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"The Amish are worldly. They're perceived as being very protected and isolated, but they're very intelligent people and well read and they do know what's going on out around them and they still maintain a very solid core of church and family life. That's an inspiration for the rest of us.

"You know we can be involved in today's world without giving up that sense of value that lives within us. It's our hope that we can protect that tendency that exists here.

"They're happy with less. The simplicity of their lives impresses a lot of people, including myself."

Reflections from Pat Brown, Holmes County Chamber of Commerce

So Who are these Amish people? How have they come to live the way they do? What do they believe? Where do they live? Watch A Simple Life and examine these pages to answer those questions.

Some Interesting Facts

• There are about 40,000 Amish in Ohio, 25,000 in Pennsylvania, and 20,000 in Indiana. Pennsylvania was the first settlement of Amish, and that state has developed the tourist business more than Ohio.
  
• The Amish population of the U.S. is 150,000 -- out of a total of 270,000,000 -- which makes the percentage .0055%, or much less than 1% of our total population.
  
• Both Amish and Mennonites are committed to a lifestyle of peace and non-violence. http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/amishfaq.htm
  
• Through the years, the differences among the various Amish and Mennonite groups have almost always been ones of practice rather than basic Christian doctrine. http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/amishfaq.htm
  
• Amish people do not use electricity. They did not make this decision because they thought electricity was evil in itself, but because easy access to it could lead to many temptations and the deterioration of church and family life. http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/amishfaq.htm
  
• Old Order Amish and Mennonites forbid photography of their people.
  
• A long beard is the mark of an adult Amish man. Mustaches, on the other hand, have a long history of being associated with the military and, therefore, are forbidden among the Amish people.
  
• Musical instruments are forbidden by the Old Order Amish community. Playing an instrument would be considered worldly.

Photo ©2000, Doyle Yoder Productions, Inc. For more about Doyle Yoder’s Amish photos, please visit www.ohioamish.com Photo was taken from the book America’s Amish Country II, published by America’s Amish Country Publications

Copyright©2001-2003, Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc. All rights reserved.