New research shows diversity among US Amish groups
June 4, 2013
Lancaster, PA — When young people get to their late teens or early 20s, they must decide whether to remain in the church and adopt its austere rules, and the researchers found more traditional Amish families currently experience defection rates of less than 6 percent, compared to about half of the children of the most progressive Amish.
More conservative Amish tend to live in more secluded places, and their lifestyle restrictions can make the outside world seem distant and intimidating, Kraybill said. More progressive families lead lives that are not much different than Amish-type groups that permit cars, making it a shorter leap for their children to leave.
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