On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:09:09 -0800 (PST), JS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > JS: But Gilberto, none of the Laws of the Aqdas are enforced except a few > > related to prayer, marriage, burial, alcohol, opium, and a few others. > > G: I don't see why that would be a relevant distinction. To make the > example more extreme. If your books said to round up Muslims in > concentration camps and put them in ovens (something which the Bahai > writings clearly do not say) it wouldn't be at all comforting to say > "But Bahais don't have a country yet so we can't enforce those right > now". > > JS: I didn't say it has anything to do with whether or not we have a > country. The House of Justice still has the right to decide when to > implement the law of burning the arsonist, it at all. I don't think it ever > will be.
Why would the punishment be in the book if it wasn't ever supposed to be enforced? > > Burtal Qur'an laws are, however, enforced by Muslim countries like Saudi > > Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, etc. > G: I wouldn't embrace any of them as truly Islamic. There is room for > improvement. > JS: So in the last 1000 years, has there been a single 'truly Islamic' > nation? Let me try to clarify. No nation is perfect. All countries have flaws. All nations only partially implement their own ideals. They fall short. And trying to live those ideals more faithfully is a process. I think Muslims can set up governments which engage in that process and at the same time don't betray Islamic ideals. I think current regimes which claim to be "Islamic" are somewhere along that path. I don't think everything which goes on in those countries is Islamic or required by Islam. And I think there is certain plenty of room for improvement. > I don't think it is possible. What is possible is what > Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism have done: Implement a secular nation. Much of Christendom (i.e. Europe) has become truly secular and as a result Christianity is dying in Europe. Turkey is also rather secular to the point where Muslims are discriminated against. China and the former Soviet Union are also good examples of secular societies. I don't think secular regimes are necessarily the best argument for what you are trying to say. Personally, I think that it is possible to outline certain features which constitute a "good government" but this should be independent from a particular ideology. "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ 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
