If manifestations are allowed to contradict one another, then there is no way to separate false manifestations from true ones or to discover if any of them really speak for the true and living God. The seat of the Universal House of Justice is in Haifa, Israel, in the immediate vicinity of the shrines of the Bb and Abd al-Bah and near the Shrine of Bah Allh at Bahj, near Akko. It really doesnt matter what one calls oneself, it only matters what ones relationship is to God in reality. The Bab and Bah'u'llh are believed to have been messengers from God and they told people that God has had many prophets and that God has had many names, but there is only one God. He further argued that in the case of "Baha'ism, with its rather vague doctrines as to the nature and destiny of the soul of man, it is a little difficult to see whence the driving force to enforce the ethical maxims can be derived. "On no subject are the Bah teachings more emphatic than on the necessity to abstain from fault-finding and backbiting while being ever eager to discover and root out our own faults and overcome our own failings. My future wife was a member of First Baptist Church of Dallas, a stronghold of fundamentalism. In any case, good luck to you and God Bless. Thank you so much! I hope that you may become confirmed therein, because the worst human quality and the most great sin is backbiting; more especially when it emanates from the tongues of the believers of God. IV. I resigned myself on 07/07/07. I composed that letter on my computer and mailed it in January of 2005. (Bnai Brith means children of the covenant.). ThenI cut completely all personal ties to the Bahais in the Fort Worth area. When not convened as a body, each member has no autonomous authority. The Nineteen Day Feast, originally instituted by the Bb, brings together the Bahs of a given locality for prayer, the reading of scriptures, the discussion of community activities, and the enjoyment of one anothers company. Bah Allh was subsequently confined by the Ottomans in Adrianople (now Edirne, Turkey) and then in Acre in Palestine (now Akko, Israel). claimed the lives of thousands of his followers. "[13], William McElwee Miller (18921993) was a Presbyterian missionary in Iran who published a polemic titled The Baha'i Faith (1974), in which he attacked the religion by promoting the views of individuals opposing Bah leadership. A primary theme of Baha'u'llahs teachings is achieving world peace through the establishment of unity, justice and equality. For most Muslims, the prophet Muhammad was the last and final prophet. Bahs believe that all the founders of the worlds great religions have been manifestations of God and agents of a progressive divine plan for the education of the human race. My family, like many Wilmette residents, witnessed its decades-long construction. Bah World News Service Bah' International Community, has confiscated properties from Baha'i families. I was recently invited to participate on an interfaith panel where we all responded to this question: What are the truths and misconceptions about your Faith? Author Lil Abdo says that the Bah understanding of sexual equality is different from that of secular feminists. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. I encourage you to look him up and see if it resonates with you. Baha'u'llahs writings form the foundation of the Baha'i faith. Every attempted Bah schism has failed to attract more than a few hundred individuals and declined over time. Here are the misconceptions I addressed: People often ask where Bahais worship, which perhaps indicates anassumption more than a misconception. Man must be a lover of the light, no matter from what dayspring it may appear. Others step inside, behold its beauty, but do not penetrate far. Bah Allh was arrested in 1852 and jailed in Tehrn, where he became aware that he was the prophet and messenger of God whose coming had been predicted by the Bb. The clear, forthright responses he gave to the criticism that "the Baha'i Faith offers nothing new," have become, during the intervening century, a classic catalog of the many unique and unprecedented aspects of the Baha'i teachings and principles. Finally, you must become distinguished for heavenly illumination and acquiring the bestowals of God. In the early 21st century there were nine Bah houses of worship: in Australia, Cambodia, Chile, Germany, India, Panama, Samoa, the United States, and Uganda. The other exclaimed: 'How it is deformed!' According to Bah' belief, there have been individuals throughout history who were Manifestations of God, who founded major world religions and had certain supernatural powers, such as the ability to prophesy. His son and successor, Abdu'l-Baha, traveled to Europe and the United States to spread the faith. How blessed are these aims, especially the prevention of backbiting! Large-scale persecutions of his adherents, the Bbs, followed. "As to backbiting, the House of Justice points out that learning not to concern oneself with the faults of others seems to be one of the most difficult lessons for people to master, and that failing in this is a fertile cause of disputes among Bahs as it is among men and women in general. But the enemies who call themselves friends and who persistently violate every fundamental law of love and unity, are difficult to be dealt with in this day, for the mercy of God is still great. ", "It is obvious that if we listen to those who complain to us about the faults of others we are guilty of complicity in their backbiting. The last claim is partially rooted in the presence of the Bah World Centre in northern Israel. Despite their apparent differences, the worlds great religions, according to the Bahs, teach an identical truth. 3 - Belief that all religions are valid, and that the Torah and Gospel have . Without the support of the UUs at First Jefferson Church, I might have never had the courage to do battle against the corrupt, idiotic Haifan Bahai Administrative Order as I have done. The more the friends argue back and forth and maintain, each side, that their point of view is the right one, the worse the whole situation becomes. [27] Cole went on to criticize the Bah Faith in three articles written from 19982002,[28][29][30] describing a prominent Bah as "inquisitor" and "bigot", and describing Bah institutions as socially isolating, dictatorial, and controlling, with financial irregularities and sexual deviance. Cults have charismatic leaders, and Bahais have no clergy or leaders at all. On January 18, a court in Iran's Mazandaran province ordered that property belonging to Bahai citizen Sheida Taeed be confiscated and transferred to the "Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order," a committee controlled by . Bahs believe that all