Devil's Playground

Last night my wife and I watched this documentary. It is called Devil's Playground. It is the following of the Amish kids when they turn 16 and go on what they call the rumspringa.

During this time, they are free to go out in to the world to explore all that there is. They go to parties, get outside jobs, do drugs, find girlfriends and boyfriends...all the stuff that "regular" people in the world may do. This period lasts for an indefinite amount of time. For some it may only last a few weeks or months. Others it may last for a few years. It is during this time that they are confronted with life outside of the Amish community and then have to make the decision whether or not they will return and join the Amish Church, or stay on the outside which will then result in being shunned by the Amish community.

In the film they follow several teens to see what all they get into. Some of them go back and some of them stay out in the world. The shocking statistic though was that overall, 90% of them will go back into the community to join the church.

The trademark of the church is their separation from the world and worldly things. This even extends to the abstaining of using electricity, driving automobiles, the types of clothing they wear and the roles that are played by the men and women. They still do the horse and carriage thing. The clothing is all hand made. All of the work is done through manual labour. In their eyes, this is the way that they best represent Christ to the rest of the world. Does it work? I don't know, but it seems to be the best path for them.

Supposedly the Amish movement came from a disagreement with another group that they used to be a part of simply over the difference in belief of whether or not infants should be baptized. The main group said yes, the Amish said no and then packed up their stuff and left.

According to the kids that these Amish kids hung out with, apparently the "Amish throw the best parties." One party talked about in the film consisted having over 1500 teens show up for drinking, dancing, and drugs. It was thrown in Ohio and had attendees from as far away as Montana to New York.

Whether or not you like what you see in the film, it is certainly worth seeing.