#Baha'i history

[swiftsnowmane]

The Baháʼí Faith is a world religion that was founded in the 19th century Middle East. Its founders and the majority of its early followers were of Iranian heritage, and it is widely regarded as the second-largest religion in Iran after Islam. Though most Baháʼís in Iran are of a Muslim background, the 19th century conversions of sizeable numbers of individuals from Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the country are also well documented.

The early history of the Baháʼí Faith in Iran covers the lives of these founders, their families, and their earliest prominent followers known by honorific designations such as the Letters of the Living and the Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh.

Since its inception the Baháʼí Faith has promoted democratically elected councils; the promotion of modern education as a priority within families (with emphasis on female education) and specific encouragement of women's equality with men. Iranian Baháʼís have created schools, agricultural cooperatives, and medical clinics across the country for themselves and others. Iran is also where the greatest persecution of Baháʼís has taken place—including the denial of education, arbitrary arrest, and killing. Iran's long history of state-sponsored persecution against Bábís and Baháʼís is well documented. The website "Archives of Baháʼí Persecution in Iran" has compiled thousands of documents, reports, testimonials, photos, and videos revealing proof of efforts to suppress and eliminate Baháʼís, particularly since the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Gathering of youngsters on 13 August 1933 at Tehran's Tarbiyat Baháʼí school for girls. At least 47 such Baháʼí-operated schools were forcibly closed under the Pahlavi government in 1934.

Ten Bahá'í women imprisoned, tortured, and hanged for teaching children in Shiraz, Iran in 1983.

[noelcollection]

While working through our backlog of architectural books, we stumbled upon this intriguing piece of the history of the Baha’i Faith. The Baha’i Faith religion, originating in Iran in the nineteenth century, teaches the unified purpose of the major world religions. This 1917 publication details plans to construct the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (Baha’i house of worship) in the United States of America.

Bookplate of Charles Mason Remey

Charles Mason Remey (1874-1974) was an American architect who grew up in the Midwest and trained at Cornell and the École des Beaux-Arts. While studying in Paris, he learned about the Baha'i Faith from May Maxwell and became an adherent of the faith in 1899. 

When Charles Mason Remey was making plans to construct the first American Baha’i temple, he didn’t have much in the way of precedent to guide him. At the time of publication in 1917, the first and only other temple in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, was still two years away from completion. The Baha’i faithful had already settled on the location of the American temple in Wilmette, Illinois; in 1912, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá himself laid the cornerstone. 

Front cover design

Remey put forth a variety of design styles for the house of worship, but one element–the repetition of the number nine–remained consistent. Why the number nine? In the Abjad numerical system in which Arabic letters correspond to numeric values, the letters in the word “baha” add up to nine. The founder of the Baha’i Faith, Ḥusayn-ʻAlí, took on the Arabic title “Baha” which translates to “glory” in English. Therefore, the number nine holds a sacred significance for members of the Baha’i Faith. 

Charles Mason Remey even went so far as to propose nine different architectural styles for the American temple: Classical Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Persian, Indian, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Modern.  

Style: Classical Roman

Style: Byzantine

Style: Arabian

Style: Persian

Style: Indian

Style: Romanesque

Style: Gothic

Style: Renaissance

Style: Modern

In the end, Baha’i leaders went with the design of French-Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois; the Wilmette, IL, Mashriqu'l-Adhkár was completed in 1953 and still stands today. Remey did go on to build Baha’i temples in Kampala, Uganda, and Sydney, Australia, as well as the Baha’i International Archives building in Haifa, Israel. In 1960, after proclaiming himself the Guardian or the head of the Baha’i governing body, Remey was excommunicated and led a splinter group of followers for the remainder of his life.

Images from:

Remey, Charles Mason. Mashrak-el-Azkar: Descriptive of the Bahai Temple and Illustrative of an Exhibition of Preliminary Designs for the first Mashrak-el-Azkar to be built in America. Chicago: Bahai Publishing Society, 1917. Catalog record: http://bit.ly/3BfICj9

[former-leftist-jew]

Nope. Try again.

Also, if we're keeping score:

Bonus points:

You don't support Arabs, you just hate Jews. That's also unfair.

You don't support Israel, you just hate Arabs. That's also unfair.

[fromchaostocosmos]

In the war between Israel and Hamas, there have been far too many casualties­—thousands of innocent civilians have died, primarily in Gaza. But this war has another less visible casualty: the hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants to Israel from the Middle East and North Africa known as Mizrahi, whose history is being erased from the popular narrative about Israel. My community is among them.

When angry protesters hurl charges of apartheid and colonialism at Israel, they are, knowingly or not, repudiating the truth about Israel's origin and the vast racial and ethnic diversity of its nation.

