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If I could find a structured community of dedicated people who just want to have community and connection I would join. But I don’t want to have to commit to an

If I could find a structured community of dedicated people who just want to have community and connection I would join. But I don’t want to have to commit to any of the crazy stuff religions tend to want you to believe.

ngngngng 7y ago
No doubt, but without the "crazy stuff" there isn't enough of a reason for people to commit to building communities like this. That crazy stuff makes introverted, socially anxious me shoot off a text to some random neighbor 20 years older than myself every couple weeks to make sure he's doing alright and see if he needs anything, and invite my other neighbor over to dinner, whom I probably never would have said hello to otherwise.
- tomlockwood 7y ago
  You know, if anything coffee makes me more likely to shoot random texts to people, though.
- lawn 7y ago
  Why does the "crazy stuff" have to be religion? Couldn't it work just as well surrounding boardgames, sports or knitting? I think the center issue is having something in common, which binds people together.
  - crowbahr 7y ago
    Generally the ministering groups are doing it because they feel it's required of them by God. Once they get over that initial little hump it becomes friendly instead of just mandatory, but it takes that push. How often do you make friends with complete strangers with whom you have nothing in common (that you know)?
- sharkmerry 7y ago
  Just to clarify as Im not sure i follow. Would you not be doing this if you weren't religious?
rexpop 7y ago
Literally _this_ is sufficient, I think. Yeah, the Mormon in the other thread (hi) seems to be suggest that their supernatural belief system is integral to their social system, and that's a hard claim to disprove--the LDS church is possibly the densest store of social capital on the planet. That being said, I believe there are other belief systems capable of inspiring these connections, overcoming them. There have to be, since they're all based in the nervous system. And, of course, if you're a Mormon, none of the "crazy stuff" is, ontologically speaking, supernatural. It's part of nature. What does "a structure community" look like? I mean, how would you recognize one when you saw it.

ngngngng 7y ago

No doubt, but without the "crazy stuff" there isn't enough of a reason for people to commit to building communities like this. That crazy stuff makes introverted, socially anxious me shoot off a text to some random neighbor 20 years older than myself every couple weeks to make sure he's doing alright and see if he needs anything, and invite my other neighbor over to dinner, whom I probably never would have said hello to otherwise.

tomlockwood 7y ago
You know, if anything coffee makes me more likely to shoot random texts to people, though.
lawn 7y ago
Why does the "crazy stuff" have to be religion? Couldn't it work just as well surrounding boardgames, sports or knitting? I think the center issue is having something in common, which binds people together.
- crowbahr 7y ago
  Generally the ministering groups are doing it because they feel it's required of them by God. Once they get over that initial little hump it becomes friendly instead of just mandatory, but it takes that push. How often do you make friends with complete strangers with whom you have nothing in common (that you know)?
sharkmerry 7y ago
Just to clarify as Im not sure i follow. Would you not be doing this if you weren't religious?

rexpop 7y ago

Literally _this_ is sufficient, I think. Yeah, the Mormon in the other thread (hi) seems to be suggest that their supernatural belief system is integral to their social system, and that's a hard claim to disprove--the LDS church is possibly the densest store of social capital on the planet. That being said, I believe there are other belief systems capable of inspiring these connections, overcoming them. There have to be, since they're all based in the nervous system. And, of course, if you're a Mormon, none of the "crazy stuff" is, ontologically speaking, supernatural. It's part of nature. What does "a structure community" look like? I mean, how would you recognize one when you saw it.