Quote:
Originally posted by cash78mere
someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe there is a time when amish teenagers are encouraged to go out into the "real world" and experience it for themselves. they are not truly amish until they come back and give their devotion to being amish. i believe that if they decide to stay in the "real world" they are basically excommunicated from the community forever.
so this must be their exploration time for these teens.
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Rumspringa is a trial period for Amish youth, anywhere from teenagers to twenty-somethings who have their faith tested for a certain length of time...sometimes it's as simple as being allowed to stay in town for a few weeks, watching TV and hanging out with local kids...but on some rare occasions, they go into the city and live there for weeks and try to make a living...the community has actually experienced some hardships when kids out on rumspringa bring back drugs and 'worldly temptations' and habits, like drinking, innapropriate dancing and pre-marital sex and it permeates the community.
It's not about being 'truly Amish,' it's more like adult baptism for Baptists. They have to be fully aware of what they're giving up/ taking on before they can become full members of the church. And depending on the strictness of the community, sometimes they are excommunicated, but other times they are just asked not to live in the community - they can visit with their families and live outside of town. Sometimes they even convert and be Mennonites or another less-strict sect.
P.S. you were right about these kids not being Amish, a lot of them just come from Amish background i heard. One of the guys has already been on his rumspringa and another of the girls doesn't even call herself Amish. It's all a bunch of
if you ask me.