Re: Baha'i as the "best religion" ?

Kent wrote:

I am saying that we can recognize Him in the deeds and motivations of those
fellow humans who do not know His name is Baha'u'llah. Such people may
object at first to the new name, and my issue is that it should be fine with
Baha'is, fine with us, that such people see and admire the qualities of
Baha'u'llah, emulate those qualities, but don't identify with His name.

Hi Kent,

I do agree that a great many people on the planet are Baha'i in
spirit, and they are living out the teachings for this new Day to a
far greater degree than certain Baha'is may be. And certain Baha'is,
knowing the Writings and history of the Faith intimately, have
achieved amazing things in terms of spiritual growth and living the
life. This must not be discounted either, or else we may be
inadvertently implying that Baha'u'llah doesn't have the power to
change hearts and bring about transformations in human souls. I'm
sure that most Baha'is could attest to this power in their lives. I
know I certainly could.

That should be fine with us, because it is our fault.

Really? You mean if we were all perfect Baha'is, everyone else would
immediately overcome their prejudices to the new name, and perhaps to
religion itself, and immediately become Baha'is as well? I am
reminded of 'Abdu'l-Baha's journey to America where he reached out to
hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom were deeply touched by
Him. And yet the majority did not become Baha'is. Not at that time.
Loads of seeds were planted though.

His followers, us, should be showing those qualities. If others are showing
those qualities better than we are, we need to join them, help them, emulate
and be like them. We cannot get such people to join us if they are better
at being Baha'i than we are.

While I agree that some people who are not Baha'is live out the
attributes of God in their lives, and it is our duty to live out the
teachings in our lives; I would also say that some of the humblest,
most radiant, loving, kind, generous, compassionate people I've ever
met have been Baha'is. And I have been deeply, deeply touched by
them, and my life has been changed because of contact with them.

It is our faith that Baha'is will overtake such people, will surpass them,
will show the world Baha'u'llah's qualities with such grace and wonder and
GLORY that all will know. But for now, some don't know, and it is our
fault.

As I say, each one of us is responsible for one life only and that is
our own. "Let deeds, not words, be your adorning." If you want to
show the world something different, let it start with you; and don't
just show it to so-called non-Baha'is. Show it to all of us. We are
all God's children and all need loving encouragement and a positive
example.

But like yelling "I'm NOT angry" or hurting someone because they don't love
me, it is not reasonable to damn such a person because they are not Baha'i.

I agree. We are not the judges of any human soul. If we are judging,
then we are the ones who are damned. "Accursed" is the word
Baha'u'llah uses:

O SON OF BEING! How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy
thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of
Me.
(Baha'u'llah: Arabic Hidden Words, Page: 26)

And I believe the same holds true for us condemning and judging
Baha'is as a group without even knowing them all individually. We are
not to judge others, whether they are Baha'i or not.


Their ignorance is our fault, we bear that responsibility, not them. We
should bear any punishment, not them.

Again, it's God who will judge us all, and not any one of us. Who are
we to say who is responsible and who is not? Who is to say who should
be punished? Certainly no you or I.


The only action that might help the situation is to bring them the choicest
honey, as Baha'u'llah said it. To join them, is how I said it. Let this
person see her/his own qualities in us. That is the solution.

Hear, hear! Let it begin with us.

The problem in my mind is if we believe we are somehow saving people from
waywardness by signing a card. No.

Saving people by signing a card? What an idea! Who says they aren't
saved to begin with? Not me. Signing a declaration card is a matter
of practicality so that we know who to register in the communities;
who may attend Feast, and is electable for the LSA's, who to send the
Baha'i news to, etc. It isn't about saving anyone.

I'm going to stop here, because otherwise this will get to be too long

Kind regards,

Suzanne



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