RELIGION: The beliefs and culture of the Amish and Mennonites

In the final lecture in the "Faiths of Our Neighbors" series at West Grove Friends Meeting, Edsel Burdge Jr. discussed the culture, history and beliefs of the Amish and Mennonites. A Methodist-turned-Mennonite himself, he is a research associate at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
Horse-drawn buggies, one-room schoolhouses and Amish youths are familiar sights in western Chester County, but in his talk I learned a lot about the religious beliefs and rituals of the many different sects of Anabaptists that coexist. They share the belief -- revolutionary when it was first proposed in the 17th century -- that people shouldn't be baptized until they are old enough to choose to join the faith. Both groups are named after their founders, Jacob Amman and Menno Simons.
Mr. Burdge explained that the Amish don't consider modern technology like cars and electricity to be evil per se, but rather dangerous in the sense that they might disrupt the community's traditional fabric by speeding things up and decreasing face-to-face exchanges among the tightly knit group.
I very much want to read a book that he recommended, "Called to Be Amish," Marlene C. Miller's newly published autobiography about joining the Old-Order Amish as an outsider.
Let me take the opportunity to thank West Grove Meeting for presenting this second series of Wednesday-evening lectures. They have been about as varied and entertaining as possible in terms of the topics, the speakers and the presentations (everything from PowerPoint slides to ritual dancing).