Shadow gave me the idea about starting a topic on this interesting group of people so here it is.
this is a website about them -
http://www.nyhistory.com/central/oneida.htmnow i'll assume that i probably know more than most about this subject because i grew up in New York and we did a lot on them in high school. well maybe not a lot but more than other communities just like we did the Iroquois Indians more than any other group,
Just in case you don't want to read the above link here are some main points:
they where a free love community
they kinda took this to an extreme. you weren't allowed to me monogamous. in fact when they had two communities main communities, on in oneida, new york and the other in Wallingford, Connecticut, if you where found to be in a monogamous relationship you would be separated from the other person. also no sexual exploit was kept secret. if you participated in any sexual activity you where required to get up at the weekly meeting and speak of it.
their beliefs where based on communism
they where completely self sufficient
in fact Oneida silver originated from this group of people.
they lasted successfully from 1849 - 1879
here are a list of their beliefs:
(1) COMPLEX MARRIAGE - This is where every man and every woman is married to each other. They could engage in sexual intercourse, but could not be attached to each other as stated earlier.
(2) MALE CONTINENCE - This was a form of birth control where during and after sexual intercourse the man could not ejaculate.
(3) ASCENDING FELLOWSHIP - This is where the young virgins in the community were brought into the practice of Complex Marriage. The older godly members who were in a special group and were called Central Members would pick a virgin to be spiritually responsible for. This took place when the young people were about fourteen years old.
(4) MUTUAL CRITICISM - In Mutual Criticism, each member of the community that was being reprimanded was taken in front of either a committee or sometimes the whole community to be criticized for their action.
(5) CONFESSION - The members of the community, according to Noyes, were sinless after conversion, so no confession would be needed.
(6) REGENERATION - That Christ's death was not for the sins of man, but was the first blow to Satan. But that by believing in the death of Christ, one was released from sin, because Christ destroyed the central cause of sin. By believing then, one is regenerated (Whitworth 101-102).
(7) SEPARATION - The members did separate into a community, but their main separation was to be a sexual one.
(
cool REVELATION - Noyes never said that he received special revelation, though he did have some twisted interpretations. Noyes once wrote an article in "The Berean" and emphasized the credibility of scripture and denounced those who denied the validity and relevance of scripture.
(9) EQUALITY OF THE SEXES - The Oneida Community believed in equality of the sexes as stated earlier.
(10) MILLENNIAL KINGDOM - That the Millennial Kingdom had been introduced in A.D. 70 at which time Noyes thought Christ had made His Second Coming
so that ended up being kinda long but i guess thats ok.
so what do you think of this community? do you think another one like it would work? what do you think could be changed about it so that it would last longer? would you join a community?
any other information on other communities or this one is very welcome. i know there was another community in Ohio that Henry David Thoreau would visit but i don't know as much about it. so anything else would be greatly appreciated.
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