Problems with and because of my associates and the company I keep.

[Jim]

This is not about a problem exactly. It’s a question in my mind about whether there’s any more for me to try to do with Baha’is in Internet discussions, than with other people. With other people, I try to be friends, and have discussions about possible common interests, that might help me or them or people watching us live better lives. People calling themselves Baha’is doesn’t seem to tell me anything at all about what our common interests might be, so it seems like I have to learn by trial and error with them just like with anyone else.

Then I wonder, according to my scriptures, do I have any other responsibilities towards other Baha’is in Internet discussions, beyond my responsibilities towards other people in general? I’ll be doing some research on that.

Here are some examples of what I see Baha’is doing here:
- Promoting their personal belief systems and calling that “The Baha’i Faith.”
- Maintaining a Baha’i bulletin board and information booth.
- Participating in informal debating contests.

I didn’t pay any attention to the Baha’i bulletin board and information booth until yesterday. I’m not interested in working on that, but it might actually be the best thing I see Baha’is doing here, or at least the least damaging to the reputation of the Baha’i Faith.

ETA: Another thing I see Baha’is doing is socializing and getting to know people better, which I see as a common interest.

 

[Jim]

Maybe the hardest thing for me, in my relationships with Baha'is in Internet discussions, has been their lack of interest in what I see as the biggest and most important thing that's happening in the Baha'i Faith, and for the world: Baha'is learning to work side by side with neighbors, in neighborhoods and villages around the world, to help make the community life healthier, happier and more loving, for every person in the community. Baha'i community life offline revolves all around that, all around the world. I think it's the best possible illustration of what the Baha'i Faith is all about, and what good it can do for the world. Most of what the House of Justice says in messages to Baha'is and Baha'i institutions is all about that. Yet in more than 15 years, I have never seen any Baha'is discussing it with each other, or willing to discuss it with me, even in Baha'i forums. In fact, for many years all I ever saw them doing was complaining about it. That has always been the most bewildering and disappointing experience for me, with Baha'is in Internet discussions. They argue and argue with people, defending their beliefs, including their belief in the infallibility of the House of Justice, sometimes even stigmatizing me for not having the same view of it, yet they don't care enough about its what it's promoting to even study what it says about it and try to understand it.