No, that is not what the word religare means:
The Latin verb religare means to
're-bind'. The Latin noun religio referring to obligation, bond, or reverence is probably based on religare, so religio and its English derivation religion connote a 're-binding'.
Peter Hulen - Religion
http://persweb.wabash.edu › facstaff › hulenp › religion
It implies binding together in unity, which is the primary teaching of the Baha'i Faith. Obviously religion has gotten away from its original purpose, which is to unite humanity.
What is the meaning of the Latin 'religare'? - Quora
I think there are different ways of looking at the word and its etymology. But setting that aside, in practice, religion is mainly about imposing a set of rules on people. My point was that, when people reject religion, they're not necessarily rejecting God, but they're rejecting the rules that humans would impose upon them. That was a relatively common view among people when I was growing up. People would say they still believed in God, but they didn't believe in religion - mainly because of the rules, restrictions, and other unreasonable qualities associated with it.
“The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 215
I think the same goal could be accomplished by the principle of "Workers of the world - unite!"
You are correct that the older religions such as Christianity and Islam have been and still are used as a political tool intended to induce conformity and compliance, but the Baha'i Faith is not like the older religions. We do not need conformity and compliance anymore. This is a new age and a new religion was needed to suit the needs of humans in this age.
Yes, and it seems that there have been quite a few new religions and sects which have cropped up in the past couple of centuries. But all in all, religion has been one of the major impediments to revolution and social change. I realize the Baha'i faith is new and different from the older religions, but one can see a familiar pattern, especially as a religion gets larger, has more adherents, and becomes more powerful and influential. There's a point where the institution becomes more important than the actual beliefs. It seems to be a recurring theme throughout history.
I fully agree with that and this is what religions such as Christianity and Islam do to their flocks, but the Baha'i Faith should not be implicated for something it does not do as it is not fair to lump it together with these older religions.
I see it more as an cautionary acknowledgement of human nature and how belief systems can be twisted and perverted for malignant purposes.
Christianity in particular has held back the progress of humanity by teaching their followers that Jesus is going to return someday "in the clouds" and rescue humanity from all the problems we now face all over the world - environmental, social, and economic. I consider this an travesty, even immoral, but you cannot stop Christians from waiting for Jesus to return because it is a time-honored teaching of the Church. The irony is that nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus ever promise to return to earth, and in fact Jesus said that His work was finished here and He was no longer in the world.
It is not fair to blame God for what humans have done in the name of religion because God had nothing to do with what humans did after the religions were revealed by His Messengers..
I don't see that anyone is blaming God directly, especially those who don't even believe in God. I would see it more as blaming humans who contrive such ideas in the first place, along with those who continue to believe and propagate those ideas.
Even if we accept the notion that God had nothing to do with what humans did in terms of causing suffering, one of the major problems with religion and its dictates is that it prohibits humans from actually doing something meaningful to stop suffering. Humans are told to turn the blind eye and stick their heads in the sand, while they have to patiently wait for God to get around to dispensing justice. They can't fight back. They can't resist. They can't revolt. They can't overthrow the ruling class that oppresses them and causes suffering - because that would be a sin.
Secularist and atheist revolutionaries had a far better understanding of justice than any religion ever did. They knew what was necessary to alleviate human suffering, mainly by attacking and neutralizing those humans which were identified as the primary instigators and source of human suffering.
All religion teaches is for people to get on their knees and pray. But you can't fight injustice on your knees. You can't end suffering by blind obedience to authority, no matter if it's religious or political authority. One has to question authority and sometimes defy it when necessary.
People are moving towards secularization because they are fed up with religions having power over them.
By the way, the downfall of religious leaders was predicted by Baha'u'llah in the latter half of the 19th century. He warned all of them that if they did not heed His call they would fall from power and everything He predicted happened. He also warned the kings and rulers of the earth that they would fall from power and not long after that they all did. This history is all documented in the Writings of the Baha'i Faith, in a book entitled
The Promised Day Is Come.
In short, the primary goal of the Baha'i Faith is to build a new world order and put an end to these kinds of suffering and we have complete faith that it will end eventually, although it will take a very long time, especially of the Christians and even the Muslims continue to wait for Christ to return.
Toward a New World Order?
Baha'is believe that all this progress is the result of the coming of Baha'u'llah, because although most people have not recognized Him, His coming which was the return of the Holy Spirit, has effected the entire world.
I believe that humans are powerless to do it without the intervention of God, and I believe God intervened when He sent Baha'u'llah who revealed the blueprint instructions that will be necessary to build the new world order, whcih Christians refer to as the Kingdom of God on earth.
Well, all of this sounds good in theory, but it looks like a plan to sit around and wait for God to actually do something.