Growing Up Amish

Growing Up Amish in the News !

"Growing up Amish" author Anna Olson talks about the Amish culture:
Part 3 by Karin L. Nauber

Anna Olson Editor's Note:

Anna (Miller) Olson knew that she had a story inside of her. A story about her life growing up Amish and a story about her life now and how anything is possible if you are inspired to change whatever it is that is holding you back.

"You could say the book is a self-help book," said Olson. "This is what happened, how it made me feel and how I changed."

The book is called "Growing Up Amish: The Insider Secrets."

When Olson and I talked a couple of weeks ago, she was elated to tell me that her book had been accepted for publication by the Morgan James Publishing House in New York City.
This is an exciting thing for a woman who once knew despair and insecurity as intimate companions.

"I had to overcome that mind-set to become a happy and healthy person today. I hope to put that into words in a book," she said.

In fact, after this first book, Olson has at least two sequels planned.

The first book will answer a lot of questions people have about the Amish way of life. The second book will address Olson's transition years and up to the point of actually leaving the Amish culture.

". . .when I realized I didn't have to be Amish to be happy," she said.

The third book will be a coaching program.

"It will be about empowering women and inspiring change. You don't have to be Amish to learn from my experiences," said Olson.

In fact, not too long ago, she did a training session at the Tri-County Team Days which helped people come to a greater understanding of cultural differences. "I have always dreamed of speaking in front of thousands," she said.

If things go well with her book, she may get that opportunity.
The Amish are a curiosity to many. When we drive past their horse-drawn buggies, we wonder how and why they continue to do it.

Olson answered some of these questions.

She said that the Amish separate themselves from the modern world to maintain the purity, simplicity and wholeness of their community.

"Cars can't be owned by the Amish people. But we could ride in them," said Olson.

The reason is because the "car provides automatic mobility and embodies individualism, autonomy, speed, freedom and social status. If the Amish permitted cars, their members would have easy access to cities and other faraway places. Local church districts, held together by horse travel, would begin to erode if members could drive away to the congregation of their choice." (Source: Wadena Pioneer Journal 1995 interview given by Olson.)

"The Amish use modern conveniences when they have to, like riding in a car. Owning or driving a car would be considered conforming to the world or being like the world," she said.
This autonomy and immodesty are also reasons that cameras and photographs are not allowed.
"Jewelry, wristwatches, fashionable clothing and personal photographs accentuate individuality and call attention to one's self."

"Some people assume I left the Amish culture because of the cars and clothing and camera but that was not why I left. My biggest drive was that I wanted to go to college and have a career. I wanted to be happy inside. I searched for many years to find something to make me happy," said Olson.

Her self-described "severe self-esteem issue" made it hard for Olson to see herself ever living outside of the safety of the Amish community.

"I just needed to know I was going to be okay. You leave a very sheltered world. There was always someone in the Amish community who would help you out so you didn't have to worry about as many things," she said.

Olson insists that she couldn't ask for a better life than the one she has today, though.
Following are some of the questions Olson was asked during our interview. If you don't find what you are looking for here, you can try her book which delves into many more issues than we did during the interview.

Question: What do the Amish do for Christmas and other holidays? Do they celebrate?

Olson: We celebrated Christmas which included having a meal and getting together with the family. Some families could exchange gifts but my dad didn't allow that. He did allow us to wrap presents for the kids at school.

I didn't have my own money until I was 21. Until you are 21 all money you make goes to the family. So when I had my own money, I bought presents for all of my siblings that year and wrapped them. I found out later that my dad didn't like that at all.

We celebrated Easter by having a non-work day like every Sunday is. Mom liked to have Easter candy around for us but we didn't have an Easter bunny or anything like that.

Good Friday was also a fasting day which meant no food or water until noon. It was also a non-work day.

n Pentecost Monday, the young folks would get together. We could go out from the community and have a picnic together. People could work on this day but they didn't have to.

Thanksgiving Day was always a day to get together with the family and have a meal together.
On New Year's Day we sometimes got together and had a taffy pull.

Every Sunday was a non-work day. You would do the chores that had to be done like feeding the cattle and horses and that was it. After church you could spend the rest of the day resting or studying the Bible.

We didn't celebrate holidays like Valentine's Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day or the 4th of July.

Question: Are the Amish baptized or confirmed? Expand on their beliefs.

Olson: The Amish believe in adult baptism. You don't get baptized into the church until you are old enough to understand the rules of the church and what that means. When you are baptized you are agreeing to follow the rules of the church and never leave. That is why they tell you that if you leave the church you will go to hell.

The fear of going to hell for leaving was a big obstacle for me to overcome.

Believing in Jesus Christ is the same in Lutheran and Amish culture.

However, the Lutherans (Olson is Lutheran by choice now) do not have the man-made rules attached to their beliefs about God.

The Amish rules are unwritten and based on what you have been taught in the community you live in which means they could be slightly different in each Amish community.

The rules are very materialistic based to keep people from leaving the community. The more access you have to things in the outside world, the more temptation there would be to leave. The more you can keep young people away from knowing about the outside world, the better.
We don't have confirmation. You are baptized and then you can partake in communion.

Communion is given two times a year and the church service that day basically goes all day long. Two weeks prior to the communion service we have another day with a very long service. This service is held so you can make things "right" prior to taking communion.

Making things right means getting on your knees in front of the members and asking for forgiveness.

Sometimes you are forgiven right away. Sometimes the members will shun you for two weeks or more.

The Amish church believes one baptism is all it takes to get to heaven. One baptism and then following the rules.

Question: Were you ever shunned?

Olson: Many times. It was for drinking or smoking parties or having music after dark. I didn't have a boyfriend at the time so I was with the young people group that did these things.

Question: Do the Amish believe in being born-again?

