Reflections on the Amish

It total contrast to the political climate of our capital or indulgent nature of our secular society, the Amish (Old Amish) gave us a big lesson in Christian values. The Amish around Georgetown, Pennsylvania suffered a terrible tragedy. Ten of their young girls were shot in the head by a deranged man. Instead of anger, the Amish displayed forgiveness and true charity. They have already forgiven the family of the gunman and are praying for the gunman’s family. When a fund was being set up for the Amish victims, the Amish insisted that the fund also include the family of the gunman.

I admire the Amish in many ways beyond the acts of forgiveness around this tragedy. Even though they are portrayed in the media as either museum relics or Luddites, their approach to new technology shows wisdom and patience. The Amish understand that the acceptance of technology has ramifications far beyond its initial application. For example, the car has changed how close we live to our job, family and church. The car was accepted by the society long before the society understood the changes that would result and the true costs. Just consider how television has negatively affected our society’s ability to think. Or consider how the internet provides a wonderful forum for communication but also exposes many unsupervised children to people and sites that are potentially dangerous. In contrast the Amish patiently investigate if the technology is consistent with the fundamental building blocks of their society - church and the family.

Another area where Amish have shown Christian faithfulness is in trusting God in the growth of their families. The Amish are currently one of the fastest growing communities on the face of the earth. In the year 1900 there were less than 5,000 Amish. Today there are over 150,000. The Amish birth rate is about 6 children per household. Interestingly Amish farming households have a birthrate of 6.3 per woman while non-farming households have a rate of 4.7. With this birth rate, the Amish population is on course to double every 20 years.

In 1751, Benjamin Franklin estimated the population for American British colonies would double every 20-25 years based on the high birth rate of the colonies. With these assumptions, Ben Franklin predicted that the British colonies would become a strong emerging power on par and later surpass Great Britain. He estimated that based on the estimated population growth in the American colonies that in 100 years the colonies would be equal to the population of England. He was pretty close in 1850: US – 23 million, UK – 27 million. Since 1850, the population of the UK has little more than doubled to about 60 million today. Compare this with the United States where the population has grown 13 fold to 300 million today. Based on the Old Amish current demographics and the abandonment of farming by the mainstream society, the Amish will constitute a growing presence in many states. In another 100 years we may well have 5 million.

Today in the US, the fact that many “red” conservative states have higher birth rates is thought by some to be caused by the deliberate decision by conservative Christians to have larger families. In an analysis of the White Non-Hispanics birth rate in the US (The “Second Demographic Transition”), only 4 states have birthrates above the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman (Utah – 2.45, Arkansas - 2.27, Idaho 2.20, Kansas 2.12). Except for Mormon Utah, the rest of these states are just above the birth rate necessary to replace their current population. The average for the nation is just 1.8 children for every white woman. The rate for some states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the same as the dismal birthrate found among our disappearing European brethren (1.6). In a statistical analysis of the difference in birthrate among the states, over 90% of the difference can be explained by the postponement of marriage and children. This can be shown to be related to higher household income and money. The second core relationship that explains the difference between states is the much higher teen birth rate in the South and the higher rates of abortion in the North. The final analysis reveals that the relatively higher birth rate in more conservative areas of the country is better consider associated as a by product of religion rather than a deliberate choice to have larger families.

In Chemistry, you learn that two types of chemicals with exactly the same chemical structure (and of course weight) can still be different based on two possible 2 distinct orders of the elements (chiral compounds). If both Chiral compounds are found within a substance, a Chemist can differentiate these the two groups by sending polarized light into the material and measuring the deflection. The deflection tells the chemist the percentage of each of the two groups within the compound. For example, Chiral compound A & B are exactly the same by weight, elements and structure. But the same chemicals are in a different order. If we had a sample of pure compound A and we sent polarized light through it. The substance will bend the polarized light +15 degrees. If the same test was done on pure compound B the polarized light will bend -15 degrees. If a chemist sends the light through a mixture made up of both A & B and finds the compound deflects polarized light -7.5 degrees, he will know that the negative polarized molecules predominates and at a ratio of 3:1. Lets examine Christian attitudes toward children in the same way. If we use the non-farming Amish (birth rate 4.7) as one benchmark for Christian groups that allow the Lord to grow their families and the secular society (birthrate 1.6) as a benchmark for those who practice family planning in the same exact way as the world, which group is more expressive of the average Christian? If we drop out teenage pregnancy, I would guess that the Christian birth rate would be 2.0. Using a similar analysis as used above, we could deduce that the Christians could be classified as 87% secular vs. 13% pro-family. Contrast this number also with the US immigrant Latin American population who’s birth rate of 2.9 would score a value of 42% pro-family.

Ben Franklin made the assumption that population growth was a blessing. This is an assumption he would have learned in the Reformed community where he was brought up in Boston. In the Bible, God does strongly connect numerical growth to faithfulness for His Church.

“Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people;” (Genesis 48:3-4)

But if the church is unfaithful, its numbers will be few and cursed.

“And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought;” (Deuteronomy 28:63)

The history of Israel and Judah show that God also fulfills these promises and curses in His own time and with a high degree of sophistication. More importantly, God provides the reason for sending the curse.

“Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;” (Deuteronomy 28:47)

This verse is not talking about the pep rally carnival which exists in many churches, but the fruits of love, patience, hope, mercy, and a desire to willingly submit and follow God’s word. Jesus spoke of it as crucifying the flesh and following Him. The verse above also hints at a secondary reason for the curse - materialism. A fact also borne out by the US birth rate data.

In general sense today, are the Christians in the US, UK and Ireland shunning children because of their love of money? Instead of counting this service to God as a privilege and honor, many Christians look at the statutes of the Lord and see them as a burden. Instead of repenting and seeking the Lord’s path on many issues, the focus for many Christians is to find a church that has little interest in our private sinful lives and will only preach about the Bible in the abstract. Who wants a teacher who speaks about the sins found within the congregation? In the days of Jesus, the church did not desire to change either. The curse resulted in the destruction and dismemberment of the Jewish nation.

In the midst of this lack of faith on the part of the Christian church at large stand the Amish. Not materially rich in money or doctrine, but still faithful in a way that the church at large is unable to follow.