Archive for August, 2007

Number One Across in the Universal crossword (as seen in the Toronto Star, the internet and probably other places) this week = Baha’i! So awesome!

http://ms-slg.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-week-in-bahai-news.html

On a day before a three day weekend marking the traditional end of summer, I get the impression that no one is indoors reading blogs. But here I am, Lord, Google-ing “Baha’i” and finding many meaty offerings on the ‘net. Some examples… -gw

“All historical epics,” as Benjamin Friedlander notes in his analysis of Bahá’í poet Robert Hayden’s epic, “are first of all affirmations of community.” … I can’t help but agree with the sentiments of Joseph Campbell when he says: “each individual is the centre of a mythology of his own.” As Baha’u'llah says, we each must find for ourselves the indwelling God, the Thou at the centre of our world–and the crossover, for the Bahá’í, the cornerstone of community, is symbolized by Baha’u'llah.

Small groups like the Baha’i are easily overlooked in Egypt but their right to freedom correspond to the freedoms of all the countries citizens, therefore Baha’i freedoms equal Egyptian freedoms.

+
Muslims do not allow images of God or messengers which is a movement toward God being transcendent, which means that all description of God being in time or space is pure imagination. This also, is the Baha’i view of God which means that it is helpful to imagine where God is terms of virtue, but description of God is beyond all comprehension.

Richard Hastings, “Where is God?” Radical Change

We believe that “seal of the prophets” did not mean that Muhammad was the last of the Manifestations, but rather more of a closing off of prophecy itself, or the “seal” as a kind of stamp of approval — or more accurately, of validation — of the previous prophetic messages. And we believe that while not all of the literal “signs of the return” may have accompanied the lives of the Báb’s and Bahá’u'lláh, these various apocalyptic predictions are built up and exaggerated over the years.

Stephen A. Fuqua, “Missed Opportunity: Baha’i Connection to the Shi’a Mahdi,” Safnet.com

An intesting side note and a pressing concern. -gw

im going to like world religions, and if i gain weight this semster, its all because of that class [teacher makes us bring in food], so tell me if i look fatter.

The more I listen to Arise by the Dawnbreaker Collective and the Temple of Light Vol 1 albums, the more I am aware of the tremendous gains that have been achieved in producing high quality Baha’i-inspired music. I absolutely love the creativity of the Arise collaboration and the diversity of selections on the Temple of Light compilation.-gw

“Ditmas Park mural: Recently dubbed ‘the most diverse neighborhood in America’ by U.S.News & World Report, Ditmas Park attracts a broad swath of individuals and families from a wide variety of cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds.” Uploaded on September 17, 2006 by anniebee on flickr

{Photo licensed by Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0}

The San Bernadino County Sun ran an article about “Open Mosque Day,” reposted on the blog of Hussam Ayloush, the Southern California Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who was interviewed for the article. -gw

On his blog Only a Game Chris provides a listing of religions from the oldest to the youngest. If you view Discordianism as a “parody religion,” as described on Wkipedia, then Baha’i is at the bottom of the list, the youngest. -gw

“Believers sang song or pray to God of Taoism & Buddhism at the temple, Taipei”

Uploaded on August 13, 2007 by Sunshine Junior on flickr

Top 10 Religion
(1) 30,000 years: Shamanism
(2) 6,000 years: Fertility Cults, e.g. Ninna in Mesopotamia
(3) 3,900 years: Canaanite religion/Judaism
(4) 3,800 years: Zoroastrianism
(5) 3,350 years: Vedic pantheon/Hinduism
(6) 2,950 years: Kami worship/Shinto
(7) 2,550 years: Taoism
(8) 2,525 years: Jainism
(9) 2,500 years: Confucianism
(10) 2,475 years: Buddhism (C

Runners up:
(11) 2,000 years: Christianity
(12) 1,400 years: Islam
(13) 500 years: Sikhism
(14) 150 years: Baha’i
(15) 50 years: Discordianism

Chris, “Top ten science and religion,” Only a Game: “Hah,” She thought, “Here shall be a new game.”