The Amish are a peaceful, agricultural, religious society of people who believe in a life of discipline and hard work. Affiliation with the Amish church isn't just a matter of attending services on Sunday. The Amish live by the tenets of their faith twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. While ceremonies and rituals are important to the Amish, their religious beliefs go beyond these observances and extend into day-to-day activities. They belong to close-knit communities organized around long-established customs and traditions to which members must adhere. To be Amish means attending church services. But it also means choosing to plow a field with a horse, hang the laundry to dry in the breeze, and learn lessons in a one-room schoolhouse.

Many of the outward signs, or symbols, that people associate with the Amish—such as plain clothes...