Okay, I'm watching "The Devil's Playground" on channel 162.
It's about Amish teenagers who leave their families to eperience the outside world or the "English" world, this can last for months or years [age 16- age 21]. They go out into the world and decide whether they want to be "English" or go back to the Amish culture and join it's church.
I think that's pretty cool. A couple of strict Christian societies I've learned about don't permit anyone to leave or have been accused of some really bad stuff. From what I've watched so far, it seems like growing up Amish would be good and I respect their tradition of letting children out to understand the world they've been guarded from all their lives.
Apparently you can't just enter the Amish world either, which is just about the only thing I don't agree with. I guess it makes sense though, they don't have radio/Tvs or electricity to keep themselves distanced from us and knowledge that may corrupt us. An outsider would have the same effect as television. Yeah~ there are a lot of things I don't agree with, like Amish women are supposed to have as many children as she can, that's not exactly healthy >.< And their belief that education leads to pride, so after the 8th grade children are required to drop out and begin working. That may be true, that education leads to pride, but I believe an education is key to... Well, I guess they don't need a special, high paying job since most Amish work in factories or on farms... and they don't have to worry about surviving in the world alone because they're a tight-knit community and look out for one another. So education may not be so important to them.
However, I do wonder about those teenagers who decide not to return. During Rumspringa many start smoking and experimenting with different drugs or activities. If they return then they must forget everything they did, they forget the memories, the clothes and the people. But if they stay English then they continue to smoke and drink and all without a proper education. That's not a good thing of course.
So, I wonder what I would do... I think I'd return home and become apart of the Amish Church, who knows though? A world of temptation against a lil ole chruch =P I'd need lots o' strong faith.
So what would you do?
