Not Guilty Verdict in Ganas Community Shooting Case
I just received the news of the conclusion of a case I’d found disturbing before. Intentional Communities are highly peaceful places, overall. So the fact that this shooting happened jarred me when I first heard about it.
I have mixed feelings about the verdict; I don’t have all the facts myself and wasn’t on the jury, but I have an uneasy feeling that justice may not have been served.
Given the way New York Times reporter James Barron seems to have stereotypes/biases about “communes,” I wonder if the jury was fed inflammatory myths that may have hurt the case.
I was particularly miffed at the Barron’s lead about New York’s only “commune” and his comment that Ganas Community resists being called a “cult.” I’ll update this post later about the differences between Intentional Communities and cults. in the meantime, please read the article.
Barron also salaciously wrote about “wife swapping” at Ganas but made no attempt to confirm that with statements by members. And he made no attempt to write the actual mission of Ganas. But that wouldn’t have been as exciting..
I’m busy with fairs now but I’ll try to profile Ganas and their exciting work in group process later. In the meantime you can visit their site for yourself, ganas.org.
