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THE AMISH "ORDNUNG" - A Semi-Exhaustive List Of
Rules And Regulations The Amish Follow In Daily Life:
By SimoTheFinlandized / Paul Palazzolo - 2022 CE
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- Motorized vehicles are not to be owned or
driven. The Amish may request a neighbor
to drive them, or may hire a driver and rent a car.
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- The Amish may not travel on an airplane.
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- Clothing codes are to be followed:
--- Males are to wear hats when outside.
Black is for the winter, straw color is for the
warmer months.
--- Suspenders, not belts, keep up the trousers.
--- Once boys marry, they are expected to
grow a beard but shave their upper lip.
--- Unmarried boys must be clean-shaven.
--- Mustaches are frowned upon, because
in German culture they have historically been
associated with military officers.
--- Clothing must be home sewn.
--- Women are never to shave any part of
their body nor to cut their hair.
--- Females must keep their head covered,
usually with a prayer bonnet. The color denotes
marital status (different colors may be used by
different settlements).
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- Social Security or any other commercial insurance
is forbidden.
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- Children are to attend school through the eighth
grade. After that, they are expected to work on the
farm or in the home. A parent may find them a job
to bring in additional income for the family.
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- Full-length mirrors are forbidden, because they are
thought to promote vanity and self-admiration.
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- Jewelry is not to be worn, not even wedding rings.
Other symbols (beards for men, and black bonnets
for women) are used, in lieu of rings, to represent
marital status.
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- An Amish person who has taken the church vow,
and who has been found guilty by the bishop of
breaking one of the Ordnung rules, can be punished
by the Meidung (excommunication or shunning).
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- Mobile vehicles, such as buggies or farm implements,
-must not have rubber tires.
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- (Among the Old Order) Church members must not be
photographed.
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- (Among the Old Order) Telephones are forbidden.
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- The use of batteries is allowed (in some districts)
for emergency flashlights and similar devices, but
discouraged in the home.
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- Word processors (powered by generator or DC) are
allowed for school and church administrative use. Only
non-electric typewriters are used in the home.
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- Electricity is not allowed in the home. Electrical
energy is allowed in community dairy barns, but only
generator power (not grid power).
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- Those who are able to work must do so from Monday
through Saturday. On Sunday, however, no laborious
work is to be done.
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- Amish young women and young men are expected to
marry other Amish.
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- Electricity from utility companies is considered worldly.
Bottled gas may be used to heat water, fuel ranges, and
run refrigerators. Gas-pressured or kerosene lanterns
provide lighting. Batteries power the red lights on buggies.
Gasoline generators may provide energy for washing
machines, water pumps, and agricultural equipment.
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- Telephones may be placed in booths, an unlocked barn,
or an Amish school. Cellular phones and voice mail, may
only be used by a business to compete, but this is permitted
on a case by case basis.
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- The Amish travel in horse-drawn buggies, and use horses
to pull farm machinery. The horse allows them to take life
at a slower pace, and it puts limits on their lives, slowing
their work, and requiring additional labor. If business or
personal needs necessitate a longer drive, the Amish may
hire a taxi.
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- The Amish complete their eighth grade education in a
one-room private school, taught by an Amish teacher who
also attended school through the eighth grade. The skills
of spelling, English, Pennsylvania German, mathematics,
geography, and health are taught. Some basic science may
be taught about animals, stars, and planets. Religion is not
taught as a subject, but is an important part of the school
program, especially as it relates to behavior.
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Examples Of Practices Prescribed By The Ordnung:
- color and style of clothing
- hat styles for men
- order of worship service
- kneeling for prayer in worship
- marriage within the church
- use of horses for fieldwork
- use of Pennsylvania German
- steel wheels on machinery
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Examples Of Practices Prohibited By The Ordnung:
- air transportation
- central heating in houses
- divorce
- electricity from public power lines
- entering military service
- filing a lawsuit
- jewelry, including wedding rings and wrist watches
- joining worldly (public) organizations
- owning computers, televisions, radios
- owning and operating an automobile
- pipeline milking equipment
- using tractors for fieldwork
- wall-to-wall carpeting
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