A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (movie)

The movie "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America" was a major inspiration for the idea of a CoAlpha Brotherhood.  You can watch it on Netflix or get it from Amazon.  What is unique about the Hasidic Jews is that they were able to reestablish their culture in America after their culture had almost been lost.  This shows that a few determined men can make a difference.  Their culture is highly co-alpha with strict monogamy and stable families.

I finally had the opportunity to watch this film. While I watched the film I made mental notes of what's applicable to CoAlpha Brotherhood. In the end I think the model is ideal but the historical means that Hasidics used to create their brotherhood would be problematic for us.

To start, it's truly inspiring that a few Hasidic leaders recreated their religion in America. You'd think after seeing six leaders recreate a religion, that it's possible for any small group to materialize. I think this is what fschmidt means by "This shows that a few determined men can make a difference."

However Hasidics had one key thing going for them that we don't. They recreated a religion which already existed, while we're starting from scratch. This alone separates our struggle from theirs by a million miles. The Hasidic leaders also already had a large following of conditioned members. For this reason, I think it will take longer for CoAlpha to build critical mass.

The second difference between Hasidics and CoAlphas is that they're a racially and religiously homogeneous group. Race plays a very big role in group cohesiveness. Groups that survive without racial homogeneity rely on religion instead. Hasidic Jews already have the most powerful cohesive factors going for them (race and religion). Since CoAlpha brotherhood is secular, we're at a disadvantage. fschmidt's Noahidism could serve as a surrogate for religious homogeneity and bridge some of this cohesiveness gap.

Lastly CoAlpha is a virtual brotherhood as opposed to Hasidics who all live in the same community in New York. I've never met Hasidic Jews, but I have met Jehovas Witnesses whom are also fairly strict. The benefits of an in-person brotherhood are enormous. My brother who's a Jehovahs Witness already has a ready made social network. This ready made social network means he doesn't need to associate with people outside his spectrum of values. He's given jobs by Jehovas Witnesses, his friends are all Jehovahs Witnesses and should he ever date there's some level of matchmaking already setup. I would of become a Jehovahs Witness save the fact that I'm an atheist and they employ some cult tactics, which I disagree with.

One part of Hasidic culture I took particular note of was the idea of a benevolent father figure to protect his children. The role of the father figure was filled by the Rabbis. To a certain extent I think all religion is the search for an almighty father figure who'll protect his children. This psychological comfort is one advantage religious folks have over secular folks. The secular version of a benevolent father figure seems to be placed in Soviet Union style big brother figures. I don't know how a secular person can truly find a spiritual father figure, seeing as this contradicts atheism.

Like I say, the end model is obviously good. The question is how do we get there? At higher stages of development, we'll be able to employ more resources. I thought the Hasidic school was a good idea. I especially liked how boys and girls were separated and how girls were taught to dress modestly from an early age with their school uniforms. However something like a school is pointless to consider now. The most relevant question now is what can we apply to a virtual brotherhood? I recall in one part of the documentary a specific "branch?" employed video conferences. This is something to consider.

I agree with most of what you wrote, so I only have a few minor points.

I think it is mistake to describe CoAlpha as secular.  We should be supportive of religion.  There is a spectrum in degree of religion, with atheists being at one extreme and Hasidic Jews and Jehovahs Witnesses being at the other extreme.  Most people fall in between.  CoAlpha must be able to appeal to these people.  The situation we have today is that science and liberalism are linked in a kind of package.  So groups that accept some science also accept some liberalism.  The extreme groups like Hasidic Jews that are free from liberalism are also free from science.  CoAlpha needs to break this link and show that science does not necessarily support liberalism and feminism.  This will allow moderately religious people who also accept some science to free themselves from liberalism.  Noahidism is a way to express support for religion without compromising atheists.  I believe that religion will grow in the future as society falls apart, so it is critical that we get some moderately religious members who can help us figure out how to appeal to this group.

Hasidic Jews don't all live in the same community in New York.  They are all over.  You can look for them in your area.  I assume the same is true of Jehovahs Witnesses.  That said, there is no doubt that it is preferable for members of a group to live near each other, and I hope that happens with CoAlphas.  We have no choice but to be virtual to start with, but if we grow, we should start thinking about how we can live near each other.

I talked to my 11 year old daughter yesterday and asked her what she most wants that she doesn't have on the internet, and her answer was video conferencing.  I think this can be done with skype but she just doesn't know how.  I will look into it.

I agree CoAlpha Brotherhood should support religious members. I think there's many religious folks who can benefit from being members of their church and also members of CoAlpha Brotherhood. Religion serves as a regulating factor for feminism and family values. However many churches have grown weak, so it wouldn't surprise me if religious folks would want to join CoAlpha Brotherhood for additional support.

However, the expression "don't reinvent the wheel" comes to mind when considering religious members. I don't see why people whom are religious and who can could already attain membership in well established religious groups would want to join a hybrid organization. I mean there's no reason for a Jehovas Witnesses or Hasidic Jews to join our group. The only religious folks I see joining us are individuals who lack a church to join already.

Part of the reason I've joined CoAlpha Brotherhood is because I see it governing body that fulfills the role of religion without being purely religious. I think there's a fairly large group of people like myself whom desire the benefits of religion, but are atheists. I say this because I think atheists whom desire religious benefits are going to be our largest demographic.

I am more familiar with Jews than other groups, so I will use this example.  Judaism comes in 3 levels; Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox.  This can be thought of as small, medium, and large doses of religion.  The Hasidics are Orthodox.  In America, the distribution is: 38% Reform, 33% Conservative, and 22% Orthodox.  The Orthodox have no need for CoAlpha, obviously.  But the Reform are similar to atheists in the sense that they believe in science and they are overwhelmingly liberal.  The only difference is that they believe on God.  But I don't see why their need for CoAlpha is any less than an Atheist's need.  I know a little about Mexican Catholicism from my wife.  The Catholic Church has given in to liberalism to keep its members.  When my wife was young, women who dressed immodestly wouldn't be allowed in church.  Now Catholic Churches in Mexico are filled with provocatively dressed women.  I don't know much about Christianity in America, but I assume there must be many liberal Christian Churches.  What should members of these churches do?

Reform Jews who reject liberalism can't find a solution in Orthodox Judaism because that would require a complete rejection of science.  I assume the same is true of non-hardcore Christians.  A reasonable place to draw the line is acceptance of evolution.  Reform and Conservative Jews generally accept evolution, while the Orthodox generally don't.  One could go through the various Christian denominations and classify them based on this.  I assume the Jehovahs Witnesses oppose evolution.  I also bet that all denominations that don't oppose evolution are basically liberal.  It is these Christian denominations that need CoAlpha.

Of course CoAlpha should go after atheists.  But the somewhat religious are a much larger group than atheists are, and I see no reason to exclude them.  So CoAlpha should be designed to appeal to both groups.