"I think the community will understand it as an aberration, a crime committed by a man with a severe psychiatric disorder," said Donald B. Kraybill, an author of scholarly books about the Amish and a senior professor at Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

Kraybill said teachers in one-room Amish schools will have reason to be more cautious toward strangers approaching their schools, but he doesn't think the tragedy will have a long-term impact on Amish culture or change the way they interact with the outside world.

"I think they have a sense of resignation in accepting these kinds of things as somehow a part of God's larger plan," he said. "There may be some good or purpose that they don't see that may be hidden here. With their long history of suffering, they are remarkable in terms of being able and willing to accept things and not to quarrel with them. In some ways, perhaps, they are more prepared than anyone for these kinds of events."

David Weaver-Zercher, an associate professor of American religious history at Messiah College who has written about Amish culture, said the Amish, who live at arm's length from wider society, have a theology that views the world as "an evil place, and one's only security is with God." They will see what happened Monday as fitting that view.

The practice of mutual aid within the Amish community, symbolized by barn raisings, will play an important role in bringing comfort to the victims' families and raising funds to cover hospital bills, Kraybill said.

"Whenever there's misfortune, the community provides food and help with daily work and the emotional work," Kraybill said. A benefit auction is one likely strategy they'll use to raise funds.

Weaver-Zercher said the Amish may quietly reach out to experts in security for their advice. They may also turn to trusted mental health professionals to help traumatized children.

"The Amish are connected enough to the contemporary modern world that they don't think psychological counseling is necessarily a bad thing," Weaver-Zercher said.

Kraybill said he was called Monday by reporters from CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC and Newsweek. He also talked to Australian and Japanese reporters.

He said a misconception some reporters have is the Amish live in isolated settlements similar to Indian reservations.

He said the Amish likely will be surprised by the attention the media gives the story.