Ba'hai

[PeachMonkey]

From the Ba'hai Faith webpage:

http://www.bahai.org/

(The summary, and any mistakes, are PeachMonkey's)

Ba'hai's believe, as did their founder, that God successively reveals His will to humanity over time, and that the Messengers of God of the various great religions -- such as Zoroaster, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad -- were part of that process. Rather than separate peoples among various faiths, their purpose was in fact to bring humanity to moral and spiritual maturity. Various religions have been revealed to humanity by God progressively as we were increasingly able to absorb their lessons.

The basic tenets of the faith include:

-- Abandonment of all forms of prejudice, including inequalities between women and men
-- Recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truth -- that all Gods and religions are aspects of the One
-- Elimination of extreme disparities of wealth and poverty
-- Universal education
-- Individual responsibility to search for truth
-- Establishment of a global commonwealth of nations
-- Recognition that true religion is in harmony with with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge

 

[PeachMonkey]

In another thread, Kenpo Tiger also asked why Ba'hai isn't universally accepted. I can think of a number of reasons:

-- Atheists (like moi) aren't likely to buy into any religion
-- Some people feel that they've had a personal experience with one particular religion that proves that it's true and no other religions can be
-- Many people come to religion in order to be told what to feel, how to think, how to live, and this is not compatible with Ba'hai's belief that individuals must seek truth for themselves.
-- Many people are actively opposed to, or certainly not at all interested in supporting, many of the tenets of Ba'hai, such as helping the poor, making sure everyone is equal, bringing all humanity to work together for the common good, universal education, etc etc. Most people who call themselves religious already ignore similar tenets in their own faiths, so why seek out another faith that places such strong emphasis on these matters? Others simply have no ability to see beyond themselves and their own desires.
-- The idea that science and religion can exist compatibly makes many people uncomfortable -- see the Scopes Monkey Trial.

 

[MisterMike]

I can think of one too. It looks like another whacky religous start-up.

 

[PeachMonkey]

I can think of one too. It looks like another whacky religous start-up.

What makes this religion more "wacky" than others, MisterMike?

As for its "start-up" status, Ba'hai and its predecessor faith have been around since the early 19th Century.

 

[MisterMike]

What makes this religion more "wacky" than others, MisterMike?

As for its "start-up" status, Ba'hai and its predecessor faith have been around since the early 19th Century.

Oh nothing, it's just 'another' as I put. Kind of a mish-mash of whatever sounds good in a few select religions. Hey, all the power to them...lol

And as for age, it's a start-up relative to ones that are 1000's of yrs old.

 

[heretic888]

Oh nothing, it's just 'another' as I put. Kind of a mish-mash of whatever sounds good in a few select religions.

Funny. I could say the same of Christianity. Through in a little Dionysian rites, a little Osirianism, a little Mithraism, a touch of Essenic Judaism, and toss in Platonism for good measure. Voila! Bonafide Christianity.

Just my opinion, of course.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Let me quote Homer: "They're funny! They wear different clothes!!"

I quite agree that to us outsiders, Christianity is no less hilarious (snake handling...ritual cannibalism...speaking in tongues...virgin birth...worries about witchcraft and gay people...the Apocalypse), though perhaps far more menacing (the followers of the B'ab have to date stoned nobody, started no Crusades).

it may be worth mentioning that the Bahai religion was extensively persecuted after the fall of that dumb**** Shah in Iran.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

From the Ba'hai Faith webpage:

The basic tenets of the faith include:

-- Abandonment of all forms of prejudice, including inequalities between women and men
-- Recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truth -- that all Gods and religions are aspects of the One
-- Elimination of extreme disparities of wealth and poverty
-- Universal education
-- Individual responsibility to search for truth
-- Establishment of a global commonwealth of nations
-- Recognition that true religion is in harmony with with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge

I haven't viewed the webpage yet, but just from reading these tenets, the first thought to come to my mind is that these sound more like socio-political, rather than religious, aims. Although I suppose that, as time goes on, the value separation between politics and religion will get kinda blurry.

 

[PeachMonkey]

it may be worth mentioning that the Bahai religion was extensively persecuted after the fall of that dumb**** Shah in Iran.

Yep. One very close friend and two acquaintances are Iranian expatriates who fled Iran after experiencing extreme persecution under the Ayatollah Khomeini.

 

[PeachMonkey]

I haven't viewed the webpage yet, but just from reading these tenets, the first thought to come to my mind is that these sound more like socio-political, rather than religious, aims. Although I suppose that, as time goes on, the value separation between politics and religion will get kinda blurry.

Those criteria would apply to most, if not all, religions.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

(This guy is some kind of peace activist, clearly)

“I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

(Class warfare!)

 

[heretic888]

Heh. Pythagoras would be proud.

 

[kenpo tiger]

Peach,

I'd like to thank you for posting the links, which I will investigate when I have a little more time to read. I appreciate your going to the trouble of starting this thread and researching it at my instigation -- ! And ----- You've already gotten Robertson involved... how was the desert, Sir Laurence? Plus Mr.Mike has surfaced. Nothing like having the Bah-Humbug! boys involved.

I'm often amazed by some of the folk in this forum. The breadth of knowledge and curiousity is incredible.

And of course, there's no divergence of opinion around here... But that's what makes it a good place to learn about things.

 

[heretic888]

*raises eyebrow* Hrrmmm.

 

[OULobo]

the followers of the B'ab have to date stoned nobody, started no Crusades.

Give them time. I'm sure they will come around.

 

[PeachMonkey]

Thanks for the kind words, Kenpo Tiger.

 

[heretic888]

Give them time. I'm sure they will come around.

Meh. Wouldn't count on it.

I'd rank the Baha'is starting a holy war right up there with the Quakers endorsing slavery or the Buddhists consigning everyone that disagrees with them to hellfire.

As odd as it may seem, some religions actually have very admirable track records...

 

[kenpo tiger]

Meh. Wouldn't count on it.

I'd rank the Baha'is starting a holy war right up there with the Quakers endorsing slavery or the Buddhists consigning everyone that disagrees with them to hellfire.

As odd as it may seem, some religions actually have very admirable track records...

What a refreshing notion. A people who believe the way they do and don't feel that the rest of the world should join them.

 

[Flatlander]

What a refreshing notion. A people who believe the way they do and don't feel that the rest of the world should join them.

I think they do, KT, they just want people to come on their own. Grow organically, as it were. I could be wrong, though.

 

[heretic888]

Yes, flatlander, that's the basic Buddhist approach to the "problem" also: don't force it down people's throats, let them grow into it of their own volition.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

What a refreshing notion. A people who believe the way they do and don't feel that the rest of the world should join them.

Of course they feel that the rest of the world would join them, otherwise those wouldn't be their beliefs. They just don't believe in trying to force others to join them.