Reformation founded by Martin Luther. Anabaptism means “a rebaptized”. The anabaptistic
Mennonites believed that baptism was only appropriate for adults, as children didn’t have the
required knowledge and religious insight to become a baptized member of the Christian
congregation. This wasn’t the reason why Jacob Ammann decided to found a new Christian
Denomination though. He believed that the Mennonites lacked discipline and allowed too many
modern and scientific inventions disrupt their religious lifestyle. Ammann wanted the church to be
considerably stricter and also, shunning should be practiced in a considerably larger extent.
Shunning is a method to excommunicate people, if they break the church rules. Members are
somewhat allowed to interact with the shunned ones, but they are not allowed to receive a
handshake or a ride in a vehicle. It was these opinions that started the group of Amish. They were
expelled from Switzerland shortly after they were founded. They moved towards north, to
Germany. Then they were invited by William Penn to immigrate to the United States. At that point,
the Amish spoke three different languages: English, German and Pennsylvanian Dutch, a
combination of German and Dutch, which is still understandable for many Germans.. The offer was
very tempting, because the US had religious liberty and large land area for the Amish to grow
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