Faith- vs. Value-based Communities

In response to a series of videos my husband recently started on his Tywiggle channel talking about intentional communities, he & I started doing a video series together, entitled Ty and Carrie Talks.

Our first set of talks centered on Faith- vs. Value-based Communities, broken into several 15-20 minute segments. (A recap of the entire series is given at the end of this post.)

In the first video I shared what I found to be problematic in faith-based communities, considering our own personal experience over the years. Then I introduced what I thought to be a better foundation for a community: one that is based on shared values.

In the next video, we discussed the pros & cons of truth-based communities as we understood them, again, considering our own personal experience.

In my view, I don’t believe building an intentional community solely based on “truth” is enough, and I explain why in our discussion. That is why I chose the phrase “value-based” as opposed to “truth-based” in describing the kind of intentional community I would like to be a part of.

The Importance of Life & Free Will

In the third video, we discussed the values of life & freedom/free will, and I shared why I thought they were necessary to have & hold onto in any community.

And in the fourth video we discussed acknowledging the Creator’s Ways and living in accordance to them. We then began to address some contrasts between faith-based communities and the values raised in this video series.

Series Recap

The following is an overview of the values I hold & what they mean to me:

• Truth = Reality
• Life – Life on the earth is a precious gift (now, and for generations to come).
• Freedom / Free Will – We each have the authority & power to choose how to think, feel & act.
• The Creator’s Ways: Health – Food & medicine comes from the earth (organically produced and not genetically modified). The sun, moon & stars and non-toxic soil, air & water are all essential for life.
• The Creator’s Ways: Individual Sovereignty & Self-Governance – We have dominion over our own lives and a personal responsibility to rule ourselves.
• The Creator’s Ways: The Family Unit – We are able to reproduce after like kind. We are responsible for protecting, providing for, feeding, nurturing, teaching & training our own offspring. When properly cared for, the family could be a natural support group for an entire lifetime.
• The Creator’s Ways: The Local Community – We are not alone in this world. Typically there is a natural community of other people dwelling & operating in close proximity to us.

Problems I’ve Experienced in Faith-based Communities Concerning These Values

• Beliefs are taught as truth with core beliefs being unquestioned & unquestionable.
• Life after death trumps life on earth.
• Man’s freedom & free will are seen as sinful by nature, therefore man requires salvation and religious morality is legislated.
• Mainstream food & medical systems are embraced & supported for good health, with little to no attention paid towards non-toxic, non-GMO food & natural medicine.
• Man’s individual sovereignty & ability to self-govern is denied & the need for external government over him is taught & preached (with kings/elected officials and priests/pastors). A religious order is established & enforced in addition to maintaining the embrace & support of the mainstream’s established law & order, despite its opposition to Natural Law & the Creator’s established Order.
• Schooling systems are embraced & supported, typically breaking up the family unit over the long haul. Natural families get divided over faith & are often replaced by the faith-based community.
• The local community gets divided and to a degree hijacked as the faith-based community seeks to build its own community.
• Faith-based communities are exclusive in nature, oftentimes requiring a mask/muzzle to attend and/or participate (as it relates to contradicting the community’s statement of faith), and they are often self-serving.

Benefits I Believe May Exist in a Shared Values-based Community (of the values mentioned above)

• If everyone was interested in the truth as it relates to their daily life and sought to align themselves with it because they valued the truth, then I believe sharing what each has come to learn to be true (as it pertains to the community as a whole and as individuals within the community) would be allowed & even encouraged. And as a result, we could learn more than what we know & understand now and grow.
• If everyone valued life here on earth, understanding how precious it was, I think more attention, time & energy would be spent (& invested) in protecting, embracing, improving & preserving it to benefit the community as a whole, as well as individuals within the community, both now and for generations to come. And as a result, this world could be an increasingly better place.
• If freedom/free will were valued by all and people were more accepting of one another as is, I think people would be more genuine in their expression of themselves. And as result, we’d experience deeper human connections.
• If the Creator’s ways as it pertains to health were valued, people would strive to live a more natural lifestyle, and the community as a whole would be healthier as a result — and richer, not needing to spend money to pay for medical intervention.
• If the Creator’s ways as it pertains to individual sovereignty & self-governance were valued, I think more people would take better care & control of their personal lives & situations. And as a result, people would likely be happier, both on an individual level and as a corporate body.
• If the Creator’s ways as it pertains to the family unit were valued, I think more families would develop stronger ties to one another and stick together over the long haul. And as a result, individual members would be more self-secure and the family as a whole would grow richer & stronger as each member grew in stature & wisdom.
• If the Creator’s ways as it pertains to the local community were valued, I think more community members would develop stronger ties to one another and stick together over the long haul. And as a result, individual members, whole households and the community as a whole would all grow richer & stronger and the local community would be a force to be reckoned with.

Tell Me What You Think

How does this sound to you? Please feel free to share your comments below.