused to take Sarah from the family. The Medina County probate court found that the Hershbergers were model parents, explaining “there is no evidence the parents are unfit or unstable,” and “there is not a scintilla of evidence showing the parents are unfit.”
However, the Appellate Court used an obscure Ohio statute intended to address child abuse and neglect to order Sara to be taken from the home and forced to undergo chemotherapy.
The Court made this ruling even though Sarah’s mild form of cancer is a type that can and is being treated without chemotherapy, and despite conceding that chemotherapy may well cause loss of hair, infections, infertility, cardiovascular disease, damage to internal organs, an increased risk of contracting other cancers, and even death.
Amish Girl Flees US to Escape Chemo Treatments? | Sarah Hershberger Chemotherapy Debate (youtube.com)
Chris Wark interviews Isaac Keim, grandfather of Sarah Hershberger, the 10-year-old Amish girl who has fled the US to escape being taken from her parents and forced to do chemo against her wishes by Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio. Sarah and her family are being sued by the hospital and the government for refusing chemotherapy. Most chemotherapy drugs are also carcinogenic – meaning they can cause cancer.
Read More: Amish Girl–Whose Family Resisted Chemotherapy–Is Now Cancer Free — Fulcrum7
10yr old Amish girl Sarah Hershberger flees the U.S. to escape chemo. Exclusive interview (chrisbeatcancer.com)
Sarah Hershberger: “Cancer-free” and proof that natural healing works? Not so much… – RESPECTFUL INSOLENCE
iCureCancer on ZenLive.Tv – w/ Chris Wark on Amish Girl Flees! – 11 6 13 (youtube.com)
Amish girl Sarah Hershberger is cancer free after her family was forced into hiding | Daily Mail Online
Amish girl who fled United States to escape forced chemotherapy is now cancer-free – NaturalNews.com
Gap in Chemo Makes Amish Girl’s Leukemia More Difficult to Treat, Say Doctors – ABC News (go.com)
Is the life expectancy of an Amish person the same as the average in the US? – Skeptics Stack Exchange
Cancer Treatment (Chemotherapy) Being FORCED on Families? – Thunder God Root
Amish Child with Cancer: Medicine vs. Religion | Healthcare Paper Example (nursingbird.com)
False claim no Amish kids have autism, cancer, diabetes | Fact check (usatoday.com)
Cleveland Clinic, parents clash over girl’s brain tumor treatment; court to decide – cleveland.com
What Happened to Kate from ‘Return to Amish?’ She Now Works in Fashion (distractify.com)
Amish Model Kate Stoltzfus – Search (bing.com)
Hirschberger Cancer Rates – Search (bing.com)
Resources
The Definitive Guide to Amish Culture,
https://www.amishtables.com/pages/amish-culture
AmishAmerica.com
Migrants in New York City will receive prepaid debit cards,
not credit cards, for designated goods.