From 28:04 to 32:47, the end of the program

Rainn Wilson on the Baha’i Faith on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross 

Fresh Air from WHYY

Listen to Wednesday’s show · July 30, 2008

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This lady is lookin’ from Brooklyn and seein’ Kansas.  Why is it that autobiographical statements are always so interesting?

I  was born 61 years ago, in 1947 in Brooklyn NY (tomorrow is my birthday). Went to NYC public schools (and Hebrew school briefly), was raised by a bi-racial dad who was an atheist communist, a mom who was Presbyterian, and a white grandma from Kansas who became a Baha’i.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/7/31/142629/056

Photo: “Brooklyn brownstones,” uploaded on October 31, 2006 by _Robert C_ on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Thanks, Lief, for this reminder of the specific text to guide Baha’is through the minefield that is discussion of current events during a political season. To mention one candidate and not another in a post may be interpreted as indication that Baha’is favor one over another. In fact, Baha’is are not to speak of who they will vote for.

It is a fact that a black man is running for president. This is outside the Minor Plan of God that Baha’is attempt to operate within and instead part of the Major Plan of God which proceeds mysteriously. -gw

XXXIX. POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

A. Politics

1440. Political Figures ”The Guardian wishes me to draw the attention of the friends through you that they should be very careful in their public utterance not to mention any political figures–either side with them or denounce them. This is the first thing to bear in mind. Otherwise they will involve the friends in political matters, which is infinitely dangerous for the Cause.”

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, January 12, 1933: Bahá’í News, No. 72, April 1933, p. 3)

http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4

Answering the question, is Barak Obama a Baha’i? with “Nope” and just leaving it at that is too flip. Baha’is have written cogently about the impact that Obama’s campaign is having on Americans. He may not be Baha’i, but he sure stimulates a lot of discussion, much of it that can lead to a discussion of the Faith. Examples… -gw

Obama Stirs Multiracial Dialogue

A More Perfect Union Through Race Unity: Multiracial Possibilities

A More Perfect Union Through Race Unity: Cure the Cancer!

A More Perfect Union Through Race Unity

A Prayer to Rein in ‘Forces of Division’

Obama’s High Ground on Public Dialogue

Multiple Answers to the ‘Race Question’ from the Same Person

Obama’s ‘Trip’ Over and Around the Color Line

Why Obama (and the Rest of Us) Can’t ‘Transcend Race’

The Media and Barack Obama

http://outofmymindblog.wordpress.com/

Those Last Few Pounds

Obama

http://angelfly72.blogspot.com/2008/01/obama.html

CNN Looks At Black America

The Conservation or Elimination of Races?

Does Race Still Matter In America?

Ruby Slippers and Race In America

http://www.bahaithought.com/

Photo: “Workshop performance at the ONE Love Multicultural show in 2002,” Uploaded on July 30, 2008 by EriQ on flickr 

Is Barak Obama a Baha’i?
The presidential candidate who promotes a world-embracing vision might not be quite as “Christian” as he first appears.
Digg / news / upcoming - http://digg.com/

Obama, of course, is a Christian, not a Baha’i but it got me wondering about that strange mindset which holds that there has to be something wrong with anyone who talks too much about peace and unity, as if those were bad things instead of good things.

http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?t=116188

Answer to question: Nope. -gw

See: http://2164th.blogspot.com/2008/07/citizen-of-world-barack-obama-bahaist.html

Throughout the planet, people raised in a given religious frame of reference find themselves abruptly thrown into close association with others whose beliefs and practices appear at first glance irreconcilably different from their own. The differences can and often do give rise to defensiveness, simmering resentments and open conflict. In many cases, however, the effect is rather to prompt a reconsideration of received doctrine and to encourage efforts at discovering values held in common.

One Common Faith: Bahá’í World Centre, 2005 edition

Certainly, as is pointed out in the Baha’i text, One Common Faith, the great religions share basic values in common. Thanks, bk, for passing on the Christian Science Monitor news story below. -gw

The 29-page letter that Muslim clerics from the major sects sent to Christian churches said “the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.” It invited Christians to join with them on the basis of “what is common to us and most essential to our faith and practice: the Two Commandments” – love for God and love for one’s neighbor.

“A Common Word represents a global Islamic consensus, and that means this engagement will have implications throughout the Muslim world,” says Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Muslim group and director of SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara, Turkey.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0730/p02s01-ussc.html

In the Holy Qur’an, God Most High enjoins Muslims to issue the following call to Christians (and Jews—the People of the Scripture):

Thus in obedience to the Holy Qur’an, we as Muslims invite Christians to come together with us on the basis of what is common to us, which is also what is most essential to our faith and practice: the Two Commandments of love.

