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The ordnung is more a set of collective understandings of expected behavior, rather than a set of rules. Why they differ from group to group is because each congregation has a degree of autonomy and also because ordnung develops informally and as much or more,from the lay members up, as from the ministry down. In fact there is hardly any hierarchial structure at all.
I've been known to be pretty adamant about Amish society being inherently hierarchical. It looks like the mysterious Mr. x begs to differ. He needs to read "Serpico". The behavior of the corrupt officers who were trying to get Serpico to conform to their way of "doing things" was so familiar to me when I read the book that I could've told you what was going to happen next, even though I didn't know the story. That process of threatening someone in such a way that you can deny having done it. Oh yeah, it's for your own good too! The language, the posturing by superiors who were responsible, but needed to cover their butts, it was all so nauseatingly familiar, and the fact that twenty years after Serpico testified, there still wasn't an outside commission appointed to deal with corruption, that was familiar too. The Amish don't act either, not when acting might ruffle a couple feathers at the top.
Yeah well, Damn'em! Damn'em all to hell!
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