Monday, November 9, 2009
To be or not be... another ghastly misquote (Gavin)
I do think that rumspringa provides a 'vaccination' against modern 'english' life. The 'vaccination' is only effective when certain qualifications are met. By these qualifications we can then shed light on the proper age for rumspringa. The qualifications are: complete independence, the ability to grasp complex ideas and relationships, the ability to attain any desire. Surprisingly, rumspringa is strikingly similar to Siddhartha Gautama's teaching, from at least what I believe it to be. This is that in order to truly live as an ascetic and enjoy the life without you must first fully experience a life of luxury. The reasoning is that without this experience you will always question what it would be like. Of course, Siddhartha also goes on to reject ascetism opting for the “middle way”... but I will return to my main idea of qualifications. These qualifications require a more mature individual. It is my belief that 16 is too young, because at this age they have a false understanding of what rumspringa is. It is not a time to consider their salvation, but rather a time to party before they live Amish. This would explain the high return rate. At age 16 you are not able to be fully independent, nor are you able to fully grasp the complex ideas and relationships of life. A person who would meet these qualifications would need to be 20+ and continue to receive some schooling past age 12 (this is necessary because lack of schooling forces them to rely on the Amish way of life). I would wager that if they did this the rate of return would fall, so perhaps it is not in their best interest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Interesting -- so, Gavin, do you think that this choice of age is made by the Amish with the intention of making leaving a less likely option?
ReplyDeleteThe other issue is with age, period: we sometimes run up against the fact that people mature at different rates in our society -- some may be well prepared to vote before 18, or drink before 21, whereas some would be better served (or better serve society) by waiting for years after this. Of course, a maturity test would be hard to conduct, so we're stuck with age limits, it seems...
I think you made a lot of good points here, and I agree with most of them. I guess I give more credit to 16 year old than you do. I think in our society, 16 year olds are immature because they often lack responsibility. I feel as though the 16 year olds in an Amish society have reached a point in their lives, a point where they have reached their maximum education, where they have fulfilled their childhood in the Amish community. Thus, it makes sense that at 16 they go outside the community for rumspringa.
ReplyDeleteI do think that at 16 they are capable of being fully independent, certainly they are able to work and take care of themselves. This is what we might classically think of when we say "mature". The reality is that most teenagers in rumspringa do not leave the home, which is not full independence. In addition, science has shown that the brain is not fully developed until age 25. I'm not an expert in this area, but I believe it has to do with thinking skills, especially those involving risky behavior. It may be true that 16 in the Amish community ends their "childhood", but they can't change nature.
ReplyDelete