Baha'i Rants - Latest Comments in Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

intellectuallycurious — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:25:10 -0000

I have read this entire and exhausting back and forth and explication of hypocrisy and failure to call a spade a spade (an unfortunate recurring theme that is worthy of its own post), and I think it is a useful episode to highlight an institutionalized pathology that we are all likely aware of:

Criticism is unacceptable. There is something wrong with whomever is the critic. There can be nothing wrong with whatever is the object of the criticism.

So much for intellectual curiosity and independent investigation if it takes you to a divergent conclusion...

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:37:46 -0000

an inadequate, but refreshing change for the better.

1) inadequate because: bahai administration does not appear to have provided any initial leadership in this activity, abd

2) it is unclear exactly what "partisan" means. for instance in the usa, there is

2a) confusion amongst the "mean green meme" people on the left who have misplaced attitudes about pluralism, and

2b) the usual opportunists and scallawags on the right that use the crisis in iran to beat their absurd nationalist/militarist drums.

why can't the bwc simply and clearly state what kind of "partisan political" problems they are referring to?

this is confusing to anyone with even a minor understanding of the history of human rights. gandhi, martin luther king, jr, nelson mandela, and many other famous civil rights leaders confronted evil government policies, why are bahais so convinced that their cowardice is somehow virtuous?

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Sami — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:31:10 -0000

The National Assembly of the Baha'is in the United States issued this letter recently:

July 22, 2009

To the American Bahá’í community,

Dearly loved Friends,

A Global Day of Action has been organized (see http://united4iran.org for more information) and will be observed on July 25, 2009 in defense of the human rights of all Iranians. The Bahá’í International Community has issued a brief statement of support on the home page of the Bahá’í World News Service (http://news.bahai.org).

The National Spiritual Assembly wishes to share with you the following further guidance just received from the Universal House of Justice should you be considering participating in an event in your city:

As you are aware, Baha'is do not engage in partisan political activities. In this respect, in a message to the believers in Iran dated 31 October 2008, the House of Justice elaborated on the implications of this fundamental principle of the Faith as follows:

You should take every opportunity to explain to your fellow citizens the fundamental principle of the Faith that strictly prohibits involvement in partisan political activity of any kind, whether local, national or international. Baha'is view government as a system for maintaining the welfare and orderly progress of human society, and obedience to the laws of the land is a distinguishing feature of their beliefs. Iran is dear to the Baha'is, who are the well-wishers of all. In whatever country they reside, including the birthplace of Baha'u'llah, they strive to promote the welfare of society. They are enjoined to work alongside their compatriots in fostering fellowship and unity and in establishing peace and justice. They seek to uphold their own rights, as well as the rights of others, through whatever legal means are available to them, conducting themselves at all times with honesty and integrity. They eschew conflict and dissension. They avoid contest for worldly power. Neither do they aspire to overthrow governments, nor do they participate in the schemings of others to do so. The record of the past one hundred and sixty years bears witness to this assertion.

The organizers of the Global Day of Action have explicitly asserted that this undertaking is non-partisan in nature and that its aim is to call upon the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold internationally recognized human rights and the related guarantees that are enshrined in the country's Constitution. Accordingly, Baha'is may generally feel free to lend their support to this event by participating in it as individuals. Should they be invited to sign related petitions, they may also do so, provided the wording is non-partisan in character. Indeed, initiatives such as this afford a welcome opportunity for Baha'is to demonstrate their willingness to engage with like-minded organizations and individuals in defending the human rights of all who suffer oppression and in championing the cause of justice.

Believers who choose to participate in this and other such demonstrations should, however, be sensitive to the fact that in certain countries and in particular situations the event could assume a partisan political character, notwithstanding the original intent of the organizers. In such a circumstance, believers would of course not participate or, if the event assumes such a character after it has begun, should tactfully withdraw.