I was born and raised in Iran in a family of Jewish educators. I came of age during the tumultuous years of the Iranian revolution, just as Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power in 1979, and soon thereafter, annihilated his opposition­—feminists, leftists, even the Islamic Marxists who had long revered him as their spiritual leader. Until 1979, if anyone had told my observant Jewish family that we would someday leave Iran, we would have laughed. In fact, at our Passover seders, the words "next year in Jerusalem," were always followed by chuckles and quips, "oh, yeah, sure, Watch me pack!" all underlining our collective belief that we were exactly where we intended to remain. We loved Israel, but Israel was a Nirvana­—a place we revered but never expected to reach.

The 30 years preceding the Islamic revolution had led the Jewish community to believe that the dark days of bigotry were behind them. And for good reason! When my father was a schoolboy in the late 1930s, he was not allowed to attend school on rainy days. In the highly conservative town where he grew up, in Khonsar, his Shiite neighbors considered Jews "unclean," or Najes. They barred them, among other things, from leaving their homes on rainy days, lest the rainwater splashed off the bodies of the Jews and onto the Muslim passersby, thus making them "unclean," too. Yet, that same boy grew up, left the insular town, attended college in Tehran, earned a master's degree, and served in the royal army as a second lieutenant. (To his last day, my father's photo in military uniform was among his most prized possessions.) After service, he became the principal of a school, purchased a home in what was then a relatively upscale neighborhood of Tehran. The distance between my father's childhood and adulthood far surpassed two decades. It was the distance between two eras­—between incivility and civility, bigotry and tolerance.

Yet, as if on cue, the demon of antisemitism was unleashed again. The 1979 Islamic revolution summoned all the prejudices my father thought had been irretrievably buried. One day, on the wall across our home, graffiti appeared, "Jews gets lost!" Soon thereafter, the residence and fabric store my aunt and her extended family owned in my father's childhood town were set on fire after a mob of protesters looted it. Within days, she and her family, whose entire life's savings had burned in that fire, left for Israel. As young as I was, I could see that the regime was indiscriminately brutal to all those it deemed a threat to its reign, especially secular Muslims. But the new laws were specifically designed so that non-Muslims, and women, all but became second-class citizens. Members of religious minorities, especially the Baha'i, could no longer eye top jobs in academia, government, the military, etc. Restaurateurs had to display signs in their windows making clear that "the establishment was operated by a non-Muslim." In a court of law, members of religious minorities could offer testimony in criminal trials, but theirs would only count as half that of a Muslim witness. Jews were once again reduced to Dhimmis­—tax-paying citizens who were allowed to live, but not thrive. Then came a handful of executions of prominent Jewish leaders in the early months after the revolution, which sent shockwaves through the community. Jewish schools were allowed to operate, but under the headmastership of Muslims who were officially appointed.

Within a few years after the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini to power, the Jewish population of Iran, which once stood at 100,000, shrank to a fraction of its size. Today, of the ancient community whose presence in Iran predates that of Muslims, only 8,000 remain. For centuries, Iran has been home to the most sacred Jewish sites in the Middle East outside of Israel. But those monuments have either fallen into disrepair or are targets of regular attacks by antisemitic mobs. Only last week, the tomb of Esther and Mordecai­—the memorial to the heroine and hero from the Book of Esther who saved the Jews from being massacred in ancient Persia, was set on fire.

How is it that the 90,000-plus who left Iran, many for Israel, are now deemed as occupiers? How do Iranian refugees fleeing persecution become "colonizers" upon arrival in Israel? These families, my aunt among them, were not emissaries of any standing empire, nor were they returning to a place where they had no history. For them, Israel was not a home away from their real homeland. It was their only homeland. The vitriolic slogan that appeared across my home in 1979 demanded that we "get lost!" In 2024, once again, the same Jews are being called upon to leave, this time Israel. Where, then, are Jews allowed to live?

Iranian Jews were not alone. Jews from Iraq, especially in the aftermath of the 1941 pogrom called Farhood, similarly fled their homeland. So did the Jews of Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, etc. All, destitute and dejected, they took refuge in Israel. Today, they make up nearly 50 percent of Israel's population. To call such a nation colonial GRAVELY misrepresents the facts about Jews and Israel.

In his timeless essay, Looking Back on the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell said that in the Spain of 1937, he "saw history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various 'party lines.'" With the alarming rise of antisemitism around the world, and in light of the bloody attacks on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, the greatest massacre of Jews since World War II, 2024 bears an uncanny resemblance to Orwell's 1937. But perhaps in no way more ominously than the way truth has been upended to serve an ideological narrative­—one in which Jews, who have lived uninterruptedly in that land for more than two millennia, are cast as white non-indigenous interlopers, with no roots in what has always been their ancient homeland.

