> As to Chuck0 comment why people do not build a community themselves -
> community is something that grows organically around you. If you try to
> design it, you get a corporation or a pathetic Trot grouplet. At least the
> former serve some rational purpose, even if that purpose is mere greed. The
> latter is basically no more than psychotic emotional jerking off.
>
> 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.
What is it, Woj? Do communities "just happen" or can you build them?
I think you are being really naive here. Communities are organic to a great extent, but you can also consciously build communities.
What do you think the religious right is doing with their churches?
Do you think that churches just happen? No, for the most part they are part of a clear strategy of recruitment, evangelizing, and proselytization. Contemporary fundamentalist Christian churches are even more into community building than ever--the seek to control every aspect of their members' lives. There is a school and gym attached to the church. Church social lives dominate the lives of its members. Churches offer counseling and other social services. Some offer financial planning services. The bigger megachurches have coffeeshops, cafes, and all kinds of stuff designed to totalize the religious experience of parishioners.
I agree with you that churches speak to everyday concerns of most people. This is one thing that the Left has never understood and still rejects. I think that the left can't achieve anything until it starts addressing these basic human needs.
This is why much of my activism focuses on building counter-institutions. You can build a different kind of community.
Chuck