Comments on: Trial of Iranian Baha’i leadership: An Open Letter to Ayatollah Dorri-Najafabadi

By: Tom Stevens

Tom Stevens — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:37:53 +0000

Hi, all!
I have been a Baha’i since 1964. The first words of Baha-u-llah I read were ” The age of prophecy hath verily ended; the age of enlightenment hath now come.” We are living in a new age that will allow mankind to achieve world unity and peace. Baha’is in the world are working toward this goal. This time there will be no sects splitting the Faith. Time after time certain groups have tried to slow or stop the growth of the Baha’i Faith. Each time the Faith has grown. Please God (Inshallah) these 7 “arrested” in Iran do not have to pay with their lives to prove this point again.
I would advise everyone who would like to verify this to read the history of the Baha’i Faith. Note that the latest gatherings worldwide show that the Faith has grown in many places of the world: http://news.bahai.org/story/700
Best regards, Tom

By: S.N.

S.N. — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:03:07 +0000

Dear Mark,

gole_rose_zard@yahoo.com is my eamil address. I would be happy to receive emails from you and discuss about the Bahai Faith.

Kind regards
A Bahai from Iran

By: sb

sb — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:54:22 +0000

Mark,

I really like your line of questioning! As a aged Baha’i, I would like to add to the above comments with this:

Upon learning of the life, sacrifice and the Teachings of Baha’u'llah, whose Writings come from His Own Hand, it is clear that this is a vast, deeply crafted universal movement that resembles nothing like what has been known before.

Baha’is canot participate in partisan politics, develop clergy, dogma, liturgy, or ritual. yet, from my point of view, it works magnificently. It doesn’t jive with the conventional wisdom and yet it a comprehensive alternative for what we have known. it is called Baha’i Administration.

Since Shoghi Effendi passed away, there has not been a singular leader and there will never be such again. Shoghi Effendi made clear that in the future that as Baha’i governing bodies develop and grow (we are, after all, an infant Faith) they will expand from 9 members to larger numbers.

So the Baha’i future is one of absolute diversity aimed at unity, with no justifications possible for coercion or bloodshed, as was promised by all the great Messengers of the past. The foundation of this unity is nothing less than the spiritual Teachings of Baha’u'llah.

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:51:04 +0000

Dear Mark,

You may find that this document addresses your important questions:

http://info.bahai.org/protection-of-diversity-in-bahai-community.html

By: Farhan

Farhan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:35:03 +0000

Mark, there is no reason to fear a theocratic intent from the Baha’is. They do not believe that are to impose their beliefs on any one, nor do they wish to take any power into their own hands. They do believe that the principles and the blue print for a planet unified in it’s diversity that they are now establishing on a small scale, and to which they are inviting all the peoples of the earth, will be one day joyfully and gratefully adopted on a large scale by the peoples of the world.

By: Mario Larose

Mario Larose — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:29:12 +0000

I am sincerely touched by the way the Iran Press Watch deal with the problem of Persecution of Baha’i in Iran. We pray God to assist all those who are persevered to bring Justice to those innocent victims. Thank you very much.

By: Ramin

Ramin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:07:16 +0000

This is my humble understanding of the Writings in the Baha’i Faith.
If and when the Baha’is become the state religion. Repair to places of worship of other religions, like Islamic mosques, takes precedence over the repair of Baha’i places of worship.
This is in direct contrast to an experience I had when visiting Bethlehem. I was told by one of the people working in that church that the sects of Christianity could not agree which sect should repair the very church that was built on top of where His Holiness, Christ was born. Therefore the Church was sadly left in a dilapidated state.
It makes me happy to know that the Baha’i Faith will have such an outlook. And it makes me hopeful for a peaceful future.

With loving greetings to all,
Ramin P

By: Vesal

Vesal — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:06:20 +0000

Just a small correction of something that might be misunderstood by someone quick-reading.

On Item 3, paragraph 2 you wrote:

“If anyone is to blame for the presence of the Baha’is is Israel, it is the Iranian government of that time.”

When the correct sentence should say:

“If anyone is to blame for the presence of the Baha’is in Israel, it is the Iranian government of that time”

One word (in this case “in” instead of “is”) can make a difference in confusing the reader.

By: Brooks Garis

Brooks Garis — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:05:42 +0000

Whenever the spirit of a religion is applied, for instance in Islam the teaching that “There shall be no compulsion in the matter of religion”, all the world has thrived. When that was the guiding principal in Spain for 700-years till 1492 the Jews, who had been persecuted everywhere in Europe thrived under Islam’s protection and came known as the Sephardim, the people of the shepherd. Hebrew theology was translated into Arabic and Maimoniedes who codified Jewish law was Saladin’s physician. When Omar arrived in Jerusalem he found Christians arguing about the keys to the Holy Sepulcher. He gave them to a retainer and a Moslem family has safeguarded them ever since.

Fairness, honesty, compassion, maturity -these is the honorable qualities of every religion. If the followers of every religion would follow the teaching of that religion, all would be well.

According to the Koran, different religions give us the opportunity to compete together in good works. But before this era it was not possible to know as quickly as the speed of light what was going on in the world. It took 600 years for Christianity to reach the farthest reaches of Europe; another 200-years to get to Iceland and a thousand years after that to Samoa.

So if God were to guide the world’s peoples, different voices would raise the call.

Humanity advances and the Creator’s rules that guide our greater advancement are the chronologically unfolded religions. All the religions teach constructive acts. It is only the abuse and misrepresentation of religion that encourages destructive acts. Religions teach discernment and fairness.

If people will follow the spirit of their religions there will be no persecution of any kind. Until that time, let us at exercise the courage to stand up to bullies on behalf of people who are being persecuted. Courage is fundamental to justice and courage on behalf of others is the finest expression of religious truth.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:25:07 +0000

“Mark, one of the teachings of the Bahai faith is “Unity in Diversity”. We are well aware that when the Bahai faith becomes widespread and many people embrace it, there would be still adherents of other religions. We are trained from childhood that different people believing in different religions are like different flowers of a gardent. No matter what color they are, what smell they have, they add to the beautification of the gardent. If all flowers were only of one color, it was very monotonous to look at that garden.

What is really important is living in peace with the followers of different religions. “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” Baha’ullah”

A Baha’i from Iran,

I am honored to communicate with you. I wonder if we can take this discussion somewhere else, as I don’t think it is relevant to the article at hand. That is entirely my fault, of course.