>
>Churches cultivate organic communities because they speak to everyday
>concerns of most people - fear, sadness, joy, love, alienation, failure,
>support, reciprocity, safety, loneliness, despair. Those concern mean
>something to people, and mere acknowledgement of them by a community of
>people - like in a church - provide personal and emotional support that most
>people value.
>
It's more basic than "value." People need this support; without it they
are lambs to the free market.
>And what do most lefty groups have to offer? Harangues, lecturing, guilt
>trips, self-depreciation aka self-criticism, angry accusations, blame games,
>incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, narcissistic personality cults.... These are
>immediate turn offs for almost everyone but a few with affective disorders.
>No wonder that people prefer churches - it is a much more emotionally
>soothing environment.
>
Not "soothing".....supportive. There is actual support: food, money,
housing, help with finding jobs, and the acknowledgement that pain is
pain, that pain hurts, and that the highest aim in life is not
self-promotion or success.
Don't mean to nitpick. You're right on the money.
I have stayed away from organized religion because I am deeply allergic to ritual and all forms of mumbo jumbo. But the community service aspect is deeply attractive and there are few places to find it.
Joanna