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Bahai World Center

Baha’i Faith

Now for something completely different- I came across a novel written about the Baha’i Faith. I was sent a tweet by the author with a link to his book. I don’t know if he is Baha’i-probably not, but there are some very nice books explaining the Baha’i Faith in Amazon and a lot of them are ebooks-very cheap. I’ve been a practicing Baha’i for a few decades and really enjoy being part of the latest   world wide religion which unites all races and religions. We believe in progressive revelation- that all the major world religions have come one after the other to educate mankind as we have advanced. The messengers or prophets-we call them manifestations of God- have infused the earth and mankind with a new spirit with each new revelation. We believe in Baha’u'llah (The Glory of God). The Bible mentions the coming of the Glory of God will be the return of Christ. All the past world religions prophets have talked about the coming of the  Promised One of All Ages.
We are an independent religion- not a branch of Islam-as many people think. In fact, the Baha’i's have been persecuted in Iran since our faith began in 1844 and many believers have been tortured and killed. Even now, children are denied an education and adults have their businesses attacked. There are many Baha’i refugees who have fled from their home country. We have quite a few in New Zealand and they are a very fine people. Always extremely well presented, courteous and dignified. When I was younger I found their example of dignified and extremely respectful behavior very special and a lesson to learn from (and still do). I am very grateful to have discovered the Baha’i Faith and encourage everyone to independently  investigate what it is about for themselves.

Last week our Baha’i community and some friends met with the local Community Police Officer and the Neighborhood Watch Officer to discuss emergency responses in neighborhoods in the community in the event of floods and earthquakes etc, because of the huge earthquake problems Christchurch is experiencing and the flooding NZ has also recently had. We have even begun to get hurricanes and tornado’s-not our usual  weather patterns. Christchurch is still having regular .5 aftershocks since the major one months ago and domestic violence, depression and stress are on the increase.

Our meeting was also meant to be with the Civil Defense but they got lost!! The initiative was something that I had initiated but then discovered that our Baha’i National Assembly had put out a request to all Baha’i communities in New Zealand to identify ways to help our communities in times of natural disaster.  Neighborhoods are a wonderful way to connect with the community and create a safer living environment. I recently studied a paper which discussed social capital as being another measure of wealth. Social Capital is created by adding value to communities by allowing them to have the resources they need to enrich peoples experiences and over all well being. A lot of it is based on social interactions, recreation, health needs being met, opportunities for individuals to be heard and have a sense of belonging to a community.

The Baha’i Faith has a wonderful sense of community which starts in neighborhoods and expands out to the global community- One Planet One People.

“All human beings,” Bahá’u'lláh states, have been “created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” The creation of a peaceful global society that fosters both individual and collective well-being is at the heart of the Bahá’í vision of the future.

Chilean Temple