The Bahá'í Faith: Teachings, History, and Practices

[Pancho Frijoles]

This means that no particular religion holds official status or influence over the state, and individuals are free to practice or not practice any religion without interference.

If Christians and Bahá’ís can practice their religion without interference in the secular society we live, and their religions were as incompatible as matter vs antimatter… then it would be pretty obvious that they cannot work, Study or play together… let alone intermarry.

A totalitarian society presses people to look as uniform as possible: people conceal their differences in order to survive.
The more free and democratic society gets, though, diversity can get expressed and differences become evident.

For example, in Iran we couldn’t test the thesis that Christians and Bahá’ís can work together to make a better Iranian society. But in Germany or the US we can test it… and the result of the test is positive.
So, there are two possible explanations of this apparent harmony:

1. Religious beliefs held by Christians and Bahá’ís don’t matter in how they interact with each other.
2. Religious beliefs matter in how they interact, but the interaction results good because those beliefs are far from being as incompatible as matter vs antimatter .

 

[synergy]

If Christians and Bahá’ís can practice their religion without interference in the secular society we live, and their religions were as incompatible as matter vs antimatter… then it would be pretty obvious that they cannot work, Study or play together… let alone intermarry.

A totalitarian society presses people to look as uniform as possible: people conceal their differences in order to survive.
The more free and democratic society gets, though, diversity can get expressed and differences become evident.

For example, in Iran we couldn’t test the thesis that Christians and Bahá’ís can work together to make a better Iranian society. But in Germany or the US we can test it… and the result of the test is positive.
So, there are two possible explanations of this apparent harmony:

1. Religious beliefs held by Christians and Bahá’ís don’t matter in how they interact with each other.
2. Religious beliefs matter in how they interact, but the interaction results good because those beliefs are far from being as incompatible as matter vs antimatter .

Does Mexico practice separation of Church and State? USA does practice that.

The Church is separate from State in this matter:
Everyone can practice their own religion in their Church without any outside interference. The USA had no choice in this matter if it was to exist in unity because it was founded by multiple different competing Christian Denominations.

The State is separate from Church in this matter: Everyone can work and socialize with each other without any mention of religion. That is your Option #1. They can engage in religion but only if they both consent and it's done in a respectful manner. This Forum is a perfect example of that.

As for intermarriages, there are many couples who have no religious interest whatsoever. That happens alot in the USA and Europe where religion is declining rapidly in popularity.

 

[mikesw]

Does Mexico practice separation of Church and State? USA does practice that.

The Church is separate from State in this matter:
Everyone can practice their own religion in their Church without any outside interference. The USA had no choice in this matter if it was to exist in unity because it was founded by multiple different competing Christian Denominations.

The State is separate from Church in this matter: Everyone can work and socialize with each other without any mention of religion. That is your Option #1. They can engage in religion but only if they both consent and it's done in a respectful manner. This Forum is a perfect example of that.

As for intermarriages, there are many couples who have no religious interest whatsoever. That happens alot in the USA and Europe where religion is declining rapidly in popularity.

the encouragement of intermarriages (of religious views) contributes to the decrease of adherence to Christianity or religion. The offspring of such marriages often are not committed to any religion due to the confusion of the parent's different beliefs. This effect is added to the secularization of the schools which the creates anti-Christian sentiments in the teachings. The Baha'i faith consequently endorses that deterioriation, by its beliefs and by adding another religion into the mix, especially a religion of high hopes to unify false religions under its umbrella.

 

[Johann]

the encouragement of intermarriages (of religious views) contributes to the decrease of adherence to Christianity or religion. The offspring of such marriages often are not committed to any religion due to the confusion of the parent's different beliefs. This effect is added to the secularization of the schools which the creates anti-Christian sentiments in the teachings. The Baha'i faith consequently endorses that deterioriation, by its beliefs and by adding another religion into the mix, especially a religion of high hopes to unify false religions under its umbrella.

Spot on.

