In defense of humility and ‘Demut’ Plain Dutch living: Part II
With additional Plain (German) Brethren, once called “Dunkards,” because of their unique baptism practice, this sect founded Pricetown in the Oley Hills and still maintains their 18th Century Brethren Meeting House off the modern Pricetown Road (Route 12), proudly avowed as “the oldest, unaltered Church in America.” Among the original Thirteen Colonies in the United States, there is no state that practices religious tolerance more than the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Although the Quaker (English) sect and Oley Menno- nite church have shared the pioneer harvests of the Oley Valley, it has not been until recent years (2012) that the Old Order Mennonite horse and buggy sect from Kutztown acquired additional Oley Valley farmland, thereby developing our successful ethnicity in farming and religious principles.
Thus, no one can think of modern Pennsylvania without first thinking of William Penn’s diverse, religious pilgrims who bonded together in Brotherly love, forging an environment in which freedom was nurtured from their grass roots spirit. Since being a Pennsylvania Dutch Christian from Berks County and avid researcher and writer, it was obvious that professional tourism had misrepresented the Plain People of the Commonwealth to increase the thriving economy of our tourist trade over the years. The irony of the development of modern tourism in Lancaster County was that American tourism was diametrically opposite to the “Demut” way of Amish life that they no longer had attempted to explain and celebrate, unfortunately.
At first, religious groups and educational institutions attempted to explain the true-grit culture of the Plain People of Lancaster County to the burgeoning tourist crowd of America, especially Dr. Alfred L. Shoemaker’s Pennsyl- vania Dutch Folklore Center at Lancaster County’s Franklin and Marshall College. But it was only a matter of time until the large number of tourists outnumbered genuine facilities to acquire knowledge of the Plain Dutch. Eventually, licensed commercial tourist entities were themselves victims of technological change and secularization trying to portray Plain Dutch lifestyle to American tourists via rural, country Plain Dutch hospitality. Having visited Lancaster County’s Amish tourist area as a youth since the 1980s, it has wavered in its authenticity of venues that have attempted to portray Plain Dutch lifestyles when I have revisited the Amish Country numerous times in the last decade and a half.
Fur thermore, members of our Plain sects who faithfully follow the teachings of Christ every day, of course, do not engage in “Hochmut,” ecclesiastical, or secular decorations to celebrate Christmas. This sacred occasion is part of an inner fulfillment of their soul. The only evangelistic outward sign one may notice in the Dutch Country are anonymous “Demut” signs that used to read, “Jesus saves!” Perhaps in the solitude of a Plain Peoples’ Christmas, there is a more serious communion with the deity than all the commercial secular humdrum of the business world. By refusing to allow modern automation and technology to run away with
their lives, Plain People celebrate Christ’s birth in a traditional way without commercialization, remembering that ancient Silent Night, which was so Holy among shepherds in the countryside, with Peace on Earth and Good will toward Man and humbling themselves to an almighty God.
And yet, in the shadow of William Penn’s City of “Brotherly Love,” almost since Quaker proprietor William Penn had invited various religious groups to settle in Pennsylvania from Europe, there had seemed to be a competition among devout Christians, and unfortunately, it took a recent roof fire caused by a heating stove, at the Exeter Quaker Meeting in the Oley Valley, to make Berks Countians
aware that the Quaker faith was still very much practiced by a number of local families. Disappointed that this historic architectural treasure was not safely guarded enough to prevent this fire hazard, subsequently, the ghost of William Penn would be immensely proud to know that the Old Order Meeting Houses of Quakers and Swiss-German horse and buggy Dutch continue their worship in the East Penn Valley; also the numerous Amish Sects still drive their horse and buggy vehicles to Sunday meeting at each other’s farm homes in Lancaster County.
Richard L.T. Orth is assistant director of the American Folklife Institute in Kutztown.