The Baha'i Studies Listserv On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Firouz <fir...@thai-bahais.org> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > Hi Gilberto, > > Even though Baha'is may talk about Baha'is and non-Baha'is, we still believe > in equality of rights for all humans. All have equal rights and > opportunities.
Bahais aren't really in charge anywhere so you can't really say one way or another how Bahais would treat the non-Bahais in their midst if they were in a position to oppress. I don't expect Bahais to be particularly evil but I wouldn't expect them to be particularly saintly either. You are human and a Bahai society would have the same flaws, challenges, growing pains, opportunities, potentials, capacities for improvement that other human societies have. It's also worth pointing out that there is nothing in the Quran which says "Thou shalt prevent the Bahais from getting a college education".. Part of the treatment of the Bahais in Iran has to do with the specifics of Iranian society and it isn't just all based on religion. A question which comes to mind is if the LSAs/NSA of a particular region took on all the responsibilities of government would non-Bahais be able to vote? > And we don't think non-Baha'is go to hell That's not exactly true. Isn't recognizing the Manifestation for the current age seen as a major obligation according to the Bahais? >From The summons of the Lord of Hosts Suriy-i-Haykal It is even as ye witness in the present 42 day: those who have disbelieved in God and joined partners with Him cling to a single one of Our Names, and are debarred from recognizing Him Who is the Creator of all Names. We testify that such men are of a truth amongst the people of the Fire. or should be taxed > or punished differently from Baha'is. We do believe in prophets of Muslims > and other major religions. And we believe in the changeless Faith of God, > unlike Muslims. I think that the moment you say "We have the light, unlike those Muslims over there" is when you become just another religion just like all the others. You become just another competing group which adds to the amount of conflict and divisiveness in the world instead of promoting unity or peace. I think that the real "changeless Faith" has more to do with each individual's relationship with God and isn't the exclusive property of a particular religious group. I have my own set of beliefs and so I think that some of the specific claims made by a particular religious group are false. But I think we (people of faith) are all basically trying to improve ourselves and approach and serve God to the best of our (often flawed) understanding. You don't get automatic brownie points just for being on a particular team. > > What I said about Shias and Sunnis is what I have seen in living in both a > Shia country (Iran) and a Sunni country (UAE). I was born as a Muslim of > Shia background in Iran and became Baha'i some 30 years ago. So I know well > how the Muslims (Shias and Sunnis) in Middle East and Indian sub-continent > think and believe. Probably the Muslims in USA are a bit different. But you have an axe to grind. And Islam isn't defined by what random Muslims do. I'm going to give more weight to what scholars from Darul-uloom or from Al-Azhar (or especially highly respected scholars like Al-Ghazzali) whom I've read and disagree with you. > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-547794-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@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
