Karen Johnson-Weiner: The Amish are moving for different reasons. Many are coming from large, crowded settlements, while others might be avoiding internal conflicts. Some find they can no longer afford to purchase property in their home community—or there may be no farms available. They’ve come to New York State because there is available land at reasonable prices. New York offers them the opportunity to maintain—or even return to—an agrarian lifestyle.
AA: In New York Amish you examine the wealth of diversity across Amish society in New York, ranging from Swartzentruber to New Order communities. Can you explain the implications of “being Amish” in different ways, i.e., how does this diversity affect daily life and relationships across Amish communities?
AA: You describe the differing non-Amish responses to Amish settlement in New York, ranging from the newspaper letter-writer who described Amish buggies as “a good omen” to the one who rather viewed Amish transportation as “anything but…picturesque”, and “an accident waiting to happen.”
As I noted in my book, New York Amish, the Amish sincerely believe that they must remain separate from the world, and so being different or “unconformed” is a sign of faith. After all, the Amish say, if God’s truth is unchanging, then God’s church must also resist change. And because they are different in a fallen world, the Amish expect that they will be persecuted like their Anabaptist ancestors.
