Hmmm, the Truth about God? So God tells one of the Jewish prophets to kill prophets of the people of another religion. God makes clear that there is such a thing a belief in false gods... and he wants them gone. Then Jesus comes. If we can trust what is written, which it doesn't sound like we can, the rules change. However the beliefs got there who knows for sure. I think they were based on a reasonable interpretation of the NT. But then the NT was written by followers of Jesus. So we don't trust them a 100%. Somewhere in the writings is something so powerful that it will carry us to the next prophet. But what was it? Jesus is God? Jesus saves us from being sent to hell for our sins? I don't know?
But then comes Islam. What does it say about God? There is only one God... and it's not a three part Christian God? That's the same thing Jews believed. But what about the Jews that converted to Christianity? They became convinced that Jesus was their Savior and was God himself... wrong. So those Jews that were Christians should not only forget their abrogated Jewish beliefs but leave their erroneous Christian beliefs and follow exactly what Islam teaches. So how long before Islamic beliefs got mixed in with false beliefs? I assume there must be some, since Baha'is say that the Umayyad dynasty was corrupt. So again and again I ask, why would that original Jew have bothered to convert? He joined a false religion that taught about hell, Satan, a Trinity, a physical resurrection and that Jesus is the only way. But if he could have lived long enough, what would he have gained to convert to Islam?
I do not live in the past or the future, only in the present. I learned that from a good Buddhist friend. As such, I do not care what Jews did or what Christians did... This is a new Day of God. I am fortunate that I was never any other religion before I became a Baha’i so I was not influenced by the older religions. I did not even know anything g about them until about five years ago when I came to forums.
Regarding the older religions, Baha’u’llah put it this way:
“Please God thou wilt turn thine eyes towards the Most Great Revelation, and entirely disregard these conflicting tales and traditions.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 174-175
“This is the Day when the loved ones of God should keep their eyes directed towards His Manifestation, and fasten them upon whatsoever that Manifestation may be pleased to reveal. Certain traditions of bygone ages rest on no foundations whatever, while the notions entertained by past generations, and which they have recorded in their books, have, for the most part, been influenced by the desires of a corrupt inclination. Thou dost witness how most of the commentaries and interpretations of the words of God, now current amongst men, are devoid of truth. Their falsity hath, in some cases, been exposed when the intervening veils were rent asunder. They themselves have acknowledged their failure in apprehending the meaning of any of the words of God.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 171-172
So now we have the Baha'i Faith... and people are still fallible. They are still prone to do wrong things... and since I doubt if people will ever be perfect, the will do wrong things. Lust for power, lust for love, lie, cheat or steal to get ahead. We already have corrupt people that have tried to take power. But what about the ones in power? They might to pretty good people, but are they perfect? Will some fall into temptation? I'm sure some already have. No, I know they already have. I was around Baha'is in the 70's. The love/lust for a younger woman took down the most respected and nicest guys in a small community. I didn't look into it, but on the web there's something about Judge Nelson. I forget what the problem was, but I do remember that there was an insinuation that it was influenced by an east/west power struggle. Like a Baha'i version of Biggy and Tupac?
If one judges the Baha’i Faith by the Baha’is then they will be disappointed. I am not saying the Baha’is are bad, only that they are not perfect, and the standards are so high... So I never look to the Baha’is but rather to what Baha’u’llah wrote, as well as to what Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi wrote. Somewhere Shoghi Effendi wrote that this is an infant Faith and it will have many growing pains before it becomes firmly established. All we can do is our best.
I have been a Baha’i since 1970 but I dropped out for the most part until about five years ago. I am still not active in the Baha’i community, for personal reasons, but I have spent all my free time on forums for the last five years. If I thought I could be useful I would probably be active but because of my personality I do not see how I could be of much use, and that is also one reason I had dropped out for so long, although there were other reasons. Another reason is that I was going through recovery from my childhood issues for about 20 years, and I was in college for more than 15 years, most of which time I also worked full time.
I became a Baha’i only two weeks after I heard about it so it was kind of impulsive, but I have never questioned that Baha’u’llah was a Manifestation of God so I remained a Baha’i, even though there were some times I wanted to turn in my card because I did not feel worthy... There was only one time I questioned Baha’u’llah, when I misunderstood the Tablet of the Maiden a few years ago, but some Baha’is in Planet Baha’i helped me with that. I have issues around sex and the fact that Muhammad and Baha’u’llah and so many wives gives me cause for concern, even though I know it is a cultural thing. Suffice to say that I cannot deal with hypocrisy and if you know what Baha’u’llah wrote about desires of the flesh that was pretty straightforward. I have never broken any Baha’i Laws but I got married three weeks after I met my husband and we were both virgins when we married, at ages 32 and 42. I do not expect that many people are able to adhere that strictly but it is none of my business. There are much worse things such as hate, anger, jealousy, envy, judgmentalness. I have suffered from those but I have improved a lot although it is a constant struggle.
Character is just so important. So if people do not tend to their issues if they had them, they are not much help to the Faith. I knew that which is why I put first things first and was in counseling and 12 step programs and in homeopathic treatment for so long.
What the Guardian wrote I sincerely believe:
“Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching—no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character—not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abhá Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.” Bahá’í Administration, p. 66
But the other thing I remember most was the lack of commitment. So many "inactive" Baha'is? But even the active ones in the community didn't do much. They went to feast, attended the local fireside, that rarely had "seekers". The Baha'is I ended up hanging out with, I was twenty back then, were young Baha'is that went all over to different events. I went with them on "Mass teaching" projects. People were supposed to enter the Faith by "troops". People did sign up. The Baha'is went door to door and invited the people to a meeting about the Baha'i Faith. If they asked the Baha'i Faith was, they told them. At the meeting they had a film and some music and food and a speaker and then an invitation to join. The big problem with the follow up was left to the local community. So most of the new people never became active. But what's happening now? Are Baha'is still waiting for "entry by troops?" Are more Baha'is participating in the Baha'i community? Are the children of Baha'is becoming Baha'is? Is it really growing and changing people and changing the world? Or, is it still in "obscurity"? Sitting in the sidelines?
I was active for a while in the beginning and a little bit in some communities I lived in. I moved all over the pace during my college years so I was anything but stable. I have lived in Washington State for about 30 years but I have not been active in the Baha'i community on a regular basis and for most years not at all. So I do not really know what the Baha’is are doing, although I know some of them are very active in our area. I admit I have been disheartened by the lack of entry by troops but now that I have been on forums posting to people for five years I understand why that has not transpired. There are just too many people mired in their older religious traditions and that is the primary reason. The other reason is crass materialism; in America people worship material things and activities and desires of the flesh. That is what they live for, so why would they want a religion like Baha’i that tells them they have to sacrifice for God, especially when they can be a Christian and eat drink and be merry and still be forgiven and saved and go to heaven? Most people are just not that noble, so it is just a few souls who carry the load as you have no doubt seen... Of course I do not know why inactive Baha’is are inactive and I do not even like that word. They are still Baha’is and there are reasons they do not participate in activities.
I will close with this: My major problems have never been with the Baha’i Faith or Baha’u’llah, they have been with God. Most of my life has been suffering and I have blamed God for many years. I do not blame God anymore but I am still not that fond of God. There are many days when I wish God did not even exist, but I know He does so I just try to change my attitude. The way I feel, why people ask me, do I promote God or Baha’i? Because I know I am wrong about God and because it is the right thing to do.
