Synanon vs. Shakers

In the New York Times magazine talks in depth about the history and the founder of Synanon Charles Dederich. Dederich is a reformed alcoholic. His organization which was a drug rehabilitation program won widespread acclaim and amassed great wealth before it became associated with violence. This commune lasted for several years even due to the violent acts and the unwillingness of people wanting to be their. Which was polar opposites then the Shakers with we learned in the first semester.  Throughout the year, I only recall one commune with a founder who was a female. The shakers; the shakers were the united society of Believers in  Christ’s second appearing. They were a religious group that fled to the American colonies in 1774 to escape persecution in England. Shaker life is centered on a number of core beliefs and values, including a belief in the second coming of Christ, communal living, celibacy, humility, simplicity, efficiency, hard work, and equality between the sexes. Behaving in accordance with these values is seen as the route to salvation. The leader of this group was Ann Lee.

Ann lee was a blacksmith daughter and a mill hand in Manchester. She wanted to create and look for a more emotional religion than the official church of England. Although Lee was the leader the religion she was not as active in the beginning as Dederich was with the Synanon community. Ann lee did not become part of it until a series of unfortunate events occurred. After the different unhappy events, Lee had a bigger vision and decided to lead her religion to America. They settled in New York City in 1774. The first years were difficult, the group persevered everything, they had little and sometimes no bread, butter or cheese during the spring and summer. There main food was food and rice and ,milk sometimes they went to the river to get fish. Which was very different from the start of Synanon. Although Synanon started of small they did not struggle as much as the shakers did in the beginning. Like Synanon the shakers lived in one communal settlement, “The first communal dwelling house at Watervliet, probably of logs, was built in 1779. It was soon replaced by a good-sized dwelling built in 1783; this was used until a larger one was built in 1816, when the original became the “second house” and was used as a kind of infirmary.” Although Shakers lived in their own communities in the form of large farms with multiple buildings and considerable acreage, did not vote, and were pacifists, they did not live totally outside mainstream society. In fact, Shakers were often the first in their region to use electricity and telephones, often owned cars, trucks, and tractors for community use, and today use televisions, computers, and other modern conveniences. Which was very different from the Synanon commune, Dederich would not allow people to socialize with the outside community unless it was necessary.

When it comes to the actual way people pray and worship, Synanon and The Shakers were very different. The shakers constantly prayed and worshiped god in a communal setting Synanon did not. Synanon was more of just a drug and alcohol rehab center, turned into a commune. They did not pray, it was more of just people there to get healthy. The only type of community engagement was The Game. Although The shakers, had no violence or “brainwashing” they did not last nearly as long as the synanon commune. “Although the Shakers have largely disappeared, the Shaker way of life remains part of the American scene, primarily through Shaker museums, restored Shaker communities open to tourists, Shaker manufactures such as chairs and oval boxes which command prices of over $100,000 in the antiquities market, and Shaker songs such as "The Gift to Be Simple."’ Although the shakers did not last nearly as long as Synanon, they had a lot of good values and beliefs that they brought to the religion.