THE AMISH
OVERVIEW
From the beginning, the United States was the meeting place of a myriad of different people, nations, languages and religions. One of the most peculiar religious groups still existing in the U.S. today is the Amish. They are strongly present in American society more as a religious enclave, because they try to seclude themselves as much as possible from anything foreign to their faith and rules. There are different groups of Amish which vary in the strictness of their rules and their relationship with the outside world. Due to their seclusion and difference from the majority of U.S. lifestyles, there has developed an interest of the non-Amish towards the group which proliferated into mainstream media through popular shows of The Learning Channel, for example, but also through other mass media outlets. The basic Amish values are simplicity, communalism, self-sustainability, and most importantly a strong devotion to God and the church.