Part one aired last night where I live. Fascinating stuff, with more than a little commonality with TWI on certain issues.
Hi Jim. I don't often swing by the 'Spot these days, but I did see this post and so I watched the program online. I have met the woman who left the church in the film. She and her husband have a good life together. She has written 2 books about her experience, and she helps others who want to leave the Amish church. She is very respectful of those who want to remain in, but it just wasn't for her. She craved education and choice, two things that are not readily available to Amish young adults, especially not to women. She also experienced abuse from family members.
One of the difficulties in the Amish community, like TWI, is that there are not enough checks and balances on behavior. If the church elders are corrupt, there is no one to stop them. The inequality between all men and all women (not just husbands and wives) is also a problem. If a woman complains, she tends to be blamed. Like the Amish, TWI also tried to control its members (mostly those more committeed, such as WOWs and Corps) by restricting their behaviors, but without having them contained on a campus, it was largely impossible.
Every society tries to regulate its own to the betterment of the society. Religious groups add the need to be more attuned to things of the spirit by their behavior. But it is sad when societies are constructed to benefit only a subset of the group at the expense of the rest. All people are fallible, including members of the Amish, or TWI, or any other group. But when there is no just way of dealing with evil acts, there is problem at the heart of that society.
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shazdancer
Hi Jim. I don't often swing by the 'Spot these days, but I did see this post and so I watched the program online. I have met the woman who left the church in the film. She and her husband have a good life together. She has written 2 books about her experience, and she helps others who want to leave the Amish church. She is very respectful of those who want to remain in, but it just wasn't for her. She craved education and choice, two things that are not readily available to Amish young adults, especially not to women. She also experienced abuse from family members.
One of the difficulties in the Amish community, like TWI, is that there are not enough checks and balances on behavior. If the church elders are corrupt, there is no one to stop them. The inequality between all men and all women (not just husbands and wives) is also a problem. If a woman complains, she tends to be blamed. Like the Amish, TWI also tried to control its members (mostly those more committeed, such as WOWs and Corps) by restricting their behaviors, but without having them contained on a campus, it was largely impossible.
Every society tries to regulate its own to the betterment of the society. Religious groups add the need to be more attuned to things of the spirit by their behavior. But it is sad when societies are constructed to benefit only a subset of the group at the expense of the rest. All people are fallible, including members of the Amish, or TWI, or any other group. But when there is no just way of dealing with evil acts, there is problem at the heart of that society.
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