We trust that all who choose to participate in these events will keep in mind the attributes we are exhorted to exemplify in our daily life, including wisdom, dignity, moderation, non-partisanship and loving concern for the welfare and rights of all. It is important to bear in mind, as well, that these events have been organized for all who suffer in Iran, and it would not be appropriate for an individual Bahá’í who does participate to be seen as trying to use the occasion to unduly promote the interests of the Bahá’ís.

Should you have any further questions that arise in relation to participation in events in your city, we ask that you turn to your Local Spiritual Assembly and follow its guidance. Local Spiritual Assemblies may in turn seek guidance from our Office of External Affairs.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Kenneth E. Bowers
Secretary-General

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:19:38 -0000

Baquia, your proposal was to act the same way with Baha'is and non Baha'is undergoing injustice. To my knowledge the UHj reacts when people or institutions refer to them for help. They make general statements through the BIC. They do not interfere when people or their families do not ask for assistance.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:26:50 -0000

chating = "chatting"? horrors! yes, the internet is a fruit of "evil", "materialistic", "western" modernism, spreading godlessness via technology. right. of course. much better to live in a dark little tribal corner of the world while someone else runs everything and does all the hard work.
(sarcasm)

the value of the bahai rants blog? it brings the ugly, dark stuff about bahai into the light of day. it exposes the deception and lies that pervade bahai culture. it makes fun of the false utopias bahais use to convert people.

enlightenment is this age is about integrating transcendence (spirituality, mysticism) with rationalism-science-technology (transrationalism / transpartisanism).

enlightenment in this age is holistic, and it matches the complexity of the conditions of the world.

enlightenment in this age is not about turning back to primitive constructions ("partial truths") of transcendence/spirit, with associated outmoded metaphysical constructs. (such as prophetology.)

enlightenment in this age is about throwing a monkey-wrench into the backward, fundamentalist, paradigm regressive public relations machine that bahai administration has set up to disseminate LIES and DECEPTION so that a power hungry, incompetent elite can maintain power.

excerpts:
| Clare Graves
|
| "Summary Statement: The Emergent, Cyclical, Double-Helix Model of the
| Adult Human Biopsychosocial Systems," presented Boston, May 20, 1981
|
| Briefly, what I am proposing is that the psychology of the mature human
| being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating spiraling process marked by
| progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to
| newer, higher-order systems as an individual's existential problems
| change. Each successive stage, wave, or level of existence is a state
| through which people pass on their way to other states of being. When
| the human is centralized in one state of existence, he or she has a
| psychology which is particular to that state. His or her feelings,
| motivations, ethics and values, biochemistry, degree of neurological
| activation, learning system, belief systems, conception of mental
| health, ideas as to what mental illness is and how it should be treated,
| conceptions of and preferences for management, education, economics,
| and political theory and practice are all appropriate to that state.

http://www.enlightennext.or...

| In light of these new glimpses from a higher perspective, I now realized I
| really had been at odds with myself. My GREEN eco-consciousness was
| always in conflict with my ORANGE materialism. My RED independence
| was in opposition to my GREEN need for acceptance and communality,
| and the "Mean Green Meme" was hell-bent on pitting itself against
| Second Tier, luring me with its righteous idealism and narcissistic
| demands so I wouldn't have to meet the evolutionary challenge to trust,
| let go of fear, and actually transform.
|
| Now, getting back to enlightenment, well, as we've been
| finding, "Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to
| change." But, to be honest, I didn't think that applied to me. I mean, I
| was spiritual. I was serious. I had made sacrifices. But somewhere deep
| down, evolution was evolving my perspective and I realized: Clare
| Graves was right, the leap to Second Tier is "momentous," because it's
| pointing to nothing less than the difference between inner conflict and
| profound inner resolution between all the parts of myself, all the
| memes. As Don Beck pointed out, it is the dropping away of fear. And
| that's no small thing. It means being completely at home in the
| universe.
|
| And in that shift in perspective, I discovered more: the whole spiral is
| necessary. It's what got me to where I am today, and to the iota of
| humility required to recognize that I really am part of the "never-ending
| upward quest" that Don Beck describes. And this is only the beginning.
| Because freedom from fear and irresolution means freedom to stand in
| awe of this miraculous, ever-ascending spiral of human emergence. And
| freedom to stand in awe of the cosmic order that creates it. As depths of
| insight and vast realms of consciousness glint from the upper reaches of
| the spiral, the real possibilities begin.

