‘What fellowship can light have with darkness?’

THE Amish set themselves apart from nearly all modern things — electricity, cars, movies, television and computer games. Most of all, they abhor violence.

But in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, an outsider burst into a one- room school and opened fire, killing four girls and a teaching assistant. And when he did, he brought violence to a place that considers it evil.

“I don’t even know if I could begin to comprehend how this might affect those people,” said Steve Scott, an Amish expert at Elizabethtown College, 30 miles west of the village in Lancaster County where Monday’s shootings occurred.

“The Amish believe that Christ taught we are not to return evil for evil,” said Mr Scott. Even when faced with something as heinous as losing a child to an execution-style shooting, “they are taught to turn the other cheek”.

Also known as Anabaptists, the Amish are a Christian denomination that separate themselves for a variety of religious reasons. They do not serve in the military, draw state pensions or accept other forms of government assistance.

Old Order Amish, the most conservative and most prevalent in states including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, have attained a certain notoriety for their horse-drawn carriages with modern-day reflector triangles on the back, and handmade wares and foods they sell to tourists.

Life comes from the land — mostly crop and dairy farming. In all things, piety and plainness are emphasised. Women wear long dresses of solid fabric, with aprons in white or black and cloth cap or bonnet. Men dress in dark trousers, braces and vests, with a broad- rimmed hat. Along with English, they speak a German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German.

They began arriving in Lancaster County around 1730, and the community numbers about 55,000 in Pennsylvania today. Their separation is often attributed to the literal interpretation of New Testament chapters — including II Corinthians and Romans.

One of the most popular is II Corinthians 6:14: “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

But at their core, the Amish believe life is based on faith. And belief in the world to come, where there is no violence.