If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Iran is Exhibit #1 for the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists gaining control of government. Iranian repression is increasing and the space available to regime opponents is diminishing.
On April 21, 1863, as He was about to be exiled from Baghdad to Constantinople, Baha'u'llah stayed for 12 days in a garden in Baghdad, and it was here that He let members of the Babi community gathered know that He was the promised one they were expecting.
Three-year-old Artin Rahimian stands in line to visit his mother in Iran's Evin prison. It's been two years since Faran Hessami and her husband, Kamran Rahimian, were arrested for their role as educators for the Baha'i faith community, Iran's largest religious minority.
Nowruz is the only holiday celebrated by all Persians, of every religious background, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Baha'i or of no religion. For a sense of this, multiply the food, festivity, family and tradition of Thanksgiving times 1,000.
Sometimes the hours tick away quite slowly and you find yourself obsessively checking the clock, almost willing it to hit 6 p.m., when you can gorge on smoothies and quesadillas. "The Fast" in the Baha'i Faith is certainly misnamed. It should be called "The Slow" for the way time plods throughout the day.
What if we turned our gaze to see men and boys as potential champions of the rights of women -- allies in the building of a just, peaceful and tolerant society? We would have reclaimed a truth that a few individuals tried to steal away.
Since everything else -- our economies, our communications, our single planetary environment -- succumbs more completely to globalization every day, shouldn't we eventually bring about a complete globalization of our structures of governance as well?
What I've witnessed following this recent tragedy convinces me that the social and spiritual ills encircling our world can be solved through concerted efforts at dialogue, inclusion and compassion. Try love, not fear, not cursing the darkness -- or shooting at it.
The world map had no countries identified on it, but did have whimsical animals and people. What's the good of a map without, at minimum, national boundaries?
We don't need to wait for religious leaders to take the initiative; we can all play our part to build bridges among the world's religions.
When several faith groups made visits to Congress last spring under the auspices of Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, the power of diverse faiths speaking with one voice on this issue became clear for me.
On July 9 this year, some 5 million members of the Baha'i community around the world will commemorate the Bab's last earthly moments with programs of prayers and readings.
It can come as a shock to learn that the youngest of the world religions, the Bahá'í Faith, founded in 1844, holds the agreement of science and religion as a core principle. And Bahá'ís don't see the agreement of science and religion as a theological debate but a plan of action.
On the night of May 22 this year, Baha'is around the world will hold celebrations to mark the 168th anniversary of that first evening in Shiraz when their Faith began.
Despite sincere efforts by some in Congress, that body as a whole has failed meaningfully to act on climate change. But the point was not so much to condemn the inaction but to urge Congress to work rapidly to raise its grade.
One hundred years ago the "unsinkable" Titanic sank into the North Atlantic. The tragedy has made for some epic storytelling. One of the most extraordinary stories is that of a 68-year-old Persian who wasn't, it turns out, actually on the ill-fated vessel, but was supposed to be.
