Betraying our own values

NPR does it again with an erroneous portrayal of the Amish! The idea that Amish kids have a choice whether to join the church or not is a myth. Shame on NPR for letting this therapist promote that concept as if it were real.

If he is so oblivious to Amish kids' reality, how is it possible for him to be effective as a therapist for them?

Cates portrays rumspringa as serving the role of preventing the Amish from being a cult. This is an outrageous claim, when it is Cates' dishonest portrayal,(the illusion that they have a choice) that has the opposite effect of making them more susceptible to being a cult!

And he is the one these kids come to for help! That would drive me to drink too! He admits that if they (his Amish clientele) leave the church after being counseled by him, the Amish would no longer use his services. He makes it sound like it's his responsibility to make sure he doesn't inadvertently influence them in such a way that they would end up leaving. I've got a piece of advice for him. He better not over compensate so much that he becomes a part of the coercive machinations of their community that are trying to get them to stay!
Then again, doing so would be a good growth strategy for his business, now wouldn't it!
He is the privileged beneficiary of a free and open society. He better not betray the values that enrich his own life in his work with these kids, or I hope he burns in the hell, that his Amish clients are taught to believe will be their fate if they leave!

If a teenager has a selection of colleges that he or she can go to, but his parents will only support him or her financially or otherwise if he or she choses one specific college, is that a choice? Now add to that the concept that all of their conscious life the teenager has been indoctrinated in the importance of going to this one specific college, not only by the parents but also by the larger group that they are a part of. Not only is there a constant emphasis on the importance of going to this certain college but there is a very clear distinction made about what happens to those who don't chose the right college. Not only can the ones who don't chose correctly no longer be a part of the group, there is a constant example made of them, how terrible their life is because of their poor judgment. And the entire reason the group even exists in the first place is for the soul purpose of facilitating the opportunity to go to this one college. Keep in mind also that, should the teenager defy all of this and choose a college other than the sanctioned one, he or she is going to be ill prepared to function at any other college because, all their life up to this point was directed towards preparation for the "right" college. Because of this inward focus by the teenager's group, the curriculum and the focus at a college he or she ends up going to will be foreign to him or her.

I think it's fair to say that no one in western culture would glibly refer to the above scenario as a "choice" for my hypothetical teenager without at least acknowledging some serious constraints. Neither would they casually accept the idea that teenagers with in this group who are engaging in self-destructive behavior, are just engaging in a benign rite of passage that is actually good for the group as a whole.

And yet when it comes to the Amish, it doesn't matter how illogical the portrayal is, everybody is onboard for idolizing the Amish, never mind how grotesque a betrayal of our own values doing so is, or the effect it has on vulnerable Amish teenagers who are desperately in need of rational thought.


Don't want to take my word for it? This guy has my back

Despite its unprecedented access to wild Amish youth in Ohio, The Devil’s Playground widely disseminated a huge misconception. And a huge disservice to the Amish. One that’s almost impossible to uproot. The belief that the Amish allow their youth a time to explore, to run wild, to live a mainstream lifestyle. To decide whether or not they really want to remain Amish.

I’m not saying that never happens. It probably does, in some rare individual families. But as a church policy, it is utterly false across the board. Never has been that way. Never will be. The Amish church does everything in its power to maintain its grip on the youth. Including applying some of the most guilt-ridden pressure tactics in existence anywhere in the world. No sense encouraging anyone a taste of outside life. Because there’s always a good chance they might not return, regardless of their good intentions when they left.