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On faith: Your simple acts of love can spread to our global village
Dr. Chris Gilbert
guest columnist
Published: 11:39AM November 25th, 2009

May the joyousness and sacredness of this season of thanks extend to you, your loved ones and to our fellow family of mankind.
These weeks ripe with the fruit of unity and a spirit of giving thanks permeates our families and friends. This is the fertile ground for growing peace on earth and goodwill toward one another.
Strange idea that world peace is not grown with treaties, agreements, negotiations or political wrangling. It does not originate in ambassadorial offerings or summits — or even in the halls of the United Nations.
It is planted and flourishes in the healing and peace of our families. It grows outward from simple acts of kindness extended to others in our homes and in our lives.
For, if we cannot find such peace inside ourselves and our homes, how can we expect to plant it in our neighborhoods, let alone in the bustling rooms of international detante?
The Baha’i writings tell us we can “ ... compare the nations of the world to the members of a family. A family is a nation in miniature. Simply enlarge the circle of the household and you have the nation. Enlarge the circle of nations and you have all humanity.”
If you look closely enough, you can see your acts of family love ripple upstairs to the next apartment, or across the street and over the fence into the neighbors’ house.
They appear in the smiles shared in the grocery line or at the drive through. They show up in the donations of money, gifts or goodwill shared with the less fortunate.
And, they flow even farther outward into our communities and across those who, like us, are starved for a safer world filled with trusting regard, patient understanding and loving respect.
From neighborhoods and communities, these acts of graciousness shared with loved ones slink like the transformed Grinch into crevices of the world where economic, social and spiritual bridges are forming every day between nations and continents.
The gifts you shared this season help bring connections to those in the far-away spots who had a hand in making them. Your need becomes the resource to fulfill their need.
And we experience the indirect results of the gifts they can share with each other due, in part, to the work of our hands. We see but a fraction of these connections so prevalent in this growing, global village.
The central principle for this new order to the world is the oneness of humanity.
“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security,” Bah’u’llh, the Founder of the Bahᡡ’ Faith, asserted over a century ago, “are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
Acceptance of the interrelatedness and interdependence of all people implies the renewal of every social institution on the planet, including the family.
With tongue in cheek do I suggest that we should celebrate 364 days like we do this one, and perhaps save just one day a year for all the less than happy, less than connected, less than caring interactions which occur in our lives far more frequently than they should.
Life seems a bit backwards somehow when it’s put that way, doesn’t it?
Yet this idea that one day a year is set aside to concentrate on love and unity, and the other 364 days slip into “regular,” busy patterns of a life less conscientious argue for celebrating a year of these days.
That would certainly accelerate world accord.
It may seem difficult to find true happiness in the midst of so many changes and so many dire predictions this year. Even the elation shared by many in the diversity-shaping leadership in the country is shaken by more personal concerns about what tomorrow means in our neighborhoods and homes.
Yet there have been so many milestones in our global village this year — so many things worth celebrating.
That our families are usually close by this time of year makes our view of life less daunting and our perspective on our happenstances less straining.
That alone is worth celebrating.
I think one of the great gifts of this season is its reminder to notice and act on these connections of unity and friendship.
So the next time difficult news or a bad experience tears at our sense of peace, try a simple act of random kindness. These sew the greatest seeds of healing and world unity, and isn’t that a gift worth thanks giving?
On Faith columnist Dr. Chris Gilbert of Baha’i Faith can be reached by e-mail at ckgilbert9@netscape.net. For more information, visit www.bahai.org.



A new chapter in the life of the planet has been opened. Humanity has attained its maturity, and the race consciousness has awakened to the fact that it must put away the childish things which seemed necessary in the day of the "survival of the fittest." This day "wherein the feet of the people deviate" is to be followed by a glorious to-morrow; for -- "This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. "The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between the nations and by the will of God the most great peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world and all men will live as brothers."

