Most modern Mennonites read these passages in a cultural context. While they still greet one another warmly and offer blessings to one another in various ways, they usually don't actually kiss.
Unmarried Amish men and women aren't supposed to have any physical contact with each other. This includes kissing, hugging, and even holding hands. This is according to biblical teachings that state that lustful thoughts and desires should be avoided.
Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic ...
The 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith stated that marriage should be a monogamous, heterosexual lifetime commitment. The Christian home should have regular family worship.
In the case of Amish women, this identification of marital status is very simple. The bonnets they wear are how to tell if an Amish woman is married. They all wear traditional bonnets on their heads, but while single women wear black, married women wear white.
Detailed Description: 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.
Mennonite Women's Clothing
For women, the traditional dress is a simple knee or calf-length dress. It usually has a full skirt and long sleeves, which are often plain but can sometimes be decorated with subtle embellishments such as lace or embroidery.
Presently, residence is neolocal, and only the more strict of the denominations strongly discourage and sometimes sanction divorce. In former times, it was common for the bride and her family to assemble a dowry. Historically, there have often been cousin marriages.
Mennonite families consist of one father and one mother. It is common to marry young, sometimes as young as 18 or 19. Families are often larger than the societal average, althought this often depends on how conservative a family is.
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.
In Australia, there are Nationwide Fellowship Mennonite congregations in Deloraine, Tasmania and also in Canowindra, New South Wales (Lachlan Valley Mennonite Church). The Tasmanian congregation sponsor annual weekend meetings in February of each year.
Craig Frere: “Yes, some Mennonites do drink wine. In fact I know Mennonite pastors who make their own wine.”
Mennonites do not have any dietary restrictions as exist in some other religious groups. Some conservative Mennonites abstain from alcohol, but other Mennonites do not, with Mennonite distilleries existing as early as the late 16th century.
All types of birth control, and also all forms of natural family planning such as calendar-based methods, are forbidden in Old-Order Amish communities. However, especially in recent years, more Amish women have begun using contraception.
Some churches (not all necessarily Mennonite) take these passages to heart, and greet one another with a kiss on the cheek, much as anyone else would greet another person with a hug or handshake. This tends to occur in the more conservative Mennonite churches, and was more prevalent in the past.
Feminine Hygiene
Female Amish wash their hair and wear it in a bun. As for makeup, Amish women aren't allowed to wear cosmetics or adornments considered worldly. This includes lipstick, mascara, eye shadow, and jewelry.
The Mennonites have embraced some of the world's technologies. Unlike the Amish, Mennonites can use motorized vehicles as well as electricity and telephones in their homes.
Spiritual/Religious Practices
Religious beliefs do not prevent surgery, blood transfusions, anesthesia or dental work.
If you have seen multiple Mennonites conversing, you probably heard the word 'once' being used severally. This might have led you to wonder, “why do Mennonites say once?” Mennonites use the phrase once majorly to express their politeness when requesting something.
For example, while also teaching and encouraging love and acceptance of children, the Conservative Mennonite Conference maintains, "The prevention of pregnancy when feasible by birth control with pre-fertilization methods is acceptable." A study published in 1975 found that only 11% of Mennonites believed use of birth ...
Not only do the Amish not actively practice polygamy, they certainly don't believe in it. They view polygamy as adultery. Although the various Amish settlements may interpret certain rules slightly differently, there is no deviation from this law. The Amish believe in traditional marriage between one man and one woman.
The Amish tend to be stricter and more conservative in their beliefs and practices than the Mennonites. For example, the Amish tend to live in isolated communities and avoid using modern technology, while the Mennonites are not restricted in these ways.
Amish women swim in a different location from men, but because they tend to wear long dresses, the activity would be better characterized as wading. Some Mennonite women might wear shorts and T-shirts or even one-piece swimsuits because their churches are the most modern of the sects, at least in some ways.
Concerning deodorant, yes, the Amish DO wear deodorant. If they don't, it's their personal choice.
Most Amish women tend to wash clothes using an old-time tub-style wringer washers. Some Old Order and Swartzentruber Amish still use boiling water in a large pot and “swoosh” the clothes around until the clothes are clean. There's usually a set schedule for laundry day, for many Amish families it is Monday.