I think the Christian examples you cite are very different creatures from socialism in modern Britain or almost anywhere else. The first form was not really socialism, it was just voluntary sharing. Both were quickly ended before any rot could have formed anyway, so who knows what might have happened?
I certainly agree with you that they were very different from any other that I know of (except for some hippie, christian communes (yes, Christian and hippie commune are not mutually exclusive - that I know of from the 70's and 80's) communities, certainly they were quite different from contemporary British society, but they
were socialist, economically at least. The "rot" was of financial incentives not working in relation to human nature, but morally speaking I think both groups were quite advanced by today's value comparisons.
As an example, I spent several days living with a decidedly wierd, but genuine and devout bunch of socialist Christians in Island Pond, Vermont, back in the mid 80's'.
From Wikipedia
The Twelve Tribes (New religious movement)
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For other uses of "The Twelve Tribes" see The Twelve Tribes (disambiguation)
The Twelve Tribes is a federation of self-governing religious communities founded by Elbert Eugene Spriggs (now known as Yoneq) that sprung out of the Jesus Movement in the early 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. [1] The group has also gone by the names The Church in Island Pond and The Commonwealth of Israel.
Origins
The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can be traced to small meetings held in the home of Elbert Eugene Spriggs and his wife Marsha in the early 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1972, the Spriggs began a ministry for teenagers called the "Light Brigade." Around this time, members of the "Light Brigade" began to live communally and supported their lifestyle by operating a coffeeshop. Until this time, Spriggs' group had not been a separate denomination, instead affiliating itself with several different local churches and denominations. However, this changed after Spriggs allegedly went to church one Sunday only to find the service delayed due to the Super Bowl.[2] Spriggs then formed his own church, called the "Vine Community Church", and started a chain of restaurants around the Southern United States called "Yellow Deli," designed to create revenue for the group and for evangelist purposes. During this period, the church came under attack by mainstream Christian groups and anti-cult groups. Around the time the climate turned negative in the South, Spriggs was invited to be pastor to a group of disaffected Christians in Vermont.[3] Spriggs and his followers therefore moved their base of operations to Island Pond, Vermont in 1977 calling themselves The Northeast Kingdom Community Church, where they continued to be criticized for some of their beliefs and practices.[4] However, the group continued to grow during the 1980s and 1990s, opening branches in several different countries, including France, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. (See [5] for an address list of Twelve Tribes' communities.)
Beliefs and practices
According to a statement from their website[6], the group seeks to live according to the primitive pattern of the early church described in Acts 2:38-42 and Acts 4:32-37. Claiming to follow the teachings of Jesus (whom they call by his Hebrew name Yahshua), they believe that all disciples must renounce all possessions and independent lives in order to truly call him their Master and Lord. They aspire, "to live moral lives in the midst of a very immoral society."
According to a 1998 article by the religious scholar Dr. Susan J. Palmer, who stayed in the community, members give themselves Hebrew names and their beliefs are closely related to Christian fundamentalism. [7] Group members live communally, sharing all assets and income in common. They consider themselves the only true church since apostolic times.
The group believes that humans are living in the end times, and that a faithful and pure church must be restored before Christ returns. They claim their main tenets to be forgiveness, love, purity, and obedience to the Christ's teachings. Members have run a variety of restaurants and restaurant-related businesses. The group estimates its current membership to be around 2500.
Controversies
The group garnered controversies in the 1980s. The anti-cult movement and ex-Twelves Tribes members are some of the most vocal critics of the group's practices. Bob Pardon, an anti-cult advisor, warns that the "Messianic Communities, under the leadership of Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism."[8] The group responds that they are a "simple people who live on Main Street USA" and that "all members can leave at any time, but choose to remain daily..."
