Amish Essay 5
Rumspringa
Introduction
The Mennonite/Amish cultures have many traditions that separate them from the normal Christian faith. 400 years ago, many European Christians were killed and tortured for their belief in adult baptism. Adult baptism is referred to as Anabaptism, meaning “re-baptizer.” One Anabaptists belief is that members of the church should be baptized during adulthood rather than infancy (Robinson 2002). Amish adult baptism gives members of the church the freedom, and the adult conscious choice to find their faith through a tradition called Rumspringa. Rumspringa means “running around” in the Amish Dutch language. Once a child turns 16, they are free to experience the world from an American standard. This means they are allowed to use electricity, watch television, listen to music of their choice, and wear normal clothes. This also means they are allowed to drink, smoke, and sometimes use drugs and/or experience sexual relationships. Rumspringa can last from a week to several years. A child can make the decision at any time to rejoin, or not to rejoin, the Amish faith and community. If the child rejoins the faith, he must surrender the many pleasures that he was allowed during Rumspringa, and return to the simple lives the Amish lead. If the child decides not to join the Amish faith, he is shunned from the community and his family, and his soul is thought to be lost forever. Surprisingly 90% of the young adults do return to the Amish faith (Pinsker 2002).
Literature Review:
Devil 's Playground is a documentary on Amish children in the Rumspringa stage. The movie shows the lives of kids who were debating whether or not to rejoin the church. Devil 's Playground centers on mainly 2 main characters and their interactions with others in and out of the Amish community. The main character is a boy named Faron Yoder, and 18 year old preacher 's son. Faron was heavily involved with drugs and dated an “English” girl in the beginning of the
Introduction
The Mennonite/Amish cultures have many traditions that separate them from the normal Christian faith. 400 years ago, many European Christians were killed and tortured for their belief in adult baptism. Adult baptism is referred to as Anabaptism, meaning “re-baptizer.” One Anabaptists belief is that members of the church should be baptized during adulthood rather than infancy (Robinson 2002). Amish adult baptism gives members of the church the freedom, and the adult conscious choice to find their faith through a tradition called Rumspringa. Rumspringa means “running around” in the Amish Dutch language. Once a child turns 16, they are free to experience the world from an American standard. This means they are allowed to use electricity, watch television, listen to music of their choice, and wear normal clothes. This also means they are allowed to drink, smoke, and sometimes use drugs and/or experience sexual relationships. Rumspringa can last from a week to several years. A child can make the decision at any time to rejoin, or not to rejoin, the Amish faith and community. If the child rejoins the faith, he must surrender the many pleasures that he was allowed during Rumspringa, and return to the simple lives the Amish lead. If the child decides not to join the Amish faith, he is shunned from the community and his family, and his soul is thought to be lost forever. Surprisingly 90% of the young adults do return to the Amish faith (Pinsker 2002).
Literature Review:
Devil 's Playground is a documentary on Amish children in the Rumspringa stage. The movie shows the lives of kids who were debating whether or not to rejoin the church. Devil 's Playground centers on mainly 2 main characters and their interactions with others in and out of the Amish community. The main character is a boy named Faron Yoder, and 18 year old preacher 's son. Faron was heavily involved with drugs and dated an “English” girl in the beginning of the
References: A version of this article appeared in print on August 22, 2010, on page MM28 of the Sunday Magazine.