Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: The last word?

[David L. Mandel (75407.2361]

Buzz just wrote:

>Many people, prompted by the now-famous Closing Ceremony at the
>Conference, expressed that they would not like to see this sort of thing in
>Cohousing.  Other people stated spirituality was fine with them, or that
>whatever your world view is, is your "religion", so it would always be present.

>The Crux of the matter to me:  In many postings I read from the former group,
>instead of speaking to what they themselves desired in cohousing, they spoke to
>what cohousing should be for everybody else.  "Cohousing should be...",
>"Cohousing should not be..." etc.


Maybe if I make this really short it will be clearer:

In saying the Boulder closing ceremony was inappropriate, I -- and I think
others -- are NOT saying that individual cohousers should not practice religion
or that cohousing communities should not have public opportunities for spiritual
expression. Personally, I wouldn't mind if a particular cohousing community
formed around a particular religion, if that's what a group wants. And I'll even
go so far as to say that I wouldn't have minded at all seeing a workshop at the
conference at which those interested could have discussed and even practiced
some spirituality.

The point was that a *closing ceremony* is clearly intended by definition to be
an inclusive, unifying event. And it was wrong to assume in planning it that
this type of spiritual expression -- or any sort of religious content -- would
be acceptable to all or even most participants in a *movement* as diverse as
ours. 

Religion is a hot button in our society precisely for the same reason:
diversity. That's why separation of religion from civil society is such a
bottom-line principle for what's left of our democracy. Freedom of religion can
flourish only if there is also freedom *from* religion. 

I welcome religious people in my cohousing community and am happy to be invited
to expand my horizons by sharing in their rituals when the time and place feel
right for me. All atheists would be boring. But I would fight like hell against
the *establishment* of religion in my community or especially in the cohousing
movement. 

That's what this debate is about. The closing ritual was an official function of
the cohousing movement. Religion had no place in it.

Thanks again for listening. Let's try to move on.