you can join, if you want
i'm a great fan of voluntary commitment. i mean, it doesn't count when responsibility falls into your lap, and you are left either clueless or hyperventilating from an overdrive to prove yourself. commitment has to be premeditated: much prior thought has to have traspired in preparation/anticipation for whatever commitment one is getting oneself into.
a programme on the Amish way of life was just showing on ABC. though they (ie. the Amish, not ABC) may be the butt of many a joke, i was left feeling that they seriously had something going for them. it surprised me, not because their points were arcanely Biblical, but also, rational.
being brought up in an Amish family/society with no access to electricity, vehicles and other "luxuries" (read: vanities) of modern life, an Amish kid is released to the world-at-large at age 16. the elders of this society let their kids go, with full knowlege of the dope, sex, booze and parties that kids at 16 are capable of. they are surprisingly open-minded about the whole affair, known as rumspringa, or literally, running around. these kids are given several years to experience the world (as we know it) with its hedonistic beliefs, and many will return to the fold, to the safety and spiritual security of their community. some do not return, and they are excommunicated and shunned. for those who do, they are rewarded with a community that truly functions without prejudice (and dare i say, politics), and are assured of a huge turnout at their eventual funerals.
my point is, that the Amish way of letting kids run their lives and independently commit themselves to lives of servitude and spirituality is something i find totally admirable. though the parents know of the imminent dangers, they ultimately allow their young to experience things first hand, and the ultimate decision is left to each individual. that, was how Communism had failed. it is virtually impossible to force everyone into the same mould. people should be left to decide, and once they take up a calling, or commitment, their minds will be satisfied with the personal belief of self worth.
half the battle is won once you want to join.
a programme on the Amish way of life was just showing on ABC. though they (ie. the Amish, not ABC) may be the butt of many a joke, i was left feeling that they seriously had something going for them. it surprised me, not because their points were arcanely Biblical, but also, rational.
being brought up in an Amish family/society with no access to electricity, vehicles and other "luxuries" (read: vanities) of modern life, an Amish kid is released to the world-at-large at age 16. the elders of this society let their kids go, with full knowlege of the dope, sex, booze and parties that kids at 16 are capable of. they are surprisingly open-minded about the whole affair, known as rumspringa, or literally, running around. these kids are given several years to experience the world (as we know it) with its hedonistic beliefs, and many will return to the fold, to the safety and spiritual security of their community. some do not return, and they are excommunicated and shunned. for those who do, they are rewarded with a community that truly functions without prejudice (and dare i say, politics), and are assured of a huge turnout at their eventual funerals.
my point is, that the Amish way of letting kids run their lives and independently commit themselves to lives of servitude and spirituality is something i find totally admirable. though the parents know of the imminent dangers, they ultimately allow their young to experience things first hand, and the ultimate decision is left to each individual. that, was how Communism had failed. it is virtually impossible to force everyone into the same mould. people should be left to decide, and once they take up a calling, or commitment, their minds will be satisfied with the personal belief of self worth.
half the battle is won once you want to join.
posted by limegreenspyda at 12:39:00 am
9 Comments:
If it appealed to everyone, everyone would be Amish.
Good luck to them.
gutter: yeah, but that's why individuals are given that choice. too bad the family becomes part of the package they have to leave behind if they choose to abandon their beliefs...
r h: and everyone will be unique, just like everyone else! to each his/her own, i say!
I dunno. I'm doubtful about the existence of a community that functions without prejudice and politics. After all, aren't the Amish a reaally patriarchal society?
You're in a patriarchal society now; a Corporate Dictatorship. You're bombarded with advertising, day and night. No escape. Eventually you will do what you're told. People always do what they're told, eventually.
maoie: ok... i didn't give it thaaaat much thought, just that i thought it'd be cool to have people turn up for my funeral sometimes. but yeah, i reckon no society is anywhere near as good as a nudist colony, or something.
r h: you make it sound like torture in a POW camp. people will do whatever they want to, and if it coincides with instructions, it will supposedly be for the better. coercion can do that to you.
Okay.
r h: :|
Oh yes? So what's it mean, that thing?
You'll have to use English.
I know a bit of italian.
Poco: a bit.
r h: well, ":||" in a music score usually means "da capo": from the beginning. whatever italian i know is attributed to hours of memorising musical terms and notations.
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