Posts Tagged ‘ Bahai ’

Why the world needs faiths

November 20, 2011
By

Tony Blair, Washington Post, Nov.17, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/why-the-world-needs-faith/2011/11/17/gIQAf0d5UN_blog.html

There will be no peace in our world without an understanding of the place of religion within it. The past decade has seen many convenient myths which disguised the importance of religion, stripped away. Many thought: as society progressed, religion would decline. It hasn’t happened.

Then there are those that insisted that as the Arab Revolution knocked over long established regimes and created movements for democracy, so those societies’ religiosity would take second place to the new politics. It hasn’t happened. Religion is fundamental to those societies and if anything, in the foreseeable future, will become more so. And do we seriously think the issue of Jerusalem can be resolved without at least some discussion of its religious significance to all three Abrahamic faiths?

The virus of terror based on a perversion of the proper faith of Islam, shows no signs of abating. But it is not only the acts of terror that should alarm us. It is the extremism that promotes persecution of religious minorities too. The challenge is that much greater where human dignity is not respected and freedom of religion denied. This results in a general oppression of people of faith. It means we must support Muslims in Gujarat, India; non-Orthodox Christians in Moldova; Bahai’s in Iran; Ahmadis in Pakistan; all Christians in North Africa; Hindus in Sri Lanka; Shi’a in several Sunni majority countries, and other places.

The basic point is this: On every side, in every quarter, wherever we look and analyze, religion is a powerful, motivating, determining force shaping the world around us.

Read the complete article here.

Report exposes Iran’s media campaign to demonize Baha’is

October 23, 2011
By

Baha’i World News Service, Oct.21, news.bahai.org/story/861

In a wide-ranging media campaign that has gone largely unnoticed outside of Iran, hatred and discrimination are being systematically stirred up against the country’s 300,000-member Baha’i minority.

In a report released today, the Baha’i International Community documents and analyzes more than 400 press and media items over a 16-month period, that typify an insidious state-sponsored effort to demonize and vilify Baha’is, using false accusations, inflammatory terminology, and repugnant imagery.

Read the complete article here.

Religious Teachings On Community Service

March 15, 2011
By

Huffington Post, Mar.14, www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/giving-back-how-you-and-t_n_832401.html

A Jewish Teaching on Service (Isaiah 58:6-8)

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

A Muslim Teaching on Service (Surah 93)

I call to witness the early hours of morning, And the night when dark and still, Your Lord has neither left you, nor despises you. What is to come is better for you than what has gone before; For your Lord will certainly give you, and you will be content. Did He not find you an orphan and take care of you? Did He not find you perplexed, and show you the way? Did He not find you poor and enrich you? So do not oppress the orphan, and do not drive the beggar away, And keep recounting the favors of your Lord.

A Jain Teaching on Service (from Tattvarthasutra 5.21)

Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings.

A Baha’i Teaching on Service (from Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 84)

One amongst His Teachings is this, that love and good faith must so dominate the human heart that men will regard the stranger as a familiar friend, the malefactor as one of their own, the alien even as a loved one, the enemy as a companion dear and close.

A Christian Teaching on Service (Matthew 25: 34-40)

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

A Hindu Teaching on Service (from Bhagavad Gita 3.10)

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together. “Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires”: this is the promise of the Creator….

A Sikh Teaching on Service (from Guru Granth Sahib, page 286)

“The individual who performs selfless service without thought of reward shall attain God’s salvation.”

A Humanist Teaching on Service (Margaret Mead — Anthropologist)

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

A Buddhist Teaching on Service (from Itivuttaka 18)

If beings knew, as I know, the fruit of sharing gifts, they would not enjoy their use without sharing them, nor would the taint of stinginess obsess the heart and stay there. Even if it were their last bit, their last morsel of food, they would not enjoy its use without sharing it, if there were anyone to receive it.

This is the complete article from the Huffington Post.  Thanks to Eboo Patel for drawing my attention to it on Facebook.

Project Conversion: 12 Faiths In 12 Months

February 27, 2011
By

Rothwell Polk, Huffington Post, Feb.22, www.huffingtonpost.com/rothwell-polk/project-conversion-twelve_b_825711.html

Andrew Bowen, 28, of Lumberton, N.C., is spending the 12 months of 2011 being “spiritually promiscuous,” he says with a wry sense of humor. Each month he immerses himself in a different religion, adopting its rites and rituals, learning from its prayers and scriptures, meeting with its believers and sharing what he learns with the world. Bowen calls this yearlong effort “Project Conversion.”

“Project Conversion came about because late last year I was at a point in my life where I was spending my time reading and writing about religion, but the rest of the world seemed to be up in flames about it and fighting about it so I was at a crossroads. Do I join this militant atheism to try and expunge out religion or do I try and do something about it?” said Bowen.