Olson: They don't talk about being born-again. They feel that idea is from the devil.

Question: Do Amish show affection to their children?
Olson: We didn't in my family.
I think if families showed more affection and love, less people would leave. There are some families that do show affection by telling their children they love them and giving them hugs.

Question: I have heard Amish people speaking a different language. Where are the Amish from and what language are they speaking?

Olson: Our ancestry is Swiss and Dutch. The Amish lived in Pennsylvania and are sometimes called "Pennsylvania Dutch." The language is a dialect of German.
At home we only spoke German dialect. At school we were taught English so the kids would know it when we grew up.

Question: What do the Amish do when someone dies? Is there a funeral?

Olson: The first funeral I ever saw was when I was 16. The family kept the body at their home.

Typically, what happened was someone from the Amish community would come and help clean the body and dress it. Someone else from the community would make a coffin which was a wooden box with six sides. The outside of the coffin was usually varnished. There would be a sheet inside but no cushioning. There would be a pillow for the head.

When someone dies, the community is notified first then the family outside of the community are notified.

The body is never left alone but I don't know why. Amish always do it. I was told it was a tradition.

When I was 16 the family who had lost their loved one emptied out the master bedroom and set the coffin on saw horses and put a sheet over the body. This was in March so they didn't embalm the body, they just left the windows open. My parents had to sit up with the body for those nights before the funeral.

Sometimes it is several days before a funeral can take place because with the Amish living all over the United States now, it takes time for them to get to the funeral.

Some communities now allow flying in airplanes for funerals. That is a new thing. The Amish adjust to modern conveniences when it benefits the Amish community.

The body is buried in an Amish graveyard. In my experience, there was no stone to mark the grave. There was a marker but there was no name on it.

In the summer time, the body is either embalmed or set on blocks of ice. I remember a baby dying in our community and that time they just used ice. Even then, the baby's fingers were all blue by the time of the funeral. I would guess most do embalming now days with the laws the way they are.

Question: How do the Amish handle punishment? What if they are caught stealing or rape someone?

Olson: The punishment for stealing is really a "slap on the hand." They might get shunned for two weeks where they can't eat meals with their family and can't get together with others.
If someone raped someone, if it was acknowledged at all, the person might be shunned for six weeks. It is usually shoved under the table. I have a chapter on sexual abuse in the book which goes more into this.

Question: What is it like to be on the outside now?

Olson: It is the best decision I made.

Question: Is it true that once you leave the community you are banished from the group/family? Do they really have a ceremony and burial for that? Can you go back?

Olson: You are not banished and they don't have a funeral for you.
Even after 15 years I could still go back. English people can become Amish, also, but you have to be baptized and follow the rules. I know of a couple near Bertha who joined the community. They have two children who were born Amish and two who were not.

Question: Is there a time when you are a teenager that you can go and experience the English lifestyle?

Olson: For our community we were not allowed the time to go experience the English way of life. In my mom's community in Indiana, when a person is 16 they can get their driver's license and go to work in factories.

The idea of this comes from rumspringa which translates to running around and comes from a book written by someone non-Amish. I don't believe you can be an expert on the Amish culture if you haven't lived it.

From Wikipedia about rumspringa: According to widespread belief, rumspringa is a traditional rite of passage in the Amish religious denomination, and describes a period lasting months or years during which adolescents are released from the church and its rules. The custom is said to be part of the Amish belief that only informed adults can "accept Christ" and be baptized, along with the belief that the unbaptized cannot enter heaven.

This conception contains some measure of scholars' folklore. Among the Amish (and the term is not universal to Amish culture), rumspringa simply refers to adolescence, when a certain amount of misbehavior is not surprising, and is not so severely condemned (for instance, by Meidung or shunning) as it would be in the case of an adult who had made a permanent and public commitment to the faith. In a narrow sense, the young are not bound by the Ordnung because they have not taken adult membership in the church but they remain under the strict authority of parents who are so bound, and there is no period at which it can be said that Amish adolescents are "released" from these rules.

Question: Do Amish think the English are wrong in what we do? Do they just accept us or do they look down on us because we don't have the same beliefs?

Olson: The Amish I knew didn't judge the English. Because Amish are typically born Amish, you just do what you are told. They don't look down on the English for having different beliefs because they were not born Amish. So if you believe in being born-again, that is not wrong because it was how you were taught. It would be wrong for Amish because we were not raised to believe that and it is not part of the rules.

Question: Do Amish elders have exceptions? Can some of them use electricity and other amenities?

Olson: The elders have to follow the same rules as everyone in the community. I was raised Old Order Amish. Some of the New Order Amish can use electricity and phones but that is for everyone in that community.
The Old Order Amish are changing a little. Generators can be used to use power tools in a woodworking shop. The rules extend to everyone, though.

Question: Do the Amish pay taxes? What taxes do they pay?

Olson: Yes, the Amish pay taxes. The Amish religion does not exempt them from all taxes. They pay income and property taxes. The only tax they do not pay is Social Security. Many years ago a law was enacted that stated that due to religious principles, the Amish are exempt from Social Security taxes because they never draw from it. The Amish try to stay away from the government as much as possible.

If you want to learn more about Olson or the Amish lifestyle from an insider's point of view, check out her website at: www.growingupamish.com.
If you purchase her book, you will get a special bonus which is the one and only Amish Reality TV.

"As questions come in I will do a video online and answer those questions. There will also be a tele-seminar where you can ask me questions," she said.

In addition to her book and website, Olson will also be speaking on July 19 at the Cultural Center in New York Mills.

She also intends to have a talk show which she will delve into inspiring people to break free of whatever holds them back from reaching their potential.

We hope you enjoyed this series of articles on Anna Olson and the Amish culture.