Relocating Faith

Is it problematic to have a city comprised of people with the same religious beliefs establishing a community and implementing policy based on those beliefs? A segment about a Jewish community in Dothan, Alabama confronts this question of church and state in a segment by Kathy Lohr for NPR's program All Things Considered on April 9 entitled "Alabama Community Tries to Draw Jewish Families."

The rural city of roughly 60,000 is home to many different religions, but the local Jewish synagogue has been recruiting Jewish families, offering the incentive of up to $50,000 for relocation after seeing several residents leave the area. The Jewish community developed in Dothan after Jewish peddlers came to the area and eventually settled in the early 20th century. Now, the synagogue hosts 54 families in its congregation. Since the 1970s, families and younger members of the community have been leaving Dothan to pursue better economic interests elsewhere and to find a "dynamic Jewish community."

At face value, the project would look as though the community wants to maximize its social capital; however, one of the prerequisites for becoming a contributing member is Judaism.

The relocation program involves interviews, background checks and requires that families stay at least five years to keep the full compensation. Because the relocation program seeks to not only bolster the Jewish community, but also to alter the demographics of the city, the situation could potentially alter the ways in which the town operates. In a region of the country where White Protestant Christianity has historically dominated the culture and influenced policy-making, a change in demographic specifically based on faith could challenge the perceived status-quo of the majority religion. The situation also addresses how a dominant religion can establish itself in the political realm when like-minded people come together and form a community.

The Mayor Pat Thomas claims that the relocation program seeks to add families to the community who will contribute to the overall social dynamic and that dynamic happens to also be a part of the Jewish faith.

"This is recruiting quality families who are going to add to this community, and that's the aim of the Jewish community and synagogue right now. That's also our aim as well."

If the program is successful, the town will provide an interesting look on how religion permeates through local politics and community programs. Christianity has enjoyed the success of influencing all levels of government in the United States for over 200 years, now, in an increasingly pluralistic religious society, let's see what another faith can do to establish itself in policy-making.