During the first week of the month for each new religion, Bowen focuses on religious practices, worship and ritual; the second week, on art and culture; the third week, on social issues and conflicts; and the fourth week, on personal reflection on what he has learned about the specific faith he has immersed himself in that month. He spent the last three months of 2010 lining up mentors and resources for each of the religions. He assigned the religions to a specific month because during that month there is a holy day or other special observance specific to that faith. This is his 12 month schedule:

  • January: Hinduism
  • February: Baha’i
  • March: Zoroastrianism
  • April: Judaism
  • May: Buddhism
  • June: Fringe
  • July: Mormonism
  • August: Islam
  • September: Sikhism
  • October: Wicca
  • November: Jainism
  • December: Catholicism

Read the complete article here.

Baha’is in Iran

January 8, 2011
By

Jeremy Fox, Stirling Baha’is, Jan.2011

A strongly-worded letter has been circulated by the International Baha’i Community, which has its permanent office at the United Nations in New York and represents one hundred and eighty-six national Bahá’í communities. This open letter is addressed to the head of the judiciary in Iran.

The Bahá’ís constitute Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority and have for 30 years endured a state-sponsored campaign of persecution. Their livelihoods and education are frustrated, their property often confiscated, their cemeteries desecrated, and nearly 50 Baha’is are presently in jail.

At their recent trial the seven former leaders, who have already been in ‘temporary detention’ for over 4 years, were condemned to a further 10 years: their legal council, the Nobel laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi, said that no credible evidence was offered.

The open letter closes with the following : “In Gohardasht Prison, there are surely other innocent inmates. How can you allow any soul to be subjected to that prison’s appalling state of filth, pestilence, disease, and the privation of facilities for basic personal hygiene? Such an odious and degrading environment is unworthy of even the most dangerous criminals. Does the government of Iran believe the principles of Islamic compassion and justice to be consistent with the imposition of such conditions on citizens? Why are the prisoners’ pressing needs for medical care and treatment ignored? Who will be called to account if the health of any of these seven further deteriorates? Why are these innocent individuals not given adequate food, and why are they confined to prison cells of such insufficient space as to make it difficult for them to lie down…?”

With reference to the more general mistreatment of the Bahá’ís in Iran they state: “Consider how the members of the Bahá’í community are continually forced to withstand the slander of their beliefs and the distortion of their history in government-supported mass media; to endure provocations in the streets, from the pulpits, and with the support of certain officials, that incite hatred against them; to suffer illegal imprisonment; to see themselves denied access to higher education and to the means of earning a livelihood; to have their children suffer abuse and vilification in schools; and to witness their properties destroyed and their cemeteries desecrated with the support and approval of government authorities.”

Shameful claims and alternative Christian living

December 2, 2010
By

Simon Barrow, Ekklesia, Dec.1, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/13679

Across the world today, countless millions of people are persecuted (systematically mistreated as a group by another group or by oppressive governments), harassed, threatened, imprisoned and even killed. These people include Dalits, Roma (gypsies and travelling people), immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, women, disabled people, sexual minorities, non-religious people, and very many ethnic and religious groups (Jews, Baha’is, Christians, Muslims and more).

Churchgoers in Britain are not among them.

Yet many of those associating themselves with the 1 December 2010 ‘Not Ashamed Day’ imply or claim that they are – equating, for example, attempts to get Christian organisations to comply with legal requirements for equal treatment in the public sphere, with “persecution”.

Among other things, this is a tremendous insult and disservice to people who really are suffering across the globe, including those Christians and other minority communities in Iraq who have faced murder and mayhem in recent weeks, for example.

Read the full article here.

Israel’s Religious Leaders to Visit Pope in 2011

November 30, 2010
By

Zenit, Nov.29, www.zenit.org/article-31099?l=english

The religious leaders of Israel will travel to the Vatican next year to visit Benedict XVI.

The news was announced Thursday at the end of the fourth annual meeting of the Council of Religious Community Leaders in Israel, held at the International Center Domus Galilaeae in Galilee, near the Mount of Beatitude.

The council, formed four years ago by Israel’s Foreign MInistry, is comprised of the leaders of the religious communities of Israel, including the two chief rabbis of Israel, the leaders of the Christian churches, the Druse community, the Islamic Appeals Court, the Baha’i community, and the Ahmadiyya, Samaritans, Copts, Ethiopians and Assyrians.

A statement from the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel noted the significance of the “historic” visit to the Vatican, which it said “reflects the positive attitude of the Vatican and the Pope to the forum and the importance of dialogue to guide and manage the relations between different religious communities in Israel.”

The theme of the meeting of the council was “Freedom of Religion and Worship in Israel.”

Read the full article here.

Iranian Baha’i jailing update

August 23, 2010
By

Vigil to highlight Freedom of Religion and plight of Baha’i prisoners in Iran – at St. Mungo Museum, Glasgow – Saturday August 28th 3pm-10pm

Many of you will know that the Baha’i community in Scotland is doing all it can to raise awareness of the cruel fate of the seven prominent Baha’is who have each been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Iranian authorities. Religious leaders from all of the faith communities in Scotland have signed a letter of support calling for this injustice to be righted. It has been decided to hold a vigil next Saturday August 28th by St. Mungo Museum in Cathedral Square in Glasgow to remember all those who are suffering for their faith by focussing on this particularly stark injustice. I am very grateful to the Museum and Glasgow City Council for so swiftly giving permission for this event.

