The Shunning-Interview with a {former Amish} Woman, Part 2

An Amish woman who was shunned for her faith and left the Order when she was married and in her 30's, is opening up about her experience. Once she began questioning the "faith" based on Jesus Christ, her troubles began inside the Order. She's graciously allowed me to interview her. All the words are solely "Deborah's" and in her "voice" and because of her contacts, in present day, with the Amish, she needs to remain anonymous (thank you for understanding, ahead of time). I only edited paragraph sizes (smaller bites for easier reading). Bold, italics, and larger print are all mine, to emphasis areas of interest. We'll be doing a series based on questions from Hillary's gracious readers! Thank you Hillary and all your dear Facebook friends for giving us a plethora of material.


The interview will be published on Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to join the discussion in the "comment"s block. Any malicious comments will NOT be published. This is meant to be a safe place for her to share her story for the first time.


Join me in welcoming her......



Q:  Based on what you know of spiritual abuse, to what extent do you think the Amish community may experience this?

"Deborah": Rules are enforced by varying degrees of isolation for those who do not obey them.

All the rules are a part of a religious belief system that controls the people through shame, fear of man and lack of understanding or knowledge of God. The people are taught and many truly believe, to leave the Amish Order and disobey the rules, is to leave God.

There is usually a kind of grace period where the use of persuasion is employed, which means the leadership will be making numerous trips to your house to talk to you about your "disobedience". This is an awkward and embarrassing thing to endure for all involved.

Then there is the ordeal of confessing your "sin" publicly to the rest of the congregation when you finally do comply and come back into obedience to the rules. This is the method most often used in "correction" and is very effective because it causes such a feeling of shame.

If this process fails and a person persists in refusing to comply, they will eventually be excommunicated.

This means they will not be allowed to partake of communion, and in many communities, no longer allowed to sit at a table and eat a meal with any other Amish church member. An Amish person who eats a meal with an excommunicated member is considered to be violating the rules.


The Amish culture is held together and revolves around their religious belief system. That belief system consists of traditions and good Biblical principles, mixed with misinterpreted scripture and superstition.

They are a society within a society, or a culture within a culture, just like the Black communities or Hispanic communities of America have their own cultures or societies.

They have their own language and traditional rules to follow, some are written and some are not. The rules that are not written are no less powerful than those that are, and all community life and behaviour is governed by the rules.

 

Q: What sect of the Amish Order were you in?

The particular order I was born into is known as the Old Order Amish.

Q: What does the Amish faith look like? For example:  What is considered sin?

"Deborah":  Sin is considered to be disobedience to the rules. There is a lot of emphasis on submission to authority with the attitude that submission to authority is godly even if authority is wrong.

In the event of excommunication, the Scripture in 1Cor 5:11 is often used.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.

However, many of the actual sins listed in the verse are considered minor offences if considered to be sin at all, and many of the rules that govern daily life have nothing to do with behaviour the Scriptures would actually call sinful.

As Jesus said in Mark 7:13  ..making the word of God of no effect through your tradition you have handed down.  

The bishops make the rules for the community.

There are no women in any positions of leadership or authority. Because of this, the rules for the women's everyday lives often do not keep up with the rules for the men's lives, in terms of ease and convenience.

For example, the rules for the men may allow them to use machinery that is powered by a gasoline motor for their work in the field or barn. In contrast, the women may not be allowed to use tillers or gas engine powered lawnmowers to do their work in their lawn and gardens.

The women are seen as a vital part of the family and community but not expected to give any spiritual counsel or input. They are expected to "be silent" and they are not involved in any decision making concerning the rules for the community.

As in all societies the most dependant are the most vulnerable and most likely to be abused.  

Within any self governing society there is usually a hierarchy and the same is true of the Amish. There are some families in the community who are a lot more influential then others. They can sway the leaders to make or change the rules to benefit them and/or their businesses, and do so at times.

Q: So, would you say the Amish faith is based on how well you obey the rules vs. a relationship and faith in Jesus Christ?

"Deborah": Yes I would say that. A relationship with Jesus Christ is not emphasised and in my experience, many Amish lack a personal relationship with the Lord. They are sincere and have a zeal for righteousness but it is not according to knowledge.

I would also say, "The harvest truly is great but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest." Luke 10:2