PROFILE

Professor John A. Hostetler
The Distinguished Amish-Mennonite Sociologist

By Prof. Talaat I. Farag

My first visit to the Old Order Amish population in Pennsylvania was more than 25 years ago with my late wife, Dr. Magda El-Badramany. Hosted by the international scientist Prof. Laird G. Jackson, the director of the medical genetics center at Thomas Jefferson University, we stumbled upon and purchased a copy of Amish Life (32nd printing). This remarkable illustrated 40-page booklet contains answers to 17 frequently asked questions raised by those who are inquisitive the real lives and true stories of these isolated much-misunderstood population. The first edition of this book was published in 1952, with the latest edition published in 1983, selling over 700,000 copies in it various editions. It contains a concise description of the Amish people, their way of life, views of themselves and outsiders, mission in the world, social institutions, family and education, unique community customs, small-scale approach to agriculture, sacrifices, and rewards, etc.

The author, Prof. John A. Hostetler (1918-2001), was born of Old Order Amish parents in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and was the fifth of seven children by Joseph and Nancy Hostetler. At the age of 11, Hostetler's parents moved to Iowa and he grew up in Iowa Amish Settlement. As a teenager, he joined a Mennonite group and was educated with a BSc from Goshen College in Indiana and later earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in rural sociology from Pennsylvania State University (1953). In addition to Amish populations, he studied the Hutterites and the Old Order Mennonite Colonies of Mexico.

Old Order Amish Population

The first ship to carry persons with typical Amish names was The Adventure, which sailed from Rotterdam and arrived in Philadelphia on October 2, 1727 carrying immigrants in search of fertile farmlands in the U.S. and Canada. Amish communities may be found in 20 U.S. states (mainly Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania) and in Ontario, Canada.

Due to their high birth rate, the Amish have been one of the fastest growing religious groups in North America, even though they lose some of their children to more progressive churches.

The curious are often intrigued by the unusual socio-religious practices of the Old Order Amish population. Their 18th century clothing, Amish men with beards and no moustaches, their resistance to technological advances, the prohibition of electricity and telephones in their homes, and their use of the horse carriage for transport and their farms have always been attractive to outsiders. They also oppose that their children be educated beyond grade school since they are convinced they are an agricultural rural community.

Amish Family and Community

Common among Amish communities are three cherished values: devotion to religion, an agrarian way of life, and cohesive family and community. Most believe that they must be separate from the world in order to attain eternal life, and as Anabaptists, the Amish oppose infant baptism. They believe that a person should be baptized after confessing their faith and they wanted absolute freedom in religious affairs.

The Amish hold in great regard the customs and beliefs of their ancestors, this explains why they have clung to the manner of worship, styles of dress, and traditions of centuries past. Did their forefathers have automobiles, tractors, telephones, electric lights, church buildings? No! With a few exceptions, the Old Order Amish continue to plow with horses, travel in buggies and assemble in homes for worship.

The Amish family is a strong social unit, notable for its stability and its contentment of its members. Children are wanted. On average, an Amish family has on average 8 children, in contrast to about 4 in other American rural communities. Amish mutual aid provides social community for its members from birth to death. Homes are effective teaching agencies. The meaning of hard work and cooperation is learnt early in life. The task of homemaking has not been lightened by electric appliances.

Their social cohesion compensates for any government support or charity which they are strongly opposed to. The Amish man that lives by his standards enjoys a secure and self sufficient family and community life.

The agrarian way of life and the stability of the Amish agricultural community is unique. It is the finest rural culture and their farms are known for their fertility and productiveness. They don't have the expenses of maintaining automobiles and high cost machinery. Their success in agriculture is a product of combining hard work with careful management.

Though tobacco is one of the main cash crops grown by the Amish, it is discouraged or even forbidden to smoke. Furthermore, alcoholic beverages are officially discouraged. Amish faith forbids them from the participation in war, but they are sensitive to the sufferings of other people and they are generous contributors to foreign relief. They have a strong attachment to the soil and to the Bible. However, they have no ambition to possess the whole world or to convert it to their beliefs.

Anyone interacting with the Amish will discover that they use 3 languages; Pennsylvania "Dutch" (German) language, High German, and English. At a time, some spoke French and Swiss French is still spoken among some Indiana Amish. While most Amish are bilingual, some are trilingual, speaking English, German and Dutch.

Amish Clothes and Forklore

The Amish retained the dress styles that were common in their part of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, and have not adopted the styles and fashions of American society. The beard is required or all adult males but moustaches are taboo. Men wear trousers that resemble sailor pants. Peculiar to men's dress code is the mutze, a special kind of coat with a split tale.

Women wear a head covering tied at the neck, which they call a "kapp." Amish hats for men are made of imported Australian rabbit fur. Another part of the women's dress is the lepple (bustle), a rounded piece of cloth attached at the waist on the back of the dress and is considered a symbol of humility.

In Pennsylvania Dutch art, stylized designs of the tulip, fish, and distelfink bird decorate linens, textiles and pottery. The Amish homes decorated with motifs of doves, roses, hearts, tree of life and peacocks.

The Amish use buggies instead of cars. They have retained it, like many other things, on the principle that, "the old is the best." Life is spent largely in the family and the community, rather than outside of it. Every extended family has a buggy and a harness shop.

Education

Parents want their children to attend public elementary schools to acquire the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. In their youth, they are instructed to get further practical learning in farming and home management, rather than theoretical learning at school.

Some Amish fathers have chosen to go to jail rather than subject their children to secular influences in modern high schools. They want at all costs, to conserve an agricultural way of life with its traditional values. Normally the Amish child begins to assist his parents when they are 4-5 years old. Boys are introduced to farming operations, while girls learn the arts of cooking and housekeeping.

Lessons from the Amish

Prof. Hostetler mentioned at the end of his booklet, which was published 53 years ago: "Perhaps the modern hurried, worried world could learn something from the Amish." This is the lesson that the son of this peaceful rural community leaves to us from his writings on this population. His teacher, Dr. William G. Mather, PhD, professor of rural sociology at Pennsylvania State University mentioned in the introduction, "...because Amish practices vary from place to place throughout the United States, the problem of writing a clear and complete description in a short space is very difficult. Nevertheless, the author has succeeded in presenting the Biblical values and sociological principles basic to their way of life."

In this booklet, the reader is treated to a unique, authoritative, and genuinely sympathetic view of Amish life. His presentation is these communities is a splendid glimpse into the stories of a much-misunderstood people. We reiterate Hostetler's plea that the world can learn much from the peaceful tranquility and self-respecting lifestyles of the Amish.

Prof. Talaat I. Farag, MD,FRCP,FACP,FACMG is a former adjunct professor at Dalhousie University in Canada. He is the founder of The Ambassadors Research Foundation in 1998. Email: tfarag@dal.ca.