The Baha'i Studies Listserv Sounds like an extremely real possibility. It may even go extinct within the next seventy years.
Sent from my iPad On Apr 16, 2013, at 19:16, Gary Selchert <ebedeyn...@aol.com> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Baha'u'llah dicusses a good example of desuetude in Iqan par 92 (old p. 85) > concerning the Jews and the death penalty for adultery. The rabbis were > worried that their people would disappear due to enforcing the letter of the > law. At this point it is easy to imagine (!) an analogous situation where, > within a generation or two, in North America, it is almost impossible to > teach the faith and difficult even to retain believers, due to the continued > enforcement and defense of the principle that gay people are not welcome to > live comfortably and express their preferences openly in the Baha'i > community. > > But is that suggestion a vain imagining? Very possibly! > > GS > -----Original Message----- > From: Gary Selchert <ebedeyn...@aol.com> > To: Baha'i Studies <bahai-st@list.jccc.edu> > Sent: Tue, Apr 16, 2013 3:18 pm > Subject: Re: Against nature... > > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Pardon me. The Deuteronomy reference emphatically should include Deuteronomy > chapter 20, along with 21 and 22. Sorry. > > GS > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gary Selchert <ebedeyn...@aol.com> > To: Baha'i Studies <bahai-st@list.jccc.edu> > Sent: Tue, Apr 16, 2013 3:11 pm > Subject: Re: Against nature... > > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Stephen seems to want desperately to flush us out of the underbrush on the > issue of all things LGBT. Clearly, the public Baha’i rules about gayness are > at odds with the customs of our (western) society in much the same way that > Baha’i rules concerning alcoholic beverages are at odds with the customs of > our society. They drink; we are prohibited from drinking. We are prohibited > from doing what gay folks do. Personally, I would way rather have a drink of > something strong than do what gay folks do, but that’s just me. I was born a > heterosexual and I know that no one born with my particular preferences would > never be inclined to choose to pursue same-sex physical/romantic > relationships. Personally, I would be leery of encouraging a gay person or a > devoted aficionado of microbreweries to enroll as a Baha’i, (no dang it; I am > not comparing homosexuality to alcoholism; I am comparing it to regular > social drinking!) regardless of their beliefs or other sterling qualities. > Folks with full knowledge of the rules who do enroll as Baha’is despite their > incompatible preferences (how many of us can truthfully deny a predilection > for back-biting?) have a ready-made spiritual battle to fight. > > Having said all that, the history of religions is replete with examples of > the power of desuetude. Meditate on the laws of Deuteronomy chapters 21 and > 22. Ponder deeply the issues of Acts 4:32 – 5:13. Remember fondly Matthew > 19:3 – 12 and all the fun the churches have had down through the centuries > with issues of marriage and divorce. > > Some laws are specifically abrogated; others just fall into desuetude as they > become unhelpful and create barriers to inclusion and the salvation of the > masses. Obdurate repudiation of desuetude turns great religions into tiny > separatist cults. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desuetude > > But perhaps all of that is ancient history and irrelevant in the New Order. > Perhaps the law is engraved in stone until the next Manifestation. I don’t > know. I will watch from the next world with mild curiosity about how our > great-great grandchildren work it all out. But I suspect not too many > generations will pass before Baha’is think about homosexuality in much the > same way that Catholics think about contraception. > > But who knows? > > GS > -----Original Message----- > From: Stephen Kent Gray <skg_z...@yahoo.com> > To: Baha'i Studies <bahai-st@list.jccc.edu> > Sent: Tue, Apr 16, 2013 11:15 am > Subject: Re: Against nature... > > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Opps, needed to correct one of the links. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenderism_and_religion > > The other redirected to this one anyways. > > Don, what if the influence of all secular progressivism went away, what would > society look like? > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_religion > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism > > What if America or whatever else society you want to insert instead, became > desecularized... > > And became a Unitarian Universalists society? > A Neo Druidist society? > A Wiccan society? > A Raëlian society? > An Eckist society? > A Liberal Hindu society? > A Liberal Mahayana Buddhist society? > A Liberal Muslim society? > A Liberal Jewish society? > A Liberal Christian society? > > Sent from my iPad > > On Apr 15, 2013, at 16:10, Stephen Kent Gray <skg_z...@yahoo.com> wrote: > >> The Baha'i Studies Listserve >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_same-sex_marriage >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT-affirming_religious_groups >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT-affirming_denominations_in_Judaism >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT-affirming_Christian_denominations >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT-related_organizations >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism_and_LGBT_topics >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_that_support_same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_and_religion_topics >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_homosexuality >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_and_religion >> >> Don, you seem to think its only because of secularism that everyone isn't on >> the same page you? >> Read all the above Wikipedia articles on the various religious and >> theological viewpoints. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-698439-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