A public scholar at the Moynihan Center (CCNY), Roya Hakakian is the author of several books including, Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (Crown, 2005).

[dragoneyes618]

Until recently, Israelis could not travel to a single neighboring country, though Beirut, Damascus, Amman, and Cairo are all less than a day's drive from Israel. Peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan have not changed this much, though many curious Israelis have now visited these countries. In any event, this slight opening has not dampened the urge to break out of straitjacket that has been a part of Israel's modern history from the beginning - from before the beginning.

Long before there was a State of Israel, there was already isolation. An early economic boycott can be traced back to 1891, when local Arabs asked Palestine's Ottoman rulers to block Jewish immigration and land sales. In 1922, the Fifth Palestine Arab Congress called for the boycott of all Jewish businesses.

A longer official boycott by the twenty-two-nation Arab League, which banned the purchase of "products of Jewish industry in Palestine," was launched in 1943, five years before Israel's founding. This ban extended to foreign companies from any country that bought from or sold to Israel (the "secondary" boycott) and even to companies that traded with these blacklisted companies (the "tertiary" boycott). Almost all the major Japanese and Korean car manufacturers - including Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and Mitsubishi - complied with the secondary boycott, and their products could not be found on Israeli roads. A notable exception was Subaru, which for a long time had the Israeli market nearly to itself but was barred from selling in the Arab world.

Every government of the Arab League established an official Office of the Boycott, which enforced the primary boycott, monitored the behavior of secondary and tertiary targets, and identified new prospects According to Christopher Joyner of George Washington University, "Of all the contemporary boycotts, the League of Arab States' boycott against Israel is, ideologically, the most virulent; organizationally, the most sophisticated; political, the most protracted; and legally, the most polemical.."

The boycott has at times taken on unusual targets. In 1974, the Arab League blacklisted the entire Baha'i faith because the Baha'i temple in Haifa is a successful tourist attraction that has created revenue for Israel. Lebanon forbade the showing of the Walt Disney production Sleeping Beauty because the horse in the film bears the Hebrew name Samson.

- Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, pages 59-61

[pelagae]

Ancient Alien Theory is like some weird almost cult for atheists who can't let go of the culture of religion.

I watch the show for funsies. Usually when I'm high. It's entertaining in a "could it be? Ancient Astronaut Theorists say..... ~~a ReSoUnDiNg YeS~~!" 🥴 sort of way. I think it's fun to see stuff about ancient history, even if they do make it about aliens. It's like a sort of alternate timeline fantasy along with neat history for me. It's fun to see the commonalities in ancient cultures because, to me, it speaks to our connections and similarities as humans, the stories we tell covering such shared themes. Just watched one that talked about about mandalas and the images created by sound waves, which was just cool from a science-culture overlap perspective. And then the other stuff about modern UFO sightings and things just being weird news, conspiracy theory shenanigans.

But I was watching it the other day, and I thought, "This is Baha'i for atheists." Not that I'm all that familiar or saying it correlates with actual Baha'i philosophy, just in the way that Ancient Alien Theory is rooted in concepts and stories from religions and cultures all over the world, especially the Abrahamics, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism.

Whether or not you're thinking of God or aliens, the idea that someone/thing out there purposely manipulated our planet and our evolution to create the human race, that human civilization has been influenced by some extraterrestrial force bringing knowledge and technology, that someday these beings will (or already have) return for some greater purpose or next step, yada yada yada... all just sounds like Christians and similar who maybe have given up the spiritual belief but still want those concepts to exist. At times, it really just comes across as a scientific explanation for religious creation stories. Like, how is "God put water on the Earth" so different from "Water came from asteroids. But could it be possible that an extraterrestrial civilization sent water-bearing asteroids... on purpose? Ancient Astronaut Theorists say yes"? Just taking science and history and making it fit the theory, exactly like a religion would. Even one of their main people, Eric Von Danikan, is super Christian and defends his faith in God despite writing the book on how angels are aliens and Jesus was half alien. It's religion with a sciencey mask on.

I think that if people 5,000 years ago were cutting stone with greater precision than we were doing 100 years ago, that's pretty neat. Saying they were able to do it because of aliens is not only a discredit to those people, but it reveals the religious mentality or external locus of control in the otherwise atheist-identifying proponents of the theory.

[theupfish]

The Baha'i faith teaches unity of all the world's religions

Founded in 19th Century Iran, the Baha'i faith built off of the previous three Abrahamic religions. The Baha'i believe that all of the world's major religions have been revealed by the same God.

From Wikipedia's article on the Baha'i faith:

According to Baháʼí teachings, religion is revealed in an orderly and progressive way by a single God through Manifestations of God, who are the founders of major world religions throughout human history; Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad are cited as the most recent of these Manifestations of God before the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh.

