Proud of Our Beliefs

During a lecture at my second visit to the Baha'i Center, I got a strong sense that Baha'is are proud to be Baha'is.  There is a lot of good that comes with this.  They are proud to fight prejudice, to work towards justice and to be inclusive towards other religions.  Still, I found them oversimplifying other religious perspectives almost to the point of absurdity.  This may sound like a harsh criticism, but

1. I don't blame them for this.  Oversimplification is inevitable.
2. They were generous in their oversimplifications, which isn't always the case.

As a group, they seemed to agree that Christianity doesn't teach against racism or for a unified humanity.  To be fair, Baha'u'llah's writings are clearer on these issues than Paul's.  Nevertheless, there was a further assumption that God hadn't been working directly against racism through religion before God's revelation to Baha'ullah (in the mid 1800s).  I couldn't help but think of the Quakers I'd visited only hours before or the Sikhs I visited years ago.

One of many Baha'i Texts (It's worth reading)

My guess is that the Baha'is knows of both groups.  It's hard to be religiously aware and not know about the Sikhs, due to their being confused with Muslims.  And Quaker history (even their focus on the equality of all people) is American history canon.  Nevertheless, the information didn't seem to factor into the conversation.  Neither did Paul's declaration that Jews and Gentiles were one in Christ - a proclamation against both ethnic and cultural divisions (Ephesians 2:11-22)

The Baha'is can't be expected to know all of these facts any more than I can know all the things that might challenge or provide nuance to my beliefs.  Even what they do know may be difficult to incorporate into their current narrative.  Most of us are bad at using the information we know to challenge our most firmly held beliefs.  Consider all the creationists who have gone to zoos and see that at least anatomically that apes look very much like humans.  They have arms, thumbs, breasts, elbows, and knees.  They lack tails.  You even find them behaving like we do. They relax and daydream.  They nurture their children.

Creationists will see all of these things and still tell you that the people who think we are related to apes through evolution have no basis for the assumption.  My point isn't that creationists should concede by this evidence alone, rather it is that they should concede that a reasonable person could take these features as evidence.  I don't mean to single out creationists.  We are all somewhat blind to evidence that doesn't support our assumptions.  We find it hard to see evidence we're not looking for, and we usually only look for evidence that validates our beliefs.

Look at the fingers, the pensive look, the hairless face, the brow and front facing eyes.  Look at the very human-like ears.

Knowing our human limitations, we should strive both for humility and curiosity.  We should be aware that there is information we're inclined to miss due to current belief commitments, and we should intentionally ask if we know things that might challenge our beliefs.  This gets a little easier with time.  More than anything, we should go easy on one another.  We're all blind.  Looking down on one another for it only adds to our list of vices.

Jesus and the Muslim Ban

Luke 10:25-29 

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This is my neighbor

A few weeks ago, I visited the Baha'i Center in DC.  While there I met people from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds.  Many were naturalized citizens who had originally come from Iran fleeing religious persecution.  I met one man whose brother had been executed for being Baha'i.  Next week, I'm headed to a Zoroastrian Temple to visit with them.  The Magi that visited Jesus in the book of Matthew were Zoroastrian priests.  Zoroastrians too are a persecuted minority throughout regions formerly controlled by the Persian Empire.  Many of them have fled to the United States, specifically from Iran.

The ban that has been put in place affects real people, many of whom are already suffering.  Some seek to live here.  Others already do either as citizens or residents.  Those who live here usually still have families who live overseas.  Imagine not being allowed to see your parents.

Mathew 2:13-23 tells us that after Jesus birth, Joseph took his family and fled to Egypt (They too were refugees) 

The way the ban was implemented makes things even worse.  You have families with children stuck all around the world.  They were planning to go from one place to another.  That trip may be all the family was budgeted for.  Imagine being stuck midway between a place you are fleeing and the place you are fleeing to and all of the sudden you aren't sure how you're going to feed your babies.  Governments around the world are having to deal with this problem.  So will their citizens.  The image of the US will be tarnished for some time.

