CONTACT ME HERE >>WITH BAHA'I QUESTIONS >>> https://en.allexperts.com/q/Bah-2728/indexExp_113873.htm
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11/09/09 |
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Bahá`í |
| Private: |
No |
| Subject: |
Why do Bahais ignore questions? |
| Question: |
I’ve noticed somthin on this site and the net about some Baha’i sects. can you answer it? why do they ignore questions? or hide from them? like this one
https://en.allexperts.com/q/Bah-2728/2008/7/policies-Baha-administration.htm
The guy was just asking a simple question. What do you Bahas have to hide?
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| Answer: |
Reform Bahai Faith
You're asking a very good question, one that has often been noted by many people in various Bahai forums. The example you refer to, from here on AllExperts.com, is a case in point.
The views of the people that David mentions, Juan Cole, myself, Karen Bacquet, “and the many others” may easily be read by anyone interested at
https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship
I agree with David that what these people have written, leaving others to decide regarding myself, is “legitimate.”
Here’s an excerpt from Professor Juan Cole’s book “Modernity and the Millennium: The Genesis of the Baha'i Faith in the Nineteenth-Century Middle East,” Columbia University Press, 1998, in which, Professor Juan Cole observes that the Baha'i administration has increasingly come under the control of fundamentalists, "stressing scriptural literalism . . . theocracy, censorship, intellectual intolerance, and denying key democratic values" (196).
Here’s an extract from Karen Bacquet’s article “Enemies Within: Conflict and Control in the Baha'i Community”: "The Baha’i Faith, best-known for its liberal social teachings and tolerance towards other religions, has an authoritarian governing structure that has caused a high level of disillusionment among adherents. Because of the religion’s stress on unity, there is considerable insecurity about the expression of dissent and a fear of internal enemies. Conformity is enforced by sanctions, excommunication, and shunning, and information is controlled through a system of censorship.” https://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/enemies.html
Again, similar views from “many others” may be read at https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship
My concern with Suzanne Gerstner’s response to David and her posting a link to the fundamentalist UHJ’s letter to Susan Maneck is that it seeks to minimize what is really involved: fanaticism that has no respect for religious freedom and liberty, including freedom of conscience, and uses the most reprehensible tactics towards anyone who does not accept its narrowly conceived doctrines of who is a Bahai.
Finally, presenting Susan Maneck as a reliable academic is utterly ridiculous to anyone who actually knows what her record is and has been. Professor Juan Cole, of the University of Michigan, has written of her, "...she has behaved toward me in an academic setting with dishonesty and deceit in such a way as deprives her of the right to debate me publicly. She spied on me and lied about it." Prof. Juan Cole: https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Cole20.htm
I suggest to readers of AllExperts.com that Susan Maneck is not a reliable source for anything and has a very long history on the Internet of being a fundamentalist apologist for the worst fanatical elements among the theocratic Haifan and Wilmette Bahais. Extensive comments to that effect, from many, many people, Bahai and otherwise, for more than a decade, may be read at Susan Maneck, Baha'i scholar:
https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Maneck8.htm
https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Maneck1.htm
Finally, to answer your question directly, Why do they hide from or ignore questions? As a member of the Reform Bahai Faith, I would have to say it is ultimately because they are afraid of Abdul-Baha's teaching that "The conscience of man is sacred and to be respected."
Also, depending to what degree you've studied the Bahai writings, the theocratic Bahai denominations, of which there are several, all believe that after Abdul-Bahai's death in 1921, what purports to be his will and testament appointed his grandson Shoghi Effendi as a "guardian" to interpret and run the Bahai Faith. That document was judged fraudulent in 1930 by Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell of the British Museum in London, its chief document expert and one of the most respect forensic researchers of the 20th century. Much of the fanaticism that the theocratic Bahais demonstrate is focussed on defending that fraudulent document and the corrupt, power-hungry organization it and Shoghi Effendi created.
The Reform Bahai Faith follows Abdul-Baha's 1912 Covenant, which he delivered publicly, and which emphasizes the universal Covenant of God with man, since Abraham, not to leave mankind unguided, and teaches a moderate spiritual democracy, not a theocracy.
