11/18/14

Health and Healing

Encounters with the State

A9tude toward health

Very health conscious
good appe=te, robust appearance, and ability
to work hard associated with good health
a9tudes towards doctors, medical
prac==oners vary greatly

Medical beliefs and prac/ces

will go to medical doctor, medical prac==oner or
seek folk remedy
all kinds of medical treatment (transfusions, surgery,
etc.) are permiGed
may be reluctant to seek medical help for a variety of
reasons
transporta=on
cost, but will not spare money for medical treatment if it
will help
distrust of doctors

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Vaccina=ons
1978 study of Lancaster County Amish, 26% had DPT
vaccina=on, 23% against polio, 16% against measles
and mumps
1979 polio outbreak in Lancaster county among
Amish
false reports that Amish were forbidden by religion from
ge9ng vaccinated
Amish decided to get vaccinated for polio b/c of risk of
infec=ng outsiders

Mentality: hard to see reason for vaccina=on against

a disease they have no experience with, have not
heard of anyone having

Pregnancy
22% women do not seek prenatal care un=l
6th month
greater percentage of homebirths, especially
aVer rst child
10% of rst children born at home
aVer the rst child, 59% of children born at home

Mental illness
does occur, e.g. depression
suicide rate among Amish in Lancaster Co. less
than half that of surrounding popula=on

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Folk and sympathy cures

Home remedies
Supers//ons: Powwow (a.k.a. charms)
You are a liAle worm, not en/rely grown.
You plague me in marrow and bone.
You may be white, black, or red.
In a quarter of an hour you will be dead.

A9tudes towards alterna=ve medicine

Chiropractors are oVen preferred to medical
doctors
Great interest in vitamins and supplements
Home remedies (teas, ointments, etc.) are
passed along in some families
Powwowing (or sympathy cures) are oVen
condemned or viewed skep=cally.

A9tudes towards the sick, injured and

people with disabili=es
Will spare no =me or expense to comfort or
cure someone who is sick or has suered an
injury
Very accep=ng of the disabled. Given tasks
based on ability as is the case with all family
members. Will typically seek professional
help.
Believe all children should go to school and
par=cipate in the group

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Role of God
God is viewed as ul=mately responsible for
healing the sick
Disabilites, etc. are viewed as Gods will.
Consistent with the Amish perspec=ve that we all
have God-given strengths and weaknesses.
No need to take pride in abili=es or shame for
disabili=es

Hereditary diseases
Shallow gene pool
25% of Lancaster Amish named Stoltzfus. All
descended from Nicolas Stoltzfus, one of the
original seGlers.

High incidence of some gene=c diseases

Gold mine for gene=cists, since extensive
genealogical informa=on exists.

Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome

Type of Dwarsm.
52 cases in Lancaster County prior to 1962, equal
to the total for the rest of the world. No such
cases in Holmes County, Ohio.

All suerers of EVC-Dwarsm can trace their

ancestry back to Samuel King and his wife,
who immigrated to PA in 1767.

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Glutaric aciduria
aects mainly Amish infants in Lancaster
County
metabolic disorder that that leads to brain
damage if not treated
treated by strict control of diet

Clinic for Special Children

established in Lancaster County by Dr. Holmes
Morton, who is s=ll ac=ve.
winner of Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize
and MacArthur Founda=on genius grant

screens Old Order Amish and Old Order

Mennonite children for gene=c diseases
has developed treatments for metabolic
diseases
also serves non-Anabap=st popula=on

More on Clinic for Special Children

Of their pa=ents:

40% are treatable

40% are par=ally treatable
20% have terminal condi=ons

Has iden=ed more than 150 gene=c muta=ons that

aect Amish and Mennonite popula=ons
Some gene=c diseases are unknown among the Amish
and Mennonites: Example: Cys=c brosis
Benets are world wide. Example: Glutaric aciduria
also found outside Amish popula=on. Family of
Brazilian child with glutaric aciduria moved to
Lancaster for the child to receive treatment.

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The Amish: A Family Legacy

Looks at gene=c studies of the Amish community in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, conducted by Johns
Hopkins University scien=sts
Points out that the ancestry of all the sect's members
is directly traceable to the original 200 seGlers and
that the consequences of this inbreeding among the
insular Amish include such recessive-gene disorders
as dwarsm and polydactyly.
Filmed in 1987

Encounters with the State

View of Government
Appreciate civic order, legal property ownership.
Believe that God has ordained government
pay taxes
pray for poli=cal leaders
encourage members to be law-abiding

Government embodies the world and the use of

force.
believe they have the right to resist a corrupt
government
try to change laws that they feel impinge on their
religious beliefs.

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Issues over which the Amish and

Government have clashed.

Educa=on
Midwifery and other health-care issues
Social Security
Workers compensa=on
SMV emblems
land use (example: run o from farms)
zoning regula=ons
safety regula=ons (wearing hard hats on
construc=on sites)

Example of Civic Engagement

Some conserva=ve OOA groups object to SMV (slow
moving vehicle) triangles:

see it as sacrilegious because the triangle represents the

Chris=an trinity.
Church forbids bright and gaudy colors.

In 2011, Jacob U. Gingerich sent a handwriGen leGer to

the Kentucky legislature reques=ng that the Amish be
exempt from the SMV requirement and be allowed to
use silver reec=ve tape outlining the buggy and
lanterns.
In 2012, Kentucky amended their highway code in the
way that Gingerich recommended.

The Amish and Poli=cs

Church forbids membership in poli=cal
organiza=ons and holding public oce.
Running for oce seen as an example of pride.
Poli=cal alia=on or holding public oce would
violate principle of separa=on from the world.

Vo=ng is allowed, but few actually vote.

Jury duty is forbidden.
It is considered to be part of governments system of
using force and therefore violates the principle of
nonresistance.

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Government aid
Amish are opposed to receiving government aid.
see it as a threat to their reliance on mutual aid.
would erode dependence on the church
wish to keep a clear separa=on of church and state

Amish do not par=cipate in Social Security.

Amish farmers do receive indirect government
aid through price support programs for products
like milk.

Na=onal Amish Steering CommiGee

formed in 1967 to give the Amish a common
voice when dealing with government on issues
like conscien=ous objec=on, zoning, Social
Security, Workers Compensa=on.
works with governmental agencies to try to
nd solu=ons to these issues
is the only na=onal Amish organiza=on.

Three compromises by the federal

government
1. Amish (and other conscien=ous objectors)
are not required to serve in the military.
2. Amish were made exempt from Social
Security in 1965.
3. The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case
Wisconsin v. Yoder in 1972 ruled that the
Amish had a cons=tu=onal right to have their
own schools and permiGed youth to end
formal schooling aVer eight grades.

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Wisconsin v. Yoder
We must not forget that in the Middle Ages
important values of the western world were
preserved by members of religious orders who
isolated themselves from all worldly inuences
against great obstacles. There can be no
assump=on that todays majority is right and
the Amish and others like them are wrong. A
way of life that is odd or even erra=c but
interferes with no rights or interests of others is
not to be condemned because it is dierent.

Third examina=on
Time: Thursday, Nov. 1620, 1:00 2:15.
Place: 360 Willard
Format: Approximately 40 mul=ple choice and
true/false ques=ons. Possibly a few ll-in-the
blank ques=ons. One essay ques=on (youll
have at least two choices for the essay).
Material: Material since the second test.