http://www.formlessmountain...

http://multiplex.integralin...

excerpt:
| Ken Wilber who coined the phrase "mean green" (closely related
| to "boomeritis"), here's some discussion on it from his book, A Theory
| of Everything:
|
| The point is simply that the very high developmental stance of green
| pluralism--the product of at least six major stages of hierarchical
| transformation--turns around and denies all hierarchies, denies the
| very path that produced its own noble stance. It consequently extends
| an egalitarian embrace to every stance, no matter how shallow or
| narcissistic. The more egalitarianism is implemented, the more it
| invites, indeed encourages, the Culture of Narcissism. The the Culture
| of Narcissism is the antithesis of the integral culture.
|
| (We saw that narcissism, at its core, is a demand that "Nobody tells me
| what to do!" Narcissism will therefore not acknowledge anything
| universal, because that places various demands and duties on
| narcissism that it will strenuously try to deconstruct, because "nobody
| tells me what to do." This egocentric stance can easily be propped up
| and supported with the tenets of pluralistic relativism.).
|
| In short, the rather high developmental wave of pluralism becomes a
| supermagnet for the rather low state of emotional narcissism. ...
|
| In other words, the very high developmental meme of pluralism becomes
| a shelter and a haven for a reactivation of some of the lower and intensely
| egocentric memes (e.g., purple and red) In green's noble attempt to move
| beyond conformist rules (many of which are indeed unfair and
| marginalizing), and in its genuine desire to deconstruct a rigid rationality
| (much of which can be rigid and stultifying)--in short, in green's
| admirable attempt to go postconventional--it has often inadvertedly
| embraced anything nonconventional, and this includes much that is
| frankly preconventional, regressive, and narcissitic.
|
| .... A typical result is that the sensitive self, honestly trying to help,
| excitedly exaggerates its own significance. It will possess the new
| paradigm, which heralds the greatest transformation in the history of
| the world; it will completely revolutionize society as we know it; it will
| revision everything that came before it; it will save the planet and save
| Gaia and save the Goddess; it will be the most extraordinary...

So, the question is: does bahai theology/scripture contain the memetic-code needed to create the necessary building blocks of consciousness to enable people to HEALTHILY navigate through the changes in consciousness that occur in postmodern culture?

The ANSWER IS - NO!

There has been a near-complete failure at all levels in bahai (cultural, administrative, scholarship-research, activism) to address the current "problems of existence" at the leading edge of social evolution.

In short: bahai is mostly bullsh*t.

adios muchachito!

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:35:17 -0000

a religion of cowardice will never attract mass following.

bahais should have done what Gandhi/Mandela did: protest, get beat up, and thus inspire millions to support social justice.

http://www.encounter.co.za/...

the basic reality is that bahais did the cowardly thing in s. africa, they hid in the shadows, just as the iranian bahais had been doing for a long time. they never really believed they could master their universe.

Here is one big difference: Gandhi was "political", he fully embraced the idea of national liberation movements and independence from colonial/imperial power.

at the same time, bahais were dreaming of creating a new imperial system (based on a bahai "one truth above all things" anti-pattern), thus, were not simpatico with liberation politics.

my ancestors fought against slavery, and against fascism, and I grew up around people that fought for civil rights and the environment. there is nothing about the future bahai global emperial-totalitarian system (based on the current trajectory of fundamentalism/literalism) that has any appeal to me. it does not represent the next step forward in the advancement of civilization, world peace, or any of that. on the contrary.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:40:22 -0000

farhan,

you are really dense.

bahai administration should have asked for (volunteer)bahai "martyrs" to go to south africa to protest racism and injustice, get beat up, thrown in jail, and so forth using the model of Nelson Mandela, and the thousands of other "peace" activists that not only "talked the talk", but "walked the walk".

