I am a lawyer, and I have heard many times, defense lawyers asking juries to exercise mercy and forgiveness of the criminal acts of the accused. If the words of Jesus were the sole basis for the organization of society, that’s exactly what judges and juries would do. Individuals would turn the other cheek, and so would societies. If a nation is bombed on its East coast, it would turn the other coast. That is, if society tries to organize itself based on the words of Christ, it seeks to know what is the appropriate principle in all of its social dealings — commerce, punishment, peace, defense, monetary policy, scientific matters, social welfare, etc. Jesus did not address these matters; He addressed the individual soul. Baha’u'llah did address these, as Isaiah and Jesus promised He would. You can read the guidance of God to heads of state in the book “Tablets of Baha’u'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas” and in “The Summons of the Lord of Hosts” both at http://reference.bahai.org. These show the will of God to heads of state. Because, again, heads of state cannot organize the functions of government around the verses of the guidance of Jesus Christ. He says to give everything away, to forgive all injustices, to expose yourself to further injustices, to never hurt a person even if he hurts you, to do good to those who harm you. That’s magnificent guidance to individuals; and suicide if accepted as social policy by nations. Nations cannot organize on the basis of forgiveness; only on the basis of justice. Jesus promised the coming of Baha’u'llah. Read His Writings.

Posted via email from Baha’i Views

Posted via email from bahaimusic’s posterous

Posted via email from bahaimusic’s posterous

Posted via email from bahaimusic’s posterous

Posted via email from Baha’i Views

Posted via email from Baha’i Views

Thirsty for water.

Posted via email from bahaimusic’s posterous

Posted via email from Baha’i Views

"Churches and religion promote gambling. I find it a little bizarre," said Bernard A. Albiniak, an associate professor of psychology at Coastal Carolina University. "Bingo is perfectly legal, and it's the purest form of gambling."

The Church of God declared gambling to be a violation of the Golden Rule. Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism include criticism of gambling, as does the Baha'i faith, though different adherents interpret the Scriptures differently.

"Baha'u'llah has prohibited gambling," said Windi Burgess, a Baha'i. "This prohibition does not include a detailed definition of gambling. It is left to the prayerful conscience of the individual. … Any game where I pay money to play with the possibility of winning a jackpot I would consider gambling."

WASHINGTON – Sen. Maria Cantwell wants to use state gambling laws to regulate parts of Wall Street, saying someone needs to police financial markets where “casino capitalism” involving highly speculative trades she likens to sophisticated betting continue unabated and threaten to create yet another financial crisis. …

Derivatives essentially began as a form of insurance, offering a hedge for such companies as airlines that wanted to lock in the cost of jet fuel to avoid sharp increases. But over the years, derivatives became more exotic, allowing investors to place what were essentially side bets on such things as whether people would default on their subprime mortgages or whether the price of oil or natural gas would go up or down.

Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor, likened it to buying insurance on your neighbor’s home expecting it to burn down or your neighbor’s car expecting it to be totaled in an accident.

“It’s nothing else than betting,” he said.

Such well-known financiers as Warren Buffett and Felix Rohatyn have called derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction” and “financial hydrogen bombs.”

Posted via email from Baha’i Views

Posted via email from Baha’i Views