Rumspringa

Today in class we talked about the Amish and their tradition of Rumspringa. I found an awesome video that details it all, and even though it says it's 8 minutes, you really only need to watch the first 4 (the rest of the video is a song spoof).

Here's the basic rundown of the tradition:

Rumspringa is a rite of passage and coming of age that is equivalent to that of the college experience for American teens. It has no set age or time period (that is determined by the parents) but it is characterized as a period in which an extended amount of time is spent away from the parents. Amish teens enter the "English" community and are free to experiment with drugs and alcohol and party like American teens. After this period is over, the Amish teens have the option of being baptized back into the Amish community, or leaving their friends and family forever and choosing to live in the English world.

The decision may seem easy enough, but here's the catch: the entire Amish community will shun you forever if you choose to leave. There is tremendous pressure to reenter the community from family and friends, as well as the thought that they need to be good role models for their siblings. The teens also fear losing such a tight-knit community, going to hell if they don't return to the Amish way of living, and facing guilt for the things they did during rumspringa. If they do decide to leave the community, their parents are still allowed to talk to them. They don't approve of their decision but they try to accept them nevertheless.

Only 10% of Amish teens decide to join the English world. I suppose it is important for them to get a taste of the world outside of their own and they must be given the freedom to decide on their own. I honestly think all religions should mirror this way of being. For example, we are born into a certain family with certain beliefs, but we shouldn't feel trapped or obligated to be "Christian" or "Muslim" all our lives. If all teens were given the opportunity to experience new religions and ways of being outside of their own community, then I think the world would be a much more tolerant place.

Unfortunately, blogger won't let me upload the video that I found from Youtube. You can access it by following this link.