Yes I realize that's where we are but it's changing. With knowledge so freely available people are beginning to discover that others believe in very similar things and knowledge can bring us together in peace.
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Can we have different beliefs and still have peace.
- Thread starter loverofhumanity
- Start date
Yes I realize that's where we are but it's changing. With knowledge so freely available people are beginning to discover that others believe in very similar things and knowledge can bring us together in peace.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
I learned more and more as I will be working with Deaf and hard of hearing individuals that differences is a blessing. If you have read the quote by Anne Wilson, she talks about making all religions put into one (one truth) or one-party system. This means that each individual religion's truth is not unique to that religion which it should but is forced to be in union with others.
This means that instead of the unique nature of Christ's passion, the act, the message, and the result being unique only to a Christian and his experience, instead a one-party system makes Christ's experience the same as a Buddhist and a Muslim.
This puts down each religion and their community. It is like my as a hearing person coming into the Deaf community and telling them that to live a better life they have to live in union with the hearing community and be one. Yes, we are one because we are humans but I respect that in that unison, they have their community with their separate goals, arts, and truth as I have mine.
That is how we have different beliefs and still have peace. If we accept there is not one truth, we accept people for their differences rather than trying to find what everyone has in common.
Let's just imagine for now that this really happened.
That each religion found out, through their own scriptures that all the other religions were true?
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
That is not accepting the diversity of each religion and their own truth. I would find it sad to even think that each religious scriptures are true and are in union with all religions. That's not peace among different beliefs. It's literally saying "you cannot practice your culture et cetera because it doesn't fit in to our one-party system."
I will make this a bit personal.
Okay. I believe in my ancestors and family. Without them, their guidance, their protect, et cetera, I wouldn't be where I am today. I have specific practices that helps me create a bond with my family, others, and myself. Within this bond, I see where I see things about myself I need to work on. Sometimes I am surprised I express love out of just the action of prayer.
What you are telling me is right now because I am not in union with a Christian and Muslim and I do not see peace in the eyes of Baha'ullah, I am not experiencing peace. I do not need Christ to experience peace. I do not need Allah. I do not need Bahuallah. I do not need Ra. I do not need Vishnu. They are not my source of peace. A Pagan, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim respect my experience of peace and I respect theirs.
That is how we have different beliefs and still have peace
But you're telling me that this can't be so unless we follow Bahuallah's words of peace and unite. So, that means I have to turn away from my ancestors, a Muslim from Allah, a Christian from Christ, a Pagan from Ra (for example), in order to find similarities among each other.
Differences are a blessing and gift. Why strip us of our differences-our cultures, our practices, and our beliefs-so that we have truth defined by Bahaullauh?
What is the truth to which all religions share without their practices contradicting the method towards that truth?
A Christian gets peace through Christ. I get peace from my ancestors. Regardless, the peace a Christian experiences is not the peace I experience. A Christian will not be me and I am not that Christian.
So the best we can do is accept each other's differing experiences. Stop trying to make the rainbow white. Not everyone wants to see peace through Bahaullah's eyes.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
@loverofhumanity
Deaf Art/Dancing
Cherokee POW WOW
There are many examples of different cultures and their ways of expressing love, compassion, creativity, and more. Almost every culture, I'll say, has a way of expressing these things.
Cultural practices and religious belief go together. So if you believe in the love expressed by the Deaf community, you have to acknowledge the unique differences their culture express that cannot be interpreted in English and other languages. You have to experience what it means to "not be a part of their group" for the very fact that you are hearing (assuming you are). You have to understand that even though both cultures share love, because the practice and language is different the experience is different.
We need to respect these differences. If you do not and try to interpret the experiences above from a Bahai view, you are ripping their culture because their culture is what makes up who they are and the love they express. Their art, language, and so forth is unique to that community.
If you have gone to Mass before in a Roman Catholic Church, you may experience the love they have for Christ. However, because the very fact you have not taken the sacraments (yes?) or are not a practicing Catholic, your experience with Christ as a friend is very different than a Catholic's experience with Christ as his savior.
Differences do not create wars and discord if we acknowledge people for them.
If we try to make people like us, that is when wars come about. When we try to create unity among diversity, that is were conflict comes about. Bahai seems to have the way to peace backwards. Not finding similarities. That's making everything think like you. But being interested in the differences. That's taking interest in another persons life, culture, and that is how you find peace among different beliefs.
There are many examples of different cultures and their ways of expressing love, compassion, creativity, and more. Almost every culture, I'll say, has a way of expressing these things.
Cultural practices and religious belief go together. So if you believe in the love expressed by the Deaf community, you have to acknowledge the unique differences their culture express that cannot be interpreted in English and other languages. You have to experience what it means to "not be a part of their group" for the very fact that you are hearing (assuming you are). You have to understand that even though both cultures share love, because the practice and language is different the experience is different.
We need to respect these differences. If you do not and try to interpret the experiences above from a Bahai view, you are ripping their culture because their culture is what makes up who they are and the love they express. Their art, language, and so forth is unique to that community.
If you have gone to Mass before in a Roman Catholic Church, you may experience the love they have for Christ. However, because the very fact you have not taken the sacraments (yes?) or are not a practicing Catholic, your experience with Christ as a friend is very different than a Catholic's experience with Christ as his savior.
Differences do not create wars and discord if we acknowledge people for them.
If we try to make people like us, that is when wars come about. When we try to create unity among diversity, that is were conflict comes about. Bahai seems to have the way to peace backwards. Not finding similarities. That's making everything think like you. But being interested in the differences. That's taking interest in another persons life, culture, and that is how you find peace among different beliefs.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
So you're saying I don't get to keep my beliefs?
james bond
Well-Known Member
To answer the OP, sure. I think most of the major religions are for world peace.
