‘Amish’ -- exploitation or an education?

I didn’t see the premiere of “Amish in the City,” but viewed the

documentary “Devil’s Playground,” which is also about the ritual of

“rumspringa.” I was glad to read several favorable reviews of the

first episode, with many feeling it’s lifting up reality television.

Although I’m not a fan of reality shows, I’m even less a fan of

censorship and am disappointed some cities are choosing not to air

the program because of the controversy.

If part of the rationale of “rumspringa” is that young people are

allowed to explore the outside world and be free to think for

themselves, it may be OK that the five teens in the show agreed to

work in this genre of reality television. It certainly couldn’t be

worse than the very dangerous levels of alcohol and drug use depicted

in “Devil’s Playground.”

What I do find disturbing about the series is the title -- “Amish

in the City.” One reviewer called it “intentionally provocative.”

It’s obviously a take-off on “Sex in the City,” and I object to this

kind of innuendo in a portrayal of anyone’s religion. In addition,

the title also suggests a spiritual voyeurism that is becoming a

popular pastime. Instead of developing oneself by way of a spiritual

tradition and contributing to a community, it can be tempting to turn

on the tube to gain easy access. But this is like eating painted rice

cakes -- neither satisfying nor nourishing. It’s also not challenging

because viewing someone else’s religious practice asks nothing of us.

What may be useful in a show such as this is its educational and

entertainment value. I learned something from “Devil’s Playground,” a

film which also got excellent reviews, and found I wanted to see it

through to the end. For example, I learned the Amish aren’t

anti-technology as such, but they consider carefully how things will

affect their community and family life. Battery chargers are

considered OK, but video games are not. I was surprised to learn that

teens go to school only through age 13, when they are expected to

begin working because “excessive education leads to pride.” I was

also interested to find out about the persecution of the Amish, due

to their belief in adult baptism as opposed to infant baptism.

Learning something about the Amish through film or television may

urge us to find out for ourselves whether what is depicted is really

accurate and to discover more. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

REV. CAROL AGUILAR

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

Many faith and cultural communities are wary of the corrupting

influences of the world. They range in their response from active

engagement with society, in order to reform it, to outright

repudiation of the larger social order. Those who seek to insulate

themselves and their children from the seductions of secular life

often withdraw into tightly knit, self-sufficient communities. Those

who do not share their identity and norms are viewed as threats to

the delicate balance of their communal lives. They define themselves,

not as part of a greater community, but as an identity unto

themselves. They usually stress simplicity, purity and adherence to

an authoritarian code of behavior.

American history is replete with such utopian efforts to create

model communities that do not succumb to modern influences. Such

idealistic devotion is found within all religious groupings as they

preach a return to a more pristine way of life. The results of

powerful historical forces, these communities identify the secular

world with immodesty, hedonism, irresponsibility, a turning away from

God and a pathway to doom.

The foundation of Amish faith is to “not conform any longer to the

patterns of this world ... “ (Romans 12:2). The Amish stand guard

against any drifting from the church by limiting contact with the

darker world that constantly threatens to penetrate their spiritual

fortresses. Their autonomous social infrastructure is geared to

productivity and self-defense from external (non) values.

Within the limits of the law, religious communities enjoy the

right to shield their children from the outside world or allow them

to test their commitment and faith by temporary exposure to it. The

Amish encourage their young to experience the world beyond theirs,

because they believe religious identity must be freely chosen and

that this choice must be made by them as adults. In the movie

“Devil’s Playground,” Amish youth are freed of the restraints that

bind them in Amish society and often indulge in the worst excesses

that blight the secular world. If they choose to return to the fold,

they understand that their dedication must extend throughout their

lives. Their return is nothing less than a rebirth.

Every faith community must decide the extent of what it imposes

and what it permits. Everyone answers the siren song of assimilation

according to his own understandings of God’s mandates. Every one

struggles with the meaning of freedom and adopts strategies that will

strengthen the community and ensure its future viability. The Amish

are a striking example of this awareness that, while we cannot

control the time in which we live, we can be in command of how we

respond to the times. I personally applaud the Amish for the respect

they show their young by encouraging them to experience life beyond

their physical and cultural borders and by affirming their right to

make mature choices that will henceforth and forever govern their

religious lives. The young people know they will be welcomed back

unconditionally. The Amish understand the expression “liminality,” a

transition period where people can investigate, experiment, test, and

then emerge recreated. As long as any study of the Amish reveals the

deeper implications of this rite of passage, it can only render honor

to Amish culture.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yam

Newport Beach

Appropriately, as I answer this question, I am writing from

Amsterdam, home of the Pennsylvania Dutch or Amish. I believe all of

the reality shows are exploitative. They exploit the angst and

struggles of married couples, dating couples and people who would do

anything to be on TV. Christians of many stripes have been on many of

the shows. It was only a matter of time before the Amish were

targeted. We are a voyeuristic culture and love to watch the struggle

and triumphs of others. I only pray this: young people will hold to

their faith.

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

PASTOR RIC OLSEN

Harbor Trinity

Costa Mesa

With relatives in Philadelphia and Cleveland, my family has often

visited beautiful places in our country where many Amish people live.

A quilt made by those in Lancaster County, Pa., graces our bed at

home here in Corona del Mar. I appreciate and respect the Amish. They

believe what they believe passionately, yet they don’t worry if I

believe what they believe. I like what one commentator wrote

recently, “They are pacifist -- but not in the Michael Moore way.

Mess with them and you’re likely to get a pitchfork ... or worse. And

they actually hold their beliefs sacred -- unlike most of the

Limousine Left.”

When UPN’s “Amish in the City” premieres, I will be happily

camping in Yosemite with our son. I do not usually watch “reality”

shows; my daily living provides sufficient reality. This show seems

to be premised on the assumption that kids who do a lot of farming

will be positively overwhelmed by the “wild-oat sowing” culture.

Previous novels and movies about the Amish like 1985’s “Witness,”

with Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas have been premised

on the old question, “How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after

they’ve seen the big city?” Amish reality seems to be clearly to the

contrary. During their “rumspringa,” a Pennsylvania Dutch term

meaning “running wild,” Amish teens date, drink, drive cars and move

away from home; the vast majority (90% by most estimates) of these

young people freely return to their Amish community and don’t miss

the supposed “culture” from which they cut themselves off. I trust

that the Amish teens who have freely chosen to be part of “Amish in

the City” will show the other kids on the show, television producers

and many of us viewers how shallow we can be. Considering the Amish

have been in America for more than two hundred years and are still

going strong, I wonder, “Do you wonder about people who ‘actually

hold their beliefs sacred?’”

THE VERY REV’D CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar