IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
Yeah, yeah. We know your Pollyannish approach, devoid of connection to reality.
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What if we accepted each others Religion?
- Thread starter loverofhumanity
- Start date
Throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—known as Manifestations of God—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muḥammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.
Maybe my own words could be better.
McBell
Unbound
Oh look.Throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—known as Manifestations of God—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muḥammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.
Maybe my own words could be better.
Another reply from you that does absolutely nothing to address the content of the post it is in reply to.
Care to try again:
You do not accept Christianity.
You accept Catholicism.
You do not accept Hinduism
You accept Vaishnavism
So how does this apply to the other major religions you claim to "accept"?
The embodiment of each religion its essence and source is the Manifestation and His Holy Book. That IS the religion not the clergy or the followers or the added doctrines and dogmas.
Where did Christianity come from or the church? From Christ and the Bible which we fully accept. Christianity is Christ and the Bible. None of the religions could exist without the Manifestation and His Holy Book. The religion is not the clergy or the followers but what was given to them from God by the Manifestation.
“Where, precisely, are "Judaism", "Buddhism", "Christianity", "Islám" and the others, since they obviously cannot be identified with the irreconcilably opposed organizations that purport to speak authoritatively in their names?”
One Common Faith
Bahá’í World Centre
The Origin and Source , the Messengers and Their Scriptures ARE the religion not the sects. By accepting the Founders and Their Holy Books we are absolutely, accepting all religions.
McBell
Unbound
Oh look.
Another reply from you that does absolutely nothing to address the content of the post it is in reply to.
Care to try again:
You do not accept Christianity.
You accept Catholicism.
You do not accept Hinduism
You accept Vaishnavism
So how does this apply to the other major religions you claim to "accept"?
One last time...
What sect of Islam is it that you "accept"
Since it is not all of Islam, but that which you pick and choose from Islam.
You know, just like you do with Christianity and Hinduism...
Then be so kind as to reveal the cherry picked part of the other major religions you "accept"
Perhaps this time you can render an honest reply to the post you reply to?
The Manifestation Baha’u’llah states that Ali was the true Successor.
You asked me a question and I answered honestly. Did I misunderstand your question ?if I did I apologise. But Baha’is believe that after Muhammad died, true guidance came from the twelve Imams.
CG Didymus
Veteran Member
When it comes to religion, I think we should judge. I think we should investigate and verify if a religion is true. I don't believe some of them are true. And I have my doubts about the rest of them.
Now whether most teach to do good? Sure, but I still think that the way it is presented to people is for them to believe this or that then, because they believe it, they are told to go out and do good.
Which stories and which beliefs are more successful at getting their followers to actually do good? And then, which ones have the most followers that are just nominal believers and do very little?
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CG Didymus
Veteran Member
All of that is Baha'i beliefs. For those of us that cannot see God's "oneness" are "petty" minded? Or... we see all too well that some, maybe all, religions are similar... They are trying to get people to believe a story. Some have an invisible God that will punish them for doing evil. Some have an evil spirit-being trying to tempt them and to get them to do evil. Some say if you do good you will go to some happy place in the sky.
Some people play that game with their kids... "Do good and you'll get a bunch of gifts." It works on them... a little. And it works for us. We do good deeds and donate money to the poor and all kinds of things. All because we believe that is what our God wants us to do. For Baha'is, you get to be closer to God in the next world. For a Christian, it's a heavenly paradise.
Do this really make them all "one"? I don't think so. The stories and beliefs are just way too different.
Oh, and there have been those religions that tell their people to sacrifice a human to the gods in order to have good crops. Was that religion true? Should we have participated in their ceremony? Should we have judged them?
Yes CG I fully agree with you that we need to not just blindly follow and should investigate thoroughly. I’ve found some very amazing things for me personally. As you know possess all the main holy books digitally on my iPad. And when i read any of the Holy Books, all I see is truth. They seem to all be in harmony like a song sheet written by the same Writer. One song of love. When people denigrate any of them its always not having an understanding of the context. I don’t see contradictions or ambiguity just unity. Maybe after reading the Writings all I see is the beauty and that anything that is tarnished comes from the followers not the Founder.
