Community

Community

When community comes to mind, it reminds me of my own residence of living which encompasses the people, the parks, the REC centers and so on. But if the deeper meaning of community is searched, it seems to be more specific than just theses things.

For example, there are communities that separate themselves from the rest of society and are distinguished by certain characteristics of mannerisms. Some of these groups could be considered cults, certain ethnic groups, religious groups or even the “class” that one belongs to. A college could even be considered as a form of community from a certain aspect. These are the things that separate us as humans from each other.

An ethnic group is probably one of the easiest to distinguish from other community groups because of their derived mannerisms within that culture. One example is the Arabic community that lives in Dearborn. They all seem to migrate their because that’s where their ethnic background mostly accumulates and they view that as living within their community setting with people of similar religious beliefs, morals, values , etc. It makes one feel comfortable in that society opposed to putting one family from a different ethnic background in the middle of a society filled with people they don’t really know anything about or cultural background. A quote from Kai Eriksons “ Collective Trauma: Loss of Communality” suggests that “ a community of the sort we are talking about here derives from and depends on an almost perfect democracy of spirit, where people are not only assumed to be equal in status but virtually identical in temperament and outlook.“ To feel

displaced as a human being in the society that one lives in takes away the joy and happiness that someone could experience if he or she could feel free in the way they choose to live.

Another example is religion. Religion in itself is considered a community simply because of the fact that people congregate together with a certain belief system and they practice or show that belief through religion. Each religious group has activities, picnics, bake sales, etc., and do these things to either draw others into their community or to simply enjoy themselves in an area where they feel comfortable being with others of similar feelings or thoughts. Either way, some people feel a need to be involved with a religious community group in the same way that others like to be involved in a gambling group. It’s the way that it makes people feel and how they