Blogs

Can human behavior directly impact our planet's survival?
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock back one minute last Thursday. Pushing the minute hand back on the clock that anticipates the end of the human race as we know it is supposed to reflect a “growing political will” to tackle our two greatest threats: climate change and nuclear Armageddon. Still, we’re precariously poised at six minutes to midnight on the famous timekeeper that first debuted in 1947, indicating we don’t have much time to get our collective sh*t together.
I’m not so sure that we weren’t a little safer in 1953, when the clock was set to just two minutes before midnight as the U.S. and U.S.S.R. detonated test nukes within months of each other. I dunno… two superpowers flexing global muscle versus leagues of ICBM-teethed nations, plus 53 years of carbon emissions thrown into the mix? Then again, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists includes 19 Nobel Laureates, so who am I to argue? You can check out the clock here.
Are certain days more religious than others?
Baha’is (presumably with Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Chritian Scientists, Mormons, Shinto, Bhuddists, and any open-minded followers of other denominations) celebrated World Religion Day this past Sunday. Observers gathered at hundreds of locations across the world to acknowledge their continuing aim to “foster the establishment of interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common denominators underlying all religions,” according to a World Religion Day Web site that isn’t officially affiliated with the Baha’i community.
Landing on the third Sunday in January, World Religion Day was established by the Baha’is in 1949 and was first observed the following year. I don’t know if Baha’is would agree with me or not, but shouldn’t every day be World Religion Day? Are worldy pursuits so demanding and engaging that we need special days set aside throughout the year to rejoice and rejuvenate the religion in our souls? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Let’s work 10 days a year and then kick around and pray to the glory the rest of the time. I’d sign up for that.
Do super pious sports teams have better on-field success?
OK, we've riffed on the whole thanking god for winning sports games thing before, but this is a little bit different: Egyptian national football (that’s soccer to you Statesiders) coach Hassan Shehata told newspapers last week that talent and skill alone are not enough to secure a spot playing on the national team—players must also demonstrate “pious behaviour” and prove that they are on ongoing, good terms with God. Shehata is serious, too. Striker Ahmed Mido was cut last month just a couple of days before his expected selection, apparently due to his hard partying ways. Is God impressed? Evidence points both ways: while the Egyptian team is currently shooting for its third straight Africa Cup, they failed to qualify for the World Cup, losing to Algeria 0-1. Egypt has not qualified for World Cup play since 1990.
Pukirahe
- 2 minutes ago
Yes, definitely. We have the intelligent mind to ovecome the laws of nature and to train nature. In our infancy we have created a mess, in our maturity we are cleansing and beautifying this planet. So many enterprises have been recognized by UNESCO as world heritage, and myriads of greater works of the mature human beings will be recognized. We are not facing the doomsday, but a very brilliant future. With means like the Internet, great builders and managers of this globe can easily exchange views and use the positive thoughts, words and deeds to create incredible monuments for the next generations to contemplate and to carry forward the physical, intellectual and spiritual progress. Little mind like mine can think at this level, hence I firmly believe that greater minds can make and implement wiser and greater plans. Yes, we are carrying forward an ever-advancing civilization on earth.


All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Say: O friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him Who is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which they themselves have been created.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 214)

Praise, thanks in wake of Baha’i Center fire
Posted by britta on December 31, 2009 at 2:06 am
The American Baha’i for January and February had an article inside of it about the Orlando Baha’i Center and I wanted to post it sort of as a ‘follow up’ to my earlier posts about the fire:
“With prayer, drumming and song, Baha’is in Orlando, Florida, celebrated the Anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u'llah the evening of Nov. 11.
But where their beloved Baha’i Center once stood was a tent erected by the Orlando Spiritual Assembly.
The Center, a community fixture since 1974, was destroyed in a series of fires that began early Oct. 25.
A homeless man had been arrested on three counts of second-degree arson in connection with the fires.
Praise and thanks were uppermost in mind, however, as about 60 people gathered Nov. 11 to observe the Holy Day.
Praise to God for giving humanity Baha’u'llah. Thanks for the firefighters’ efforts to save the Center.
Thanks, too, for the even greater unity enjoyed by area Baha’is since the Center burned.
“it’s brought people together,” an Orlando Sentinel article on the celebration quoted Kelsey Vargas, the Assembly’s corresponding secretary, as saying. “You become stronger.”
Two people made immediate inquiries about the Faith after viewing news coverage of the fires, according to the National Teaching Office.
One seeker said she was “so impressed by how the Baha’i responded in the news about this terrible event. She seemed so calm and grateful.” The woman said she and her husband went online to learn more about the Faith and she immediately identified with it’s teachings. “I have believed these things all my life, and I had no idea there were others who believed like I do,” she related. “I want to attend some activities in my area.”
The Assembly’s main goal in response to the fire, Vargas told The Assembly’s main goal in response to the fire, Vargas told The American Baha’i, was to “just help the friends feel comforted and united.”
Just as important, she said, the Assembly wants the friends to know “that the physical structure burning down is in no way going to impede our teaching. It can only help us feel more engaged and charged up.”"

Consort with all men ... in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship ... A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men.

