HOME, AT LAST: Amy Gandomi Lewis is an Oak Parker who has been a Baha’i her whole life. She now has a local place of worship at 126 N. Oak Park Ave.
Jennifer Wolfe/Contributor
Twenty miles from the grand Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette is basement space on Oak Park Avenue, just below the Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy store. And for members of the local Baha'i community, this just-opened center is even more a blessing than the northern temple of many gardens that's been called one of the seven wonders of Illinois.
"Great joy and a feeling of accomplishment are what we are feeling right now," said Carol Yetkin, a Baha'i since 1979. "We've been systematically planning and working for this for a long time."
One of the friends asked about the “Pilgrim’s Hostel” which is mentioned by Shoghi Effendi as one of the “component parts” at the center of a Bahai community. (God Passes By, 339) Has this become redundant, now that we fly to Israel overnight rather than walking for months to perform our pilgrimage?
I think the meaning is wider than simply “pilgrim’s hostel.” This is borne out by the Persian term used:
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkar is one of the most vital institutions in the world, and it hath many subsidiary branches. Although it is a House of Worship, it is also connected with a hospital, a drug dispensary, a traveller’s hospice [musaafer-khaneh], a school for orphans, and a university for advanced studies. (Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, 99; Persian text here)
The Journal for Interreligious Dialogue has some thought provoking commentary about atheism and humanism. The first comes in an excerpt from Samir Selmanovic's book, It's Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim, Atheist, Jewish, Christian. Selmanovic argues that atheism represents a blessing:
Atheism at its best participates. It does not simply dismiss religion but engages with it constructively so that the world is better for it. It is an expression of faith in humanity, even faith in religious humanity—however misguided they might be, religious people are human too!—asking the difficult but legitimate questions that religious people dismiss, about scientific evidence ignored by religion, about historical facts forgotten by religion, and about suffering produced by religion. Atheism at its best questions religion while acknowledging the good it brings…
The second comes from an excerpt of Greg M. Epstein's book Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. Epstein argues for the relevance of humanism:
Religion is a profound source of meaning and purpose for many people—…… But a Humanistic approach to life can provide nonreligious people with a profound and sustaining sense that, though there is no single, overarching purpose given to us from on high, we can and must live our lives for a purpose well beyond ourselves…
Imagine what the Bahá’í Faith might become if its idols were stripped away. What if the burden of divine authority were cleansed from every portrait, every image, every institution, and every holy word?
Imagine there’s no Cov’nant. It isn’t hard to do.
What if the Bahá’í religion were not a cult of divine images (“manifestations”), but rather a fellowship of principles (or virtues)? What if Bahá’u'lláh had said, “never mind about me and my station; let’s get down to the business of world reform.”
I know. It’s a stretch.
If Bahá’ís were to forfeit their sense of divine entitlement, would they lose their famous, unquenchable sense of purpose?
This project is developed by a group of Muslim interfaith activists who believe in tolerance, coexistance and freedom.
Our mission is to ensure that Baha'i citizens will have equal opportunities and the ability to practice their faith freely without facing any form of discrimination.
We rely on our creativity and new media to make people in the Muslim world aware of Baha'i human rights abuses, and then together we take effective action against abuse of innocent Baha'is in our countries.
Yes, you can have your own official FBI agent card! Print them while they last!
Print this image (200 dpi), sign it with your alias of choice, slip it into your wallet, and be prepared to parade it at all Bahá’í functions. This will enable you to hoard the food and refreshments while all Bahá’ís-in-good-standing dutifully shun you!
Extract: What does surprise Hillas are the calls out of the blue, like one from a Danish woman who saw a sale item — a Taiwan-made device that opened plastic bags with an air blast.
Then there was the early-morning call last week from Israel. A representative of the Baha’i faith’s world center in Haifa spotted on Hillas’ Web site a floor mat that pulls dirt from folks’ feet.
"It’s 7 in the morning, and I’m settled down reading the Star-Telegram, and this guy wants me to send mats to Israel. 'This is strange,’ I tell myself.
"But this guy’s from a religion, so I guess he’s all right, and I e-mailed him a quote."
O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.
Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and [...]
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