instead, bahai hypocrisy prevailed.

the real reason that bahai administration didn't want any bahai protestors to go to south africa was that they would have become "famous", and some of them would have eventually ended up becoming bahai leaders, and would have broken through the lifetime-incumbency system, risen to high levels within the bahai power elites, and eventually MADE REAL CHANGES (improvements) to how the rotten, inept, corrupt, totalitarian bahai administrative system works.

the real problem is that the bahai leadership elites do not want to be accountable for the things they do wrong. it is a comfy little club, and they do not want anyone with wide support asking for significant change.

your inability to see the obvious corruption is a perfect example of why the bahai community is a massive faliure.

you have an infinite number of absurd/silly excuses, all of which simply further embarass the religion you think you are "defending".

bahai had become a religion of cowardice. compare farhan's excuses for bahai cowardice with the main figures in bahai history that had the "guts" to challenge the corrupt political and religious leaders of the mid-1800s in iran.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Baquia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:37:27 -0000

Farhan, Can you can show me where I said that the UHJ should provide a statement to Neda's family?
For the Nth time, you are engaging in a straw man argument.

"Who told you that Neda’s family has requested a statement from the UHJ? You are presuming what they might wish."

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:25:38 -0000

farhan,

as I've said before (what seems like 100s of time by now) "spiritualization" existed before any so called prophets.

no prophets are needed. "progressive revelation" is just another version of the old religious "middle man scam" cooked up by the rulers of slave societies 5,000 years ago.

bahaullah simply reminded people of something that already existed.

the spread of yoga and other "new age" type postmodern/integral aspects of culture is what is bringing about "spiritualization", bahai is a footnote to a footnote to a footnote, and well on the way into the "dustbin of history" as a significant spiritual movement that has social, economic or political relevance.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:17:20 -0000

fahan: you are sugat coating poo again.

bahai AO is not laying a foundation for world peace, they are laying the foundation for maintaining their power, and protecting dysfunctional organizational culture.

abuse of authority and totalitarianism is the only thing coming from bahai administration.

"outwardly fair, inwardly foul" is the best description for bahai administration and its apologists and polemicists.

bahais don't want to get into politics because it would make the incredible INCOMPETENCE of the people running the bahai faith even more obvious than it already is.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

fubar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:12:37 -0000

farhan,

no, you are the one that has a distorted, polemic, apologist, conformist, vision of the bahai community.

where is the evidence of robust disagreement with, protest of, uhj member's public opinions?

answer: NOWHERE.
(excet for a few marginalized blogs, one of which has to operate in secracy to avoid PERSECUTION by bahai thought police.)

You are the archetypal distortion artist.

As such, you typify many of the things that are wrong with bahai. if you had any power, you would do what all other similar bahai totalitarians do, which is abuse authority to marginalize alternative perspectives, nonconformance, dissent and criticism.

everything you say makes it more obvious what is deeply wrong with bahai: it is a religion that operates on lies, lies, lies.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

pey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:15:00 -0000

And feminists, and gays/lesbians and ethnic groups and.... you don't believe are used as scapegoats in Iran and in other socieities? You simply choose to elevate our own over others. THAT is not the Bahai Faith that I believe in. THAT was not Abdul-Baha when he chastised the French people for caring about their own while thousands of other nationalities died in war. Hypocrisy!

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Steve Marshall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:36:51 -0000

Malapropist?

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:19:33 -0000

Craig: What counts are, firstly, the personal opinions of the members of the UHJ as given in their personal talks to captive Baha'i audiences…

Craig, this just is not true. You have a distorted vision of the Baha’i community.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:17:13 -0000

Pey wrote: That injustices against Persian Bahais is somehow of a higher caliber worthy of us to make "armchair" protests, but not for others.

farhan: as I see it, general statements for humanity, like the ones Abdu'l-Baha made, are issued by the UHJ through the BIC and available to all who wish to consult them and states which want to apply them in the interests of their citizens. The UHJ does not interfere in particular in specific political issues or in the lives of those who do not require their attention, but has a responsibility towards those who beg that guidance and assistance and enter into a covenant with them.

