Do the members of a community have a right to decide who shall be members of their community?

What kind of community are you talking about? The small town I live in was a community and it didn't have the right to select members. On the other hand, I suppose the gay community or the black community would.

I saw the query on another forum and I wondered just how far people would see it as going. Obviously Nations practice discrimination via immgration laws and it is recognized as a right that they have, but could States, cities and towns within a nation claim the same right?

The Federal Govt has given itself an exemption from the Anti- Discrimination Act in regard to migration issues. I don't think that a state govt has the power to do the same, as federal law overrides state law. Similarly local councils would not have the authority to do so.

We had a senate inquiry into the discriminatory power of the immigration dept, bought about partly by the Moeller case
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008 ... 430836.htm
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/m ... /index.htm

Well, I guess there are two types of community to take into consideration - communities that enforce some sort of order or morality, and those that do not. The nation of Australia, for example, has a specific set of laws which the government enforces via the police, etc., and so it is pretty logical to reject someone from this community if they express a wish to join but break the law (either rejection, or maybe get locked up straight away, I don't know).

A community that does not have enforceable laws probably has no logical reason to reject someone, because the culture and value of the community are defined by the people in the community, so if a person joined, the community would have those persons values as well (including any value-conflicts from people who hold different views).

I suppose this is because enforceable law must be relatively static, but community values are a reflection of the community and are therefore as dynamic as the community.

We do however have communities, below Local Government level which do practice discrimination. There are parts of cities that practice financial discrimination and one cannot buy in there without the necessary dosh and if you aren't wanted then they will up the counter offers to the point where you can't afford to buy.
Then there are the Communes that practice the same sort of discrimination but in a lower value range and others where the vote of but one member, and that without any reason being given, can stop a person who has the cash from buying in.

I don't know what this "up the offer" situation is, as I've never seen it. Any examples to help me out?

There is much discrimination by finance, but, the theory goes, anyone can get a job that earns them money. We all know this is not true, partly because there are socio-economic obstacles for some people in getting particular types of jobs, and also because not all jobs pay the same wages so someone will be paid less and not be able to afford anything. You could address this type of discrimination, but it is more about addressing the logic and workings of the economic system than it is about actual discrimination. This sort of discrimination is not discrimination by others based upon a salient feature, especially not a salient feature that has no effect on the discriminator. Instead, this type of discrimination is all about the effect on the discriminator - the discriminator would not get their payment, for example. So they are similar in a way, but also very different, and are solved in very different ways.



Yeah, this is true. There are communities that can select their members because the community is structured as a formal institution. As always, I think it should not be the case that race, sexual orientation or identity, marital or family status, or religious views should stop someone entered such a community (as also with employment), but they probably exist.

I get to choose my friends, but I don't really get to choose my community. I do, however, get to choose who and how I interact with people in my community, and I think that is the best way to do it.