Tim, At 09:56 AM 9/4/2005, you wrote: >>As a sensible human being, do you feel you have to accept a person's self >>definition as valid and accurate? Suppose I define myself as an orthodox >>Jew - a belief system I know little about. Do you feel you must accept that >>I am in fact an orthodox Jew, even though though you know it's a silly >>notion?<<
I would accept it unless I had some reason to believe you were lying or being facetious. >>My point is that self definition does not change reality; I am not an >>orthodox Jew, no matter what I say.<< Were you to claim to be an Orthodox Jew, it would be obvious you were being facetious. >>Then there is the matter that Covenant breaking is an outward manifestation >>of a dangerous spiritual disease.<< As a sociologist of religion, I have no ability to determine "spiritual disease." As a Baha'i, I would leave such matters to the Universal House of Justice. And as an individual, I would not judge the sincerity of the person's claim. >>This principle is clearly explained in the quotes Khazeh just posted. You >>and I have no right to make such a judgement, but the House of Justice does >>have that right, and I have no alternative but to accept their description as >>valid and accurate.<< Statements by the House of Justice would indicate the status of that person in the Baha'i International Community. In other words, that person is no longer a Baha'i, as "Baha'i" is defined by the Universal House of Justice. However, statements of the Universal House of Justice would have no bearing on an individual's religious identity. >>"People are what they claim"?? Maybe in their own minds they are, but in >>terms of interactions with others ....<< Their interactions with which others? >>... in terms of objective reality, people are what they do, not what they >>claim.<< I do not feel qualified to judge another person. Via moderna, Mark A. Foster . http://markfoster.net ... since [a] word is said to be common, it can be called a universal. - Wm. of Ockham, Summa Logicae, part I Structurization Tech: http://tech.structurization.com The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 - 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
