A worldwide community called “the Baha’i Faith”

[Vinayaka]

If I had to proselytize, I would make disciples first and build the facilities later. I wouldn't build phantom temples without congregations, to which myriads of people may or may not rush to at an undefined moment somewhen in the future.

Both methods have happened. In India, the Catholic Church especially in the south, built hospitals and schools with a ton of foreign money, and presented them as excellent facilities which they are, but then snuck in religion on the side. In some places large facilities sit empty.

 

[Jim]

Myanmar:

 

[Jim]

One of the common interests of Baha’i communities around the world is collaboration with others in community service initiatives. It might take some time for me to find examples from local communities. For now here’s an example on an international level:

Alliance of Religions and Conservation

 

[Left Coast]

There is a worldwide community called “the Baha’i Faith,” with a supreme council seated on Mount Carmel in Israel. I’m planning to search on the Internet for information about its current worldwide common interests, activities and interactions with the rest of society, and post here about what I’m learning.

For anyone who would like to know, my intentions for the topic of this thread do not include its history, its possible future or the beliefs, attitudes or behavior of its members in Internet discussions. For me, the topic of this thread is the community’s current worldwide common interests, activities and interactions with the rest of society.

As far as I knew, you've been Bahai, or promoting Bahai, for as long as I've been on the forum. Why is this OP phrased like you're discovering an alien race for the first time?

 

[arthra]

For me, the topic of this thread is the community’s current worldwide common interests, activities and interactions with the rest of society.

Well in my view one of the sites that should respond rather well to your interest would be the "Baha'i International Community" as they are active as an "NGO" Non-Governmental Organization" with the United Nations:

"The Baha’i International Community registered with the UN as an NGO in 1948 and currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as accreditation with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). The Baha’i International Community collaborates with the UN and its specialized agencies, as well as member states, inter- and non-governmental organizations, academia, and practitioners."

Bahá’í International Community

Current activities and interests:

Documents and News | Bahá’í International Community

 

[Aupmanyav]

Childrens classes, because a childs mind is the easiest to white-wash and the effect lasts long.

 

[oldbadger]

Indeed it is, but in the case of proselytising religions, it's seen as duty to pass it on to everyone's offspring. So the first thing to do is to build a school, and then invite all comers.

So far all I have seen is details of centres where children as young as 6 years old will be fed Bahai. There is no mention yet of sports, games, IT tuition, etc etc..... Let's see what the OP discovers .....

 

[oldbadger]

I...................
............................ As an example of that, there is a Baha’i office at the UN that submits statements to international conferences where representatives of governments and NGOs are discussing how to respond to the issues. Some examples of topics:
- Realizing the equality of women and men
- Human rights and the well-being of humankind
- Development and community building
- Youth as protagonists of constructive change
- Religion in the life of society

Does the Bahai office at the United Nations have an address, please?
Have you discovered any examples of Bahai Statements issued from its UN Office, please?

I'm most interested about that.

 

[oldbadger]

The OP describes his religion as ‘learning to follow Baha’u’llah’ but can’t post in the Baha’i DIR??

So many threads about Baha’i and the OP can’t post in Baha’i DIR?

Very confusing.

Hi.
I think I'm right....... Unless a member has applied for a particular DIR access and been granted, then they do not have RF accxess.
I am a Deist but have never applied for permission to post in the Deist DIR.
The OP can apply for Bahai DIR ....

 

[oldbadger]

The confusion is not between Baha’is but those who are using the Baha’i name but are not Baha’is and misrepresenting the views of the Baha’i Faith and it’s members.

Well said.
You know me..... we've debated against each other for yonks now.
For a non-member of a religion or body to look as if they are promoting same can sometimes look very sinister to me.

 

[Vinayaka]

So far all I have seen is details of centres where children as young as 6 years old will be fed Bahai. There is no mention yet of sports, games, IT tuition, etc etc..... Let's see what the OP discovers .....

I've also noticed exaggeration in this area. Not just by Bahais but by a lot of groups looking to seem bigger that they actually are. So 'childrens' classes' might mean parents and their two kids sitting down together once a week.

 

[oldbadger]

I've also noticed exaggeration in this area. Not just by Bahais but by a lot of groups looking to seem bigger that they actually are. So 'childrens' classes' might mean parents and their two kids sitting down togeyher once a week.

Absolutely!
I'm just about to research a recent Baha'i claim that it has an office in the United Nations HQ. More later.

 

[Vinayaka]

Absolutely!
I'm just about to research a recent Baha'i claim that it has an office in the United Nations HQ. More later.

I decided to try to figure out more closely the actual numbers in India, as 2 million is clearly an exaggeration, when the Indian census says less than 5000. So I've been using google maps, selecting an Indian city with over a million people, and then using the 'search nearby' for Baha'i centers. So far I've only found around 10 centers. So that's one for every 200 000 people. I have no doubt it's more than 5000, but no way is it 2 million.

It's a difficult task for a ton or reasons ... illiterate villagers will sign anything, and it may be membership cards
... there is no dropping off the list for inactivity, unless the person requests it, and all those inactives are still counted. Notice that the wording is always just membership, and not 'active membership'.

That second one is common in other faiths as well. A friend of mine was surprised to learn he was on the roles of a small town church here despite not living in the town for over 20 years, and being inactive. Dad was probably listed as a member of the United Church of Canada his entire life, despite his renouncing it when he was 10 years old. Bottom line is nobody would care. I wouldn't care about exaggeration of numbers of nobody used it as a message of growth, or promotion.