Abdu'l-Baha
Divine Philosophy, p. 12

Baha'i Conference Promotes World Parliament

WRITTEN BY JOE WOLVERTON, II
THURSDAY, 05 NOVEMBER 2009 02:00
On October 24, the Francophone European Association for Baha’i Studies convened its annual conference in Luxembourg. Normally, the minutes of the meetings of such a niche organization would not be newsworthy. This year, however, the group’s agenda was dominated by discussions of the anxiously awaited future of a new world order and a one-world government.
The keynote presentation was delivered by Andreas Bummel, the Chairman of the Committee for a Democratic United Nations, a Berlin-based NGO that, according to its website, seeks "to facilitate a cosmopolitan orientation of society, an improvement of international relations and the establishment of global democracy and global rule of law." Specifically, in order to achieve this goal the Committee advocates the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. Not unexpectedly, one of the most notable supporters of this movement is former United Nations Secretary-General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali.
In Bummel’s fascist fantasy (and that of many equally delusional globalists), the UN Parliamentary Assembly would be directly elected by all the citizens of the world and would serve as a world governing body with supreme legislative power. In reverential tones, Bummel stressed the “spiritual dimension” of his plans. “The establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly would represent a changed consciousness. For the first time in human history such a body would establish a direct political connection between every human being and the planet,” he gushed.
Other presentations followed Bummel and mimicked its preposterous proposals. One such speech was delivered by Jean-Francis Billion, a council member of the UN’s New York City neighbor, the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy. The predecessor of this conglomerate outfit was founded in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1947 for the purpose of “the establishment of a global federal system of strengthened and democratized global institutions with plenary constitutional power accountable to the citizens of the world and a division of international authority among separate global agencies.” Recently, they have fought for the creation of an International Criminal Court and a standing United Nations Armed Force.
The Baha’i organizers reminded those in attendance that Bahaullah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, predicted a series of joyous and momentous changes in the political, social, and spiritual life of the world. He affirmed that the happy and welcome results of such a revolution would include the formation of a one-world government, the election of a world parliament, a binding world constitution, and an armed global police force.
As citizens of the United States of America, through our elected representatives, we have ordained and established the Constitution of the United States and have enshrined it as the “supreme law of the land” (Article VI). No organization may of its own volition contravene this protection. What we must fear, however, is the deliberate yet surreptitious enervation of the Constitution and the subsequent surrender of our sacred liberties by way of international treaties that according to that same section become the law of the land, as well. Our solemn and nondelegable responsibility is to unwaveringly hold accountable any of our elected representatives that votes to ratify any treaty obligating the United States or any of its several states or citizens thereof to submit to any extra-constitutional authority.

This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as 'Abdu'l-Bah assures us, will, in this century, be securely established. "The Tongue of Grandeur," Bah'u'llᡡh Himself affirms, "hath ... in the Day of His Manifestation proclaimed: 'It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.'" "Through the power," He adds, "released by these exalted words He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men's hearts, and hath obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God's Holy Book."

(Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 121)

The Baha'i Influence at the United Nations

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2009
Jennifer Rast

The Baha’i faith now numbers some five million souls and the Encyclopedia Britannica lists Baha’i as the second-most widely spread independent religion in the world, after Christianity. With Haifa, Israel as the site of its international headquarters, its strong presence in the United Nations, and within other international groups, Baha’i is in a position to play a prominent role in the fulfillment of end times prophecy. In fact, they state in their literature that their goal is to do just that. They eagerly await the man who will usher in global peace (known to Christians as Antichrist), and hold as one of their central missions the establishment of a united global commonwealth that will control all things political, financial, and spiritual. At times, while reading from Baha’i writings, one begins to feel like you’ve picked up a Bible and began reading directly from the book of Revelation.

