A predetermined life like 300 years ago
Long preparation, many rejections: I had to overcome many obstacles for my ARTE documentary about the Amish People – and had to know the ten commandments.
We are warmly welcomed by Enos Slabaugh and his family of eight in Middlefield, one of the world’s largest Amish communities in Geaugha County, Ohio, in the northeastern United States. The community farmer and farrier has a lot to do on his almost 40 hectare farm. After all, the Amish only get around by horse and carriage. Nearly 20,000 Amish people – and 8,000 horses – live in Geaugha County alone.
The Slabaughs live the life of the ‘Old Order Amish’: the Amish of the old order who follow centuries-old commandments. A distance from many facets of progress: neither cars, computers nor electricity are used on the farm. The water comes from the in-house well. Only a few battery-operated lamps provide light in the stable and house. And a generator with gasoline makes washing work easier. Eno’s tribute to progress.
Always rejections
The Amish in the USA are an Anabaptist Protestant religious community that has its roots in Central Europe, especially in Switzerland and southern Germany. They don’t like being photographed and certainly don’t like being filmed. This could arouse pride and vanity, they believe. Because the deeply religious community adheres to the Bible: “You shall not make for yourself any graven image, neither of what is in heaven above, nor of what is on earth below.”
We kept getting rejections for our filming. After months of research, I found a family who was willing to be filmed, but a short time later I was rejected again. The Amish discuss everything in their community. If she is against it, it stays that way.
A community usually consists of 150 to 200 members. A bishop, two preachers and a deacon. The service is held either in a self-built community center or alternatively in one of the large barns on a farm. We were allowed to attend one of these services. But only with the bishop’s permission. After he asked my cameraman and me about our religious attitudes, this also included asking about the ten commandments.
With the help of John Gingerich, co-founder of an Amish library in Geauga County, it was finally possible to establish contacts with Amish families. They were very interested in Germany, the Amish country of origin. They are not allowed to travel there by plane because they reject the modern lifestyle. Our standard German amused them. Because the Amish have their own language in addition to English. The Pennsylvania Dutch. A mixture of Palatinate, Swiss German and English.
reformers and traditionalists
The New Testament is the guide for everyone. On our journey through Ohio and Pennsylvania, we experienced different interpretations of the strict Amish rules in the communities.
For example with Chester Kurtz and his family of eight. Kurtz is a construction manager and subcontractor. At home he lives as an ‘Old Order Amish’, modestly and simply. However, in his job he uses all of his employer’s technical advances.
Hypocritical – that’s not how Kurtz sees this way of life, when I asked him, when the strict rules are adhered to at home but broken at work. He doesn’t own these technical things himself, he just uses them.
Backward image of women
The role of women is clearly defined. That’s what it says in the Bible, say the Amish. She takes care of the household and the children. Contraception is forbidden. The man works as a farmer or craftsman and provides for the family.
Here, too, we experienced that the distribution of roles was not always adhered to unconditionally. An Amish woman was willing to speak openly on camera about birth control and incest. Edna Miller from Ohio, mother of six says: “When a woman’s health is at stake, it is not wrong to use contraception. The Amish are not perfect religious people. We also have bad cases of incest.”
No high school diploma for children
There are several hundred Amish schools in the United States to which each family pays a share based on their income. We had
the rare opportunity to accompany lessons on film in Ohio. The state doesn’t interfere. Reading, writing, arithmetic and religious education play an important role here. The Amish children do not know a high school. After the eighth grade they have to leave school and receive training in agriculture and home economics.
We always noticed how interested the children and young people were in our technology. They weren’t camera shy. Rather curious and fascinated, especially when we let the drone fly and they could follow the image on the display. She named the drone “Birdy.”
Marcus Slabaugh, son of farrier Enos, told us that owning a drone would be out of the question for them because they reject technological advances. “But,” he said, “we like to watch.” Marcus wants to follow in his father’s footsteps. He loves horses and nature more than anything. He doesn’t want more schooling at all.
Harsh punishments for those who drop out
Anyone who wants to have more education and leaves the community as a baptized member to adapt to the modern world is excluded. In Pennsylvania we met a group called “Rumspringa”. This is what the Amish call young people between the ages of 16 and 20 who are not yet sure whether they want to be baptized in order to finally join the community. We saw them smoking, drinking and using cell phones. “We try out a lot of things before we decide,” said one of the young people. There are no exact figures for dropouts. The Amish population continues to grow rapidly. On average, families have six children.
Their economically independent way of life has become more modern than it was 300 years ago. But they remain true to their principles and values. But it remains a predetermined and secluded life from the outside world.