The vigil will begin at 3pm and go on into the evening and all are invited to come, even if only for a few minutes or to send a message of support. A Facebook page (www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=101284086598931) has been set up for the event where you can also post messages of support.

I would like to thank everyone for their warm and generous support. It means a lot to these prisoners that people around the world of different faiths are concerned about them and working for their release

with best wishes

Allan Forsyth

Secretary

Baha’i Council for Scotland

Baha’i World News has a special report about the seven which you can access at news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/yaran-special-report/

Harsh sentences are a judgment against an entire religious community

August 16, 2010
By

Baha’i World News Service, Aug.15, news.bahai.org/story/789

The harsh prison sentences handed down to seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who are absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing is a judgment against an entire religious community, the Baha’i International Community said today.

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was “stunned” by the reported 20-year jail terms.  “I have read their case file page by page and did not find anything proving the accusations, nor did I find any document that could prove the claims of the prosecutor,” said Mrs. Ebadi in a television interview, broadcast on 8 August by the Persian-language service of the BBC.

Full story.

Some significant dates in faith communities

August 10, 2010
By

This is a by no means exhaustive list of significant dates.  Please let me know of any that I should add.

Baha’i:

16 Jan. 2011       World Religion Day

21 Mar. 2011     Naw Ruz (Baha’i New Year)

21 Apr. 2011     Start of Ridvan

23 May 2011     Declaration of the Bab

29 May 2011     Ascension of Baha’u'llah

9 Jul. 2011      Martyrdom of the Bab

20 Oct. 2011     Birth of the Báb

12 Nov. 2011    Birth of Baha’u'llah

26 Nov. 2011     Day of Covenant

Buddhism:

19 Jan.2011       Mahayana New Year

3 Feb. 2011      Chinese New Year

15 Feb. 2011     Nirvana Day

19 Mar. 2011     Magha Puja Day

18 Apr.2011     Theravadin New Year

17 May 2011      Buddha Day – Visakha Puja

15 Jul. 2011     Asalha Puja Day

8 Dec. 2011     Bodhi Day

Christianity:

25 Dec. 2010     Christmas

6 Feb. 2011      Epiphany

18 Feb. 2011     start of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

9 Mar. 2011    Ash Wednesday (Start of Lent)

22 Apr. 2011    Good Friday

25 Apr. 2011    Easter Sunday

2 Jun. 2011     Ascension Day

12 Jun. 2011     Pentecost

27 Nov. 2011    First Sunday of Advent

25 Dec. 2011     Christmas Day

Hinduism:

8 Feb. 2011      Vasant Panchami

3 Mar. 2011      Maha Shivaratri

20 Mar. 2011     Holi

4 Apr. 2011     Ramayana (Hindu New Year)

18 Apr. 2011     Hanuman Jayanti

13 Aug. 2011     Raksha Bandhan

22 Aug. 2011     Krisha Janmashtami

28 Sep. 2011     start of Navaratri

6 Oct. 2011     Dasera

26 Oct. 2011     Diwali

Islam:

16 Dec. 2010     Ashura

28 Jun. 2011     Lailat al Miraj

15 Jul. 2011      Lailat al Bara’ah

1 Aug. 2011     Ramadan begins

26 Aug. 2011     Lailat al Kadr

31 Aug. 2011     Eid al Fitr

5 Oct. 2011     Waqf al Arafa – Hajj Day

4 Nov. 2011    start of Hajj

6 Nov. 2011     Eid al Adha

26 Nov. 2011     Hijra – New Year

5 Dec. 2011     Ashura

Jainism:

15 Feb.2011     Nirvana Day

17 Apr. 2011     Mahavir Jayanti

2 Sep. 2011      Paryushana Parva

22 Oct. 2011     New Year

26 Oct. 2011     Diwali

Judaism:

20 Mar. 2011     Purim

19 Apr. 2011     Start of Pesach (Passover)

1 May 2011      Yom HaSho’ah

8 Jun.2011      Shavuot

29 Sep. 2011      Rosh Hashana

8 Oct. 2011     Yom Kippur

13 Oct. 2011     start of Sukkot

21 Dec. 2011     start of Hanukkah

Sikhism:

5 Jan. 2011      Birthday of Guru Gobindh Singh

13 Jan.2011     Maghi

20 Mar.2011      Hola Mohalla

14 Apr. 2011     Vaisakhi

16 Jun. 2011     Guru Arjan Dev martyrdom

20 Oct. 2011     Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth

26 Oct. 2011     Diwali

10 Nov. 2011     Guru Nanak Dev Sahib birthday

24 Nov. 2011     Guru Tegh Bahadur martyrdom

Other dates can be found at www.interfaithcalendar.org/