Plain People

Plain people are Christian groups characterized by separation from the world and simple living, including plain dress. These include Amish; Old Order, Conservative, Conservative Mennonites, and Old Colony Mennonites; Old German Baptist Brethren; the Hutterites; and Old Order River Brethren; and at one time Quakers, the Brethren in Christ (BIC), and Shakers, Dunkards. A small number of Quakers still practice plain dress. Plain Catholics, in communion with and faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, also live plain lives, including plain dress.

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.