Random Fascinating Facts About Amish Beliefs and Culture (21 items)

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  (#4) The Amish Are Never Baptized Before Adulthood

  Rather than enforcing baptism upon its members, the Amish religion holds that baptism should be an individual choice. As such, they discourage young members from making the decision flippantly––they believe baptism is a lifelong commitment. This view is similar to the beliefs of most Anabaptists, the religion from which the Amish are derived. 

  Members of the Amish community may not be baptized before the age of 16 and generally don't make their decision until they are between the ages of 18 and 22.
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  (#10) Faceless Dolls Protect Children From Vanity

  The faces of Amish dolls are meant to be left blank and lack distinguishing features like faces, hair, fingers, and toes. The origin of this practice is not known, though a number of reasons have been hypothesized. For example, as they believe that only God can create life, they may consider even semi-accurate replications of human figures to be idolatrous.

  Similarly, faceless dolls promote uniformity and prevent one doll from looking better than another, which they believe could spawn vanity. While these dolls were popular among the Amish 
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  (#12) Amish Teens Become Intimate Yet Remain Chaste Through Bundling

  Bundling is a method for developing intimacy while removing physical temptation. The ritual consists of a young couple lying side-by-side in bed, sometimes wrapped in extra blankets (to stave off temptation), and talking through most of the night. When couples bundle, parents trust the church's teachings to prevent them from touching one another.

  Bundling is not an exclusively Amish practice, and has roots in the Bible, though it is fairly uncommon in the 21st century, even in Amish communities.
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  (#19) Barn-Raising Is An Important Communal Custom

  The Amish refer to a barn-raising as a frolic, a term for a social event with a utilitarian purpose. Traditionally, when a new barn needed to be erected, hundreds of people attended the event, with men performing the manual labor and women providing the meals. These "frolics" were an overt symbol of community, one of the strongest pillars of the Amish religion.

  As the Amish drift away from farming as a profession, barn-raisings are becoming increasingly less common.
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  (#11) They Have No Private Access To Electricity Or Technology

  Amish people reject the use of electricity in their homes. The goal of forsaking technological advancements lies in maintaining a focus on community rather than the individual. The Amish believe that if people have the capacity to do complete a task alone, it will prevent the pursuit of community bonds.

  Contrary to popular belief, this doesn't stop the Amish from using technology when it becomes a necessity. Many Amish communities have a public phone used by everyone. They also have a computer marketed specifically to them: The Deskmate, used for business transactions, has no video, music, or Internet capabilities.
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  (#20) Puppy Mills Are A Common Amish Business Venture

  Despite the Amish's widely virtuous public perception, one aspect of their society strikes many as morally ambiguous. In the wake of rising prices of farmland and decreased demand for small-scale agriculture, some Amish have taken to a new occupation: dog farming.

  This practice entails keeping large numbers of dogs in one location with the intent of breeding them and selling their offspring. Many outside of the Amish community, especially animal rights activists, take issue with the dogs' treatment and conditions within these puppy mills––massive amounts of animals are kept in cramped, poorly maintained areas such as cages and barns. Additionally, this process often causes dogs to contract illnesses and pass on genetic defects.

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