The ultimate deception of the end times will involve the worldwide worship of the Antichrist. But the Antichrist will not rise to power alone. His success will result from a worldwide spiritual deception perpetrated by his sidekick, the False Prophet. The Antichrist will not appear until after the falling away (2 Thess. 2:3), but the spirit of Antichrist is already at work perverting the gospel and corrupting the church. The False Prophet will look religious, sound religious and use religious terms, but his message will be straight from Satan (Rev. 13:11). The final phase of apostasy before the Antichrist arrives on the scene will introduce a religious system to be led by the False Prophet. It will be an ecumenical, interfaith religion much like the Baha’i faith.

There are nearly 130 agencies and organizations operating within the UN system, each overseeing programs that require vast sums of money and massive bureaucracies to operate. These UN programs are all strategic parts of a plan to achieve global governance and eliminate national sovereignty from the planet. Most of these programs are never covered in the world’s media and are able to operate outside of the awareness of the public they hope to govern. This giant bureaucracy is so far outside the realm of accountability that most people have no idea how it is operating or what agenda it is moving forward. Most Christians would be shocked to know how deeply involved the United Nations is in the spiritual agenda of the interfaith movement. Just as they are striving for a world government, they are also working with religious leaders and organizations to create the one world religion found in Bible prophecy - the religion that is to be an integral part of the Antichrist’s rise to power.

The Baha'i community has, as a duly accredited non-governmental organization, long worked closely with the United Nations, supporting many of its goals and programs, and taking a leadership role in several international gatherings. Its involvement in the United Nations dates back to the founding of the UN in 1945. In 1947, the Baha’i communities of the United States and Canada were recognized by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), and the next year, the Baha’i International Community itself was recognized by the UN DPI as an international non-governmental organization. In May 1970, they were granted consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), allowing for a greater degree of interaction with the Council and its subsidiary bodies. Since then they have also been granted consultative status with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and relationships with the many UN bodies have deepened and expanded over the years. Today for example, the Baha’i organization has a working relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), is associated with the United Nations Environment Programme, and is involved in joint activities with UNIFEM and UNICEF as well as many other religious, environmental and social programs within the UN, to include peace-building, human rights, women’s affairs, education, health, and sustainable development.

When you examine the beliefs and writings of the Baha’i community, it is not hard to understand the United Nations’ support and confidence in this organization. Their end goal is the same. Just as the United Nations believes that a new world order is just around the corner, the Baha’i believe the human race is nearing the next stage in their spiritual evolution - a phase that brings us one rung higher on the evolutionary ladder toward world peace and utopia. In their belief statement they write that, “The current world confusion and calamitous condition in human affairs is a natural phase in an organic process leading ultimately and irresistibly to the unification of the human race in a single social order whose boundaries are those of the planet.” They use their voice at the United Nations to convince global leaders of the need for a spiritual element in the development of the new world order. In the Baha’i document “A Vision of World Peace”, written by the Universal House of Justice, they state that “no serious attempt to set human affairs aright, to achieve world peace, can ignore religion.” The Baha’i “incarnation of God”, Abdu’l-Bah, said, “religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world.” They refer to the organized religions of today as “stuff of history” and claim that these religions of exclusivity, intolerance, and perversions of truth are the root of all evil and the cause for all of the world’s social, political, and economic ills.

“A Vision of World Peace” goes on to say that “those who have held blindly and selfishly to their particular orthodoxies, who have imposed on their votaries erroneous and conflicting interpretations of the pronouncements of the Prophets of God, bear heavy responsibility for the confusion and artificial barriers erected between faith and reason, science and religion”. They blame the resurgence of “fanatical religious fervor” occurring across the globe for what they call a “dying convulsion that is undermining the spiritual values which are conducive to the unity of mankind”.

In 2 Peter 3:3-5, the Bible warns the following: “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.”

Always eager to fulfill prophecy, a Baha’i statement reads: “The time has come when those who preach the dogmas of materialism, whether of the east or the west, whether of capitalism or socialism, must give account of the moral stewardship they have presumed to exercise. Where is the “new world” promised by these ideologies? Where is the international peace to whose ideals they proclaim their devotion?” Of course the new world of peace will come when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth.

