The Oneida Perfectionists lasted only 33 years before splintering.

Evidence

As a typical case of high expectations but disappointing cultural resilience, consider the Perfectionists of Oneida, New York. The Perfectionists believed that Jesus Christ had already returned in the first century CE, which made it possible to enjoy God’s Kingdom here on Earth. They practiced complex marriage, such that every adult man was married to every adult woman. Postmenopausal women introduced young men to the pleasures of sex. However, such hedonism was tempered by the practice of mutual criticism, in which every member of the community was regularly subjected to public criticism by a committee, or sometimes by the entire community. The commune lasted about 33 years, splintering soon after its leader, John Humphrey Noyes, unsuccessfully attempted to pass on the leadership of the commune to his son. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 28

Categorization

• CANDY: The Oneida case is a great conversation piece: a utopian sexual commune whose silverware company still survives.