Canadian Amish are simply called Amish or, more specifically, Old Order Amish, with the highest concentration found in Ontario. They are often closely associated with and sometimes confused with Old Order Mennonites ("Team Mennonites") or Hutterites, who also live in Canada and share similar traditional, non-conformist Anabaptist lifestyles.
Hutterites are one of three major Christian Anabaptist sectarian groups (the others are the Mennonites and the Amish) surviving today. They are the only group to strongly insist on the communal form of existence.
Both groups come from the Anabaptist tradition and share core beliefs such as adult baptism, community life, and nonviolence. However, Amish communities generally maintain stricter interpretations of separation from the modern world, while Mennonite groups range from conservative to fully modern in practice.
The “house Amish” came to be called Old Order Amish like their religious cousin the United States. They use horses and buggies for transportation and do not have electricity in the home. The primary settlement of this group is in the Milverton-Millbank area of Ontario.
The term Hutterites is derived from the name of the founder of the religion, Jacob Hutter. Like their fellow sixteenth-century Anabaptists, Hutterites believed in a separation of church and state, adult re- baptism (anabaptism means re-baptism), and pacifism.
What's the difference between Amish and Hutterites?
The difference between the Amish and the Hutterites is the Amish live in a community but own private property, while the Hutterites live communally and do not own private property. Hutterites are also more open to the use of technology than the Amish; Hutterites utilize industrial farming practices.
In addition to being among the more-inbred human populations (Bittles and Neel 1994), the Hutterites are also among the most fertile (Sheps 1965), with average completed sibship sizes among S-leut families ranging from >10 in 1964 (Mange 1964) to ∼8 in 1992 (Ober et al. 1992).
Amish girls typically get married in their early 20s, usually between ages 20 and 22, often slightly younger than their male counterparts, with the process beginning around age 16 during social events like Sunday singings. Marriage usually follows baptism into the church, and individuals are expected to marry within the Amish faith.
In Ontario, Canada, the Old Order Amish, the members of the Ontario Old Order Mennonite Conference, the David Martin Old Order Mennonites, the Orthodox Mennonites and smaller pockets of others (regardless of religious affiliation) speak Pennsylvania Dutch.
Jakob Hutter founded the Hutterite religious sect based on early Christian teachings. The Hutterites employ a literal interpretation of the Bible, always aiming to respect God's authority. Hutterites believe in the separation of church and state. They also do not participate in wars, believing in nonviolence.
The Amish stay up after dark, but they go to bed early: typically between 9 and 9.30pm in summer, and more like 8.30-9pm in winter. Most people start work at around 5.30am, so they're often up by 4.45am.
On the flip side, while Mennonites and historic Anabaptist groups do indeed have work to do, I have also found them to be something other than the stereotype. Mennonites for example are actually 20 percent nonwhite in North America, and mostly non-white when considered from a global perspective.
Hutterites also believe that material goods are meant to be communal. No assets are meant to be used for personal gain. However, Hutterite people do not avoid using technology. They use electricity in their homes to get their work done.
Mennonite groups can be found across Canada, with over half of the population residing in urban areas such as Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
Amish church groups seek to maintain a degree of separation from the non-Amish world. Non-Amish people are generally referred to as "English" by the Amish, and outside influences are often described as "worldly". Amish church membership begins with adult baptism, usually between the ages of 16 and 23.
The Bishop and ministers preside. The couple takes their vows before the church. Afterwards the celebration continues with the meal. The Amish wedding meal is usually typical fare with fried or broasted chicken (hingleflesh), mashed potatoes (grumbatta mush) and gravy and other vegetables.
The Amish wedding night will usually be spent in the bride's parent's home, as the couple will need to assist in clean up the following day. They will then spend their first months of marriage – their honeymoon – visiting relatives. (This is when most gifts they receive will be given.)
No, Amish communities generally do not use condoms or other modern contraceptives, viewing children as blessings from God, but some individuals might quietly use natural methods for health or economic reasons, though it's discouraged and not universally enforced, with practices varying slightly by district.
The Amish and Mennonite populations represent outstanding communities for the study of genetic disease for a number of reasons. There is a high degree of inbreeding, resulting in a high frequency of recessive disorders, many of which are seen rarely or are unknown outside of this population.
The main reason for their success, I think, is they have a lot of peer pressure that keeps them accountable. Neighbors pop in unannounced daily. They see clean homes modeled for them by all of their neighbors. The culture is unified in their efforts to keep everything clean and tidy.
Can a brother and sister have a healthy baby together?
To be more specific, two siblings who have kids together have a higher chance of passing on a recessive disease to their kids. To explain "recessive", we need to remember that we have two copies of most of our genes -- one from mom and one from dad. And these genes can come in different versions (also called alleles).
Some of the physiological and physical signs of inbreeding in humans are hearing and vision issues, neonatal diabetes, malformations, congenital diseases, reduced fecundity, etc.
