thumb|right|180px|an amish family. plain people are christian groups characterized by separation from the world and simple living, including plain dress. most plain people have an anabaptist background with the exception of the old german baptist brethren and old order river brethren. all but the old order river brethren are of german, swiss german and dutch ancestry. ==plain groups== notable plain groups are: *old order amish *new order amish *beachy amish mennonites *old order mennonites *conservative mennonites *conservative mennonite conference *reformed mennonites *orthodox mennonites *old colony mennonites *hutterites *old german baptist brethren *old order river brethren a small number of quakers still practice plain dress.quaker jane website the shakers also dressed plain, but today there are almost no shakers left. ==plain customs== customs of plain people include: * plain clothes, usually in solid, normally dark colors. * plain church buildings, or no church buildings whatsoever. * a utilitarian view of technology, similar to the precautionary principle of technology in that unknowns should be avoided, but the emphasis was on the results in the eyes of god. if they were unsure of how god would look upon a technology, the leaders of the church would determine whether it was to be avoided or not. the degree to which this principle was supported varied among the congregations, but in general, the amish people believed that the mennonites had not done enough to separate themselves from the rest of the world. ==origins== the mennonite movement was a reform movement of anabaptist origins begun by swiss brethren and soon thereafter finding greater cohesion based on the teachings of menno simons 1496â1561, and the 1632 dordrecht confession of faith. the amish movement was a reform movement within the mennonite movement, based on the teachings of jacob ammann
Anabaptism Pennsylvania_German_culture Protestant_religious_clothing Protestantism_in_Pennsylvania Religion_in_Lancaster,_Pennsylvania Simple_living