On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 11:44:03 -0600, Mark A. Foster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, Gilberto, > >.But in some occasions you need to deal with violent aggressors with force.<< > Yes. Gilberto: > >>But when Bahais make a big deal out [of saying] that "holy war" has been > >>abrogated it gives the impression that somehow they are more peaceful, or > >>closer to pacifism, etc. than other religions in principle. when there are > >>significant exceptions which make that untrue.<<
Mark: > If so, it is really a commentary on the assumptions of those Baha'is. > Pacifism is clearly *not* taught in the Baha'i primary sources: Gilberto: > >>Alot of times I get the impression that Bahai self-descriptions give the > >>impression of being significantly and substantially different from Islam. > >>And given an environment where people have a lot of bias and prejudice > >>against Islam, such statements will probably play very well.<< Mark: > In some cases, they are. In others, they are not. However, most Western > Baha'is are not sufficiently familiar with Islam to make that judgement. Gilberto: The whole thing can get complex and messy. On the one hand there are deeply held Western biases against Islam and "the East" and to some degree those are retained by Western Bahais. (Or at least, they are not immediately removed upon conversion). On top of that I would expect that if Bahais are going to say they believe in Muhammad and the Quran and speak confidently about how much more "progressed" the Bahai faith is over Islam, then they actually should do their homework about Islam. So I'm going to have a hard time being cool with the idea that ignorance of Islam is some sort of excuse or justification. Peace Gilberto __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
