Archive for October, 2007

And another valuable report from Marco in Lisbon. -gw


Dear Baha’i friends, I thought you might like to know this. Last week, on the 25 October the European Parliament approved a resolution on Iran.

This resolution expresses concern about the overall situation of Human Rights in Iran, referring the status of several religious and ethnic minorities. The specific situation of the Baha’is is mentioned twice.

The European Parliament remember us that “members of the religious community of the Baha’iscannot exercise their faith, are exposed to severe persecution and deprived of virtually allcivil rights (e.g. property rights, access to higher education), and whereas their religious sites are being vandalised”

And also “Calls on the authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards withregard to persons belonging to religious minorities, officially recognised or otherwise;

condemns the current disrespect of minority rights and calls for minorities to be able toexercise all rights granted by the Iranian Constitution and international law; further callson the authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination on religious or ethnic grounds or against persons belonging to minorities, such as Kurds, Azeris, Arabs, Baluchis and Baha’is;

http://www.etib.lt/

calls in particular for the de facto ban on practising the Baha’i faith to be lifted….

Dear Marco of Povo de Baha writes the following. -gw

Dear Friends, Some of you may have seen this:
31 people abandon Islam to become bahaists in Donggala

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/10/29/31-people-abandon-islam-to-become-bahaists-in-donggala/

This seems to me like an alarm bell against apostasy in a Muslim country. After persecutions in Iran, religious apartheid in Egypt, are we going to receive bad news from Indonesia? Just wondering…

Warmest greetings,
Marco Oliveira

What’s interesting to me are these two Google ads that ran directly below the article in question when I first clicked over. -gw

Former Muslim Speaks Out
Man raised as Muslim now sees Jesus in a different light.
www.EveryStudent.com

Find The Perfect Religion
Which religion is the best for you? Find out with the religion test.
QuizRocket.com/religion-test

Ads by

Word up! Yup, according to Wikipedia, Word Up is…

the name of a 1986 R&B album by Cameo,
Word Up! (song), a song off that album, also covered by Melanie B and Korn,
Word Up (game), a computer pub game, popular in the UK,

but I’m using the term in the following manner:

Word Up! (slang), a slang phrase, usually an exclamation or interjection

+

An exclamation is certainly in order. Congratulations to Phillipe for where he is taking, and where he has taken, Baha’i Thought. -gw

Baha’i Thought is entering adulthood with its own domain name www.bahaithought.com. No more of this blogspot stuff. You should be able to visit the blog at the new url in the next couple of days. People who go to the old one will be forwarded to the new one so no worries. Spread the word. This little blog is about to blow up.

Phillipe Copeland

http://www.bahaithought.blogspot.com/

Written on the wall of The Largest Baha’i Facebook Group Ever on Facebook is a link to the following blog. I downloaded the powerpoint. It’s powerful. -gw

Arthur Dahl’s multiple dimensions of globalization
Posted by ebbf on October 29th, 2007

http://ebbf.org/blog/

Photo: Baha’is On Facebook. group

Good tip from Amid, a member of Baha’is On Facebook. :), who left a message on the wall of that group. -gw

Awesome audiobooks: http://www.bahaistudy.org/contact.html

Bahá’í Audio Books: You may listen to the audio books on your computer, download them onto an mp3 player…. Thanks to the US’s and UK’s Bahá’í Service for the Blind for allowing us to use these tapes! The recordings are in the process of being re-digitized at a higher quality level. The file sizes are larger but the quality is significantly better.

Baha’i Audio Books, Baha’i Study

“The world’s equilibrium,” [Baha'u'llah] explains, “hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this Most Great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” …

Dearly-beloved friends! This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose fundamental principles have been enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less than the complete unification of the entire human race. …

Upon the consummation of this colossal, this unspeakably glorious enterprise—an enterprise that baffled the resources of Roman statesmanship and which Napoleon’s desperate efforts failed to achieve—will depend the ultimate realization of that millennium of which poets of all ages have sung and seers have long dreamed. Upon it will depend the fulfillment of the prophecies uttered by the Prophets of old when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares and the lion and the lamb lie down together. It alone can usher in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father as anticipated by the Faith of Jesus Christ. It alone can lay the foundation for the New World Order visualized by Bahá’u’lláh …

Shoghi
Haifa, Palestine
March 11, 1936

in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
Author: Shoghi Effendi
Source: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991 first pocket-size edition

Baha’i youth at Bosch feeling their oats Uploaded on July 27, 2006 by whalesalad on flickr. {Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic}

Baha’i Back at Beloit Recalls Recent Bosch Baha’i Campus Associations/Baha’i Clubs Weekend. That’s my headline, and I’m not changing it. Here’s the link with pix from Quinn’s Bel-wah Life. -gw

Rebecca was the speaker? No wonder there was a wonderful feeling in the room. -gw

I went to the interfaith partnership / Faith Beyond Walls Banquet dinner last night. It was GREAT! Rebequa Murphy was the speaker, as the host group this year were the Baha’i’s of the greater Saint Louis area. She was great and left a wonderful feeling in the room. I think that it was one of the more impressive dinners they have had in the last few years.

Genevieve, “This could be the beginning…,” ownlife: individualism and eccentricity

Found on flickr. This Creative Commons-licensed {Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic} image, uploaded on May 4, 2007 by the very creative andropolis.