The Medium of Grace: Mutual Criticism in the Oneida Community

AMID THE NINETEENTH century's tumultuous developments in politics, religion, the economy, and the family, many reformers attempted to change the pattern of the world in which they lived.One such social architect, John Humphrey Noyes, established a religious commune at Oneida Creek, in upstate New York, in 1848.Noyes reacted to the selfishness he saw as embodied in the boom of nineteenth-century American capitalism with a plan for complete communism of property.He also viewed conventional marriage as a form of ownership.Through Complex Marriage, he attempted to replace the traditional patriarchal family structure with an extended family model in which all men, women, and children shared the same concept of union and collective responsibility.The commitment to spiritual improvement bound men and women together in search of perfection.Individuals grew spiritually through participation in the system of Mutual Criticism.A close examination of community publications and private writings reveals the importance of Mutual Criticism in members' lives.Mutual Criticism enforced Oneida's communal definitions of love and family and outlined a new relationship between the sexes.Mutual Criticism fulfilled several vital roles in the Oneida Community.Oneida had no laws or constitution.The community relied on Mutual Criticism to discipline those who strayed from the accepted pattern of behavior and to reincorporate them into community life.In addition to being the most important community institution, designed to protect and advance spiritual development, Mutual Criticism offered access to the fruits of Perfectionism to men and women.More than any other system at Oneida, Mutual Criticism fulfilled Noyes's promise to forge a new spirit of cooperation between the sexes in the service of God.1.