American fundamentalism

Got a chance to visit Ohio's Amish country, one of several such fundamentalist enclaves across America. I've seen the bonnets and buggies many times before, but not since the spectre of religious extremism was blasted to the forefront by 9/11, Osama and the Mohammed cartoons. It's natural to draw comparisons, keeping in mind the obvious theological differences.


The first thing that struck was the same thing that struck me the last time I visited--how in the world are there any Amish left? When buggies going 15-20 mph are mixed in with pickups, motorcycles and cars constantly whizzing along over the characteristic hill-and-dale two lane roads prevalent in Amish country, it's a wonder most of them haven't been obliterated by now. Fortunately they don't operate in Memphis.

And let me be clear on the front end--I'm not going to draw any moral equivilence between the Amish and Islamists. The average Amish man is just trying to live a simple life by the book while loving his neighbor, while the Islamic extremist believes his chances at heaven improve after a few lopped off Amish heads.

But as to the comparative fundamentalism, there are some similarities. Both maintain a male-centered view of the world. Both are worried about the strong and powerful attraction of the female, enough to mandate covering their women. Both avoid modern music and culture, saving both from the horrors of rap music (and some would say, country).

But, while I understand the underlying reasons for the Amish lifestyle there are serious incongruities that seem to defy logic. For instance, while their hallmark is to avoid modern conveniences I spotted a number of people wearing running shoes, vaguely reminding me of Zarqawi wearing New Balance shoes in his last video. Not all technology is evil, I guess.

It's the technological line that seems confusing. A few hundred years ago bicycles and buggies were top of the line technology, yet electricity is more a tool of the devil than gas lamps?

As to the male-female thing, their philosophy seems to me a poor way to control the natural attraction inherent between the sexes. Wrapping up women and forcing them into subserviant lifestyles sounds like a better deal for ole Mordecai than it does for Miss Martha.

An Amish man might laughingly point to the wasteland of family life across decadent America as proof his ways are superior. While it's hard to argue, it's also hard to argue that electricity, cars and indoor plumbing were to blame. If society is to progress we've got to learn to deal with these moral issues without hindering man's natural tendency to improve his environment and quality of life.