I think we have offered that we see all good is from God. All of us have the potential of all good, that hand is in all of us.
Must go Lunch over
Regards Tony
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What makes religion beneficial or harmful to communities?
- Thread starter Dawnofhope
- Start date
I think we have offered that we see all good is from God. All of us have the potential of all good, that hand is in all of us.
Must go Lunch over
Regards Tony
The Hand of Divine Power is God working through us all. One doesn't need to be affiliated to any particular religion to be a recipient of Divine Grace.
I found it in this list ... Names of God
It would be easier if Baha'i just used common speaking words like 'God' instead of Baha'ispeak stuff. it would be less confusing for non-Baha'i like me. I'm sure many of the many names for Baha'u'llah and the names for God do overlap. Oh well.
It would be easier if Baha'i just used common speaking words like 'God' instead of Baha'ispeak stuff. it would be less confusing for non-Baha'i like me. I'm sure many of the many names for Baha'u'llah and the names for God do overlap. Oh well.
Interestingly this approach is derived from Islam:
In Islam there is only one God and there are 99 names of that one God (al-asmāʼ al-ḥusná lit. meaning: "The best names"), each of which evokes a distinct attribute of God.All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive god. Among the 99 names of God, the most familiar and frequent are "the Compassionate" (Ar-Raḥmān) and "the Merciful" (Ar-Raḥīm).Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures praise God's attributes and bear witness to God's unity.
God in Islam - Wikipedia
Language is important as with avoidance of jargon. My aim was to lift the tone of the thread, not to confuse.
In the Baha’i Writings it says that...
Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion.
So according to the Baha’i teachings there is no such thing as religion being both a cause of love and unity and division and war. If it is causing division and war then it simply is not the religion of God.
Religion as taught by the Prophets and Messengers only teaches love and unity but religion as taught by men and leaders has often brought destruction and death.
The two are very distinguishable if one peruses the actual scriptures as opposed to sermons and commentaries by clergy and priests. The religion of God is what is contained in the Holy Books. The religion of man are his own ideas and superstitions and political agendas and not part of the original teachings.
The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Muslim conquests were not taught by the Quran or the Bible and represent the selfish political ambitions of leaders nothing to do with Christ or Muhammad.
Baha’u’llah glorifies the Religion Of God thus:
“Religion is verily the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world and of tranquillity amongst its peoples. The weakening of the pillars of religion hath strengthened the foolish and emboldened them and made them more arrogant. Verily I say: The greater the decline of religion, the more grievous the waywardness of the ungodly. This cannot but lead in the end to chaos and confusion”
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Bahá’u’lláh
But Baha’u’llah is here speaking about the religion of God as revealed in the Holy Books not the religion that priests and clergy are teaching. There is an enormous difference. The disunity, division, hate, prejudices, war and terrorism comes from man not God and His Holy Books. The Religion Of God only brings love and unity.
Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion.
So according to the Baha’i teachings there is no such thing as religion being both a cause of love and unity and division and war. If it is causing division and war then it simply is not the religion of God.
Religion as taught by the Prophets and Messengers only teaches love and unity but religion as taught by men and leaders has often brought destruction and death.
The two are very distinguishable if one peruses the actual scriptures as opposed to sermons and commentaries by clergy and priests. The religion of God is what is contained in the Holy Books. The religion of man are his own ideas and superstitions and political agendas and not part of the original teachings.
The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Muslim conquests were not taught by the Quran or the Bible and represent the selfish political ambitions of leaders nothing to do with Christ or Muhammad.
Baha’u’llah glorifies the Religion Of God thus:
“Religion is verily the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world and of tranquillity amongst its peoples. The weakening of the pillars of religion hath strengthened the foolish and emboldened them and made them more arrogant. Verily I say: The greater the decline of religion, the more grievous the waywardness of the ungodly. This cannot but lead in the end to chaos and confusion”
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Bahá’u’lláh
But Baha’u’llah is here speaking about the religion of God as revealed in the Holy Books not the religion that priests and clergy are teaching. There is an enormous difference. The disunity, division, hate, prejudices, war and terrorism comes from man not God and His Holy Books. The Religion Of God only brings love and unity.
joe lewis
New Member
Religion is a two-edged sword. How, when and by whom it's wielded - and in which battles - determines its impact on humanity, from individually to globally. I think the challenge here is to take what's spiritually helpful from religion and recognize the rest for what it is: a set of rituals and dogmas that reflect more the culture, biases and agendas of its creators than some absolute, cosmic truth. Religion attempts to reduce God to something that our limited minds can conceptualize, and that our hearts will be comforted by. It personifies God and give him\her\them\it human traits: the desire for obedience, praise, worship, love, faithfulness and so on, when in reality we haven't the foggiest notion of what any God(s) that created the entire Universe is\are actually like.
