I thought it was interesting that both articles looked at how the influence of religion could actually lead to the success of a community. I liked that they pointed out that the right amount of pressure would lead to success, but with too much pressure on a community, it would eventually lead to the failure of said community.
I particularly liked Kanter’s article, as that article mentioned Freud. It said that leaders were like fathers, and that some communities would even refer to their leaders as fathers, and that the community members were children.
That article also talked about slow periods of building, which I thought was particularly important. It mentioned that some communities started as groups, then moved to a slightly larger group, and then formed as a community and turned out successful. It was interesting in that it compared that success to communities that formed quickly and failed.
Out of both articles, I liked the idea that religious guidelines (like morality, perseverance, etc) with or without the presence of religion, will lead to the success of the community.
I think that’s something that Reece hinted at, especially with the Shakers, as they had a prolonged success. However, I like that the articles stated that was one of the chief reasons communities succeeded and/or failed, or succeeded and then failed.