Hope this helps to answer your question.
Bahai regards,
FG
Reform Bahai Faith
https://reformbahai.org |
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12/17/09 |
| Category: |
Bahá`í |
| Private: |
No |
| Subject: |
Baha and Islam |
| Question: |
Dear Frederick,
Hello. Although I come from an atheist upbringing, i practice as a non-enrolled (by choice) Baha'i. However, I am also deeply attracted to Muslim ritual, and specifically to the teachings of sufis such as Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi.
As someone who understands both faiths, do you see a contradiction between identifying as both a Muslim and a (non-enrolled) Baha'i? Are you aware of other 'cases' such as myself? Is it theologically sound, in your opinion, to regard Baha'i law as appropriate for today's era, yet still observe Muslim ritual and law, as personal 'supererogatory' preference?
I realize this is likely an odd question, which can't easily be answered in any objective sense. Just curious as to the opinion of a scholar such as yourself.
Thanks for any insight,
Jordan
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| Answer: |
Dear Jordan,
Thank you for your question. It's goes to the heart of what religious faith ought to be about. And for me, it's a most timely question.
I just finished rereading yesterday Attar's The Conference of the Birds and Baha'u'llah's The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. A few weeks ago I had also reread Rumi's poems of Shamsi Tabriz and large portions of his other work, along with a number of books on Sufism.
As Rumi wrote,
I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.
I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land,
nor of the sea....
My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless.
In negative terms, Rumi wrote,
Cross and Christians, from end to end,
I surveyed; He was not on the Cross.
I went to the idol-temple, to the ancient pagoda;
No trace was visible there....
I bent the reins of search to the Kaa'ba;
He was not in that resort of old and young....
I gazed into my own heart;
There I saw Him; He was nowhere else....
Such universality is beyond religious organizations, whether Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, whatever. It's about the *experience* of the Divine Oneness that all the great prophets have taught is the essence of life. Baha'u'llah's Teachings are similarly universal and spiritual in scope and purpose, drawing from and building on this same tradition, quoting Rumi, Sana'i, Attar, Hafez, and other Sufi poets and masters, while rejecting the extremes of Sufism, more "sober," as Sufis themselves put it.
Along such lines, one might say, and I'm sure you'll understand what I mean, What is Baha'i? What is Islam? If either organization encumbers you, spit it out, before you die of the poison!
Much of your question is predicated on your acceptance of something called "Baha'i law." Underlying your reference to "non-enrolled Baha'i" is the assumption that there is such a thing as an "enrolled Bahai." In Sufi terms, if you will, Abdul-Baha's Interpretation of Baha'u'llah's Teachings was quite clear: "People think religion is confined in an edifice, to be worshiped at an altar. In reality it is an attitude toward divinity which is reflected through life."
Further, Abdul-Baha's authentic Covenant of 1912, not the fraudulent one passed off on Bahais in 1921, is first and foremost grounded in God's Eternal Covenant and universal in scope. There is a tendency in all the Bahai denominations to read, understand, and limit Baha'u'llah's Dispensation to just a slightly dusted-off Islam, Islam renewed, same thing just a few cosmetic changes, instead of the universality that he taught and Abdul-Baha emphasized in his many public talks in the West.
It is always easier for the soul to go backwards, remain with the comfortable, look to the past, have someone else tell it what to think and believe, but I don't think that's what the eternal call of God is about. As Abdul-Baha Interpreted it for our Day and time, it is about the individual seeker striving within his or her own spiritual search for the Divine Essence, in a balanced, modern life, in community, local, global and universal. The coercive, oppressive, manipulated forms were put aside, specifically by Baha'u'llah and Abdul-Baha.
The challenge for Bahais of all persuasions is not to repeat the organizational corruptions and patterns of religion in the past, but to believe and trust Abdul-Baha when he repeatedly said,
"The Bahai Movement is not an organization. You cannot organize the Bahai Movement. The Bahai Movement is the spirit of the age. It is the essence of all the highest ideals of this century. The Bahai Cause is an inclusive movement. The teachings of all religions and societies are found here. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Mohammadans...find their highest aims in this Cause."
