Thoughts on Shared Housing: Just how woke do we want to be?

I heard a rumour today that one of our members got their wrist slapped for being racist. I personally know both the slapper and the slappee and even the reporter. All three are lovely people and I know that the accused is probably as shocked to be called out as the caller-outer is to have to do it.

For me this raises a whole host of questions about what we stand for, what we allow, and what we deprecate. So, being somewhat opinionated I thought I might throw in my three-pennorth.

Should we let Muslims join our community? Obviously, yes!

The sinner, in this case, was heard to mention (as I later heard it) the words "Muslim" and "terrorist" if not exactly in the same sentence, at least close enough. That is bound to step on some people's toes, even if they're not Muslim.

This raises the question of whether we would want to let Muslims join our community ... and the answer, obviously, is yes, because to ban them would be racist, hurtful to them, and almost definitely illegal, not to mention losing us the the opportunity to widen our own horizons.

Personally I don't particularly hold with any religion (if I come across the question on a form I usually put "Taoist", but mostly because I know it will just confuse them). Actually, I'm Jewish by birth (my mother was Jewish) but was Christened as a baby (I'm still angry that they didn't ask me first) and have some very good friends who are Sikhs. I'm probably closer to being a secular Humanist with more than a touch of Huxley's "Perennial Philosophy" than anything else (I have a very good American friend who is a secular humanist who studies the Kabbalah). And there are any number of very orthodox Jews who are involved in the Three Principles community, which is important to me. They all enrich my life.

The word "fundamentalist" was raised at the same time as "terrorist" and I think it's a huge mistake to confuse these two terms. My orthodox Jewish friends could be described as Fundamentalist, as could the Amish in Pennsylvania, or any of the Christian brethren sects (we used to have a brethren family living next door: they were excellent neighbours--very quiet and thoughtful). But none of these are terrorists, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I find them all significantly less frightening than Vegans--but that's a story for later on.

In the USA statistics show that you're far more likely to come to harm at the hands of a Christian terrorist than a Muslim one, but the Christians would probably argue that the terrorists aren't really Christians. I'm not a student of the Quran but I think that the Prophet (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) wouldn't be happy with the activities of the terrorists, either.

In fact I would propose that if this next picture makes you smile, then you're welcome in our co-housing project, whatever your religion or philosophy, provided you're happy to let everyone else believe whatever they want.

What do we Tolerate?

Which raises the question of what we do tolerate and of what are we intolerant? Where do we stand on smoking, drugs, drunkenness, violence, dietary choices, religious observances, sexual choices, gender tolerances, strange haircuts?

Karl Popper, one of my favourite philosophers (how much of a name-dropper does that make me?) said:

If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them

Popper argues for the creation of a tolerant society, but not affording that tolerance to those who are themselves intolerant. And I think that that idea is all we really need. We needn't label anyone as a terrorist: we merely note whether any group to which we offer tolerance also offers that to others. If your Muslim family is happy to live amongst Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Humanists, or people who tick "none of the above" then you're welcome. If you feel the need to convert others, then we start to be suspicious. If you start to get at all pushy about that, then you're probably on your way out.

How about smoking, drunkenness, drugs, etc? Well, I think UK law pretty much takes care of that. You should be allowed to do what you want as long as it doesn't inconvenience others. Personally I don't smoke (I stopped in 1974) and really dislike smoking, but if you observe "No smoking in public spaces", including outdoor public spaces, then I guess what you do at home is no business of mine. And the same for drunkenness (which doesn't include a glass or two of wine or beer, or a gin and tonic at a community dinner). As for recreational drug use; well, I don't personally care what you do in your own home, but I'd be mightily pissed off if we were raided by the police. So definitely no dealing!

How about dietary choices? Well, I class myself as an Ethical Omnivore and of all the groups in the world of which I am intolerant (downright bigoted!) Vegans come top of my list. Never mind our community, I'd have them all rounded up and sent to St Helena!

But if I'm true to my Popperian philosophy I guess I'll just have to tolerate them--provided they respect my beliefs, too. No letting the chickens out of the hen run, or "liberating" the worms from the wormery!!