Won't You Be My Neighbor?

At what point did we start labeling communities according to interests?

At one time, a community was made up of people living in a certain area. They likely had similar culture and interests, but different trades that benefitted the rest of the group. You would have a doctor, a baker, the shoe maker etc... Everyone would know the doctor, because they all would go to him. Whatever a community needed, there would be some guy that does that.

I think this kind of community is a natural occurence in human society. If there is a need in a group, someone would see to having that need filled. The motive could be a desire to help, or profit, both, or something completely different. In any case, it would strengthen the community to have a new service available.

This kind of community was not a group of random people thrown into a small town. It was a group of different people working as a group to live in harmony with one another, contributing to one anothers prosperity through their own trade. 'Small town thinking' generally has a negative connotation. However, only part of it should be considered negative. These are obvious things like racism, intolerance, becoming busybodies, and improper pride.

In my area, you will see a huge neighborhood that was developed by people who bought a farm from someone (or the son of someone) that used to be part of a community. They raise hundreds of houses that look almost identical, on streets named after the farmer that sold the land. Different kinds of people move to these houses, but their lifestyle is essentially the same, because they all require a similar amount of income to maintain it.

All too often, people in these areas do not even know their neighbors. At least not enough to trust them with anything. However, many people do realize the importance of community. People make pretty good efforts at salvaging this sense of acting for the good of the group. There's block parties, helping the guy next door with his car, and stay-at-home moms doing their walks together. The thing that we are robbed of though, is an actual inter-dependance on each other. No one provides anything that other people can't obtain just about anywhere else. Also, people obtain these things with the money they made outside the community, which makes the point stronger.

Then there are these labeled "communities" that I mentioned at the outset. These groups that formed, did not result from location, or a dependence on other people's differences. These groups are generally formed around a single interest or viewpoint. There's the 'Gay community', 'Medical community', 'Black community', or 'Christian community'. You name an interest/political/cult viewpoint, you got a "community" of people that subscribe.

The interests that each of these groups serve are clearly their own. They could be tools to help strengthen the communities that each members of a given group belong. However, with no real 'community' to go home to, many people in these groups end up living in them as if they were a real community. Obviously, this isolates them, and their perspective, from the rest of the world. This is hardly a basis for developing a balanced individual for where he lives.

What to do then? The balance would be a group centered around an interest, that teaches their members to benefit the communities in which they live. If that group is united worldwide with no differences in teaching, it would have to be a result of a higher source. Can you join the group that is truly backed by God? I believe so, because this is the only way to a new society.