The Role of the Amish Marriage Ceremony in Reinforcing the Values
of Religious Devotion, Simplicity, and Group Unity
by: anonymous
The Old-Order Amish are often called the "simple people," because of their
odd way of dress and their lack of technology such as cars and
electricity. However, if we are to look at the everyday interactions of
this unique group of people, we will see that they are anything but
simple. Their society is made up of a closely-knit community bound
together by many complicated rituals and ceremonies. In this essay I will
explain how one ritual in particular, that of marriage, reinforces the
values of simplicity and devotion to religion that are important to the
Amish. Through this, I hope to show the reader the role this ritual plays
in Amish society. I will begin by explaining some of the basic
fundamentals that govern the everyday life of the Amish.
The most basic
principle behind the Amish way of life is that of their religion.
The Amish use the same Bible that many other religions use, but they base
most of their doctrine on the New Testament. Chiefly, the Amish focus on
the phrase in Romans 12:2 that says to be "not conformed to this world."
The Amish use this as the basis for their life away from the rest of
society. They strive to keep their lives as simple and non-conformed as
possible. Thus most of them do not use automobiles and many do not use
electricity. This also is the reason for the way they dress. They want to
make sure that they cannot be mistaken as being a "part of this world."
The Amish truly believe that living their religion is the sole purpose of
their life, and so govern everything they do by their religious views.
Everything they have and do must be as practical as possible, so that
nothing unnecessary gets in the way of their religion. This explains their
simple, functional way of dress and the fact that they do not engage in
the same types of recreational activities as other people do. The Amish
believe that everything has a purpose and a place, and by keeping out
unnecessary things they are maintaining the natural order of life that God
created. The Amish work each day to live their life as fully in their
religion as possible.
While Amish rituals and ceremonies are known to be very elaborate and
serious, they play an important role in their society. The rituals serve
to strengthen the feeling of belonging for each member in the community.
In their early days, the Amish were persecuted for their different
religious beliefs. It was very important for everyone in the group to feel
included. If members of the community felt uninvolved, they may try to
leave the community. This could draw the attention of the local
authorities, either deliberately or accidentally. The Amish could not risk
being found, because the fate of a heretic was death. Consequently, their
elaborate rituals evolved through the generations as a means to remind
each member of the group that they belonged and all were equal. These
rituals are based strongly on their religion, and so they also help to
enable the Amish to feel as if they are living their religion as fully as
possible.
These themes of religious devotion, simplicity, and belonging can also be
seen in the Amish ritual of marriage. The ritual is simple in that the
ceremony and reception are similar to most other Amish gatherings. As for
the devotion to religion, Amish marriages always include a religious
service. The Amish marriage also serves to further the feeling of group
unity in that all marriages are exactly the same. I have chosen a few
aspects of the Amish marriage ceremony to illustrate the ways in which it
reinforces the ideas of simplicity and devotion to religion, as well as
the way in which it reinforces group unity.
First, there is an obvious similarity between Amish marriages and most all
non-Amish marriages. They both serve the same fundamental purpose: to
publicly declare a couple's commitment to each other for the rest of their
lives. Another aspect of this is that in a marriage you make a commitment
to the person that you love and with whom you feel a special connection.
This feeling is the same in both Amish and non-Amish marriages. However,
the Amish also bring to marriages a sense of duty that most non-Amish
people do not. Because their religion is such an important part of their
entire lives, the Amish sometimes feel a duty to marry. They may feel
this because they think that to marry a certain someone is what God would
have them do. An example of this sense of duty can be found in the book
Rosanna of the Amish by Joseph Yoder. In this book the bishop (or,
religious leader) of a particular Amish community is looking for a wife.
His previous wife had died a few years back, leaving him with two young
children to raise. The bishop is aware that his children are no tbeing
brought up as well as they should, and that his house hold is not being
maintained as it should, either. He feels this is because his home is
lacking the care of a wife. Because of this, he asks a local widow to
marry him, so that he may fulfill the duty of the bishop to present a good
example of a religious Amish. The widow agrees, knowing that God would
want her to help the religious leader of the community to be as good an
example as possible. This situation would generally not happen in the
larger American society. This sense of duty is an example of how the
Amish devotion to religion is evident in their marriage ritual.
Another example of this religious devotion as evidenced by the marriage
ritual is that an Amish marriage is always a religious affair. The
community's bishop always performs the marriage ceremony, and it has
almost all of the same elements as a regular Sunday preaching service.
These religious aspects of the marriage ceremony are extremely important.
They remind the couple being joined that theirs is a contract bound before
God, and it is their duty to live their life together as God would have
it. Starting their marriage off with a religious ceremony reminds them
that they are working to live their life as fully in their religion as
possible.
The Amish devotion to religion is not the only aspect of their lives
evident in the marriage ritual. The importance of simplicity in the life
of the Amish can also be seen. As I mentioned before, the Amish believe
that everything must be as practical and unpretentious as possible, so
that they remain non-conformed to the rest of the world. Two common
aspects of marriage in the United States are the exchange of wedding rings
and the wearing of a white dress by the bride. Neither of these things
are present in an Amish wedding. Jewelry would be considered unnecessary,
and the Amish do not need external reminders of the marriage, since the
pact of marriage is most importantly between the couple and God.
Therefore, no wedding rings are exchanged. Instead of a white wedding
dress, the Amish bride simply sews herself a new everyday gown. To wear a
special white wedding dress would be unnecessary, since the focus of the
wedding is on the religious aspects, not the appearance.
Finally, the Amish ritual of marriage also plays a part in reinforcing the
community bond. This is easily seen in that all Amish weddings are
exactly the same. The order of the service and the passages the bishop
preaches from are the same. Even the food served and the songs sung at
the reception are the same Through this, the Amish come to feel that they
are all an equal part of the community. No one has a flashier wedding
than anyone else does; no one has a more expensive wedding dress. All are
equal and all are actively integrated members of the community.
The Amish ritual of marriage plays an important role in their community.
It reminds them of the importance of living a life in which religion is
the central motivator, it maintains the order and simplicity of their
everyday lives, and it reinforces the couple's bond within the larger
community. I have shown this by pointing out a few characteristics of the
Amish wedding ceremony and showing how those characteristics relate to the
central themes of religion, simplicity, and community in Amish life.
However, this is not a situation unique to the wedding ceremony alone.
The Amish society has several other rituals that also play the same roles
in their community as the wedding ceremony does. Every part of Amish life
is focused on their religion and their sense of community, and their
rituals reflect this. Hopefully, through this essay, you have come closer
to understanding the role of ceremonies and rituals in the daily life of
the Amish.