Small but vibrant: Baha'Is in Korea. Baha’is, Superstitionism and the Iranian Identity (Part 2) - Ira. Wait a Momen: Part 1. A change is happening in the Baha’i world. Moojan Momen says it’s a necessary, right, and good change of culture. Or, rather, he says the Universal House of Justice says it’s a change of culture, and Moojan Momen confirms this is so. He says a bunch of other stuff too; you can read Momen’s essay “A Change of Culture” here.
But what has me up off my couch of heedlessness to call across the Atlantic, “Momen, honey, please think again,” is this: Clearly, the Universal House of Justice considers that the Bahá’í community is still tainted by certain characteristics that it considers should not be part of the Bahá’í Faith and that it is these characteristics that are holding back the progress of the Faith. These unwanted traits include the passivity implied by the words “member of a congregation.” How’s that for a quick smackdown of the Christian laity? Is there passivity in Christendom, an over-reliance on clergy?
And what of Baha’is? Baha'i rift: Baha'is upset with Orthodox Baha'i F. May 18, 2009|By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter Every religion has been riven by struggles over authority and authenticity. Buddhism began when a maverick Hindu prince inspired disciples to embrace asceticism. Judaism has sprouted branches from ultra-orthodox to ultra-liberal, even Jews for Jesus. Christianity went through numerous profound splits, including the Protestant Reformation sparked in the 16th Century by Martin Luther in Germany and the 19th Century Mormon movement led by Joseph Smith in the U.S. Now the Baha'i Faith, the organization representing the most recent sect to spring from Islam, is struggling to defend its identity in federal court in Chicago, where North American Baha'is have been based ever since believers came to the U.S. about 90 years ago.
In the hands of the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the case could set a precedent for settling religious schisms, doctrinal disputes and claims to truth. "We're the true faith. The differences between Baha’i and my Judiasm « Sotah. If Infallible, Why Do We Need to Elect the UHJ? at Baha’i Rants. You know, I’m really blessed to have such amazing participants here. Although I may not agree with everyone, I’m thankful that each one of you is here, contributing your thoughts and asking some fascinating questions. Once in a while, a question or comment is so thought provoking that it merits more than a simple reply from me but an attempt, no matter how feeble, to give it the exposition it deserves.
So for that purpose (as well as to give it a relevant thread of its own, as the original blog post was on another subject), here is the featured question… “Curious” asked: My first question is why is there a need to go through an election for UHJ members if the complete Baha’i congregation is not suppose to question the UHJ decisions? After receiving a non-answer, Curious tried again: I understand the UHJ members get old and tired and resign. Before I try to answer this question, let me say that the Baha’i community is starved today for such thinking and such questioning. For Pete’s sake! Entry by troops (time to be announced) « Sen M. It has been my experience that Bahais often become discouraged as a result of having unrealistic expectations of what is called entry by troops (EBT) and large scale conversion.
I would like to look again at what the Bahai scriptures say about this, and at how Shoghi Effendi conceived the historical process of growth. The little that the scriptures say suggests to me that its importance has been over-rated, and that the time-frame of entry by troops, its nature, and how the Bahais can bring it about have all been misunderstood. From my reading of the world and of the scriptures, I suggest that we should not now be greatly preoccupied with entry by troops or large scale conversion: a concern with the needs of the age we live in, and the needs of our Bahai communities today, will indicate healthier, locally-specific priorities which – ironically – will be more conducive to actual ‘growth’ in every sense.
We will start by briefly looking back over the last two generations. High hopes. Is Baha'i a religion or a political organization? Is Baha'i a religion or a political organization? I often wondered why many of my Jewish friends tended to dismiss me when I would favor the attitude of the Palestinians over the Israelis, especially when I get the "you’ve never been persecuted" look, or comment. Then I read this article which reminded me of my upbringing in the Baha'i Faith, and how Baha’is have been persecuted, ever since the religion came into existence. Putting that aside, for the moment, let me just say that I have never been comfortable with the hard line Israeli attitude since the 1967 war, nor with how they took land that was not theirs, and displaced a great many Palestinians in the process.
I understand the level of persecution and aggression directed towards Israel since it was granted statehood in the 1940's, but there has to be a solution that resolves the issue of the land that was taken, and Israel has conceded that it will never give back the land it took from the Palestinians. Thinking out silent. - The Bahá'í Faith on Homosexuality. 02:30 am - The Bahá'í Faith on Homosexuality The Bahá'í Faith is a beautiful religion in many ways.
For example, it advocates the harmony of humanity irrespective of race, gender, or country. It also teaches that religions should reconcile their differences and seek agreement. In fact, there is much to praise about the Faith. It so engenders the beautiful and open-minded philosophy of the Enlightenment that I could easily go on at length about all its good aspects... But my point here is to raise Bahá'í's awareness of their laws, and create some accountability. In one way that demands my attention, the Bahá'í Faith is... less beautiful. In fact, Bahá'ís are not just insulating the homophobia of other people from criticism... What's amazing, though, is that many people (Bahá'ís included) are not even aware of what the Bahá'í Faith says about homosexuality. Before getting to the scripture, however, I'd like to make two points. There is a wide range of sexual abnormalities. Let's continue... Can Baha'is be free thinking?
Last year Mavaddat Javid posted a couple responses to some ideas I shared on this blog, and he had some of his readers leave interesting comments related to his posts. I posted a response to his idea that it’s intellectually dishonest to believe that the Baha’i Faith asks believers to exercise their judgement and pick and choose on how they apply the Baha’i teachings in their lives. I think it’s okay. It was clear (to Mavaddat) that the Baha’i Faith demands that believers not pick and choose among the laws and teachings. I agree that Baha’u’llah dismissed the idea that some people are above the laws, or beyond the laws of God. I agree that He did emphasize that religious laws are important, and should be obeyed. (I don’t see how a religion or a religious teacher could say anything other than this.) You might also violate Baha’i laws because you understood some laws as existing in a figurative sense where the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law.
Re: Religion: Interfaith Dialogue and Persecution of Baha’i (Mik. Re: Religion: Baha’is in Israel (Vincent Littrell, US) | World A. If I were a Shiite. [Reza Fani-Yazdi is an Iranian-American human rights activist and freelance writer who has published extensively on the plight of Iranians under the current regime. On 8 August 2008, he published the following article in the online Persian journal Iran-Emrooz: iran-emrooz.net. Fani-Yazdi is not associated with the Bahai community. Ahang Rabbani, translator.] If I were a Shiite, if I were a high-ranking Shiite cleric, if I were sitting in the place of the object of emulation of the Shiites, then at the same time that I would love the Shiite creed, I would also think about humanity. My heart would ache over all the atrocities that have been done to people, Shiite or otherwise. And when I saw records of the barbaric tortures that have been carried out in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, tears would pour from my eyes.
When he acted, Ayatollah Montazeri was not a member of the Mujahedin,1 nor was he a supporter of any of the Marxist or leftist groups. If I Were a Muslim Lawyer.