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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
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And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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There are many stories about a long ago perfect place. In the Jewish and Christian traditions, the first people lived in the Garden of Eden. This was a place where food was without end. People lived at peace with the wild animals. There are similar stories coming from Africa, Native American Tribes, Ancient Greece, and India. In most of these stories, people did something to lose the ability to live perfectly. They angered god and were forced to suffer, work, and die.
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But many of these same stories contain the hope of returning to a perfect life. In the Aztec tradition, the wind god was exiled by the moon god. But he promised to return to begin a new age of utopia. Ancient Greeks wrote about dying and travelling to the land of Elysium. There, people are free from care and sadness. Today, even if people do not believe in God, they may still desire a time of peace, security, and rest from their labour.
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Just as there are many stories about a perfect place, there are many people who have promised to re-create heaven on earth. These people have tried to create Utopian Communities.
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Today's Spotlight is on Utopian Communities. A Utopian Community is any community trying to live perfectly. This usually means living in peace, working together, and sharing property. People who live in utopian communities believe that through hard work and following the rules, they will not have to experience pain, sadness, or suffering.
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One of the earliest Utopian communities began around six hundred B.C. Many Utopian communities have a powerful leader. In this community, the leader was Pythagoras. Pythagoras was a popular teacher and 300 people quickly joined his community. Many leaders make demands of people who want to join their communities. If people passed Pythagoras's many tests, they had to take a five year promise of silence. After a time the community ended because it became too involved in politics. But many of Pythagoras's ideas about the right way to live remained.
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For years, small Utopian communities would begin and end. It was not until people began to travel from Europe to America that utopian communities began to form in greater numbers. William Alfred Hinds wrote about these communities. He writes:
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"In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there were more that one hundred utopian communities in America. They varied from complete communism to private ownership with some social control. Some permitted no sex. Others permitted traditional marriage. And others had group marriage. Most of their leaders seem to have been more or less mistrustful of the outside world."
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Many people who began communities were religious. They had suffered for their faith in Europe. They wanted a place to practice their faith freely. One group that came for this reason were the Shakers. They were called Shakers because during worship services they would dance and turn in circles, often falling to the ground and shaking. This was seen as a communication with the Holy Spirit. America provided a safe place to worship without being seen as strange.
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These communities were simply trying to live their faith. Often, they believed that all people were equal. Because of this, Utopian communities educated everyone. This equality between people included shared labour and wearing the same, simple clothes. They shared everything they owned. This belief in equality even gave women many rights denied them in normal society.
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These communities believed that they could create heaven on earth if they could get away from the influences of people outside the community. Because of this, they grew their own food, made their own clothes, and built their own homes. Even today there are traditions of high quality wood work, metal work, blanket making, and farming that come out of these communities.
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Unfortunately, Utopian Communities too often destroyed themselves. Here again is William Alfred Hinds:
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"Most of the communities were short lived, falling apart after a few years because of bad planning, bad leadership, and the normal human failings of their members...."
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Even though Utopian communities could be places of peace, they were not perfect. Many communities were led by an appealing leader, someone who made and enforced the rules of the community. But some leaders took advantage of the desire people felt for a perfect place.
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Times were hard and people needed hope. Dishonest leaders knew that people would work hard and remain loyal if they believed in something. They used this to their advantage. Sometimes they would control the money. Other times, they made rules that gave them more power, even permitting them to have sex with whomever they wished. So, even though people talked of faith, religion, and worship, it took a careful mind to tell if they were honest or not.
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There are still Utopian communities around the world. Many groups have let go of the idea of creating a perfect community, but still see the value in living together. One group, the Jesus People USA, write about themselves:
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"We are about 500 people who live together in the city of Chicago. We hold our goods and property in common. We try to live the model of Christian community shown in the Christian Bible. Living this way has permitted us to serve one another and those outside the community in ways that may not have been otherwise possible. This does not mean we believe God wants everybody to live in this way. Or that we are blessed in some special way. We have been honoured to serve as a resource to the Christian church. We are a safe place for people in need. Also, we are a learning experience for many whose journey has taken them in our doors and out to serve other places."
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The Jesus People believe that they can do a better job of caring for each other and the world's resources by living together. They do not promise anyone a perfect community, free from suffering. In fact, anyone who does promise you a perfect life is lying to you. The world is too complex. It is too connected. One mark of a true community is that people can disagree, even with the community leaders. A true community is a place where different people can live together and their differences are honoured and celebrated.
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