LITR 5439 Literary &
Historical Utopias
Research Posting 2009
Amy Sidle
Research Posting 1
The Oneida Community: Group Dynamics of Utopian Living
I have always been intrigued by group dynamics. The Oneida Community, though utopian in vision, is no different and is subject to the rudimentary conventions of group dynamics. How does a variety of individuals grow to believe in a common ideal, and greater still, how do they shield their common ideal and new community from implosion? History certainly has provided a cornucopia of religious sects and cults as well as modern euphoric living communities, but Oneida is praised for being the best utopian society created and sustained. Though only in existence for 33 years, how did creator John H. Noyes influence his followers and maintain an overall peaceful and sinless community? Besides Oneida Ltd’s flatware, I have no prior knowledge of their existence, and I am curious to uncover how such a community could exist with all the diabolical pressure in the world around them.
First, in order to fully understand the Oneida way of life, I must examine the foundation of their beliefs: John H. Noyes. Born in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1811, Noyes “was not yet twenty-one when he voiced heretical doctrines” (Bernstein 157); he “began to advocate the doctrine of perfection in the Seminary and among [his] acquaintances” by asking, “If we preach to sinners their ability to repent and the obligation of immediate submission to God, why ought we not to lay to heart our ability to be perfectly holy and the obligation of immediate conformity to the whole demand of the law?” (Noyes 101). Noyes’ new sole purpose was his conviction and conversion to Perfectionism, and so his mission began to convert others. One of his focuses was on sin and the confession of sin; he notes:
The antithesis of covering sin is confessing and forsaking sin. Mere confession is not enough. If men do not forsake their sins, they cover them, however much they may confess them. In fact confession of sin in the common way, that is without forsaking it, is the most ingenious and satisfactory way of covering it. When a man’s sins lie before him in all their hatefulness, what better way can he take to cover them than to spread a neat white confession over them? … The thought…was like a barbed arrow in my heart. Every time I handled it, it entered deeper. It brought me into an agony of conviction, from which I knew there was no escape except by the abandonment once for all of the whole body of sin (Noyes 101-2).
And with no sin left in his soul, he believed it to be “the state of saints in heaven” and thought “that it is attainable on earth,” and so he set out to create his kingdom of heaven in the ‘Promised Land’ of Oneida, New York (Noyes 103).
Officially established in 1848, the Oneida community began with 78 members and grew modestly each year eventually reaching 306 members in 1878. The fundamental ideals of Oneida were based on Noyes’ belief in Perfectionism, which brought with it equality, “complex marriage,” and “mutual criticism” (Hillebrand). Oneida practiced “equality of the sexes” long before women’s suffrage, with women serving on committees and sharing in all activities. With such equality, the Oneida community adopted “complex marriage” stating that “every man was married to every woman and vice versa” (Hillebrand). Cohabitation was limited, and “no two people could have exclusive attachment with each other because” they insist that the heart should be kept free to love all the true and worthy, and should never be contracted with exclusiveness or idolatry, or purely selfish love in any form” with consequences of being separated for a certain length of time (Hillebrand; Syracuse). The community “had great aim to teach every one self-control. This leads to the greatest happiness in love, and the greatest good to all.” Thus, “sexual freedom…is subject to the general restriction of the doctrine ‘male continence,’” i.e. during a couple’s sexual intercourse the male would not ejaculate during intercourse or after withdrawal. Male continence was practiced to prevent unwanted pregnancies; however, if a pregnancy was wanted, in hopes of “achieving desired perfection among the species,” a committee would decide the best genetics and highest spiritual beliefs of certain individuals in order to create “the most spiritual offspring”, one of the first forms of eugenics, called Stirpiculture (Syracuse; Wikipedia).
Though they adopted the Bible as their source of spiritual guidance, with the elimination of sin and the need for confession, the community implemented a way of expressing concerns for individuals and/or their actions through “mutual criticism.” To insure conformity to Noyes’ morality, “a member, under communal control, was subjected to criticisms of either a committee or the whole community. The criticisms were usually directed toward the member's bad traits (those thoughts or acts that detracted from family unity), and an individual could be put through a shameful, humiliating experience” (Hillebrand). Ironically, Noyes never allowed himself to be criticized, he claimed “a group should not criticized their leader” (Hillebrand).
The Oneida community functioned like any other. They established a set of ideals and made sure their beliefs were followed by the community; though basic in foundation, their group dynamics are fascinating due to the utopian nature of their ideals. However, they were progressive in thought, bringing to light birth control, eugenics and “free love”. The Oneida community does show that such societies need to remain smaller in size, to maintain their own space, to limit their interaction with the outside world in order to function and to sustain their ideals. All members must believe in the adopted principles for the greater good, for it only takes one rebellious member to establish doubt and an untimely downfall of their idyllic whole.
Works Cited
Berstein, Leonard. “The Ideals of John Humphrey Noyes, Perfectionist.” American Quarterly. JSTOR. Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer, 1953). pp. 157-65. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3031316
Hillebrand, Randall. The Oneida Community. 19 June 2009. http://www.nyhistory.com/central/oneida.htm
Noyes, John H. Religious Experience of John Humphrey Noyes. 1923. 19 June 2009.
http://books.google.com/books?id=HBdmK5N5hp8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0
Syracuse University Library. The Handbook of the Oneida Community. 1867. 19 June 2009.
http://library.syr.edu/digital/collections/h/Hand-bookOfTheOneidaCommunity/
Wikipedia. Oneida Stirpiculture. 19 June 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneida_stirpiculture
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