The Outsiders

Did any of you see the show on ABC Primetime last Tuesday called "The Outsiders"? I am not sure what you thought about the show, but when I got done watching it I felt extremely sad and I felt this for so many reasons. First about the extreme blindness of the elders and their quiet resolve to the belief they have no other choice than to be Amish. The acceptance of the elders that their young people rebel against the rules of the church during a certain period before making the commitment to the church. After all they did things like this before they committed to the church when they were young so that makes it OK for the young people of today the same. He even had a car when he was young. When you look at the ways the young people from about age 15 or 16 until they actually decide to return and join and become a member of the church rebel, it is not just minor things. There is under age drinking, fornication, and in the case of Danny Troyer even hate crimes. Hate crimes and he said, "We just wanted to have some fun." "FUN?!" What has happened in a young man's life that would cause him to call burning someone's property fun? One thing about the show I believe it was more accurate than most documentaries that have been done about the Amish and I give ABC a lot of credit for this. So many times if they actually talk to the Amish about something, they are presented with the ideal world of what the Amish are and how they live. Most of the time this varies quite drastically from the truth, because they never share the whole story. The reason I think I was so sad is because these young people are seeking freedom, but the problem is they have no idea what they are seeking freedom from. They want to be free to be their own person, they want to be free to be able to have a dream, so many of them have no idea why music, something they love so much can be so wrong, they want to free to listen to their music, watch TV, go to sports events such as football games, baseball games, or rodeos. They want to be free to go to the movies. Now most of us reading this would take every last one of these things for granted, but all of this is forbidden according to the Amish rules and way of thinking. They want to be free to have a life to be able to use their God-given talents and see their dreams fulfilled. So why then when they leave do they turn to drinking and partying and fornication and even destruction of property? I believe because by the time they have reached age 15 and 16 they have heard nothing but things they cannot do and they don't care anymore and this is the way it manifests itself. This is what young people among the Amish have done for years and years even back to the days of our parents and grandparents. So even those who really want to do right in the sight of God just don't care anymore and there is so much that doesn't make sense anyway so why bother even trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong. The really sad thing for me was to see Lena's idea of freedom. She thinks being able to have her boyfriend, partying, and going wild is freedom. They go from one form of bondage to another form of bondage, but they don't understand that yet. (One of the reasons for my book - My Quilt of Many Stories) I want to be able to encourage all people who come from strict religions where there are rules even the preachers and the priests can't explain where they come from in the Bible. It is the way it has always been so it must be right and besides we don't question the rules we just continue to believe them. It is what has been passed down from our elders and if it was good enough for them it is good enough for us. I want people to realize Jesus came so we could have a relationship with our Father in heaven. It is only through Jesus Christ that we will ever be able to come to the Father, but that relationship with our Father is for now while we are here on this earth not just for when we get to heaven, which by Amish standards you can only hope to get to anyway. Why then are we surprised when young people want to rebel against the rules that tell them they can't have things like music and they can't go places like amusement parks and sports events and there are only certain professions you can be a part of. You cannot have a profession that would require high school or college because they are not allowed to attend high school and obviously college would then be out of the question. Basically by the time I was 18 and definitely by the time I was 20, I felt it was hopeless. There was no way I was going to be able to be good enough to get to heaven and then.................you will just have to keep coming back to find out what happens. :) Unless something else comes along that catches my attention I will be writing about my time as a school teacher in the Amish schools next time I visit with you all.