70. Thomas_L…..

My girlfriend has just, suddenly and out of the blue, broken up with me because she needs to “get back to the Baha’i Faith”. Even though Islam persecutes Baha’is mercilessly, she will defend Islam and excoriate me for criticising it. None of it makes any sense to anyone but her. So, what am I trying to say here? Go figure!

November 28, 2010 – 9:28 am

Why Would a Woman Convert to Islam?
by Herbert London

Pajamas Media, which began in 2005 as an affiliation of some of the most influential weblogs on the Internet, has significantly expanded its reach over the years.

The PJM Portal now provides exclusive news and opinion 24/7 with correspondents in over forty countries. Its distinguished line-up of XpressBloggers is widely respected for their punditry. Pajamas Media also has its own weekly show on Sirius satellite radio – PJM Political.

In September 2008, Pajamas Media debuted its own online television network – PJTV – that broadcasts daily from studios in Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, Denver, Knoxville and Tel Aviv.

http://pajamasmedia.com/about-us/

Winners of Civic Buildings WAN AWARDS 2010 revealed

Be unrestrained as the wind, while carrying the Message of Him Who hath caused the Dawn of Divine Guidance to break. Consider, how the wind, faithful to that which God hath ordained, bloweth upon all the regions of the earth, be they inhabited or desolate. Neither the sight of desolation, nor the evidences of prosperity, can either pain or please it. It bloweth in every direction, as bidden by its Creator. So should be every one that claimeth to be a lover of the one true God. It behoveth him to fix his gaze upon the fundamentals of His Faith, and to labor diligently for its propagation. Wholly for the sake of God he should proclaim His Message, and with that same spirit accept whatever response his words may evoke in his hearer. He who shall accept and believe, shall receive his reward; and he who shall turn away, shall receive none other than his own punishment.

Unlike Rick Warren, McLaren isn't actually a Christian — he's some kind of neo-Bahá'í-ist or Bhakti Krishna-ist with an interest in the Christian narrative as it relates to his own personal collected Upanishads. And the more he speaks, the less likely it is that he's going to come back around to the Christian faith which he allegedly started in before he got so wise.

Brian D. McLaren is a prominent, controversial voice in the emergent church movement. He was recognized as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" in 2005, and is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Maryland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_McLaren

One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world. Therefore an enlightened man of wisdom should primarily speak with words as mild as milk, that the children of men may be nurtured and edified thereby and may attain the ultimate goal of human existence which is the station of true understanding and nobility.

http://bahaiproofs.com/?q=bahai

For several years now I have carried on the sidebar of my WordPress version of Baha'i Views a link to a website that is devoted to  helping a visitor understand what is unique about the Baha'i Covenant in ensuring that the Faith remain united in the face of forces that in earlier religious dispensations led to division and the formation of sects. -gw 

The goal of this Web site is to provide a place to study the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith on the subject of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. This is not an official Bahá’í site (you can find the official web site of the Bahá’í Faith here: www.bahai.org), and while the editor/admin prefers to remain unnamed, he also wishes to make clear that he subscribes to these fundamental concepts:

• Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb are the Twin Manifestations of God for this day.

• Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Kitab-i-Ahd appointed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Center of His Covenant and the infallible interpreter of His Cause. As He said: “When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.”

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament appointed his grandson Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian of the Cause of God, the “…priceless pearl that doth gleam from out the Twin surging seas…” and said: “…the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him, hath denied the True One.”

• Since the beloved Guardian had no children (and the remainder of his family had broken the Covenant) and thus could not appoint a successor, after his passing the Hands of the Cause of God as the “Chief Stewards of Bahá’u'lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth” called for the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.

• The Universal House of Justice — a body that was ordained by Bahá’u'lláh and confirmed in the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi — is now the sole and the infallible head of the Bahá’í Faith. It is to this body that all Bahá’ís must turn and in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “…that House is under the protection, unerring guidance and care of the one true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will protect it under the wing of His sanctity and infallibility.” and again “…whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God…”

It is hoped that students of the Baha’i Covenant will draw from the materials gathered here a stronger connection with the infallible guidance that has been provided to the Bahá’í Community in its efforts to transform humanity. This guidance has protected the Bahá’í Faith from breaking into schism for the past 164 years and will ensure its ability to grow from strength to strength in the coming centuries. Through our understanding and deepening knowledge of this “unique and wondrous system”, we will ensure that our steps will walk firmly in the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and enable us to more fittingly protect and preserve the Cause of God.

The Unity of Bahá'ís

In order to be effective in promoting world unity the Bahá'í Faith must itself be firmly united. Bahá'í unity has been assured by provisions in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá that establish authoritative guidance on the intent of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation and on the administration of the affairs of the international Bahá'í community. Throughout the critical first century of the Faith's existence these provisions have protected the Bahá'í community from sectarianism, and have enabled it to adapt itself to the requirements of a rapidly evolving civilization. The institutions which embody this authority are the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice .

See: The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh

http://info.bahai.org/unity-of-bahais.html

Good speech and truthfulness are, in loftiness of position and rank, like the sun which has risen from the horizon of the heaven of knowledge.

“They Who are the Luminaries of Truth and the Mirrors reflecting the light of Divine Unity,” Bahá’u’lláh explains in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, “in whatever age and cycle they are sent down from their invisible habitations of ancient glory unto this world to educate the souls of men and endue with grace all created things, are invariably 115 endowed with an all-compelling power and invested with invincible sovereignty… These sanctified Mirrors, these Day-Springs of ancient glory are one and all the exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its essence and ultimate purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory… Through them is transmitted a grace that is infinite, and by them is revealed the light that can never fade… Human tongue can never befittingly sing their praise, and human speech can never unfold their mystery.” “Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial Throne,” He adds, “are all sent down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they therefore are regarded as one soul and the same person… They all abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith… They only differ in the intensity of their revelation and the comparative potency of their light… That a certain attribute of God hath not been outwardly manifested by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise imply that they Who are the Day-Springs of God’s attributes and the Treasuries of His holy names did not actually possess it.”

THE DISPENSATION OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/WOB/wob-37-printable.html

Although some of those present urged them saying, “Say merely ‘We are not of this sect,’ and it is sufficient, and will be the means of your deliverance and protection,” they would by no means consent, but rather confirmed and declared it with eloquent speech and affecting utterance, so that the rage and violence of the Imám-Jum’ih boiled over, and, not satisfied with killing and destroying them, they inflicted sundry indignities on their bodies after death to mention which is not fitting, and of which the details are beyond the power of speech. Indeed in such wise was the blood of these two brothers shed that even the Christian priest of Julfá cried out, lamented, and wept on that day; and this event befell after such sort that everyone wept over the fate of those two brothers, for during the whole period of their life they had never distressed the feelings even of an ant, while by general report they had in the time of the famine in Persia spent all their wealth in relieving the poor and distressed. Yet, notwithstanding this reputation, were they slain with such cruelty in the midst of the people!

Instead of shopping on Black Friday, why not listen to one another? (Could be a great companion activity for people participating in Buy Nothing Day.)