Despite their religion's inclusive and progressive nature, the Baha'i people have faced ongoing persecution, particularly in their home nation under the Islamic Republic of Iran. But despite attempts to suppress it, the Baha'i faith is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, as well as one of the most widespread around the globe.

The Baha'i people have an elected leadership for their entire religion, comparable to the Vatican for Catholicism. It's called the Universal House of Justice, and is located in Haifa, Israel; also in Haifa are the Shrine of the Báb, and its famous gardens, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa.

The main symbol of the Baha'i faith is the nine-point star. Others include the five-point star, the Greatest Name, and the Ringstone Symbol. (Link)

[amagi2000]

Scholar Drops Truth Bomb on Ignorant, Protesting Students

Dr. Denis MacEoin was a British academic, scholar and writer with a focus on Persian, Arabic, and Islamic studies. He was an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and was a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

The following is an open letter of rebuttal that he wrote to The Edinburgh Student's Association who voted to boycott Israel based on a claim that  Israel is under an apartheid regime.

TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association.

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain 's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University. Naturally, I am the author of several books and hundreds of articles in this field. I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs and that, for that reason, I am shocked and disheartened by the EUSA motion and vote.

I am shocked for a simple reason: there is not and has never been a system of apartheid in Israel.

That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality by any Edinburgh student, should he or she choose to visit Israel to see for themselves. Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that those members of EUSA who voted for this motion are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, and that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I'm not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel. I'm speaking of a hatred that permits itself no boundaries in the lies and myths it pours out. Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a "Nazi" state. In what sense is this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The einzatsgruppen? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws? The Final Solution? None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel, precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for.

It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When? No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt it deserves. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is as basic a way to subvert historical fact as anything I can think of. 

Likewise apartheid. For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is.

That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country's 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

In Iran, the Bahai's (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren't your members boycotting Iran ? Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa . They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews - something no blacks were able to do in South Africa.

Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews and Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank.  On the same wards, in the same operating theatres.

In Israel , women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid.

Gay men and women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays often escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel and say nothing about countries like Iran , where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it's better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?

University is supposed to be about learning to use your brain, to think rationally, to examine evidence, to reach conclusions based on solid evidence, to compare sources, to weigh up one view against one or more others. If the best Edinburgh can now produce are students who have no idea how to do any of these things, then the future is bleak.

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel. I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations. We are going through the biggest upheaval in the Middle East since the 7th and 8th centuries, and it's clear that Arabs and Iranians are rebelling against terrifying regimes that fight back by killing their own citizens.

Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations and call for no boycotts against Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran. They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world's freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the Middle East that gives refuge to gay men and women, the only country in the Middle East that protects the Bahai's.... Need I go on?

The imbalance is perceptible, and it sheds no credit on anyone who voted for this boycott. I ask you to show some common sense. Get information from the Israeli embassy. Ask for some speakers. Listen to more than one side.

Do not make your minds up until you have given a fair hearing to both parties. You have a duty to your students, and that is to protect them from one-sided argument.

They are not at university to be propagandized. And they are certainly not there to be tricked into anti-Semitism by punishing one country among all the countries of the world, which happens to be the only Jewish state. If there had been a single Jewish state in the 1930's (which, sadly, there was not), don't you think Adolf Hitler would have decided to boycott it?

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more. You have a chance to avert a very great evil, simply by using reason and a sense of fair play. Please tell me that this makes sense. I have given you some of the evidence.

It's up to you to find out more.

Yours sincerely,

Denis MacEoin

[jewishbarbies]

idk about baldoni being jewish, but he is a member of the baha'i faith which has a history of homophobia (rain wilson is another famous person who aligns with the baha'i faith)

he’s ethnically jewish. i haven’t seen anything homophobic from him personally, and in fact what he talks about on his podcast sounds pretty progressive, so we should confirm that before getting ahead of ourselves. last i heard, rainn wilson was talking about an ‘anti christian slant in Hollywood’ and sounded personally affected by it so idk how into that faith he is.

[penguicorns-are-cool]

Every time I see something about how it's so horrible that people are just going about their lives when a genocide is happening in this day and age I just roll my eyes and scroll cause like

China is on stage 9 of genocide against Uyghur Muslims

Azerbaijan is on stages 8,9, and 10 of genocide against Armenians

Iran is on stage 8 of genocide against Sunni, Baha'i, LGBT+, Kurdish, and more

Rwanda is on stages 3,6 and 10 of genocide against the Tutsi people

the genocide in Yemen against Yemenis led by Saudi Arabia and backed by Iran and the UAE is on stages 9 and 10

Turkey is on stages 5,6, and 9 in a genocide against the Kurdish

Syria is on stage 9 in a genocide against the Kurdish

Egypt is on stage 8 of genocide against Coptic Christains

Canada is on stage 10 of genocide against Indigenous People

Israel is on stages 5,6, and 8 of genocide against Palestinians

It's great that y'all want to speak up about genocide happening, but stop acting like you haven't been ignoring so many well-documented genocides happening right now or in recent history cause this isn't even half of it.

also, all of this information is from Genocide Watch which seems to have last done all their updated reports in 2021 so some of this may have changed since then

[tarajabbari]

Watch the trailer for Who was she? Season 3!