When I think of these refugees, I look back at my own ancestry.  I have a lot of Dutch blood running through my veins, with ancestors on the north american continent going back to the early 1600s.  They came fleeing religious persecution in Europe to start a new life.  (Europe at the time was far worse the Middle East with people killing each other by the millions over views on communion and other nonsense.) If they hadn't had a place to go, I wouldn't be here.

Plymouth Rock: where Dutch Pilgrims landed

My statement on the Muslim Ban is this: the best way to improve vetting of individuals from more dangerous countries is to increase funding and hiring of the State Department staff that are responsible for vetting individuals.  If you have more staff and better funding, the vetting can be done more effectively and efficiently.  We won't have to break treaties to do this.  We won't have to leave persecuted refugees stranded at airports with their babies.  We won't have to ignore the people who are suffering because we decided to invade Iraq and didn't have a good plan for how to stabilize it afterward.  And we won't have to degrade our standing in the world by creating outrage among our allies, just in case global power is the only thing we really care about.

In response to the religious scholar's question, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells a story, the moral of which is something like this: Your neighbor is the person who needs help.  Even the people you look down on know that.

Comparing Baha'i with Christianity

When I visited the Baha'i Center in DC two weeks ago, I found myself comparing the Baha'i faith with Christianity.  I suppose this is only natural.  As I did this, I found several similarities.  This is especially true if one views Christianity through the lens of the early church.  Here are just a few observations.

• The Baha'i meet in houses, just like the earliest Christians
• They often have central houses for larger Sunday meetings, but not always
• During the week they meet in each other's houses for meals
• The main house is used for community events during the week (like AA meetings or yoga).
• They emphasize charitable work
• Early Christians stayed behind during plagues to care for the sick
• They paid for burial for the poor and took in orphans
• The Baha'i actively work on justice issues in their neighborhoods
• Like early Christians, they strongly encourage adoption
• They emphasize fellowship
• Early Christian worship usually involved a communal meal that culminated in the Eucharist
• The Baha'i Center is built for fellowship.
• The Baha'i meet in each other's homes for a meal during the week.  They call these Fireside chats.

Even their claim that Baha'i is a successor to previous revelations is a Christian theological move. From the beginning Christians have claimed that their religion was a natural successor to Judiasm, and that their savior fulfilled Jewish prophesy.  The Baha'is claim that Baha'ullah is the return of Jesus, because Jesus comes again and again to different cultures with different names.  They claim that Baha'i is the fulfillment of the prophesy that Jesus would come again.  And just like Christians see the Old Testament as instructive, but not binding because it's part of an older covenant, the Baha'is see older scriptures as instructive, but not binding because they are part of earlier revelations for earlier time periods.

While Christians didn't adopt non-Jewish scriptures, their early apologists sometimes claimed that Jesus was the fulfillment of pagan religions hopes or even prophesies.

• Paul claims that his God is the unknown God that pagans are worshiping Act 17:23
• Zoroastrian Magi visit Jesus in Matthew 2
• The Zoroastrians had a prophesy that the Savior would be born of a virgin
• They also believed in a Holy Spirit through which goodness is revealed - the ideas are not identical.
• Matthew doesn't directly say that Jesus is the fulfillment of Zoroastrian prophesy, but this is probably the only logical conclusion to draw.  

The place that I found the traditions most aligned, however, was in the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven.  When talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus preaches a certain kind of moral life.  It's one where the peacemakers, rather than the war hawks, are honored.  It's one where his followers don't judge, because the standard they use will be used against them.  It's one where they love their neighbors and their enemies.  Jesus' Kingdom of Heaven is a new social order his followers bring to earth through faith, love and action.

Baha'is also use the term "Kingdom of Heaven."  I'm not sure if they mean the same thing, but the idea of God's servants bringing peace and justice to the world through love, action and faith is a dominant Baha'i theme.

