The Baha'i Studies Listserv Gary, if a person had a predilection for anything forbidden by the Aqdas wether clergy, confession, hand kissing, long hair in men, head shaving, monasticism, homosexuality, drinking alcohol, smoking opium, begging, etc., they probably would have no interest in the Baha'i Faith to begin with making this a mute point.
Baha'is assume that naturally everyone will naturally see the Baha'i Faith as naturally superior to all faiths thus explaining an expected wide range of conversions to the Faith despite no factual basis such a thing will ever happen. Gary, do you suggest affirming religions they should look into instead of the Baha'i Faith if any non-heterosexual or ally came to you to discus their interest in enrolling? Wicca, Unitarian Universalism, Eckankar, LaVeyanism, Raëlism, Neo-Druidism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Thelema, Religious Humanism, Religious Existentialism, etc. are my suggestions I'd give instead. Also, I prefer religions with precepts over ones with laws. They are immune to desuetude. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Scientology, Taoism, Wicca, etc. are all good examples. Sent from my iPad On Apr 16, 2013, at 17:10, Gary Selchert <ebedeyn...@aol.com> wrote: > 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-698634-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@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