J.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Does Mexico practice separation of Church and State? USA does practice that.

The Church is separate from State in this matter:
Everyone can practice their own religion in their Church without any outside interference. The USA had no choice in this matter if it was to exist in unity because it was founded by multiple different competing Christian Denominations.

The State is separate from Church in this matter: Everyone can work and socialize with each other without any mention of religion. That is your Option #1. They can engage in religion but only if they both consent and it's done in a respectful manner. This Forum is a perfect example of that.

As for intermarriages, there are many couples who have no religious interest whatsoever. That happens alot in the USA and Europe where religion is declining rapidly in popularity.

I understand. In Mexico the State is totally secular.
If the religious beliefs of Christians and Bahá’ís were as incompatible as matter vs antimatter it would be evident in a lifestlye which are as incompatible as mater vs anti matter …. Particularly in secular societies, in which we are free to express in actions what we belief.

 

[mikesw]

Those of the Baha'i faith do not believe that Satan, the one who has deceived them, exists.

Baha’is do not believe Satan is an actual being and reject the idea of evil as an active force. They do not believe in a literal heaven or hell, seeing those statements in the Bible and Qur’an as allegorical or adapted to an earlier, less-developed age. Instead, they believe people’s souls will exist either closer to or further from God depending on their deeds in this present life. They teach the harmony of religion and science. Any differences, they say, eventually will be resolved as humans gain further knowledge.

Garry R. Morgan, Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2012), 92.

Wow. This shows levels of reconciliation with their concept of a god. so you too can maybe receive partial grace if you think you have reconciled yourself on your own terms with that god.
Someone may think he is intelligent by denying Satan's existence. That view only makes a person more susceptible to deception. This is not to say that Satan goes up to each person to individual deceive each person. The impression from scripture is that Satan tries to act strategically in this deceit. It is those religions within the Levant that were most geared to the destruction of God's chosen people of that era.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

O Son of Spirit!​

My claim on thee is great, it cannot be forgotten. ​

My grace to thee is plenteous, it cannot be veiled. ​

My love has made in thee its home, it cannot be concealed. ​

My light is manifest to thee, it cannot be obscured.​

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words)​

Who can resist God's love? Who can stop his hand or silence his call?
Praise to God, the Maker, the Sustainer, the Sower and the Reaper.
Praise be to Him in this Forum, in our daily lives, everywhere and everytime!

 

[mikesw]

O Son of Spirit!​

My claim on thee is great, it cannot be forgotten. ​

My grace to thee is plenteous, it cannot be veiled. ​

My love has made in thee its home, it cannot be concealed. ​

My light is manifest to thee, it cannot be obscured.​

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words)​

Who can resist God's love? Who can stop his hand or silence his call?
Praise to God, the Maker, the Sustainer, the Sower and the Reaper.
Praise be to Him in this Forum, in our daily lives, everywhere and everytime!

Maybe I asked this before...
Why was there a need for a new religion if all the other ones (including those involving sacrifices of babies) were sufficient through repentance for immoral acts in the goal of reconciliation with the sole true God (which is really known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)?
It should have just been sufficient to create a billboard campaign saying "follow the god of your choice."

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

O Lord! Unite and bind together the hearts, join in accord all the souls,
and exhilarate the spirits through the signs of Thy sanctity and oneness.
O Lord! Make these faces radiant through the light of Thy oneness.
Strengthen the loins of Thy servants in the service of Thy kingdom.

“O Lord, Thou possessor of infinite mercy!
O Lord of forgiveness and pardon!
Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings,
and cause us to turn to the kingdom of Thy clemency,
invoking the kingdom of might and power,
humble at Thy shrine and submissive before the glory of Thine evidences.

O Lord God! Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden,
united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love.
O Lord! Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness,
and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory,
as perfect fruits growing upon Thy tree of life.

Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Self-Subsistent,
the Giver, the Forgiving, the Pardoner,
the Omniscient, the One Creator.”

(Abdu’l Bahá)