Pey wrote: I really don't see the difference between how you and the AO our acting here

farhan: the UHJ is acting in the interest of humanity: not by becoming involved in areas outside it’s competence, but in providing spiritual guidance, laying the spiritual foundations of a world civilization. The interference in political matters you are asking for is inappropriate for the world’s ills, and as a wise doctor who is denying what the patient wants and gives him what he needs, God has also provided us with His divine remedy.

As for quotes, I used Mars and then Ocean on PC and now archives on Mac.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:27:46 -0000

Baquia wrote: I'm not setting myself up as arbiter, it is as clear as the nose on your face.

Baquia, you are arbitrating, without noticing it, any more than you see my nose.

Who told you that Neda’s family has requested a statement from the UHJ? You are presuming what they might wish. Will the US embassies intervene in the same way for a US citizen and for someone who has not requested US citizenship or has expressed the wish not to be associated with the US? Do you have the same responsibilities towards a spouse with whom you have entered into a covenant as with a stranger?

The UHJ is a spiritual leader who intervenes to guide and protect whosoever knocks at their door, humbly begging guidance, and does not interfere with the lives of those who have not expressed their wish to benefit from their guidance and spiritual protection.

The UHJ also makes statements for those who are presumed requiring their support through the BIC; here you can find statements on the subjects you bring up, but only for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts which love and cherish: http://www.bahai.org/

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Craig Parke — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:11:38 -0000

That quote directly supports what you and Baquia are saying. But, unfortunately, it is a quote by Abdu'l-Baha. That is the quaint OLDTHINK Baha'is Faith. In the NEWTHINK Baha'i Faith what Abdu'l-Baha said about anything does not count.

What counts are, firstly, the personal opinions of the members of the UHJ as given in their personal talks to captive Baha'i audiences and, secondly, the elucidations of the sitting UHJ. What counts is their personal and group interpretations. What counts is what the members of the UHJ and ITC discuss at lunch. They are the sole interpreters of the Writings of the Faith for every soul on Earth. What they say goes and anyone who does not stay strictly within their interpretations both in letter and spirit as clearly set forth in the Ruhi Courses is in mortal danger of being called in for interrogation by an ABM or AABM and thrown out of the Faith at any time. What Abdu'l-Baha ever said about anything does not count for jack squat in the religion he helped found anymore.

But I completely agree with Abdu'l-Baha on this point. His mind was one of the reasons I joined the Faith almost four decades ago.

So it goes.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

pey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:38:47 -0000

"I am filled with wonder and surprise to notice what interest and excitement has been aroused throughout the whole country on account of the death of twenty people, while they remain cold and indifferent to the fact that thousands of Italians, Turks, and Arabs are killed in Tripoli! "
How Farhan is this different from your view that Bahais take care of their own before they can make any comments about others. That injustices against Persian Bahais is somehow of a higher caliber worthy of us to make "armchair" protests, but not for others. I really don't see the difference between how you and the AO our acting here and the French people that Abdul-Baha was commenting about. Again thanks for diggin out that quote!

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

pey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:03:48 -0000

Farhan says: "So we see that the dissemination of God’s message was what Abdu’l-Baha advocated as a remedy for injustice, not the mere voicing of protests from our arm chairs. He continued:"

So are you saying that the AO and you have not grasped the message of Bahai well enough yet? I would agree. Because like the French who were so concerned about the 20 some people that died in an accident while not giving a damn about the thousands dying in a war, you also believe voicing of protests from our AO arm chair on behalf of a small group of Iranian Bahais is more important than doing the same for others. Thank you for finding the quote that supports what I have been saying.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Craig Parke — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:27:35 -0000

You quoted SE:

"Laws and institutions, as viewed by Baha'u'llah, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing. The believers, particularly the young ones, should therefore fully realize the necessity of praying. For prayer is absolutely indispensable to their inner spiritual development, and this, as already stated, is the very foundation and purpose of the religion of God." (Directives from the Guardian p87)

BINGO FARHAN!