The two religions fail to see eye-to-eye in several respects.  Most Christians see Jesus as God, but Baha'i see his as a divine man/being who continually returns to humanity to reveal God's will.  Christians are not likely to accept the idea of Jesus returning as a teacher, rather than a divine being calling them up into the sky.
Baha'is don't seem to think that Jesus died for the removal of their sins.  I didn't ask.  The topic never came up.  Evangelicals in particular are unlikely to agree with the Baha'i understanding of Heaven and Hell.  Most Evangelicals believe that Jesus (as defined by Christianity) is the only way to Heaven.  Several even believe that their particular sect of Christianity is the only sure guarantee.  Baha'is, on the other hand, think that one's spiritual development on earth will continue along the same path in the afterlife, regardless of dogma.

Certainly other comparisons and contrasts could be made, but I know too little to say more.

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If you have a religious tradition you'd like to learn more about, let me know in the comments below and I'll try to visit and write about it.

My Neighbor's Religion #4: Baha'i Center in Washington DC (Part 3): Beliefs and Practice

Baha'is believe that they Christians.  They also believe that they are Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Zoroastrians.  I was told by several members of the DC Center that one doesn't convert to Baha'i.  Instead, accepting Baha'i is simply accepting the next revelation from God (That from the prophet Baha' u'llah).  They accept all the revelations.  They follow all the teachers.

The basic idea is as follows.  God has sent messengers to humanity at various times throughout history.  These messengers come with a revelation from God that humanity (and in particular that culture) is ready for at the time.  Baha'is believe that more revelations yet are to come.

New Revised Standard Version Bible on the right

These beliefs were evident in several ways during my visit.  One of the first things I noticed when I entered the worship area was a large shelf of books.  There were, of course, several books having to do with the Baha'i faith.  There were also several having to do with racial reconciliation, a theme that could be seen throughout the building.  What really caught my eye was an NRSV translation of the New Testament.

I began looking for other texts and immediately saw scriptures from several religions.  Even in worship, the Baha'is sang about being guided by Jesus, Buddha, Zoroaster, etc. It became clear in the few hours I spent with them that this belief enables them to draw on a wide variety of religious traditions, and that the Baha'is do just that.

I wondered what they thought about people who heard their message and chose to remain in their previous religious traditions.  "That's fine," they told me.  "Our duty is to share the message, not convert people,"  adding that each person is on her or her own path, and that the old revelations and traditions aren't rendered obsolete by the new one.  So if someone remains Christian, that person should be a good Christian.  For the Baha'i, doctrine matters, but it's secondary to loving God and loving your neighbor.  Service to humanity is the highest act of worship.  I found this incredibly compelling.

The strong belief in a unified humanity is another tenet of the Baha'i faith.  They consider themselves unified with all people regardless of race, gender, culture, religion or political persuasion.  They believe that we are one humanity and should work towards unity.  We must eliminate prejudice and work towards peace and justice both locally and globally.  Literature on these topics could be found throughout the house.

Finally, instead of clergy, the Baha'i have committees that make organizational decisions at various levels.  These positions are temporary.  Anyone can be nominated - seeking office is forbidden.  I knew this attending, nevertheless, the structure of the meeting made me puzzled me.  Unlike every other fellowship of any kind that I've ever visited, I was unsure who was in charge.  Leaderlessness is the norm in their faith, where no one is meant to have spiritual authority over another.

Statue of Krisha of Hinduism

A Hindu attitude towards morality permeates what it taught by the Baha'i faith.  Rather than God expecting perfection, God expects growth towards more superior forms of morality and respect for other people's respective journeys.  They seem to believe that growth continues in the afterlife.  The exact details were unclear, but it reminded me of a cross between what C.S. Lewis portrays in The Chronicles of Narnia and the theosis of Irenaeus of Lyons.

I am happy to have met the Baha'is and hope to learn more about them in the near future.