I Thessalonians 1:10 “..and wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”

God warns us not to be deceived by those who will try to pave the way for the Antichrists false peace and deception.

II Thessalonians 2:3, 6-7 "Let no one in any way deceive you for it (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. And you know what restrains him now, so that in this time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way."

The Bible teaches us that in the end times a global religion will be established. It is referred to as Mystery Babylon, the mother of all harlots, and it will ride in on the Beast that is Antichrist. We can see the beginnings of this global faith today in our increasingly ecumenical religious leaders, such organizations as the United Religions Initiative, the Parliament of World Religions, and in the United Nations.

The Baha’i faith sees the United Nations as the vessel by which the unifying of the world’s religions into one faith will come to fruition. Their plan for the future of our world and the role of the United Nations and a regionalized world, are an eerily complete and detailed picture of Bible prophesy. Baha’i writings state “the oneness of humanity implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced…It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world – a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language.” They also promote a redistribution of wealth and a communist system of government that would be able to bring about this leveling of the playing field. This brings to mind the Antichrist’s future financial system in which no one will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the Beast.

While the Baha’i praise the United Nations as the only hope for the “world peace promised by all the major religions”, they are not satisfied with its progress and are a loud voice on the international stage for stepping up the pace of our “spiritual evolution”.

In a statement to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002, the Baha’i Community wrote, “despite significant achievements, the United Nations has yet to grasp fully both the constructive role that religion can play in creating a peaceful and prosperous global order, and the destructive impact that religious fanaticism can have on the stability and progress of the world.” They go on to say “while the United Nations’ human rights machinery has been used to condemn religious intolerance and persecution, UN development policies and programs have hardly begun to address religious bigotry as a major obstacle to peace and well-being.” While we do not deny that the world has seen a great deal of death and violence due to religious fanaticism (most prevalently today from Islamic fundamentalists), the Baha’i view goes further. The Baha’is won’t be satisfied until Bible-believing Christians join them in believing that all paths lead to God, and all claims to truth are silenced. In response to what they call religious fanaticism, they suggest that religious leaders need to “work untiringly to exorcise religious bigotry and superstition from within their faith traditions and renounce claims to religious exclusivity and finality”. And who decides what is superstition and what is truth? The Baha’i and the world community, of course. “Abdul’-Bah, the Baha’i “incarnation of God”, in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, defined superstition as “beliefs and opinions that are found contrary to the standards of science; for the antithesis of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition.”

Baha’i writings also stress that force and coercion in matters of religion and belief are violations of the Divine command. This sounds reasonable. No one should be forced to accept a religion. However, Baha’i writings also consider simple proselytizing to be coercive. They believe humans should be able to investigate reality for themselves, and to present your truth to another is to violate that spiritual right. They believe all religions are equally valid and just different expressions of the same God, so there is no reason share your faith with others.

The Baha’i make no distinction between the government and private citizens when condemning intolerant religious speech and expression. They support building on the “Convention Against Discrimination in Education” to include sanctions for those who, in the name of religion, would use education and media to oppress freedom of conscience and to promote division. Whether public or private, they say, there should be no tolerance for educational institutions and initiatives, or media policies and programs that promote intolerant attitudes and behaviors. Remember, as proselytizing to others, claiming an exclusive path to salvation, or condemning a lifestyle like homosexuality is deemed intolerant, this would apply to private religious schools and quite possibly churches. In a statement to the United Nations on the spiritual dimension of Sustainable Development, the Baha’i International Community wrote “Ultimately, the creation of a peaceful and just global civilization, in which the diverse peoples of the world live in harmony with one another and with the natural world, will require a significant reorientation of individual and collective goals and a profound transformation in attitudes and behaviors.”

