Steve Egan ' 09- I haven’t been abroad and I don’t plan on leaving the country to study during college, but I finally got the chance to see what being the foreigner feels like when I stopped at the Goshen, Indiana Home Depot. 

It was in that parking lot, a place where I should have felt right at home, that I ran into a long, but neatly trimmed bearded man about to get into his buggy. I approached him and his family and asked if he wouldn’t mind me taking a few pictures. What followed says a lot about the Amish culture as a whole. 

The Amish were founded by Jacob Amman in 1694 after a dispute with other Anabaptist church members. Anabaptist theology today includes Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish among others. The Anabaptists, who are Christians by the way, operate on the principal that one should not be baptized until they are a consenting adult and therefore willing to fully pledge themselves. This is especially important to the Amish as they require such a different lifestyle. The Amish believe that one must keep the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Earth separate, they believe that to remain faithful to God and without sin one may be in the world, but not of the world.  They use many Bible passages to back up these beliefs and to explain the reasoning behind their simple lifestyle.  Part of this simple lifestyle requires that Amish do not use cameras and other electronic equipment; this means no photos in the home, not even mirrors.  So needless to say Amish are a bit wary of having their picture taken. 

The Amish in Elkhart County are of German origin and speak a dialect in their home known as Pennsylvania Dutch. This is the first language and the language used in Amish to Amish conversations. Amish children do not learn English formally until they begin schooling. Amish only attend first through eighth grades, but in that time master all that they will need. Because I knew Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch I assumed that man whom I approached for photographs couldn’t speak English as he replied with only a grumble. Who knows, maybe he barely comes to town and just works out on his farm?

I had the opportunity to meet with author Thomas J. Meyers who told me that this man surely spoke English. He had replied in such a manner as to grunt because he did not want his picture taken, in fact he probably thought it would be sinful to have his picture taken, however he felt so obligated to help me that he was not willing to just give an outright, “No, you can’t take me and family’s picture.” The Amish are such a helpful people that this man felt so obligated to a complete stranger he wasn’t even willing to turn me down.

More recently I have also traveled to Steuben, Allen, and Parke Counties, Parke being the closest to Wabash. The Amish there arrived relatively recently in 1991 straight from Pennsylvania and offer a good contrast to the Amish in the Northeast end of the state. Their buggies are gray instead of black they talk differently and actually hold several beliefs the Amish near Goshen do not. 

The Parke County Amish are an excellent demonstration of the diversity among a culture that to an outsider appears completely homogenous. I’m looking forward to finding out more and becoming closer to the Amish community in Parke County and am sure to find out tons more. 

Click here to read FYI blog entry on Present Indiana Program.