The Rules of the Ordnung

For many religions, the Bible is not enough, and so they came up with supplemental rules and practices that provided them with guidance on how to live their lives. For the Amish community, they have that in the Ordnung. The word itself comes from the German word that means order or discipline. Governing and providing rules for clothing, education, and even clothing, the Ordnung is perhaps one of the most important sets of rules that each person in the community must learn.

As an indispensable basic for their communal living, following the Ordnung means keeping the fabric that binds all of them together. While many of the rules are not found in The Bible, the Amish people circles back to the Scripture for inspiring the rules. Some of these are that the woman must submit to her husband, refusal to buy insurance, separation from the rest of the world, and the proper way of wearing their clothes.

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