 

[oldbadger]

I decided to try to figure out more closely the actual numbers in India, as 2 million is clearly an exaggeration, when the Indian census says less than 5000. So I've been using google maps, selecting an Indian city with over a million people, and then using the 'search nearby' for Baha'i centers. So far I've only found around 10 centers. So that's one for every 200 000 people. I have no doubt it's more than 5000, but no way is it 2 million.

It's a difficult task for a ton or reasons ... illiterate villagers will sign anything, and it may be membership cards
... there is no dropping off the list for inactivity, unless the person requests it, and all those inactives are still counted. Notice that the wording is always just membership, and not 'active membership'.

That second one is common in other faiths as well. A friend of mine was surprised to learn he was on the roles of a small town church here despite not living in the town for over 20 years, and being inactive. Dad was probably listed as a member of the United Church of Canada his entire life, despite his renouncing it when he was 10 years old. Bottom line is nobody would care. I wouldn't care about exaggeration of numbers of nobody used it as a message of growth, or promotion.

Dig in and search some more....... you might hit a vein of positive info.
Humans do love to boast about how big their followings are, whether political, religious, sporting blah blah. The 'ain't we big now?' blurb is common enough.

A typical example is a fundamentalist extreme right wing Christian Forum which boasts tens of thousands of members but where only about twenty posters are actually active. I looked in to that one, accessed the member's lists and found that a MASSIVE % of people has been banned soon after joining. All BS.

Bahai? In the UK every Bahai has to be registered (since about 1978) but whether that's a worldwide policy I don't know.

Anyway......... I'll dig around to discover whether un-involved UN observers have their own UN offices. Hmmm.......

 

[loverofhumanity]

Well said.
You know me..... we've debated against each other for yonks now.
For a non-member of a religion or body to look as if they are promoting same can sometimes look very sinister to me.

You’re a great pal and honest and I respect that very much. It’s a very serious problem and concern for us.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Absolutely!
I'm just about to research a recent Baha'i claim that it has an office in the United Nations HQ. More later.

United Nations Offices

 

[loverofhumanity]

Does the Bahai office at the United Nations have an address, please?
Have you discovered any examples of Bahai Statements issued from its UN Office, please?

I'm most interested about that.

31 pages of statements covering many topics.

Documents and News | Bahá’í International Community

This is an example of a statement issued from their UN offices.

https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/creating_the_world_anew_bic_csw63_statement_2.pdf

 

[loverofhumanity]

I decided to try to figure out more closely the actual numbers in India, as 2 million is clearly an exaggeration, when the Indian census says less than 5000. So I've been using google maps, selecting an Indian city with over a million people, and then using the 'search nearby' for Baha'i centers. So far I've only found around 10 centers. So that's one for every 200 000 people. I have no doubt it's more than 5000, but no way is it 2 million.

It's a difficult task for a ton or reasons ... illiterate villagers will sign anything, and it may be membership cards
... there is no dropping off the list for inactivity, unless the person requests it, and all those inactives are still counted. Notice that the wording is always just membership, and not 'active membership'.

That second one is common in other faiths as well. A friend of mine was surprised to learn he was on the roles of a small town church here despite not living in the town for over 20 years, and being inactive. Dad was probably listed as a member of the United Church of Canada his entire life, despite his renouncing it when he was 10 years old. Bottom line is nobody would care. I wouldn't care about exaggeration of numbers of nobody used it as a message of growth, or promotion.

My understanding is not to gauge by numbers but influence. Being well versed in the teachings of Baha’u’llah I can see so many of His laws and ideas unfolding throughout the world but one who has not studied His Revelation would probably not see this. My understanding is that no house on earth has not been directly influenced and affected by His teachings albeit unknowingly.

 

[Vinayaka]

Dig in and search some more....... you might hit a vein of positive info.
Humans do love to boast about how big their followings are, whether political, religious, sporting blah blah. The 'ain't we big now?' blurb is common enough.

A typical example is a fundamentalist extreme right wing Christian Forum which boasts tens of thousands of members but where only about twenty posters are actually active. I looked in to that one, accessed the member's lists and found that a MASSIVE % of people has been banned soon after joining. All BS.

Bahai? In the UK every Bahai has to be registered (since about 1978) but whether that's a worldwide policy I don't know.

Anyway......... I'll dig around to discover whether un-involved UN observers have their own UN offices. Hmmm.......

You've seen this I presume ... List of current permanent representatives to the United Nations - Wikipedia

It's the UN list.

 

[Vinayaka]

My understanding is not to gauge by numbers but influence. Being well versed in the teachings of Baha’u’llah I can see so many of His laws and ideas unfolding throughout the world but one who has not studied His Revelation would probably not see this. My understanding is that no house on earth has not been directly influenced and affected by His teachings albeit unknowingly.

Same thing ... just as population can be exaggerated so too can influence. I remember a few years back when a Baha'i informed me how Mahatma Gandhi couldn't possible be who he was or to have done what he did without the influence of Baha'ullah. All this despite hearing a similar peace message from hundreds of sources. It's a natural energy flow to think you and yours are important. Whether or not that's logical is another matter.

You attribute it to Baha'u'llah. I attribute it to many factors. The Doukabhors and others left Russia because they were non-violent. I suppose that's because of the Baha'i influence as well? When evangelising Christians first encountered the writings of the Tamil Saint Tiruvalluvar fame, they jumped to the conclusion that he must have had some good Christian friends who influenced him into writing what he wrote, as it couldn't possible be on his own accord. I suppose soon we'll have Baha'u'llah time travelling to influence Tiruvalluvar as well.

I view the non-violence messages as all good. As to who influenced whom, and all that, who knows?

Here's a lengthy list of peace activists. Please note that some pre-date your prophet.

List of peace activists - Wikipedia