G
Gnosticagape
Guest
Hello Art, Amy, Steven, Bruce and all,
Thanks again Art for your link on pluralism!
Because this is a new topic I thought it appropriate to begin a new thread.
Mr. Momen has a very enlightened approach to religion in general and the Baha'i Faith's place amongst religions:
"A religion like the Bahá'í Faith that has deliberately sought to have a
wide variety of people within its ranks will also contain, despite its
reputation as a "liberal" religion, individuals with a range of liberal and
fundamentalist opinions."
"And yet despite these protections, it cannot be denied that the presence of
fundamentalists and liberals does cause a certain amount of tension within
the Baha'i community. There have been numerous episodes and situations known to the author of this article, and no doubt to any other person who has been a Baha'i for any length of time, where this tension has caused problems and even damage to the Baha'i Faith."
http://bahai-library.com/articles/momen.fundamentalism.html
I couldn't help but see some examples of that tension that Mr.Momen is refering to expressed by Baha'is here on this forum.
When reading through some of the previous posts on this forum I came across this following one from Bruce:
---------
L>When I speak of Baha'i Identity it is drawn from those Teachings, the actual Words of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha.
Sigh. Yet another falsehood. :-(
YOU are the one who was referring to "liberal and conservative" Baha'is, clearly discredited terminology employed only by enemies of the Faith. If you were "drawing your material from the Baha'i teachings, you would never use such ridiculous, grossly false and misleading terms.
End of conversation.
Bruce
---------
My question is if Baha'i scholars such as Mr.Momen openly admit that the Baha'i Faith has within it :"despite its reputation as a "liberal" religion, individuals with a range of liberal and fundamentalist opinions.", why an individual Baha'i such as Bruce would state what he did in the above which is clearly not the view held by Baha'i scholars.
Perhaps the tension in the Baha'i Faith that Mr.Momen refers to is as a result of the distortion he referred to in his post to do with metareligion:
"a distortion of its real nature, a result of the present stage in its historical development. This distortion is caused by the fact that up to now, all of the leaders and intellectuals of the Baha'i community have come from a narrow cultural and intellectual basis (an Iranian-European-North American axis). They have interpreted the Baha'i teachings in accordance with their cultural perspectives and the result is what we see today."
I am finding Mr.Momen's insights into the Baha'i Faith as well as the sentiments that have been expressed here on this forum by grass roots Baha'is to be quite a eye opener!
Cheers Chris
Thanks again Art for your link on pluralism!
Because this is a new topic I thought it appropriate to begin a new thread.
Mr. Momen has a very enlightened approach to religion in general and the Baha'i Faith's place amongst religions:
"A religion like the Bahá'í Faith that has deliberately sought to have a
wide variety of people within its ranks will also contain, despite its
reputation as a "liberal" religion, individuals with a range of liberal and
fundamentalist opinions."
"And yet despite these protections, it cannot be denied that the presence of
fundamentalists and liberals does cause a certain amount of tension within
the Baha'i community. There have been numerous episodes and situations known to the author of this article, and no doubt to any other person who has been a Baha'i for any length of time, where this tension has caused problems and even damage to the Baha'i Faith."
http://bahai-library.com/articles/momen.fundamentalism.html
I couldn't help but see some examples of that tension that Mr.Momen is refering to expressed by Baha'is here on this forum.
When reading through some of the previous posts on this forum I came across this following one from Bruce:
---------
L>When I speak of Baha'i Identity it is drawn from those Teachings, the actual Words of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha.
Sigh. Yet another falsehood. :-(
YOU are the one who was referring to "liberal and conservative" Baha'is, clearly discredited terminology employed only by enemies of the Faith. If you were "drawing your material from the Baha'i teachings, you would never use such ridiculous, grossly false and misleading terms.
End of conversation.
Bruce
---------
My question is if Baha'i scholars such as Mr.Momen openly admit that the Baha'i Faith has within it :"despite its reputation as a "liberal" religion, individuals with a range of liberal and fundamentalist opinions.", why an individual Baha'i such as Bruce would state what he did in the above which is clearly not the view held by Baha'i scholars.
Perhaps the tension in the Baha'i Faith that Mr.Momen refers to is as a result of the distortion he referred to in his post to do with metareligion:
"a distortion of its real nature, a result of the present stage in its historical development. This distortion is caused by the fact that up to now, all of the leaders and intellectuals of the Baha'i community have come from a narrow cultural and intellectual basis (an Iranian-European-North American axis). They have interpreted the Baha'i teachings in accordance with their cultural perspectives and the result is what we see today."
I am finding Mr.Momen's insights into the Baha'i Faith as well as the sentiments that have been expressed here on this forum by grass roots Baha'is to be quite a eye opener!
Cheers Chris