This podcast is where your host, Tara Jabbari shares the stories of women throughout Baha'i history.

This season is about Hazel Scott, a talented musician and activist.

New episodes will start on August 1st wherever you listen to podcasts like Spotify, Apple, Google, Acast, and others.

[swiftsnowmane]

Archives of Bahá’í Persecution in Iran

This Archive, which records the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, has been established by the Bahá’í International Community in response to rising interest both internationally and within Iran to understand the depth and breadth of this persecution. The documents shed light on the decades-long, systematic, and ongoing persecution of the Baha’is, instigated by the clergy and by the government.

"The website, available in both English and Persian....covers a wide range of incidents including systematic discrimination, arrests and imprisonments, physical violence and executions, economic oppression and deprivation, exclusion from education, acts of property destruction and cemetery desecration, and propaganda and incitement to hatred.

This unique collection now contains more than 10,000 documents, images, and audio and video records of instances of persecution in Iran dating back as far as 1848, although the great majority of cases represented in the archive relate to the most recent wave of persecutions that has occurred since 1979. These records, which include copies of government and judicial documents, clerical fatwas, newspaper articles, and other accounts, are presented not only as images of original documents but, importantly, have also been transcribed and made available in text format in Persian and with English translations. The monumental work undertaken to date means that this site has now developed into a resource of unparalleled significance, not only for historians, researchers, film-makers, journalists, and human rights advocates, but also for individuals who may wish to learn about and remember the sacrifices made by their own friends and family members.

The Universal House of Justice has asked us to formally bring the existence of this website to your attention as a resource to assist the worldwide Bahá’í community in defending the rights of the Bahá’ís in Iran and to support a more effective communication of the scope and severity of the persecution to governments, civil society, and the media.

The upsurge in the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran in recent months has given rise to countless expressions of concern and support from leaders of thought, politicians, human rights advocates, and many others. The current social turmoil enveloping Iran has also demonstrated that the oppression which has been suffered by the Bahá’ís for generations is now being visited upon a broad cross section of the Iranian people, with the result that the example of constructive resilience as well as patience which the Bahá’ís have demonstrated throughout the many decades of persecution is becoming increasingly recognized and examined."

—The Universal House of Justice, Department of the Secretariat

The Bahá’í Faith was born in 19th century Persia with the appearance of two prophetic figures—the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The Báb’s mission was to prepare the way for the coming of a Promised One foretold in all the world’s religions.  Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be that Promised One with a divine mission to usher in a new stage of humanity’s unity as a single entity living in a common homeland.  His teachings outlined a framework for the emergence of a global civilization that would advance both the spiritual and material dimensions of life.  Among those teachings are the oneness of the entire human race; the independent search after truth; the abolition of all forms of prejudice; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; and the equality of men and women.  For more information about the Bahá’í Faith visit the official website.  

[infiniteglitterfall]

First: Shame on both your heads for posting this on October 7 and tagging it that way.

As October 7 unfolded one year ago, I watched along with the rest of the world, devastated, as the terrorist cult that had brutally ruled my home for 17 years unleashed its savagery on Israel. Hamas claimed the atrocities of October 7 were part of their "resistance" against Israeli occupation and aggression. One year later, I hope it is clear for all to see that Hamas's attack was not an act of resistance but one of a nihilistic terrorism.

Shame on you for acting like Hamas torturing, mutilating, and burning its way across 21 towns was an act of resistance that should be commemorated by sharing Vintage Propaganda.

Since the start of the current war between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has committed countless atrocities against its own people in Gaza. This was true even before the war. Yet somehow, despite the fact that Hamas has effectively kidnapped the Gaza strip and all its inhabitants and routinely terrorizes them, these crimes are never reported by Arabic media or western media, nor by global human rights organizations, all of which tend to portray Hamas as a legitimate resistance group who are trying to "liberate" the Palestinians.

Shame on you and the entire rest of the movement for silencing and ignoring Gazan activists instead of centering and platforming them.

And fuck you for supporting the far-right fascist theocratic dictatorship that has held Gaza under intensely cruel control for 17 years.

I was held under arrest for 21 days [by Hamas] and subjected to various types of torture. I was beaten with batons and sprayed with cold water in the late winter night hours.