It is a new Spirit. It is a new Form. Many will think it's formless, especially those who want to use it for their own acquisition of power, control, and wealth. But then that is merely to indicate once more that that is the story of all the great religious teachings of history.
Only you, Jordan, can decide this question for yourself. I hope this helps you a little. I can only share with you my view.
Bahai regards,
FG
Abdul-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
www.reformbahai.org/Covenant.html
Comments on Abdul-Baha's 1912 Authentic Covenant
https://www.reformbahai.org/Covenant_comments.html
Reform Bahai Faith
Rochester, Michigan USA
www.ReformBahai.org |
| Subject: |
2/2/2010 - Are Baha'is any different? |
| Question: |
Why do Baha'is claim to be different from passed religions but arn't? I mean, what happened to all religions having the truth? Now it seems only Baha'is have it. No better
Manuel |
| Answer: |
Dear Manuel,
You're asking a very good question. Abdul-Baha was very clear about the universality and inclusiveness of the Baha'u'llah's faith:
"The Bahai Cause is an inclusive movement. The teachings of all religions and societies are found here. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Mohammadans, Zoroastrians, Theosophists, Freemasons, Spiritualists, etc., find their highest aims in this Cause."
Yet, as you suggest, the exclusive impulse has taken over. Some Baha'i denominations do believe they alone of the one and only true interpretation, which leads them to regard other Baha'is and non-Bahais, as "covenant breakers," heretics.
Reform Bahais do not believe such an interpretation of exclusivity is in harmony with the actual public teachings of Abdul-Baha. All of the Bahai books and publications up to his death in 1921 clearly show Abdul-Baha was teaching, to any one who would listen, an open, loving, inclusive message for the modern age.
So, it is important to distinguish which *denomination* one is referring to when speaking about these matters. Like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and any other religion, there are various interpretations too in the Bahai Movement. Reform Bahais very much share your views in this regard.
For more details, see About the Reform Bahai Faith
https://www.reformbahai.org/about.html
Hope this helps.
Bahai regards,
FG
95 Theses - On Bahai Liberty - Articles - Abdu'l-Baha's Covenant
The Reform Bahai Faith
ReformBahai.org
June 7, 2010
Subject: Abdu'l-Baha's Covenant
Question: If Abdu'l-Baha's covenant address in 1912 was the real deal, why had it been suoppressed? Why'd God let that happen?
Answer: Thanks for your question.
Unfortunately, religious history is replete with examples of similar things happening. The "Donation of Constantine" was one of the most flagrant instances of a falsified document being used to acquire worldly control over Christians. Similarly, there are many denominations of Buddhism and interpretations of Islam. So, one shouldn't be surprised that analogous things have happened in the Bahai Faith. It was suppressed, as such instances like this always are, because some of the followers of the religion wanted to obtain power and control, creating oppressive institutions and organizations, thinking of themselves, instead of the teachings and guidance of the manifestation.
What is important is that Abdul-Baha's Authentic Covenant of 1912 was delivered publicly in New York, the City of the Covenant, which is why New York came to be known as the City of the Covenant among early Bahais. As Baha'u'llah's appointed Center of his own Covenant, Abdul-Baha authoritatively brought his father's Teachings into the modern, Western world, giving them an Interpretation that was widely known by early Bahais and recorded in such extant publications as the Star of the West.
It's difficult to know or understand why God permits such things to happen. Why give humanity a revelation of His Will and then allow it to be seemingly subverted? I believe the answer in many religions has been that it is a test of the believers, whether they follow the light, or the lamp, what pretends to be a lamp, but in reality is an individual's or a group's smoke screen. Those who love the light, not the lamp, find it incumbent upon them to prove it. Such seems to be the pattern of religious history.
Of course, we human beings never really know, nor can pretend to know, why such things happen. I must admit the preceeding is merely my speculation.
Let's hope and trust that the Bahai Light is not yet put out, but merely beginning to rally from its occultation.
Reform Bahai Faith
https://reformbahai.org |
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