Baha'u'llah
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 289

Keeping the Faith While Remaining Unjudging

Thursday November 26, 2009
A recent Baha'i blog post gives a great explanation on how one can be true to the tenets of one's faith without diminishing the choices made by others.
The Baha'i Faith holds that all sex outside of marriage is adultery, including homosexual sex. The faith also holds that marriage is a union between man and woman.
Yet this Baha'i has no issue with the government making gay marriages legal. Why? For one, he sees a difference between religious marriage and legal marriage. Legal marriages is something organized by the state and involves paperwork. If lawmakers want to include homosexuals in this shuffle of paperwork, so be it.
Second, he sees himself responsible only for his own behavior, not for everyone else's. He gives alcohol consumption as an example. He never drinks, yet has no objection to other people drinking. The rules of the Baha'i do not apply to non-Baha'i, and even if a Baha'i chooses to drink, that choice is personal.

Be fair in thy judgement and reflect upon these exalted utterances. Inquire, then, of those who lay claim to knowledge without a proof or testimony from God, and who remain heedless of these days wherein the Orb of knowledge and wisdom hath dawned above the horizon of Divinity, rendering unto each his due and assigning unto all their rank and measure, as to what they can say concerning these allusions. Verily, their meaning hath bewildered the minds of men, and that which they conceal of the consummate wisdom and latent knowledge of God even the most sanctified souls have been powerless to uncover
(Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 5)

Koijam Ahenleima

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009
The English has an unusual cadence to it. I don't recognize the place names mentioned in the article. Kangla, Manipur. I go to Google maps. Aha, the story is out of India, but the extreme eastern portion, on the other side of Bangladesh, close to the Myanmar border. -gw
"Along with academic education, the education to help one become successful, spiritual or moral education should also be imparted. Our present leadership is a failure, in my opinion, due to absence of spiritual education. I think if the young students take out time to inculcate spiritual education along with the academic education, we will have a more focused generation of youths.”

These are words coming from Koijam Ahenleima. She is studying in class XI at Herbert School, Changangei. Ahenleima is going to represent Manipur at the 51st session of the CSW – Commission on Status of Women at the United Nations which will be held from February 26th to March 9th. Among other things, Ahenleima is going to make a presentation on elimination of discrimination on the girl child with special reference to Manipur.
“The Baha’i International Community through the national spiritual assembly of the Baha’i faith recommended my name to represent the adolescent of India at UN. Luckily for me, I was selected,” said the soft-spoken Ahenleima.
When many of her counterparts are enjoying the best part of their teenager days, Ahenleima takes spiritual classes for children every Sunday for one to two hours. She has been taking these classes since she was in class eight! She said, “I take spiritual classes for students between 5 to 12 years. These children are collectively termed as Baha’i children. I had taken classes of 34 Baha’i children and at present there are 12 students under me. These classes are community-based.”
It is hard to believe when a sixteen years old girl talks about spiritualism instead of clothes, movies, music, and guys. What made her so strongly inclined to an ism at such a tender age which many fail to understand even at ripe age? She said that her parents’ belief in the Baha’i faith attuned her towards spiritualism along with her regular studies from a very young age.
Reflecting on the recent cases of crime against children in the state, Ahenleima said, “There is no saying that what happened to other children will not happen to me. Manipur has become very unsafe for us.” On being asked if criminal activities would reduced if the people are given spiritual education, she said that even if a person is given in-depth spiritual education if that education is not applied crime will not come down.
Lamenting the absence of facilities for children in Manipur, Ahenleima said, “To my knowledge, at present, there is nothing for children in Manipur – whether books, comics, or movies.” She said that the people, especially the grown ups seem to have forgotten that there are children too in this society.
Her hobbies include reading and singing. Apart from the Baha’i faith books, she reads Charles Dickens’ short stories and other novels. “But I enjoy spending time with children the most,” said Ahenleima. Speaking about her aim, she said she wants to excel in the field of homeopathy.
Born on 27th February 1991 to Dr Koijam Tomba and Koijam Sanatombi, Ahenleima is the second child among five siblings. Though she takes spiritual classes and talk about youth power, Ahenleima revealed a side that is hardly known. She said, “As a child I used to be very naughty. My friends comprised my younger brother’s friends since we grew up together. I grew up climbing trees and catching dragon-flies running among the tall grasses which adults used to stay away from fear of snakes.”
What can the youths and the adolescents do to change the society? “Lots, but nothing can be done overnight,” said Ahenleima. She said that the children as well as adolescents can work on preparing a good foundation so that “when we reach an age where we can have access to power, we will have the ability to remember their mistakes and not to repeat them. We should strive to become role models for the next generation and not a subject of ridicule.”
She said that if children can imbibe the best of academic and spiritual education, they can surprise the elders by giving meaningful suggestions in decision making. Ahenleima emphatically observed, “Youths’ energy is very powerful. We can start by giving an impact from now on to enable a better society.”
http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?

Love is a light of guidance in the dark night! Love is a bond between the Creator and the creature in the inner world! Love is the cause of development to every enlightened man! Love is the greatest law in this vast universe of God! Love is the one law which causeth and controlleth order among the existing atoms! Love is the universal magnetic power between the planets and stars shining in the lofty firmament! Love is the cause of unfoldment to a searching mind, of the secrets deposited in the universe by the Infinite! Love is the spirit of life in the bountiful body of the world! Love is the cause of the civilization of nations in this mortal world! Love is the highest honor to every righteous nation!

Abdu'l-Baha
Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 524