the founders of the world's great religions have been manifestations of God and agents of a progressive divine plan for the education of the human race. When we did, I left behind at the house most of the Bahai books and other literature I had collected from my eight or nine years as a Bahai. (Quoted in Star of West, Vol. I should update this by noting that I separated from Cheri in December of 2011 and filed for divorce from her on May 7, 2012, finally getting the divorce granted on August 15, 2012. Paradise and Paradigm - Christopher Buck 1999-01-01 Comparing paradise imagery in two Persian religions, early Syriac Christianity and the Baha'i Faith, this work contributes to religious studies methodology by introducing "symbolic paradigm analysis." The Baha'i Faith in Africa - Anthony Lee 2011-10-28 [26], Bahs have been accused, particularly by successive Iranian governments, of being agents or spies of Russia, Britain, the Shah, the United States, and as agents of Zionismeach claim being linked to each regime's relevant enemy and justifying anti-Bah actions. [32][33] He specifically criticized the work of individual Bah scholars he saw as defending Bah orthodoxy at the expense of historical rigour, including William S. Hatcher,[32] Muhammad Afnan,[32] Juan Cole[33] (although Cole subsequently left the religion), Nader Saiedi,[34] and Moojan Momen. I am closer to God than I have ever been, and less confused than I have ever been. His writings, which promote peace and unity, are at the heart of the . Soon after this, I began my relationship with Cheri, the woman that would later become my wife. The principles of the Bah' Faith were established by Bah'u'llh, the Founder of the Faith, in the latter half of the nineteenth century and promulgated by His Son and appointed successor, 'Abdu'l-Bah during a tireless twenty -nine year ministry.While on an historic teaching trip in 1912 throughout the United States and Canada, 'Abdu'l-Bah explained Bah'u'llh's Teachings to . in practice you would have lost your administrative rights anyway,. People often fear and denigrate what they dont understand, and anyone who says that the Bahai Faith is a cult definitely does not understand it. The global Baha'i community is not just a group of well-meaning people. [6], The religion's rise in the Middle East and subsequent movement into the West has given rise to a body of anti-Bah polemic. The members of the Hands of the Cause of God were appointed by Bah Allh and Shoghi Effendi. The continental counselors are appointed by the Universal House of Justice. Cults separate themselves from society, and Bahais take part in society. Handwriting Analysis of the Will of Abdu'l Baha by Dr. Mitchell; Hermann . Backbiting, Criticism, Faultfinding, Gossip, Lies, Slander Etc. Despite the persecution, the Baha'i faith has attracted millions of adherents around the globe for its ability to transcend nationalism, racism and the like. RELATED: What is the Best Way to Worship? You will overcome self, you will not even have time to think of the faults of others'. Eventually, what started as a compromise between us grew into a case of full blown allegiance to the UU church for both of us. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The Bah community is governed according to general principles proclaimed by Bah Allh and through institutions created by him that were elaborated and expanded on by Abd al-Bah. The Bah's are fully entitled to address criticisms to their assemblies; they can freely air their views about policies or individual members of elected bodies to the assembly, local or national, but then they must whole-heartedly accept the advice or decision of the assembly, according to the principles already laid down for such matters in But there are always some who enter and, becoming intoxicated with the splendor of what they behold, remain for life to tend the garden.. ", "As regards backbiting, i.e., discussing the faults of others in their absence, the teachings are very emphatic. A Statement About Mental Disorders and Domestic Abuse. In Iran and other parts of the Middle East, Bahs continue to be criticized for breaking with Islam and accused of conspiring with western powers, resulting in intense persecution and the loss of civil rights. However, from a Bahai perspective if your relationship to God has not been directed by the revelation of Bahaullah than we are really talking more about ones own vain imaginings as opposed to reality. Jehovah's Witnesses and Baha'is were among the most . That Baha'u'llah was the Manifestation of God for this day and be obedient to the covenant. In the West, liberals have criticized the Bah Faith for some of its conservative social practices, notably the prohibition on premarital or homosexual intimacy for Bahs. I would later realize how useful those books could have been as weapons against my former religion, but I also was able to find enough online resources for my purposes. Required fields are marked *. | The Bahai Insider, Dale Husband: Why I Abandoned the (Haifan) Bahai Faith Bah Censorship, Another reason to despise Michael Shermer | Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants, A Critical Analysis of the The Kitb-i-Aqdas, Part Three | Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants, A Conversion to Mormonism | Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants, Featured in a magazine critical of the Bahai Faith | Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants, Why I Rejected the Bahai Faith, 4th Edition | Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants. Its six years since I declared and four or five since I became an ex Bahai. Instead, the Bahai Faith operates administratively with a system of local, national and international nine-member governing bodies, all democratically elected without nominations or campaigns. On the national scale, each year Bahs elect delegates to a national convention that elects a national spiritual assembly with jurisdiction over Bahs throughout an entire country. He must be a seeker of the truth, no matter from what source it come. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Conservatives among Unitarian Universalists Still Feel Like Victims. Do this whenever you are tried through the words or deeds of others. Ottoman officials later moved Baha'u'llah to the prison city of Akka in Palestine. Perhaps youll be inspired to organize a similar discussion where you live. The Baha'i Faith is not just a collection of philosophical principles or an attempt to combine or conflate religions. Subsequent public protests and mob violence claimed the lives of thousands of his followers. The principal Bah tenets are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity. 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