MaxSpeer said:
Well....great events sometimes begin with crazy, little ideas. What if I really COULD make it so. Would you REALLY be game to join?
(Sorry, Max. We were up with my mom. So, I just saw this.)
Personally... In all honesty, I couldn't give you a firm answer without knowing more. The basic idea sounds cool and would be something I'm interested in. If it was something that didn't contradict my beliefs, I'd definately be game. (While some of this would be cool, I'm not sure if everything would be.) Being realistic, I don't think we (Drew and I) are in a position to do something that would involve moving elsewhere. But, if we're talking about different levels of involvement where we'd gather at specific times and not be having to all be in one place all the time, I can see it working. I suspect this would be the same for others as well.
If this is something that people are truly interested in persuing, I think you would need to define things very clearly....beliefs, practices, structure, lifestyle, etc. That way people would be coming in knowing exactly what to expect and you could avoid the nastiness that comes with shattered illusions, etc. I also think that you'd probably want to start out with a core group of folks who are 100% in agreement with what you want to do so you can have a stable foundation to build on. While having a seperate town like Kittletown is a fun idea, I don't know if we could pull it off in reality. But, given time and a good foundation, who knows? It isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.
I think, as a group, we could come up with something workable. If we're looking at one person setting everything up, I think there'd be more chance of dissention. For example, there are some who've responded here who seem to be more interested in targetting things as a way to gratify themselves. This leaves the subject as a tool for that rather than as an equal who simply has a different role. What of the minister meeting the needs of the member of the congregation? If we're talking a true spirituality here, I wouldn't consider things being one-sided as a valid thing...at least not for me. So, there are already things that would need to be looked at as far as how well they'd be received and the practicality of living them.
Definately something to explore and define further, though. I'd still be willing to be involved in discussion and defining of this, even if it ended up being something I couldn't personally see myself joining. It's often by defining what we don't want that we find what we DO want.
Ann