So I have very great difficulty understanding why others cannot see that beautiful melody that runs through all the scriptures.
I didn’t mean petty minded in a condescending manner. Sincere apologies if you took it personally as I respect you a lot and really appreciate your questions because you are teaching me a lot and helping me learn to improve. I thank you very much for that. I meant it that forever we are looking for ways to find conflict and disagreement which over the past 6,000 years is reflecting on our maturity. Still we ‘adults’ cannot sit down together and try and thrash out our differences. For some reason we just love spending $100,000 per rocket to destroy when in the end we will have to sit down and talk .
I think it makes them one in their love for God. To please God or the Educator and live up to His teachings seems to be a huge motivator. To ‘win the good pleasure of the Lord’. I think we are all in our own way trying to do that. Stories and beliefs differ but I think their aim is to learn certain things.
Im not sure which religion you are referring to or which sacrifices and ceremonies?
Dao Hao Now
Active Member
Because they are not suffering from the same confirmation bias as you?
The Baha'i writings have very little to say about Hinduism, as you would expect from a religion that arose in Shi'a Islamic Persia in the nineteenth century.
Baha'is learn about Hinduism in the same manner as everyone else and will have diverse experience and perspectives. Baha'is who are immersed in Hindu culture through their upbringing or living in a predominantly Hindu culture are more likely to understand and feel at home with the diversity within Hinduism.
Yep exactly, it is what you would expect from a manmade origin in 19th century Persia, not at all what you would expect from an All-knowing God who is deeply familiar with all religions in my view.
The point is that the Bab spent most of His life in Persia teaching those from a Shi'a Islamic background using language and concepts that His audience were familiar with. There wasn't too much discussion with Hindus about Hinduism. Although Baha'u'llah lived much of his life within the Ottoman Empire, its the same issue. Discussion about Hinduism with Hindus was limited if it happened all.
I wouldn’t say that after studying those scriptures in depth.
This tactic you're using - i.e. when someone else is using a word in a normal way, insist that the only way it can be properly used is a different, narrow definition you insist on - is manipulative.
I only see it regularly from 3 members here and two of them - you and @Trailblazer - are Baha'i. Is this something they teach you to do?
Nobody has taught me any ‘tactics’. My own personal investigation has led me these conclusions. I speak from my heart no intention to manipulate anyone.
Fair enough.
Then why do you do it so often?
Do you recognize how your approach in this thread has been (or at least tried to be) manipulative by trying to control how words are used?
Just to step back a bit so you know where I'm coming from: I've known exactly one Baha'i in real life, and that was in a professional setting where it wouldn't have been appropriate for me to bring up religion. My main impression of Baha'is - and your religion - is from you and the other Baha'i members here.
... and that impression hasn't been great so far, for a number of reasons. To prevent myself from writing off the religion completely, I end up having to remind myself that the people here probably can't be taken as representative of the whole religion - any Baha'i who just practices their religion and does their own thing isn't going to be loudly proclaiming their religion on RF for me to notice. I force myself to reserve judgment.
But this tactic... this "no, don't use the word religion/proselytizing/whatever in that perfectly normal way; you have to use it only in the way I say, which happens to make me look better" thing... this makes me reconsider reserving judgment.
This is a common manipulative tactic in dangerous groups ("cults", if you prefer), so even if you weren't formally taught to use it, seeing you and other Baha'i members using it way more than anyone else makes me wonder if you and they use it because you've seen it modelled in other conversations in contexts where the tactic was tolerated or even supported.
... and I'm fairly sure that the only thing common among the Baha'i members here is their religion, not even a specific congregation, so this raises a red flag for me about the religion as a whole.
In my conversations with ex-Bahai's, during my research a few years back, they are indeed taught all of these sorts of tactics. Your suspicions were spot on. It was one of many factors why people left. This argument is countered with 'ex-Baha'i's have an anti-Baha'i agenda'. In some cases that's true, but also many were just chatting with other exes for some sort of mutual support, and that wonderful feeling of 'you're not alone'. I was accused of having an anti-Baha'i agenda on this very forum. The first time I'd 'spoken' to any Baha'i was here.