Tonight PBS shows the first episode of Colonial House, a documentary about people who agree to live for several months on the coast of Maine in the manner of 1628, but with cameras present. (Bob's Red Mill, of Milwaukie, was the lead corporate sponsor and provided the flour and grains.) The colonists follow an adaptation of 17th century colonial rules, including mandatory Sunday church attendance.
Saturday I previewed the first four episodes. In one of them, one family skips church on Sunday to go skinny-dipping. The next week other colonists skip church. The minister says that the Sunday church meeting is an important part of holding the community together, not so much for the religious purpose but because the community physically gets together only for church.
Tomorrow is Election Day. It's certainly more efficient for us to vote by mail, and voting by mail means that candidates can't effectively use Election Eve smear tactics. But I miss going to the polls because it was an act of community, and nothing's come along to replace it.