Page 13 - C.A.L.L. #23 - Spring 2004

persecution in America. Since early colonial days do not drive cars or ride in airplanes, but drive
the Amish have lived in the United States horses and buggies. This keeps their communities
preserving their distinctive culture, dress, language small and close-knit, and their children do not live
and religion in peace and prosperity. all over the world. Family values are important to
them. They are slow to change and speak the
The Amish live in nineteen states, Canada, and German language along with English. They drive
Central America. However, 80 percent of the horses and buggies for transportation. They
Amish live in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. practice ‘shunning’ for any of their members who
(*See comment below.) break their rules.
Although many people do not understand their
The Old Order Amish take their name from an simple way of life, the Amish are maintaining a
early Swiss Anabaptist, Jacob Amman, who very profound position. They want to be prepared
became their strict Bishop and taught them the for the world to come rather than for becoming
Amish ethics -- Living non-resistant lives (they do rich or famous in this world. They would rather
not serve in the military, but only in hospitals or maintain a close-knit family life than travel all
alternate service), with brotherly love, sharing over. The norms and educational goals of our
material aid and society which stress product centered, high
living close to the pressure, technological and secular values are
soil and following antithetical to Amish beliefs. Therefore, they
the Bible literally. practice old ways, slowness of pace, simplicity,
They cite the Bible close-knit agrarian living. The 80,000 Old Order
which says, "Be ye Amish oppose higher education because it violates
not conformed to their morals, their religious convictions and takes
the world" as their their children away from the simple ways of the
chief tenet. Amish.”

To this day they endure as a distinctive folk group *Marc Olshan comments:
because they have preserved a mentality of “Old Order Amish are now in 23 states and Canada
separation from the world and the sentiments of and total population must be well over 150,000 by
persecuted strangers in the land. They wear plain now. That includes children (who, before they are
clothing fastened with hooks and eyes, not baptized, aren't technically Amish).”
buttons. Their men wear broad-brimmed black
hats, plain-cut trousers and the women and even After all this, WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE THE
little girls wear bonnets and ankle length dresses. AMISH COLONIES INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES OR
They generally oppose automobiles, electricity, AREN’T THEY?
telephones and higher education beyond eighth
grade. We will be glad to hear your opinion. Do write us at
Their congregations number only about 300. They solrene@tzora.co.il
worship in homes and not in church buildings. They

Notice to readers of C.A.L.L. from the Utopian EcoVillage Network Federation

We have noticed that most people and groups that wish to create a new Intentional Community (IC) have NO well defined
and clear goals, nor rules set in writing. To help fill this gap we have created a new website titled “Utopian EcoVillage
Network Federation” (www.uevn.org). Here you will find 200+ pages of information to help you get your own IC started or
join one that agrees with these set standards. Through our website, we provide information on how to create and organize
your own IC, by providing you with a set number of rules, goals and contracts to start with. Our goal is to join forces with
others who have successfully created communities and provide a complete set of instructions, template contracts, etc. to
use. For example we know that there are 200+ IC’s in Israel, but to date, we do not know of a single place on the internet
that one could go to find information on how to get started elsewhere, based on the experiences of these established IC’s.
We want to hear from these experiences, what works and how it can be made part of our federation and website, this way
others can reduce the number of mistakes made. We want to prevent IC startup failures. We want to learn from others’
mistakes and provide information to help others reduce conflicts.

We are seeking individuals and groups to join the Federation, as a member you can simply say I/we are part of the Utopian
EcoVillage Network Federation, this is what we believe in, these are our goals and this is what and how we are doing it. In
addition, as a member of the federation, you will be able to exchange your living place with other members who offer living
and/or work exchange programs.

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