...After we were released, most of those who participated in the demonstrations emigrated away from Gaza. There was no hope for any change in the current situation. We suffered ongoing harassment by Hamas members. Some died trying to leave, like Tamer Al-Sultan, a pharmacist whose crime was asking for a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

Second: Edward Said may have been born in Palestine, but his Columbia University ass was a quintessentially American ivory tower academic.

He once called campus security because a Vietnam War protest interrupted the class he'd paid so much to take.

His gift to academia was giving it permission to copy-paste American racial dynamics onto a COMPLETELY different part of the world.

Clueless Westerners look at this shit and go, "Yes! This tallies with my understanding that Jews are privileged white people and Muslims are oppressed!"

We don't learn about 1,300 years of MENA colonization by a series of Islamic empires in school. Much less that the power dynamic there today is one where Iran tries to build its own empire by using terrorist groups as its own armies, brutally oppressing Syrians, Yemeni, Baha'is, Jews, Hindus, Christians, and the "wrong" kinds of Muslims. We just assume everywhere else works the way the United States does.

Everything he says in this clip is completely counterfactual, superficial disinformation.

Let's see how many lies there are in the above clip alone.

"Israel was constructed on the ruins of another society" - you do know that the Jews, Arabs, and Bedouins who became Israeli citizens were part of that society, right? Perhaps this dude is why so many people seem to think Jews invaded Palestine in 1948.

"Another people who remain unacknowledged" - the only ones who are unacknowledged are the ones who remained in Israel. Seriously, who on this earth does not know about Palestinians?

"as just sort of obscure natives in the background" - Anyone who reads history books with actual, genuine citations, as opposed to Ilan Pappé, knows that this is not the case. Not only are they an obvious and integral part of history. But in his context of "oh we'll just kick out the Palestinians?" Did he never hear about every surrounding country invading en masse in 1948? Does he somehow think that the UN's plan had been for Israel to declare independence and war in the same day?

"Back to the desert - let them go to one of the other Arab countries" - bruhhhh. 350,000 middle- and upper-class Arabs left before the war even started, because al-Husseini's volunteer armies were trying to take as much land as they could. I could write paragraphs about all the towns that weren't Kicked Out By The Jews, and the towns that attacked first because militias or Arab armies had taken them, etc.

"The British left us a road system, an electrical system, municipal buildings, etc etc etc, and we could build Israel" - If the leadership of Arab Palestine had accepted the UN's 1947 vote to give it a state, it would have had all of that too! The entire purpose of everything that Britain built, and everything that Jews and Arabs built under Britain, going all the way back to the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, was that BOTH COMMUNITIES WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SELF-DETERMINATION!!

"If we had done X and Y to create Palestine, Israel wouldn't exist" - see above. He is paraphrasing an unnamed source who, if his paraphrase is even accurate, was talking out of their ass.

It is not the Palestinians' fault that they had horrific fascist leadership, led by a literal Nazi war criminal, which would accept none of that so long as it involved Jews being there. But it also isn't Israel's fault.

"Israel bears no responsibility for pushing people out" - Israel has been clear since day 1 that it would be happy to negotiate returning any refugees' property or compensating refugees somehow, as the Arab League has demanded -- just exactly as soon as the Arab League, equally, negotiates the same for the 850,000 Jewish refugees that every Muslim-majority country, from Morocco to Afghanistan, began ethnic cleansing before Israel even declared independence.

Also... If the Oslo Accords say that Israel isn't liable for that, it means Palestine signed the Oslo Accords with that in there. This is Western paternalism: the same Western paternalism that runs through the entire movement. Westerners, including Edward Said, consistently deny Palestine and Palestinians any sort of agency at all.

"Gaza is the most criminal place on earth - because of Israel!" First of all, rude. Way to shit on Gaza. But also: Then why is he saying Gaza, and not Palestine? Why is Gaza the most criminal place on earth, and not the much larger West Bank? Could it perhaps be because the West Bank was occupied by Jordan, the only country that gave Palestinian refugees citizenship and human rights? And Gaza was occupied by Egypt, which kept them under harsh military rule... and the military was full of Muslim Brotherhood members who actively spread resentment and disinformation to encourage terrorism? No? The people of Gaza are inherently violent? And that's not an incredibly demeaning and dehumanizing characterization? Because he's taking away their own agency, and crediting it instead to Israel??

"Jews have been so oppressed but you can't keep oppressing people" - As everyone does, he's erasing the 20%+ of the population of Israel that's Arab, Druze, Bedouin, Circassian, etc.