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My Neighbor's Faith #3: Baha'i Center in Washington DC (Part 2): The People

The Baha'i Temple in Haifa, Israel

A WARM FELLOWSHIP

When I entered the Baha'i Center, I was greeted by a man who showed me to a place to sit where we chatted until other people began to arrive.  As they did, I met and chatted with more and more people.  They were so easy to talk to that one fellow and I were actually late to the beginning of the service.

This chatting continued for some time after the service adjourned.  By the end of it, I was rather well acquainted with 10 people.  I remember their names, know where some of them work and have email contact with three of them.  I've emailed all three, and all three have responded.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time talking with people there.  Hours flew by socializing on chairs and cushioned benches.  I would have stayed longer if circumstances had allowed.

A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

It was, without any doubt, the most racially diverse group of people I'd ever seen in any location ever.  This is not an exaggeration.  And when I think of the fact that there were almost certainly less than 70 people present, I am still in shock as to how this is possible.  The number of men and women seemed about equal - as did their status within the group.  The attendees were a rainbow of different skin colors and no one pigment seemed to dominate.  Even the age of those present varied with plenty of children in attendance.  I've never seen anything quite like it.

RELAXED

Like most lively religious groups, the Bahais were happy to share their religion with another person, but it wasn't forceful.  "It's not our job to convert people," I was told.  They weren't even mildly condescending when I described myself as a Humanist - not a single one of them.  There are theological reasons for why this is so -

1.  They seem to see spiritual development as more important than dogma.  
2. he highest act of worship is service to humanity, what Christians call "Loving one's neighbor."  
3. They don't believe one person ought to control another.  It's their job to love, not to compel others into belief.  (Ironically, I found this rather compelling). 

Interacting with the Baha'i Community was refreshing to the point of it almost being weird.  I felt warm inside.

My Neighbor's Faith #2: Baha'i Center in Washington DC (Part 1) Faith and Furniture

On 15 January, 2017, I had the opportunity to meet with the Baha'i Center in Washington DC.  It was great experience and so much happened that it will take several posts to discuss it well.  Today, I'd just like to discuss what I saw in the building and how it reflects the Baha'i faith as I experienced it.

Bahai Center in DC from the front of the building

The Baha'i meet in a large house that has at least three stories.  Even though I was there for more than 3 hours, I only had time to see the main floor, which was divided up into two main rooms with a kitchen, hallway and bathroom.  One of the main rooms was meant to contain the main service, while the other was designed for fellowship.

The worship service room had chairs that were largely oriented towards a lectern, however they were also arranged in such a way as to create a certain sense of community.  The chairs at the side walls face inward, for example, and since today was a day of worship and prayer the chairs at the front two rows of the room faced backward toward.  I expect a greater sense of community would have been created if the space was available for it - the room was long and narrow.  In the back of service room, there was something of a multi-purpose fellowship area.  It had open space that allowed for pacing, playing toddlers and mothers who might walk around rocking their babies - I saw several of these things go on during the service.  This back area also had well cushioned bench chairs.

The fellowship room had a food table in the center, with another table for drinks, plates and utensils in a corner of the room.  This did not seem to be a special arrangement, giving the impression that the Bahai celebrate their fellowship with food whenever they meet.  It reminds of something out of Acts 2.  Like the service room, the walls were lined with cushioned bench chairs.  They were as comfortable as you would expect a nice couch to be.  When I was there, they were serving tea, fruits and vegetables, small bread pieces, and a few sweets and sliced meats.  The meal provided was balanced, healthy and light - and like everything else allowed for easy socializing.

The furniture alone made a strong theological statement.  "We find God in each other."  I don't know if the Baha'i would say those words, but I seriously doubt that they would deny them.  In any case, the warmth reflected in the house arrangement was palpable among the people both as they sang and prayed and as they fellowshiped before and after the service.  What I felt in the room is the same thing that Christians often call the Holy Spirit in their services.  It's a kind of communal intimacy with the group and the divine that can be felt throughout the whole body.  It's difficult to describe.