Amish a people of humility still living in 19th century

With their humble clothes and picturesque farms, the Amish of Lancaster County have become accustomed to being one of the most popular tourist curiosities of the eastern United States.

But through all the peering of outsiders from passing cars, they try to remain separate from the outside world.

They attract attention because, by most standards, they seem almost stuck in time.

Most famously, they spurn not only cars but almost all the conveniences the rest of us take for granted, including telephones and electricity.

A landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court in 1972 allowed certain religious groups to ignore laws requiring that all American children attend the public school system or certified private schools.

The Amish were therefore allowed to keep their offspring in their traditional one-room schools.

A leading scholar of Amish communities told the Washington Post that Amish schools are commonly small, serving 25 to 35 students in a community, often with one teacher for all ages.

Donald Kraybill, an author and academic, said the Amish operated about 1,200 private schools for 32,000 Amish children.

He told the Post there were about 150 one-room school houses in the area where the shooting took place.

"In a humane fashion they ably prepare Amish youth for meaningful lives in Amish society... They reinforce Amish values and shield youth from contaminating ideas afloat in modern culture."

The largest community of so-called Old Amish is centred in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, today numbering about 40,000 people.

Many are still trilingual, speaking a German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch in their homes, high German in their religious services, which are also held in homes rather than in churches, and English in their dealings with the outside world.

Among the Lancaster County Amish, about 40 per cent of the families remain engaged solely in agriculture.

In recent years, however, they have set aside some of their squeamishness about the outside world and opened successful craft and food shops in urban centres on the East Coast, including Philadelphia and New York.

Their community traces its roots to the Reformation in Europe and the Anabaptist movement, which gave birth first to the Mennonite church, founded by a Dutch Catholic priest called Menno Simons in 1536.

In 1693, a Swiss bishop called Jacob Amman created a splinter group that became known as the Amish.

Both the Amish and Mennonites began settling in Pennsylvania in the 1720s and 1730s.

Amish teaching stresses humility, family and community and follows the belief that God intends families to stick together without dilution from the influences of the wider world.

Their sober dress code is an expression of their faith.

Women cover flesh with long skirts and long sleeves.

Men and boys are expected to wear dark suits with braces.

No zippers are allowed and men can only grow beards once they are married.

- INDEPENDENT, NZHERALD STAFF