Manuel Diaz Ms. Elam Per. 2 ERWC November 20, 2015 Clashing Cultures: US vs. Amish All cultures/societies around the world have similarities and differences, some being more different than others. However, in the case of two societies, they are profoundly different. The Amish, a religious group mainly residing in the eastern part of the US, tend to be outsiders to society. Being an outsider can have its benefits and drawbacks. From the perspective of society, one who is not a part of it can have consequences, such as being stigmatized (and in severe cases, being labeled a social pariah). However, from the perspective of the outsider, not being integrated into society can free them from the “social norm.” The roots of their religion can be …show more content…
All the problems stated earlier are some of the reasons why they want to remain outsiders to society. All these reasons focus on the negative of integrating into society. They know that if they integrate into society, they risk their beliefs being absorbed in it and possibly losing their cultural identity entirely. However, there are benefits to remaining an …show more content…
By remaining secluded, they won’t have to go through any more negative stigma such as the examples mentioned earlier. Because of their beliefs, they will not run for any political position, regardless of how much power they get. Not getting involved in politics is actually a good thing because the political system can be very frustrating. By adding religion into the mix (in some cases, it’s already there), there is the very real chance that there be deadlock and there will be no progress whatsoever. According to Jelen, he states “When we say we will put America first, we mean also that our Judeo-Christian values are going to be preserved and our Western heritage is going to be handed down to future generations and not dumped into some landfill called multiculturalism. . . .” What this means is that as long as these values are being kept, as mentioned earlier, there will be deadlock. There is nothing wrong with a person having values of some sort, however, that can prevent them from doing whatever they need to do. From all this alone, they will not get involved in