It has been fifty years since the actions of one overbearing school board opened up an entire conversation about religious liberty, education, and the role of parents in the determination of how their children are raised. It was also a prelude to our present struggle as people of faith against a government that becomes increasingly hostile towards those who reject the state religion of the United States- that of Classical Liberalism.
Fifty years ago, a small Amish community in Iowa was targeted by state and local authorities because they had quietly and peacefully rejected the authorities opinion that they needed a state-certified teacher to teach their children. The Amish elders deemed that a life that was rich in agrarian values which relied heavily on the apprenticeship model of educating the young beyond the eighth grade was sufficiently served by a focus on the three R’s- reading, writing, arithmetic. They had continued to thrive in their traditional world quite happily for almost as long as the US had been an independent entity from Great Britain. Most Americans, then as now, regarded the Amish as a quaint, if backward people, who chose to cling to traditions and a way of life that most of us would find difficult to take on, but one that is also deeply admirable. The shock that was generated by seeing photos of these peaceful people, who simply wanted to be left alone, pursued into cornfields, their parents thrown in jail for non-compliance, was enough to generate absolute outrage among most Americans. The publicity nightmare that ensued forced the authorities to allow for religious exemption to compulsory public schooling. Millions of grateful homeschoolers can thank those brave, simple farmers that stood their ground and paved the way for all the freedom we enjoy today. Their example can also serve as a springboard for the ongoing discussion of how Christians should conduct themselves in increasingly treacherous cultural waters.
Recently, many intellectuals have begun to bandy about the so-called “Benedict Option”, referring to St. Benedict and his retreat from Roman society to monastic fortresses which allowed for the preservation of the Scriptures and other ancient literature and art in advance of the barbarian invasions that would destroy most of that civilization. The Amish, theological differences notwithstanding, have created a model that should be examined by anyone who is interested in creating an intentional community that flows counter to the culture. Even they have not escaped wholly unscathed by the deterioration of our neighbors’ poisonous culture, with the rare story here and there in the news of illegal drug production or reality television focused on the rite of passage known as rumspringa, in which young people are given a season to decide whether they want to submit themselves fully to the rigors of an adult Amish life. Those flaws pale in comparison to the moral evisceration the rest of Western society has seen in this last fifty years. What can be learned from the Amish communities- good, bad, and indifferent- that can assist us going forward as we find a greater necessity to move farther away, both physically and ideologically, from our hostile neighbors? Better, what can we learn from the early Roman Church that labored in captivity? We should turn back to writings like the Shepherd of Hermas and the example of early saints to see how they dealt with the marginalization and defamation of their Christian faith. We must look to people of faith like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or St. Benjamin of Petrograd who stood firmly in opposition. It is a conversation that must begin in earnest now.
Contumacia 