Baha’i Faith community members: For Bahá’u’lláh and the House of Justice

[Jim]

I see one important aspect with all this, is that in the end, a community also allows for individual initiatives and growth.

I agree. What I’m saying here is for Baha’is who are posting about unity. I’m saying that no amount of discussion about unity will do anyone any good, without practicing the kind of unity that the world needs. One way I see for Baha’is to practice unity with each other is by practicing and promoting what the House of Justice is promoting. If any Baha’is have any other ideas about how we can practice unity with each other, I hope they will post them. I think that the more we talk about unity without practicing it with each other, the more it will repel people from Bahá’u’lláh and the Baha’i Faith.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I agree. What I’m saying here is for Baha’is who are posting about unity. I’m saying that no amount of discussion about unity will do anyone any good, without practicing the kind of unity that the world needs. One way I see for Baha’is to practice unity with each other is by practicing and promoting what the House of Justice is promoting. If any Baha’is have any other ideas about how we can practice unity with each other, I hope they will post them. I think that the more we talk about unity without practicing it with each other, the more it will repel people from Bahá’u’lláh and the Baha’i Faith.

This link gives discussion material.

Internet - Bahai9

I did a bit of research at one time as to what was the Baha'i Internet Agency, in the end I could not see it was still operating. My guess was that it may have started around the same time there was an issue with Academics? Maybe put on the back burner (Material dates Back 2006)?

This maybe a good start - Internet Discussions, Character of

Regards Tony

 

[Jim]

This link gives discussion material.

Internet - Bahai9

I did a bit of research at one time as to what was the Baha'i Internet Agency, in the end I could not see it was still operating. My guess was that it may have started around the same time there was an issue with Academics? Maybe put on the back burner (Material dates Back 2006)?

This maybe a good start - Internet Discussions, Character of

Regards Tony

Thank you. Maybe Baha’is who are practicing online community service together could use those materials for the training part of the practice.

 

[Jim]

I’ll try to clarify some more what I’m thinking, about Baha”is practicing unity with each other in Internet discussions. I think that the community development that the House of Justice is promoting is part of what the world urgently needs, not only for human progress, but to help relieve all the distress in the world, and remedy and heal all the ills of society all around the world. I think that the same kind if development could be happening in Internet neighborhoods including forums.

Sometimes I see Baha’is posting in Internet discussions talking about unity. I think that the unity that Baha’u’llah is calling for, the unity that the world needs, includes the capacity for people across the whole range of human diversity to work together on some common vision and goals for community service. That diversity includes diversity of views about economic, social, religious and political issues. I think that the more that Baha’is with opposing views practice that kind of unity with each other, in service initiatives, including what they do in Internet discussions, the better it will be not only for some distant future of the world, but also for all the people of the world in the very near future.

i’m proposing, as a way for Baha’is in Internet discussions to practice the kind of unity that the world needs, for each one to continually try to better understand what the House of Justice has been saying about the aims, purposes and principles of the community development that it’s promoting, and try to apply those to what they do in Internet discussions. Then maybe also we can discuss our experience and what we’re learning in that process.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Thank you. Maybe Baha’is who are practicing online community service together could use those materials for the training part of the practice.

There is a lot of good advice in them and the advice was aimed at enabling us all to take such an action.

I still wonder what happened to the agency.

This link has the advice about Forum postings. If we had followed that advice, we'll we did not in some posts. it is easy to be wise after the fact.

Talk:Baha’i Internet Agency - SourceWatch

Well that link also has all the material as to why Talisman fell apart. It was good for me to see that material, as I see it did indeed need to be taken apart and they did get caught out, doing and saying things that did not match the goal of unity in the Baha'i Faith.

Regards Tony

 

[Jim]

I just noticed something happening that I never noticed before. In a thread where a Baha’i is posting, no matter what the topic is, someone will make some critical comment about Baha’is or the Baha’i Faith. The Baha’i responds defensively, and the discussion gets sidetracked into a debate about Baha’is and the Baha’i Faith, where the behavior of the Baha’is discredits the Faith more than any criticism ever could, no matter how much they wrap it in politeness, tactfulness and kind words. Then the Baha’is are accused of proselytizing. I see now that I’ve fallen into the same trap myself sometimes.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I just noticed something happening that I never noticed before. In a thread where a Baha’i is posting, no matter what the topic is, someone will make some critical comment about Baha’is or the Baha’i Faith. The Baha’i responds defensively, and the discussion gets sidetracked into a debate about Baha’is and the Baha’i Faith, where the behavior of the Baha’is discredits the Faith more than any criticism ever could, no matter how much they wrap it in politeness, tactfulness and kind words. Then the Baha’is are accused of proselytizing. I see now that I’ve fallen into the same trap myself sometimes.

I would say welcome to the world of online debate forums Jim.

A good place to learn how to be a better person, if that is the goal one has. The only response to an OP, or post, we can control, is our own.

Regards Tony

 

[Jim]

It’s possible that a lot of the misrepresention of the Baha’i Faith by Baha’is that I’ve been trying to counteract comes from that, from defensive reactions to off-topic criticism of Baha’is and the Baha’i Faith, in threads where Baha’is are posting. I see that happening a lot, people posting in threads where Baha’is are posting, diverting the discussion into a debate about Baha’is and the Baha’i Faith. The defensive reactions of Baha’is to that discredits the Faith, and gives people an excuse to accuse Baha’is of proselytizing. We might need to be prepared for that any time that we’re posting anywhere, no matter what the topic is.