 

Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). (Aal ‘Imran 3:64)

 

The words: we shall ascribe no partner unto Him relate to the Unity of God, and the words: worship none but God, relate to being totally devoted to God.  Hence they all relate to the First and Greatest Commandment. According to one of the oldest and most authoritative commentaries on the Holy Qur’an the words: that none of us shall take others for lords beside God, mean ‘that none of us should obey the other in disobedience to what God has commanded’. This relates to the Second Commandment because justice and freedom of religion are a crucial part of love of the neighbour.

http://www.acommonword.com/index.php?lang=en&page=option1

It’s the future, man. -gw

 Jack Lhasa posted 45 more messages on Twitter

8 hours ago on FriendFeed

“…microblogging is the future of communication.” “@heddahfeddah are you Baha‘i ? I studied it for some time. Such a beautiful religion.”

More Info · Email post · Clip post · Preview feed · Subscribe to feed

 The Tacoma Baha’i Community blog has the definitive story on Ethnic Fest. It covers the most important angle.  

Oh sure, there are pictures up on Flickr  already about it. Both the daily and the weekly papers covered the event. Tacoma celebrates its diversity. Ethnic Fest 2008 is over, but  the memory lingers on.  

And for many the most distinctive memory is of their encounter with Baha’u'llah at the Baha’i Booth. -gw

The Bahá’í Faith is a world religion whose purpose is to unite all the races and

peoples of the world in one universal Cause and one common Faith.

Easily more than 700 people stopped at our two booths during these two days. That’s people who stopped and looked, talked, got a balloon or a race unity bracelet. Our children’s activity booth was a fabulous winner. Children stopped and took the time to string their own race unity bracelets. That gave their parents a chance to visit and to see our banner and appreciate our basic message that all of the religions, coming from the same Source, are essentially one. We gave away 500 race unity bracelets and 500 balloons. The balloons had a simple, appealing message: some read “No Room in My Heart for Prejudice”, while others read “World Citizen”. We handed out hundreds of “No Room in My Heart for Prejudice” stickers to passers by - most of those were Fest-goers who did not really stop and are not counted among the 700-plus visitors. Dozens of adults stopped by to look and to take literature. Many of them took the opportunity to engage in lengthy conversations about religion and spiritual values. Twenty-four visitors signed up to request a follow-up contact from us. What a wonderful opportunity for us to bring our message to new souls!

http://www.tacomabahai.org/2008/07/28/ethnic-fest-2008/

http://www.tacomabahai.org/2008/07/26/ethnic-fest-in-tacoma-pierce-county/

Photos: Gary Sloan

Small thumbnails: http://www.flickr.com/photos/weeklyvolcano/sets/72157606398059024/

Uploaded on July 24, 2008 by elpav on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Step on up.

Find your Anna’s presentation on teaching.bahai.us. Then make it your own. -gw

Anna’s presentation in Persian now available

All IPG Presentations and Deepening Themes

Thanks to Sam and David for bringing this BWNS story to my attention. -gw

At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha’is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months…

– On 15 July at 1:15 a.m., Molotov cocktails were thrown into the front courtyard of the home of Khusraw Dehghani and his wife, Dr. Huma Agahi, in Vilashahr, only months after anonymous threats directly related to her being a Baha’i forced Dr. Agahi to close her clinic in nearby Najafabad where she had practiced medicine for 28 years.

– On 25 July, the car of a prominent Baha’i in Rafsanjan, in Kerman province, was torched and destroyed by arsonists on motorbikes. Soheil Naeimi, the owner of the car, and 10 other Baha’i families in the town had received threatening letters from a group calling itself the Anti-Baha’ism Movement of the Youth of Rafsanjan that, among other things, threatened jihad (holy war) against the Baha’is.

– On 10 June, an outbuilding on the property of the Mr. and Mrs. Mousavi, elderly Baha’is living in the village of Tangriz in Fars province, was destroyed by fire when it was doused with gasoline. The Mousavis, along with their two sons who were sleeping close to the building, narrowly escaped injury when the gasoline tank used to start the fire exploded. The Mousavis believe that the perpetrator thought they were all sleeping in the hut when he set the fire. Mr. Mousavi issued a formal complaint against the person they suspected, but the legal office has declined to pursue the case because the suspect swore on the Qur’an that he was not guilty. Out of respect for the Qur’an, the Mousavis have dropped the charges.

http://news.bahai.org/story/645

Map: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Najafabad