The Amish: Shunned

What is it like to be cut off from your faith and your family? The Amish: Shunned follows seven people who have chosen to leave their closed and tightly-knit communities for the outside world, knowing they can never return. Each has paid deeply for their decision. Estranged form loved ones, these former Amish find themselves struggling to make their way in modern America.

A profile of Jan, who became Amish as an adult with her husband and children, but they were later shunned.

"For me, I wanted to experience a different life. I wanted to go out and drive a truck, or something like that. I just thought that would be cool. Back then, that was everything to us. To have phones, radios and stuff like that - of course our parents, they didn't like that." Levi left his Amish family when he was 17. See his story in The Amish: Shunned on American Experience PBS February 4.

"In the dominant culture of America, I would have been the good kid -- putting myself through college and working full time, but to the Amish I was a little bit of a rebel. I don't really know how I would do it differently if I had it to do over, but I wish somehow it wouldn't have to be like that." Naomi left her Amish family to become a nurse.

"When we lose obedience, we lose the church. Amen." What is shunning? 2012's The Amish only touched on the practice, but this follow up documentary explores shunning more deeply, interviewing both current and former Amish people. The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS February 4, 2014.

"I worked in the city for two years. I got used to city life - you know, the throb, the heartbeat of the city, the sirens blasting - and I liked it. But the city could be so full of people, and you could be so lonely. Everybody was in a hurry, everybody had a place to go." The Amish: Shunned premiers on American Experience/PBS February 4, 2014.

Paul's parents became Amish when he was a boy. He was shunned as an adult. "We had no idea what it meant to be Amish. We thought a clothes change and probably a little more, but we had no idea how much more." The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

"The last time I left, the seventh time, I knew I would never, ever return that day. Cried like a baby. Tried to leave three notes, ripped 'em all up. I realized no matter how hard I tried to explain, nobody would understand." Watch a profile of Joe, who first left his Amish family when he was 16 years old.

Katie Troyer left the Amish and found home. "I was given the option – go back into church and swallow it all up and be a good person there or jump. And I jumped." The Amish: Shunned premiers on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

"And I had been seeking God from the age of ten to the age of 41. Thirty years time. There was still that emptiness, and I came to the realization that there has to be more in life than what I am experiencing. There simply has to be more." The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS American Experience on February 4, 2014.

"I think I am homesick. I miss my family. I write three letters, but they didn’t write back so far. I don’t think that they have a lot to say if I am not staying Amish." The Amish: Shunned premiered on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

"I was letting people down, especially my mother. At that time, people could not ask me specifically about my family or about my background without me bursting into tears." The Amish: Shunned premiered on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.