Recognizing the limitations and contradictions of religion, empowers us to seek for spiritual truths that come from within, instead of regurgitating the truths, half-truths and downright lies of others, writing, preaching and speaking to us from without. Through concentration, meditation and contemplation we can tread a journey towards Divinity (if Divinity exists) that is uniquely ours - and wield the results in ways that empower not just ourselves but others. If, at the end of the day, our religious practice hasn't resulted in us making a positive contribution to the lives of others, then it has failed us... or we have failed to live up to it's highest ideals. For example, "Love ye one another" is the Second GREAT Commandment of Christianity. If we were to do ONLY that, wouldn't the world be radically spiritually transformed?
The problem is that such love cannot be commanded or created on-demand. It can only come from a spiritual connection with the world, that is not easy to come by. We can memorize all the scriptures, sing the hymns, pay the tithes and offerings, get baptized... do all that religion asks of us, but that doesn't mean that the suffering of another human being thousands of miles away - or even next door, will be felt as if we loved them as ourselves.
In the Bible, it says "Be still and know that I am God' It doesn't say to go to church or follow religious practices. It says "be still". What would that "stillness" look like? How can we create it within ourselves? In another part of the Bible, God tells Joshua to " Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Doesn't this also suggest that there is something we need to do within ourselves.. something that might start with religion (reading the Book of Law) but must lead to a deeper process (meditating on the book of law).
I think religion works best for us, when we see it as a signpost pointing towards spiritual truths, instead of the end of the journey.
Shad
Veteran Member
The difference is if the community (members of) are participating due to their free will or if the community (members of) are being imposed upon by others be it a majority of the community or state.
CG Didymus
Veteran Member
In the Bible, there is only one true religion from God and many religions that follow false gods. Israel followed the true God and was ordered by their God to war against those other religions, and to kill the prophets of those other religions.
2 Kings 10:18-23 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal… as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword...
There are often places where children cannot get a proper education, and it just so happens that when nobody is interested in helping them a religion steps in.
Consider children who do get proper education. They get additional experiences and education for free if they go to a Sunday school class or other religious class. Those additional experiences often get discounted, but they accumulate week after week. The more varied an environment, the more a child's brain gets stimulated. Its good for them to go different situations and meet different people. I remember all of my Sunday school teachers and many of the experiences I had in Sunday school, and most likely the alternative would have been to watch more television.
One primary benefit of religion is that it comes in the form of education: cultural, often literary, moral and social practice.
Bethsheba Ashe
Member
Generally, religions reflect the culture and values of the community they emerged from. They can become toxic when they are transplanted. For instance, Christianity in Africa magnifies the superstitious side of things, and causes the people to go hunting down witches and subjecting children to physical abuse in order to exorcise demons or Satan. Matters that would have been purvey of women are taken away and harshly governed by men who don't have a proper understanding of women's business. So generally watching the spread of Christianity in Africa is like watching a disease affect a host without immunity. Religions are best kept home grown and serving the local population. Personally, I think the forcible conversion of the United Kingdom to Christianity was wrong and very damaging to our culture; especially in the North where we already had Laws and the Moot.
Interesting perspective. I can’t deny there were many forced conversions to Christianity, nor the damage done to indigenous cultures. Same deal with Islam. Still, the Gospels and Quran both had deep and lasting influences on both the moral and intellectual development of those who studied and followed their Teachings. Even for one who believes in Moses but neither Christ nor Muhammad, the Torah was introduced.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Why bring God/Soul, prophets/messengers/sons/manifestations/mahdis in the equation? Just ask people to be humane. If that was the case, even atheists would join you happily. You put conditions for being humane - Must accept One God, must accept Bahaullah or ... or ... or ... That is unfortunate.
Moses and Mohammad were smarter. They said do not kill the virgins. That is God's gift to you - 'Maal-e-Ghanimat'.
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Bethsheba Ashe
Member
Without them, there would have been the same moral and intellectual development in those indigenous cultures but it would have been a culturally appropriate development. Now we just have this monoculture and it breeds a great deal of madness.
We can't change the past. We live in an era now where we have choices. We no longer have to follow the religion of our ancestors or any religion at all. That is a good thing and the way ot should be. Even Muhammad said "Let there be no compulsion in religion". If an indigineous religion or no religion works best, then follow that path.
The Baha'i Faith teaches religion should be like a healing medicine that promotes love and unity (being humane). If religion doesn't achieve that purpose or causes hatred and disunity then that religion is no religion at all and best to be without it.
What works for one person may not work for another. It would be as much a mistake to force atheism on a theist, as to force theism on an atheist. The first principles for a Baha’i are freedom of religion along with unity in diversity.
Shantanu
Well-Known Member
The concept followed of unity in diversity is inherently flawed on account of the fact that some religions preach violence to attain certain ends (eg Islam) whilst others preach total non-violence (Buddhism).
Most Muslims are not violent, whereas some Buddhists certainly are. Perhaps the violent Buddhists and Muslims have a more urgent need for a better religious path than the peaceful Buddhists and Muslims.
Shantanu
Well-Known Member
That is not the only reason that I consider 'unity in diversity' as a highly flawed Baha'i' concept: the fact that some religions are atheistic whilst others are theistic imposes different outlooks and practices upon the adherents that are wholly incompatible with each other.