So, just how do they plan to bring about this transformation? In a statement to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Baha’i community presented several possible next steps for transforming the United Nations. As a first priority, they proposed holding a convention on freedom of religion and belief to be drafted and ratified as expeditiously as possible by all of the governments of the world. They suggested the foundation within the United Nations system of a permanent religious forum, patterned on the UN’s recently founded Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The creation of this body would be responsible for beginning the integration of religion into the UN’s work of establishing a peaceful world order.

Of course, to participate in this forum, religious leaders would need to meet certain criteria. Their proposal states “only those religious leaders who make it clear to their followers that prejudice, bigotry and violence have no place in the life of a religious person should be invited to participate in the work of this body.” You can be sure that any religious leader who actually believes that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him”, would be disqualified from participation. A belief in the Bible as absolute truth puts you in the category of intolerant and would make you guilty of prejudice.

The statement closes by saying that “until the religions of the world renounce fanaticism and work wholeheartedly to eliminate it from within their own ranks, peace and prosperity will prove chimerical. It is they who must raise their voices to end the hatred, exclusivity, oppression of conscience, violations of human rights, denial of equality, opposition to science, and glorification of materialism, violence and terrorism, which are perpetrated in the name of religious truth.” How very tolerant! Oppress someone’s conscience, have the nerve to believe the Bible is the only absolute truth, or claim there is only one path to God, and you will be eliminated. Once again, the Baha’i have written their script for the world’s future directly from the prophecies of the Bible, and have given us a perfect example of the Spirit of Antichrist that marks all false prophets and false religions.
Source: http://www.contenderministries.org/UN/bahaiun.php


I have come from distant lands to visit the meetings and assemblies of this country (US). In every meeting I find people gathered loving each other; therefore I am greatly pleased. The bond of union is evidenced in this assembly today where the power of God has brought together in faith, agreement and concord those who are engaged in furthering the development of the human world. It is my hope that all mankind may become similarly united in the bond and agreement of love. Unity is the expression of the loving power of God and reflects the reality of divinity. It is resplendent in this day through the bestowals of light upon humanity.

Abdu'l-Baha
Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 274

Banderan becomes gov of Kiwanis Texas-Oklahoma District
www.bccourier.com 2009-10-15
William M. Bishop, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Bandera County, was installed as governor of the Texas-Oklahoma District Kiwanis International on Thursday, Oct. 1. He will serve until 30 September 2010.

Bishop joined Kiwanis in 1990 in Derby, Kansas, where he lived while working for the Boeing Company. He and his wife Ann Gay moved to the Bandera area in 2002 where he joined the Kiwanis Club of Bandera County. He has served as president, secretary, treasurer and director of the club. In addition, he was a lieutenant governor of the Texas-Oklahoma District in 2004-2005.

After arriving in the area, the Bishops quickly became a part of the Bandera community. Bill Bishop served as co-chairman of Celebrate Bandera in 2005 and 2006 and as president of the Bandera Community Foundation in 2007. Ann Gay Bishop recently retired as executive director of the Silver Sage Corral Senior Activity Center. Both he and his wife remain active in the community. Bishop is a retired officer in the United States Air Force.

“Governor Bill” – as he is referred to in the Kiwanis world – noted, “We must all work together to make our community and our world a better place to live. There are several other community service organizations in Bandera and all work for the common good. I am committed to making sure Kiwanis does its share.”

As a Baha’i, he said his favorite Baha’i quotation is “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizen.”

Today nothing but the power of the Word of God which encompasses the realities of things can bring the thoughts, the minds, the hearts and the spirits under the shade of one Tree. He is the potent in all things, the vivifier of souls, the preserver and the controller of the world of mankind. Praise be to God, in this day the light of the Word of God has shone forth upon all regions, and from all sects, communities, nations, tribes, peoples, religions and denominations, souls have gathered under the shadow of the Word of Oneness and have in the most intimate fellowship united and harmonized!

Abdu'l-Baha
Divine Philosophy, p. 184