The Doppelgänger Of The Warm And Welcoming Community

The word "community" can be used by people with warm connotations, such as helping people come together, while they actually work against those connotations to harm members of the community considered to be outsiders.

Once the mainstream members of this type of community work together to misrepresent a member seen as an outsider, it becomes very hard for the outsider to find allies among people such as coworkers, and even those in supervisory positions who are supposed to try to fairly settle disputes can’t be relied on. 

Christians,

The word “community” is often used today with positive connotations.  These connotations include warmth, connection, and putting aside differences to come together.  However, the term can often falsely be used to evoke those positive connotations while creating an unfair and unpleasant environment for members not viewed favorably by the mainstream members of the community. 

Members of a community can regularly talk about community in an uplifting sense while purposely and jointly misrepresenting the truth to harm someone they don’t like who is considered an outsider in the community.  An example would be found in a workplace environment where mainstream members of the community start arguments with a Christian coworker and then tell her she is “forcing her religion” on a community that just wants to warmly connect with each other.  Other kinds of unfair practices that are hidden under positive connotations are also often a part of this type of community. 

This doppelgänger of the community that genuinely works to embody the positive connotations of a community can make it hard for the outsider to defend themself.  Once the mainstream members of this type of community work together to misrepresent a member seen as an outsider, it becomes very hard for the outsider to find allies among people such as coworkers, and even those in supervisory positions who are supposed to try to fairly settle disputes can’t be relied on.  The outsider can also become confused themself, wondering if they really are doing something wrong considering all the positive talk of community they are always hearing about. This is why it is important to understand that the word “community” can be used in the best of lights by a community that can work together in unfair ways to harm its own members.