What's troubling though is in the United States where I live, there has not been one President who has not led us into war in my lifetime. I suspect who leads us into war are the super rich. These people influence the President's cabinet and we go into war to protect special interests. Every war we had, our soldiers question why are we fighting this war?
For example, we just elected Donald Trump. He had his cabinet picked out and then he goes into briefing including Obama. He comes out and suddenly a few members of his cabinet has changed. In Obama's two terms, some banker was able to correctly guess every member before it was announced.
What's troubling though is in the United States where I live, there has not been one President who has not led us into war in my lifetime. I suspect who leads us into war are the super rich. These people influence the President's cabinet and we go into war to protect special interests. Every war we had, our soldiers question why are we fighting this war?
For example, we just elected Donald Trump. He had his cabinet picked out and then he goes into briefing including Obama. He comes out and suddenly a few members of his cabinet has changed. In Obama's two terms, some banker was able to correctly guess every member before it was announced.
That is not accepting the diversity of each religion and their own truth. I would find it sad to even think that each religious scriptures are true and are in union with all religions. That's not peace among different beliefs. It's literally saying "you cannot practice your culture et cetera because it doesn't fit in to our one-party system."
I will make this a bit personal.
Okay. I believe in my ancestors and family. Without them, their guidance, their protect, et cetera, I wouldn't be where I am today. I have specific practices that helps me create a bond with my family, others, and myself. Within this bond, I see where I see things about myself I need to work on. Sometimes I am surprised I express love out of just the action of prayer.
I do not need Christ to experience peace. I do not need Allah. I do not need Bahuallah. I do not need Ra. I do not need Vishnu. They are not my source of peace. A Pagan, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim respect my experience of peace and I respect theirs.
That is how we have different beliefs and still have peace
But you're telling me that this can't be so unless we follow Bahuallah's words of peace and unite. So, that means I have to turn away from my ancestors, a Muslim from Allah, a Christian from Christ, a Pagan from Ra (for example), in order to find similarities among each other.
Differences are a blessing and gift. Why strip us of our differences-our cultures, our practices, and our beliefs-so that we have truth defined by Bahaullauh?
What is the truth to which all religions share without their practices contradicting the method towards that truth?
A Christian gets peace through Christ. I get peace from my ancestors. Regardless, the peace a Christian experiences is not the peace I experience. A Christian will not be me and I am not that Christian.
So the best we can do is accept each other's differing experiences. Stop trying to make the rainbow white. Not everyone wants to see peace through Bahaullah's eyes.
I am speaking about unity in diversity not unity in uniformity.
We want to keep our heritages and cultures.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
You can't keep our heritages and cultures if you want unity how Bahai defines it. As long as you define peace for others (telling them they haven't reached it yet or acknowledge the peace you define), that is doing the opposite of what you're saying.
Unity in diversity is the foundation of our beliefs so I'm not sure why you're misunderstanding that.
"Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruit, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá)
Everyone is free to believe what they want.
Milton Platt
Well-Known Member
Not if their beliefs included killing others.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Because in another post you said other religions have yet to reach the understanding of peace among themselves: one truh yet. They have but define it differently. There is no one truth by other names. According to other faiths each have their own truth...
It is not one truth and they do not share the same space
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
There is more than one garden. Not all gardens have flowers. Not all owners call their land gardens. They do not have one truth.
Unless you see truth through Bah' eyes, you are not expressing one truth.
One truth is not Bahai, Pagan, Jewish, Christian, etc.
Define one truth without mentioning any religion, Bahai included.
Baha'is celebrate and promote the diversity of the human race. That is a core principle.
This video is a bit dark. But you can get the gist of it. We are representative of almost all nationalities, tribes and cultures on earth and love and respect them all.
We all live on one world, one planet. We are all one humanity regardless of our secondary differences which are a form of beauty.
There is only one humanity.
There is a link spiritually between all the Faiths just like there is genetically between human beings. We are one and also we have outward diversity but genetically we are the same.
One DNA spiritually so to speak and one DNA physically. There are no martians amongst us.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
They are not secondary differences. They are primary. That is why there is no One humanity (one truth) because each person's differences are crucial and each defines humanity as a whole.
The very fact to a Christian and the Bible you are not a Christian shatters that one truth.
Whether you accept that fact or not, is your preference. My point is that because a Christian and The Bible does not see you as a follower of Christ because you are following The Buddha, Muhammad, and Bahaullah at the same time, are not Christian. Your truth is not their truth.
That does not mean there is not one truth. Your definition of one truth is making all religions under one umbrella. Most religions disagree. Your truth is not their truth. So you can't claim there is only one because you are the only one of many Bahai, UU, and some neopagans among others who believe this. Why don't you let Christians have their own space without claiming their truth is part of your own?
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
I agree spiritually we are tired but that is my belief not a fact. The very fact a Christian does not agree shatters any universal tie I believe we may have. As long as they disagree, I have no right to put them under my umbrella and tell them they have not yet seen the one truth that all religions share.
That is not my right. I feel it isn't your right. It isn't anyone's right.
That is like you going to Mass and telling the congregation you are Christian too because you believe in Christ as a friend and experience the love from Christ and believe in the Bible.
Most Catholics would probably understand where you are coming from but will disagree with you being part of the Body of Christ. That Body defines that one truth: that one humanity. If you haven't taken the sacraments of the Church, you are not Christian/Catholic.
That's a fact. It has nothing to do with what you and I believe.
We are going by their beliefs. The Buddhists. The Christian. The Muslim.
Not yours. Not mine. Not one truth. Many.