THE AMISH ANSWER

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So, on to differences. The Yoders, like other Old Order Amish, dress in a plain, carefully prescribed manner, from the full beards (but shaved mustaches) and broad-brimmed hats of the men to the long, solid-toned dresses and devotional caps of the women. They drive black, horse-drawn carriages, not cars. They have no electricity or personal telephones. No radios, TVs or musical instruments. They speak a separate language, Pennsylvania Dutch (actually, Dietsch , their term for German). However, they very courteously spoke English—even to each other—whenever I was present.

Still, their home isn't as stark as it may sound. It holds many modern conveniences: a propane (and therefore wonderfully silent) refrigerator, white-gas reading lights, indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water even a basement washing machine powered by a small Honda lawn-mower engine. ("The women love the little Hondas," Amos said. "They're so easy to start.") So the family has many basic conveniences normally provided by electricity.

Likewise, when they want to make a phone call, they can walk down the road to a shared neighborhood phone (kept in a locked homebuilt booth). If they need to get somewhere a good distance away, they can hire a car and driver to take them there.

More of these apparent cultural contradictions—those puzzling answers to that still undefined question.

To help figure it all out, I turned to Amish history and literature. This Protestant religious group was formed in the 16th century in Switzerland. Their most visible early distinction was their belief in the baptism of informed adults—not of infants. (Hence, their original name was the Anabaptists , or rebaptizers.) Eventually they split into two groups, the Amish (after Jacob Amman) and the Mennonites (after Menno Simons). Today there are at least 13 degrees of Amishness or Mennoniteness. The most liberal drive cars and dress like other Americans. The most conservative don't even have iceboxes. Yoder's family is part of a typical Old Order (fairly conservative) branch.

The central principle of Amish creed and culture is gelassenheit , a word meaning self-surrender, or submission to God's will. In contrast to the "I believe, therefore I am saved" credo of evangelistic Christianity, the Amish believe that the basis of redemption is the practice of gelassenheit , dying to one's self. And how does one do that? First, by not asserting oneself. As Amos told me, "The word 'proud' is anathema to the Amish." (For this reason, the Yoders asked me to take no photographs of them and to change their names in this article.) Wearing similar clothes and living prescribed lifestyles both help check prideful individuality. The second way to practice gelassenheit is to work on building community. The more everyone helps others and builds a loving brotherhood, the more they all surrender self and better live out their Christian ideals.

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