This is EXACTLY what has happened to the Baha'i Faith. It is a mere organization of spiritual communist hacks with their worship of their God Shoghi Effendi. The means to an end became the end. Everyone who ever served in the Faith since the 1960's and 1970's saw this happen. All Spirit was suffocated out of the Faith by mentally ill lifetime incumbent apparatchik hacks at every level. With no term limits this was inevitable.

Meanwhile, look at all the spiritual books on Amazon. People are praying and meditating their asses off while the Baha'is hold another insufferable administrative meeting in the new dumbed down Spiritual Communist Party McFaith. If Ruhi is ever successful and brings in entry-by-troops, those people will eventually be crushed too by the amazing Lead Zeppelin Admin-O-Centric Spiritless Faith too. It is endless. No one can take a breath in the crushing Admin-O-Centric Faith. Ruhi is just another forced exercise. You cannot force people to pray. Prayer and meditation are things people learn on their own. Not from the top down spiritual Comintern nanny state.

"For the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling which unites Man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer."

The current version of the Baha'is Faith could not pray it's way out of a paper bag. Who wants to live under terminal enforce groupthink.

The only hope is that some time in the far future after all the people currently leading the Baha'i Faith are all dead and are long gone and have gone to their hapless reward, the rank and file will get back to Baha'u'llah and studying all spiritual teachers of the world of every Era including people channeling down at the Holiday inn.

You must look for truth everywhere at all times in tghis World Age. You must learn to pray and meditate yourself in this World Age. It cannot be taught from the Committee To Teach Everyone How To Pray And Meditate, Inc. It comes from within on one's own under one's own power. To think otherwise is to have zero experience in life.

SE should have been doing his job appointing a Living Guardian to help out some instead of berating other people for not praying enough.

Just look on Amazon. People are learning to pray and meditate far better than the hapless top down micro managed Baha'is.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:58:51 -0000

Craig, this quote underlines God’s purpose in allowing us to attain by our efforts and not through coercion:
“He Who is the Day Spring of Truth is, no doubt, fully capable of rescuing from such remoteness wayward souls and of causing them to draw nigh unto His court and attain His Presence. "If God had pleased He had surely made all men one people." His purpose, however, is to enable the pure in spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by virtue of their own innate powers, unto the shores of the Most Great Ocean, that thereby they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse. Thus hath it been ordained by the all-glorious and resplendent Pen....” (Gleanings XXVIII)

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:39:27 -0000

Craig, as i see it, the purpose of God is not to intervene in social affairs and do things for us, but to inspire humanity to grow and come about doing it by its own self. It is like a teacher who gives the lesson and then sets the problem on the board, allowing the students develop their own capacities and learn by trial and error. Baha’u’llah gave His message to the world’s leaders and now lets us do it and suffer until we have done it _by ourselves_. The first step in this direction is spiritualisation as Shoghi Effendi clearly outlines it for us:

"Indeed the chief reason for the evils now rampant in society is the lack of spirituality. The materialistic civilization of our age has so much absorbed the energy and interest of mankind that people in general do no longer feel the necessity of raising themselves above the forces and conditions of their daily material existence. There is not sufficient demand for things that we call spiritual to differentiate them from the needs and requirements of our physical existence.

"The universal crisis affecting mankind is, therefore, essentially spiritual in its causes. The spirit of the age, taken on the whole, is irreligious. Man's outlook on life is too crude and materialistic to enable him to elevate himself into the higher realms of the spirit.

"It is this condition, so sadly morbid, into which society has fallen, that religion seeks to improve and transform. For the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling which unites Man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Baha'u'llah has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer merely to accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality which he can acquire chiefly by means of prayer. The Baha'i Faith, like all other Divine Religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man which has first to be fed. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide.