"Just because you yourself were a victim once." I can see why this resonates with Westerners, who rarely know anything about antisemitism or Jewish history beyond "Holocaust bad." But seriously, once?? The Holocaust itself sits neatly between hundreds of thousands of Jews murdered in Russian/European pogroms on one side, and the ENTIRE Middle East and North Africa massacring and yeeting the Jews on the other.

"There has to be a limit!" Bro. Nobody is arguing that "the Jews" get to oppress people for unlimited years Because Holocaust. That reveals an incredibly disturbing void of knowledge about the actual dynamics and political events between the two countries. It's also a pretty weird and biased concept of Jews in the first place.

Lastly, fucking stop with the shitty slogans. When a movement makes it this obvious that you consider the entire thing to be "Occupied Palestine" - as do both your blogs - you can no longer hide behind, "we're not saying we want Hamas to massacre the Jews it couldn't get to a year ago!"

1998, Edward Said.

"Israel was constructed on the ruins of another society."

via conflictechoes on insta

[welcomeindiajourney0]

Golden Triangle tour with Ranthambore by Welcome India Journey

Overview Taking the Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore by Welcome India Journey opens the door to discovering India's magnificent architecture, rich cultural legacy, and jaw-dropping wildlife. This tour combines an exciting wildlife adventure in Ranthambore National Park with a visit to the Golden Triangle, which includes the iconic cities of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. This combination provides visitors with a unique historical, cultural, and natural experience.

Why Select Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore? Cultural Richness: As you visit each city, immerse yourself in India's rich history and culture. Architectural marvels: Take in the breathtaking design of well-known locations like Amber Fort and the Taj Mahal. Wildlife Encounters: Get a rush from seeing wildlife in its native environment, including Bengal tigers. Overview of the Tour Usually lasting six to seven days, the tour offers a carefully thought-out schedule that includes visits to the Golden Triangle's must-see sites as well as the exhilarating Ranthambore wildlife.

Day 1: Getting to Delhi Start your adventure in Delhi, the capital city of India, the meeting point of modernity and ancient history.

Highlights of the tour include the UNESCO-designated Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret. The World War I soldiers are remembered at India Gate, a war memorial. Lotus Temple is a beautiful Baha'i house of worship distinguished by its architecture shaped like flowers. Savor a welcome meal and spend the night at your hotel.

Second day: Delhi to Agra Travel to Agra, the city of the magnificent Taj Mahal, in the morning.

Highlights of the tour include the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World made of white marble. For a breathtaking view, visit it at sunrise. Explore the enormous fort known as Agra Fort, which the Mughal emperors used as their primary residence. Itmad-ud-Daulah's Tomb: Often called the "Baby Taj," this tomb is a stunning illustration of Mughal building design. Once you've spent the day exploring, spend the night in your hotel.

Day 3: Fatehpur Sikri to Ranthambore from Agra Make a stop at Fatehpur Sikri, the former Mughal Empire capital, en route to Ranthambore.

Highlights of the Sightseeing Tour: Fatehpur Sikri: Take in the amazing architecture, which includes the Jama Masjid and Buland Darwaza. Proceed towards Ranthambore, where you will settle into your hotel and get ready for an exciting day of wildlife exploration.

Day 4: Safari in Ranthambore National Park Take an exciting safari in Ranthambore National Park to start your day.

Safari in the morning: Visit the park to see the elusive Bengal tiger and other creatures like deer, leopards, and different kinds of birds. Afternoon Safari: To increase your chances of seeing more wildlife, go on another safari after lunch. Ranthambore Fort: For breathtaking views of the park, if time permits, stop by the storied Ranthambore Fort. Day 5: Jaipur to Ranthambore After your safari experiences, proceed to Rajasthan's capital, Jaipur.

Highlights of the Tour: City Palace: Explore this royal home, which houses museums showcasing artifacts from Rajasthan's regal past. Impressive telescopes for observing celestial bodies are housed at Jantar Mantar, an observatory dedicated to astronomy. Hawa Mahal: Often referred to as the "Palace of Winds," this magnificent building is well-known for its elaborate façade. After checking into your hotel, take part in a traditional Rajasthani dinner or a cultural evening.

Day 6: Touring Jaipur This day, set aside for further exploration of Jaipur's magnificence.

Highlights of the Tour: Amber Fort: Travel by jeep or elephant to this magnificent fortress perched on a hilltop, renowned for its architectural beauty and historical significance. Admire the views of this water palace, Jal Mahal, which is situated in the center of Man Sagar Lake. Visit the local markets in Jaipur to shop for jewelry, textiles, and handicrafts. Day 7: Go back to Delhi Return to Delhi for your next destination or departure after breakfast.

