Baha'i Faith - Principles and Practices

[StinkyMouths]

Baha'is believe all form of prejudice is destructive! Then why you Baha'is kill and eat other animals and support major cause of earth destruction?

[BookOfFlaws]

"not all of them. Peace be with you in your searching."

I only search for God within now, as the Upanishads and great religions say to do. There is no need to "search" any more for some sort of materialistic, world-focused, "save the world," power-oriented non-religion.

People currently enrolled in the B. Faith need to continue searching. Get a real religion. Exterior focus cannot solve the problems of life, as Buddha and all the great avatars -- even Baha'u'llah -- taught.

[BookOfFlaws]

Funny, this Baha'i says "we don't recognize other texts" -- yet they continually use the Bible and other scriptures, as though they are indeed the word of God, to "prove the Baha'i Faith." Talk about disingenuous, slippery people here. So what he means is that Baha'is only like to exploit/use the other religious scriptures in a cherry-picking exercise, where they can make it appear that those texts support their claims. All the rest of those scriptures are 'bunk,' 'outdated,' etc.

[BahaiNationalCenter]

@BookOfFlaws Thank you for your comment. Bahá’ís do recognize the Bible, the Qur’an, and the holy texts of the world’s other revealed religions.

[BookOfFlaws]

@BahaiNationalCenter -- How do you "recognize" them if you don't even know their content? Have you ever even read the Mandukya Upanishad?

[BookOfFlaws]

"You seem to wish to attack, simply denying or contradicting everything."

I wish to attack falsehood and fakery.

"As the Baha'i Faith does recognize other religious texts..."

Ah, but I thought Baha'is teach that all the religions and their scriptures come from God. Too bad that you can't learn anything from other religious scriptures now. It would make you people less boring. You really could expand yourself by understanding the Bhagavad-Gita and Upanishads, for example.

[BookOfFlaws]

"here is no "official" list."

This is dishonest. All the western "administrative" bodies, in promoting the BF, have trotted out the same list of "10 basic principles" for decades. That is not accidental. And many of the things there, such as "equality of men and women" (not) are not even strongly present in their scriptures. Devotion to God/Baha'u'llah is strongly present, but not listed. "Harmony of science and religion" is little present, and is now understood opposite to the founders views.

[aaronlee75]

@BookOfFlaws You seem to wish to attack, simply denying or contradicting everything. That's fine. As the Baha'i Faith does recognize other religious texts I'd suggest that you look up the "Surah of the Unbeliever" in the Quran. Paraphrased it says you go your way and I'll (we'll) go mine (or our own). That list of "10 basic principles" has changed and is simply a sampling of the main principles...not all of them. Peace be with you in your searching.

[BookOfFlaws]

That's what Baha'u'llah meant in the Hidden Words when he said "Look within thyself and thou wilt find me standing within thee." This is the whole theme of the Yoga-Sutra and Upanishads (Gita, etc.) but the Baha'is care about it the least. Their "faith" is really just an obsession for controlling the world or destroying the diverse peoples in the name of an abstract "unity."

[djhenderson9]

I made a personal decision to investigate the Baha'i reality and prove to myself that it is either true or false. I came to the conclusion that I cannot tell others what to conclude, but I can say that, for me, I do believe that the Baha'i Faith brings spiritually inspired organizing principles and tools for individuals and communities to use in their personal, family, and social activities. It is true for me... investigate with an open mind and heart and you may find it true for you, too.

[GreatAgentD]

This seems so wrong... :(

[nn101198]

Yes, no, yes, no

[nn101198]

Why would anyone join this?

How can you say we are against discrimination, of and we think gays are evil immoral people for no reason?

What has religion ever said that was THEN confirmed by science?

[BahaiNationalCenter]

@nn101198 Baha’is reject that there is an inherent conflict between science and religion. Religion offers answers to questions of morals, human purpose, and our relationship to God. Science without religion becomes the instrument of materialism. Any religion that ignores modern scientific truths runs the risk of descending into superstition and fanaticism. Science trains our minds to discover hidden realities. Religion helps us uncover the meaning and proper uses of scientific discovery.

[BahaiNationalCenter]

@nn101198 Thank you for your comment. There are Baha'is who have a homosexual orientation yet still are active members of the Baha'i Faith. It is not the homosexuals’ desire to love that is considered unacceptable, but rather the expression of love in the sexual act. A letter written in 1995 by the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, states:"To regard homosexuals with prejudice and disdain would be entirely against the spirit of Baha'i Teachings."

[redwing9]

@BahaiNationalCenter You have my admiration for the dignified way you are responding to this person.

[WadeZOP]

This is a religion I want to see the world moving towards. Let the people who emotionally seek religion uptake a practice like this. While the world moves onto secularism. I however suspect there are motives behind this organisation, those at which money is a key factor. For those however who need it, I guess that is a price to pay.

[Ryan9145X]

Why do people think you HAVE to believe in a god to be moral? I believe in being good to my fellow human beings for the sake of being good. I want to work for a better world. I don't need to pretend there's a god who is going to either punish or reward me in an afterlife to make good, moral decisions in this life. Free yourselves, people. You don't have to believe in a god to be a good person or have morality. In fact, almost always religion is what distorts peoples' sense of right versus wrong.

[Ryan9145X]

Nice ideas, but science and religion do not lead to the same truth. Science is an objective investigation of reality based on observed events. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved. You can try to remove the ugly things inherent to religion, but it's still a religion. It's based on a belief in a god with no evidence to support its existence. Why can't people just reject religion altogether and just say "I have no religion, but I have morals, and that's ok."

[ItsOneInAMillion]

As an atheist, the bahai faith is probably my favourite religion. Bahai's aren't gonna blow themselves

[BookOfFlaws]

If you asked ten scholars to do a study of Baha'i writings to come up with "10 Basic Principles," these could make the Top 5:

1--Worship and adulation for the founder, Baha'u'llah

2--Obedience (this theme of obedience is repeated often in the Book of Laws)

3--Getting along with each other, plus other religionists

4--Chanting, prostrations, repetition of verses

5--The glory of martyrdom

These are REAL "basic principles" of the Baha'i F. Four of those are not listed on their "Ten Basic" list.

[aaronlee75]

@BookOfFlaws There is no "official" list. But to answer this...1--no more so than any other faith. 2--For believers, bedience to God and to the governments in the countries where they live. 3--nothing wrong here. 4--public chanting or public recitation of verses is forbbiden. 5--Never kill for your faith...those who are forced to die should be highly respected.

As far as "REAL" basic principles...Abdul'baha listed most of them in Paris Talks, and other works.

[BookOfFlaws]

@aaronlee75 -- Obedience to government in the US. means funding genocidal wars, abortion, and moral perversion. Making a rule against "chanting in the streets" (and killing too much game when falcon hunting) is silly. Baha'is are not much interested in chanting privately either. Much better to chant God's name in the streets than to never chant it. The "real" basic principles are God-devotion and devotion to your "blessed beauty." If you read the texts honestly. You don't list these.

[lordhaitham]

Nice stuff but still the fact that you are all going to hell gonna stop me from joing such a thing

[aaronlee75]

@lordhaitham Well we all have to look into faith ourselves. In the end our faith is just between the individual and God.