Discuss the Similarities and Differences Between Two Societies Essay Example

is behind every decision that the Amish make, they believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, and that as Christians; they should live as brothers, that the church is separate from the state, that we are committed to peace, and that faith calls for a lifestyle of discipleship and good works. They have a scripture that is quoted in their worship service, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasuring and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) This is the reason why they try to live as independently as they can from the rest of the world. In Modern Britain, a recent study showed in March 2011 that only 53. 48% of people said they were Christian, when asked what your religion was. 39% ticked the ‘no religion’ box (British Humanist Association, n. d. ) The percentages of Christians that live in Britain do adhere to some principles of the Bible but choose not to let it overtake their lifestyles and infringe their life choices.

Modern Britain is in majority, an individualist society. In the Amish community this would not happen, they have the same views and values across the whole community and they always put the group before any individual, so they are a Collectivist society. Another way for the Amish Community to show that they view individualism low is by the way they choose to present themselves to the outside world. They only wear indistinctive plain clothes because it encourages togetherness and bounds them

as a community.

The only slight difference within the community is that when the females marry they change the colour of their head garment to indicate to the rest of the community that they are now married. The men have a similar tradition, they grow a beard. In Britain many of today’s society like to have their own sense of self identity, whether this is shown by having a certain dress style, having a crazy haircut or having visible tattoos. It has become a norm for people to show their personalities off in this way to the rest of the community. It is something that is very apparent throughout the Country.

In Modern Britain people can use their personalities and self identity to search for a partner throughout the many subcultures that are formed in the United Kingdom. Most of these cultures do not have an opinion on who people marry and see that choice down to the actual people involved. Others, like the Amish, are guided by their traditions to marry within their own culture. The Amish have extremely strict views on marriage, especially not marry within. They have certain dates that they are allowed to announce their engagement on, have their wedding “published” at the church and then get married.

They can only get married once the harvest season has ended. This is due the crops being a major source for them to survive independently during the winter months. The Amish community are mostly farmers and tradesmen who make products that are useful in their day to day running of their lives. The children do not get to choose what career they would like to do

when they are adults like the British community. They are brought up with the view that they will take over the responsibilities to keep the community alive and to socialise their offspring with their community cultures.

In Britain, most people do not solely survive on home grown crops and home made products. Most British families use convenient food suppliers to feed there children. This is a norm within the society as most people do not have enough land to grow these crops on like the Amish do. The Amish community is structured differently, because they are a patriarchal society with the men deciding on the important decisions, like on what the children are to be taught within school and what the community will be taught in church.

The women are to follow through with the instructions from the men. Women are the homemakers and look after the children and husbands to their best ability. This is a similarity that both societies have. The only difference is the Amish women do not have a choice about staying at home and being a housewife. That is what is expected from them and they have grown up with the skills imbedded within them from generations and generations of teaching.