What Does the Tour Package Include? Private vehicles are used for intercity transfers in transportation. Lodging: Cozy hotels for the duration of the trip. Tour Guides: Professional guides available for all sightseeing trips. Jeep safaris in Ranthambore National Park for wildlife viewing. Fees for entry: Entrance to all parks and monuments. Why Opt for Welcome India Journey? Personalized Service: Itineraries created specifically with your interests and preferences in mind. Professional Guides: Kind and informed guides to enhance your journey. Easy Travel: Everything is planned for your comfort, including reservations and transportation. Ideal Time to Go The winter months of October through March are the best times to start the Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore because of the pleasant weather that makes for sightseeing and wildlife viewing.

Some Advice for a Great Tour Dress Comfortably: For a day of walking and sightseeing, choose relaxed attire and comfortable shoes. Bring the necessities: Remember to pack hats, sunscreen, and a decent camera to record moments. Honor regional traditions: Wear modest clothing and pay attention to regional customs, particularly when you are at places of worship. In summary Experience India's diverse beauty, from architectural wonders to exhilarating wildlife encounters, with the Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore by Welcome India Journey. This tour offers a comprehensive experience that blends culture, history, and the natural world, guaranteeing that you will make lifelong memories in the process.

[automatismoateo]

The concept of eternal hell is utterly vile and inhumane and any belief system that has one is by association equally vile. via /r/atheism

The concept of eternal hell is utterly vile and inhumane, and any belief system that has one is, by association, equally vile. I'm mainly talking about the two main Abrahamic faiths. of Christianity and especially Islam, but there are certainly lesser known religions whose doctrines feature a place of eternal punishment for sinners and/or non-believers. I'm sure this topic has been done to death, but I wanted to emphasize just how atrocious such a concept is. The fact that hell is a central tenet for both Christianity and Islam make them more reprehensible - perhaps infinitely more so - than other religions like Hinduism or Buddhism, which feature hells (both called Naraka) that are not eternal (but also absurdly long). In turn, they are far worse than beliefs without a physical "place of suffering" such as Judaism. I honestly think it is the single worse thing about such religions, as opposed to making their adherents believe in things without evidence. We know in the current day and age that it would be wrong to assign people who do wrong things overly harsh punishments. Cruel and unusual punishment (including all forms of torture) are recognized as categorically immoral. So why is it that we would allow such punishments to occur by divine right, but not in the mortal world? Why is it that in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, these punishments and the suffering of the victims are described in such gruesome detail? In Buddhism, Raurava is ... [where beings screaming run wildly about, looking for refuge from the burning ground as they are scorched by the blazing fires.]#:~:text=Naraka%20(Sanskrit%3A%20%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%95)%20is,the%20hell%20in%20Chinese%20mythology) What's the sin for such retribution? Doing drugs and being too hedonistic. In Hinduism), cooking a bird alive gets you thousands of years in a boiling pot. Christianity and Islam are more than happy to met eternal suffering for the grave crime of non-belief. In fact, Muslims believe hell is temporary only for them! You could be the cruelest, most psychopathic Muslim in history and you'd end up in Jannah with all your virgins to enjoy, while the most moral Christian or Athiest suffer for all eternity. And boy, are they willing to tell you just how much they suffer ... Boiling water, running sores, peeling skin, burning flesh, dissolving bowels, and crushing of skulls with iron maces ... how fitting that the most horrifying doctrine is borderline–no, scratch that, blatantly–sadistic in describing it. The suffering is the point, the most central doctrine. You may as well call them religions of suffering, and that would be completely apt. Even in the most primitive code of law, you at least have "an eye for an eye" for punitive justice - dealing with sin with equal punishment. Buddhism and Hinduism think you should face punishments millions of times worse than your wrongdoing. Christianity and Islam think you should suffer infinitely worse. Those two religions aren't only inhumane. They're infinitely so. And thus the fear that "hell" induces only compels the believers to make their indoctrination stronger. It's a completely toxic system, rotten to the deepest, darkest core. You can certainly have a religion that only believes in a tame, temporary version of hell, or one that simply allows sinners to understand the effects of their actions. Make them feel guilt, allow them rehabilitation or something. But we (by which I mean the most popular religions) don't, because an unfortunate part of humanity is an inhumanity that comes from tribalism and fear, and because such a religion wouldn't make its believers so fervent in the first place. For those sects or faiths that don't believe in eternal (or disproportionate) damnation, like Taoism or Baha'i, thank you. You at least have a better claim to being a moral faith. And to those that do, fuck you. Submitted June 30, 2024 at 06:43PM by LivinAWestLife (From Reddit https://ift.tt/oiPls8W)

[spokanefavs]

The spring Equinox brings more than just the joy of birds singing and nature blooming for Behnoosh Armani. This cosmic change also marks her New Year celebration as a Baha’i — a celebration known as Naw-Ruz.

Read more about the Baha’i New Year and how locals are celebrating