Modern day religions (and by this I am talking Sikhism and the Bahai Faith, as those are the two most modern ones I'm familiar with) provide opportunity to apply community building principles to the generality of a population.
Everyone is welcome to apply these principles to their individual, family, neighbourhood and community lives (not just Sikhs or Baha'is) and these principles are freely shared liberally with all.
Connecting with those outside the immediate Sikh and Bahai communities is a foundational principle of these Faiths. There is as little "otherness" as possible.
Because these principles are shared so freely, (and through the Bahai Faith, the principles are shared naturally through a central desire to have as many genuine friendships as possible within your neighbourhood) it impacts on the lives of others.
In our neighbourhood in Perth, our local community Bahai team have knocked on over 1000 doors over the past year or two. A multitude of genuine friendships have resulted. Through these natural friendships, a lot is learnt about the challenges faced by community members here......a sense of isolation, financial hardships, family breakdowns, are amongst these challenges.
As a result, the Bahai community hood gatherings connecting these people with others, one of which was a community Christmas lunch held where all these new friends who feel isolated, alone, unable to buy gifts for their children were invited.
Because the Bahai team are also sharing these realities and challenges with other more affluent friends in the neighbourhood, there has been a fountain of generosity observed. Affluent people buying gifts, offering support and resources to these community members who are not having the best Christmas period.
As a result, the resources within our neighbourhood are starting to be thought of as a shared commodity. It's only early stages, but this Christmas has shown that those who are wealthy would be willing to support their neighbours if they were given an opportunity.
The Bahai principles which has helped connect these new local friends has been instrumental to this process.
This is just one example, connecting people, nurturing understanding, enabling generosity, and more equitable distribution of resources, and all in a spirit of joy.
There are so many more examples of processes occurring in our neighbourhood, which will all be shared at these conferences.
Kam
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