Societal decay, Part 2

Nothing is planned on this blog.  A second post on this subject certainly wasn't.

The post came together in an most unexpected way.  It began when I searched for a scene that I remembered from the movie Witness,  in which the main character, played by Harrison Ford, was hiding amongst the Amish in Pennsylvania.  I was interested in the scene where the John Book character, played by Ford, punched a bully in the nose.

This led to a long session with a couple series of videos about the Amish.  In particular, it was about a couple of families that left the Amish.  What struck me is how the community is governed.  You see, the Amish are governed by a strict set of rules, which cannot be questioned.   Anyone who deviates from these rules can be excommunicated.  Excommunication is a serious thing.  They are literally thrown out of the community.  No one in the community is allowed to have anything to do with those who are excommunicated.  If anyone does, they too can be excommunicated.

This was interesting to me because I sensed something in common between myself and this fellow Ephraim.  He questioned the teachings of the Amish church, and that got him into trouble with the elders.  As with his case, it seemed that I frequently question everything, and I'm probably in some kind of trouble with just about everybody all the time.  It's like I'm a rebel without a pause or a cause.  But Ephraim wasn't so much different from the the rest of the Amish.  It was just that the Amish tolerate no differences at all.  Ephraim found himself at odds with the Amish church because he was willing to be different.

Being that I think about things, I could also see things from the viewpoint of the church elders.  They have to keep the community together.  How do you do this unless you have a set of rules?

Anyway, you could see Ephraim going down a path which leads him into areas that no Amish tend to go.  The series ends before you can see the end of his quest.  Where does it all end?

The thing to take away from this is that when you deviate from the accepted path, you don't know where it will end up.  There are those that can see trouble ahead.  But you also have others who cheer on the changes.  Some see the changes as "progress", and others who see it as "decay".

There needs to be rules.   I accept that.  But the reason for the rules should be reasonable.  I don't trust unquestioning obedience.  But there are times when authority should not be questioned.

Rather confusing.  Life is a set of contradictions.  Nothing is simple.  Nothing stays the same.