The idea of the religious commune is very similar to the Book of Acts description of an early Christian community: Acts 4:32-37. We would likely define this today as a socialist society: all possessions held in common, etc. As a model Christian community, it obviously didn't last long. By the time of Paul, he was clearly writing to Christian communities that were not communal. With the exception, I suppose, of monasteries (which I don't think we're exactly speaking about) the model has come and gone and never lasted in any significant way for very long. The model is also easily abused. Jonestown was a type of commune, after all. The very fact that such communes don't seem to be able to sustain themselves long-term may point to a structural difficulty in the model, which might well stem from the disillusionment described by joejack2 when the people in the commune discover that, after all, the grass ain't greener.

Sorry Tabitha but could I ask you to clarify please?

Is there something you find offensive? Or are you simply suggesting using the reporting mechanism to get Admin's attention drawn to a thread he might find ionteresting or could comment on?

I certainly wouldn't find anything wrong with the latter.

Send to aaron

Perhaps the other example that comes to my mind is L'Arche communities ... they are quite remarkable, but likely a little different in their focus than you were meaning.

 A few years back when looking for a place to buy and live I did look into the idea of what can loosely be called intentional communities.  In this case with an eco somewhat back to the land bent.    There's a few around and more being created every year.  They did and still do have some appeal personally.  I don't have any interest in a commune style living arrangement because I know about the success rates and the negatives.  Just not my style.  

What I looked into were ones that were mostly based on private housing and mostly private lifestyle arrangements with the sharing part being some communal gardens and some communal animal husbandry arrangements. Also shared are basic infrastructure resources.  So for instance you would own your house and a bit of land but there would be shared fields and shared pasture.   I find this type of arrangement appealing because basically it mimics the 'family farm' type lifestyle while taking into consideration modern conditions and necessity.     For instance it's very difficult to support yourself with just farm income and a good many single families that do farm have some sort of off farm income now because it's necessary for survival.   Basically what this means is you have two jobs and a crap load of work.   I don't mind hard work but working 18 hours a day kinda takes away from some of the benefits of such a lifestyle.   When some of this sort of work is shared for mutual benefit of those sharing it helps.     Having animals pretty much ties you down and with animals forget about taking any days off.   Animals don't have weekends . :)     

  Do you want to take a holiday? Even just a long weekend?  Ha, forget about it, unless you have a nice neighbor who is capable of helping with the daily care.   This is especially a necessity if you have any animals that need to be milked.  While it is possible now to work out mutual care arrangements with a traditional neighbor arrangement, you do my place and I'll do yours it is a pain.  The being tied down factor is one of the main reasons that right now I only have chickens.  Would love to get a couple of milk goats, a few sheep and possibly a couple of pigs or cows to raise for meat.   Haven't taken the plunge though because once they're on site there is a big trade off in terms of restrictions vs benefit.     Living in a semi-communal arrangement with a bunch of people where the neighbor help arrangement is built in is appealing for this factor alone.    Heck it would be wonderful to have at least one day a week to take off from daily chicken chores.  :)    

 Then there is also the other types of help factors.  The communal barn raising is an example.   Help me build mine and help me build yours, even if it's just a garden shed.  Doable by one person but more quick and more fun with more people.   Of course with a good group of neighbors and friends this type of thing can still happen, especially if you provide beer and burgers but in a situation where people have chosen the same general lifestyle it's a lot easier to arrange.   

oh mrs. anteater - that's so interesting that you actually lived in a Catholic Workers Movement house ... I learned about them recently when actually trying to search out some supportive housing options for a client of mine ... sounded very interesting for sure.  Nice to hear it was such a positive experience for you. 

My late father-in-law did business with a Hutterite community near his place in Manitoba.  I visited there with him.  Alcoholism among the men was high. They used electricity in their barns, so the men stayed out in the barn and 'worked'.  I must admit their pig barns were odourless with the latest in air exchange technology.  They were allowed to use 'modern' devices in the barn.  The women were relegated to 'women's work' and having babies by the dozens.  One young man left the colony and, when he tried to return, had to crawl on his hands and knees in front of the entire community to the pastor's house every day for a week and beg for forgiveness.  I found that more than a little excessive and quite abusive.  Inbreeding among the population was a problem.  I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that the rumour of 'hiring' young college students for 'stud' purposes were just that; a rumour.  In any communal community, the possibility of abuse always exists and some people are more equal than others. 

My sister lives with her kids in a government subsidized co-op because she is currently on a fixed income.  She loves that there are always neighbours watching over the kidlets when they're playing outside, that she knows everyone who lives in the area, and that she has some responsibility on the gardening committee.  She never has to wait long when her fridge (or something else) needs repairs, because the man next door to her is on the maintenance committee.  That kind of communal living is perfect for her family; I'm so glad it exists.