"Laws and institutions, as viewed by Baha'u'llah, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing. The believers, particularly the young ones, should therefore fully realize the necessity of praying. For prayer is absolutely indispensable to their inner spiritual development, and this, as already stated, is the very foundation and purpose of the religion of God." (Directives from the Guardian p87)

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Craig Parke — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:21:37 -0000

Farhan,

These are excellent and beautiful quotes by Abdu'l-Baha and are why I joined the Baha'i Faith and gladly served it for so many years. The sentiments of these words among many others were my hope. Now almost 40 years later I find out that our Institutions don't give one wit of credibility to what Abdu'l Baha said in "Paris Talks". I just did not know this until recent years.

How do you square what Abdu'l-Baha said with Glenford Mitchell saying the when Baha'is see American soldiers being sent to their deaths they should just "be quiet and let God do His work"? How?

I was once an American soldier. I bitterly resent that guidance that Baha'is are to just gleefully step over the bodies of American soldiers on their way to their incompetent delusions of grandeur. Not me. Every needless death is endless pain for mankind. Every needless death is absolute anguish to the families of the dead. More American soldiers died in Iraq and Afghanistan this week. Human beings destroyed in endless war.

How do you explain that the core beliefs of the Baha'i Faith can be changed at any time for any reason by the men at the top? And that anyone who speaks up against this to call them on it can be thrown out of the Faith at any time for any reason they say?

Please explain?

I say these men treat the Baha'i Faith as their own personal satrap and I just will not support that. they only speak up when Baha'is die. They never speak up for anyone else. Ever. And that is why the Baha'i Faith as an organization has less and less credibility in the world among truly spiritual people who care about the human race. And that is why the Faith has been run completely into the ground.

These people do not care one wit abput the teachings of Baha'u'llah or Abdu'l-Baha. Their Supreme God is Shoghi Effendi and the Administration he created. there is no longer any Spirit and that is why the Baha'is are now reduced to being the Jehovah's Witness of Shia Islam going door to door. They Faith does not want any social activists. It does not want any educated people in touch with their own souls. It only wants sheep who do not think for themselves. It only wants desperate people who can be completely dominated and controlled. that is the simple truth. That is why as it founders, everyone else on Earth that cares about the human race will go on and build the Kingdom of God by establishing justice in the world. If that includes atheists teh help is welcome. To the people that actually do this, will go the support of the Cosmos. They will do it while the Baha'is are in ever greater and greater chains and straight jackets put on them by their leadership. The whole thing is completely ridiculous.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

Baquia — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:16:34 -0000

Farhan,
I'm not setting myself up as arbiter, it is as clear as the nose on your face. I also offered a very practical suggestion, you just don't like it.
We are using one standard to act on behalf of Baha'is, and another for others who are downtrodden. If you can not see this or can not bring yourself to admit it, then I'm sorry, there's nothing more than can be said. I answered your question by saying that we should be doing the same for others as we do for our brethren because we are all children of God. Have a nice day.

PS unfortunately you've reverted back to putting words in my mouth. I never said that the pioneers in SA were at fault.

Re: Individual Baha’is Ignoring NSA Directive on Iran

farhan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:15:19 -0000

Baquia, as usual you back out of practical suggestions and position yourself as an arbitrator of what is right and wrong. You assess the actions of Baha’i Institutions as “wrong” but you have no alternative to suggest.

The whole issue of “right” and “wrong” is now established by consultation and not by personal discrimination. Beyond this assessment, we are to find practical solutions. We should not be like very well informed spectators who can tell how a player missed a goal or where a musician misinterpreted an author, but without ever playing football or a musical instrument. In fact those involved in action are far more lenient towards other people’s mistakes than the professional spectator. The arena of service in the Baha’i faith is not one of spectators putting thumbs up or down and publishing evaluations; it is one of servants becoming involved in a “battle” that aims at providing Divine Guidance so as to overcome human neglect and perversity, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. Had you lived in SA under apartheid, you would not have misjudged the pioneers in this way.