Baha’i Rants

More than two years ago, while discussing Baha’i buildings inside Talisman9 (the oldest online Baha’i discussion group), one person wrote:

Marble construction has the effect of minimising running costs at the price of a higher capital investment. Perhaps
there are achitects among us who can give us an amortisation estimate:considering that the World Centre is intended to serve the Cause for roughly one thousand years, longevity of construction (and design) is an important consideration.

To which I replied:

Marble is durable – under the right conditions. Those conditions do not exist in Haifa. This is a port city which has a lot of industrial pollution. As well, it houses an oil refinery right at the foot of the mountain which spews strong and corrosive chemicals. Carrarra marble is among the finest, most expensive marbles there is. For Pete’s sake! Michaelangelo’s David is carved from it. I am no expert but to use it and other expensive forms of marble in such a hostile condition, not only leaves the project managers and architects open to charges of incompetence; it is simply criminal to flush so much money down the drain.

As you probably know, the Archives building is the oldest structure on the Arc. Designed by Mason Remey, it was started in late 1954 and finished in 1957 (and it ‘only’ cost $250,000 then – the equivalent of $2 Million now). So it has been standing for less than 50 years. The outside columns are built from Chiampo marble, by the way. Sadly, I have seen the erosion taking place with my own eyes. The marble is flaking in large chunks (about double the size of your thumbnail).

We’re talking about less than 50 years here! I’ve seen ugly red-brick apartment buildings that have withstood time with more grace.

I’m just a lay person, but a Baha’i who is an expert (PhD chemistry) told me that in their estimate, in less than 30 odd years all the buildings now put up will have to undergo major renovation or be completely rebuilt (facades). This is excluding the Archives building which will probably undergo such treatment much, much sooner.

The good news is that there may be a reprieve coming soon. There are some efforts being made (not allowed to call it lobbying!) to get the refinery to relocate. This is the classical NIMBY principle – not in my back yard. Israel is a tiny country and they don’t have a lot of places to tuck in oil refineries. Chances are slim, but if they do relocate it, it may halt the damage to the buildings. If they don’t, well…I’d rather not imagine our children having to raise $500 Million to rebuild the Arc.

In any condition, the best thing we can look forward to is a halt to the damage. Removing the refinery and other industrial complexes at the foot of the mountain will not reverse the damage.

Just a little over two years after, here is a current picture worth nine thousand words:

Source of Picture: Sholeh who is currently working in Haifa

If you’re not familiar with the Baha’i World Center, the picture shows the Center for the Study of the Text to the left and to the right in the distance is the Archives building wrapped in scaffolding as it undergoes restoration work. Click for the full size picture.

Here is what the Israeli government says about the air quality around Haifa:

In Israel, the most problematic air pollutant, as shown by air quality monitoring carried out since 1970, is sulphur dioxide (SO2). Relatively high concentrations of SO2 emitted for the most part by power plants and oil refineries are routinely monitored in the Ashdod area and the Haifa Bay. One of the reasons for this is the high sulphur content of the heavy fuel oil in use in Israel. The Haifa Bay, with the most intense industrial activity in the country, coupled with the difficult atmospheric dispersion conditions caused by the influence of the Mediterranean Sea and the complex topography of Mount Carmel, is probably the most polluted area in the country, followed by Ashdod as a close second.

Of course this will only serve to reopen the debate among Baha’is about the massive scale and decadence of the building projects on Mount Carmel. While local and national communities find themselves lacking the most basic needs for centers, the funds they raise are funneled to Haifa to build marble buildings which are corroded in record time. And which will have to be rebuilt, probably in our lifetime.

Why not kick start the fund raising efforts of the “Arc Project II: Fund Harder”? After all, when you start talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, pretty soon you’re talking real money.

And I’m sure the hungry, poor, downtrodden, and orphans.. you know, the unwashed masses who Abdu’l-Baha just happened to care for personally in His lifetime, don’t mind waiting while we build, rebuild, and restore and then renovate, the Baha’i World Center. They, more than anyone else, know a thing or two about priorities.

Somebody call the Italian quarries stat! In a few decades we’re going to need more of that luscious marble.

The above is a 25 minute video of a PBS series called “I Believe” which covers different religions. The host is Dennis Wholey who is interviewing Randolph Dobbs, a Baha’i from the Los Angeles area.

Most of the interview is softball questions about the general principles and serves as a good introduction for someone who doesn’t know anything about the Baha’i Faith.

For me the interesting part is at the 21 minute mark (to which you can jump to by clicking and dragging chiclet) where the host asks,

“How do you attempt to grow the Faith?”

To which Mr. Dobbs responds,

“You know the message of the Baha’i Faith is shared from heart to heart. We talked about your mother and how she recognized the spiritual truth, that it resonated in her heart. We believe that people recognize truth when they hear it. And although we don’t proselytize, we don’t go from door to door teaching the Baha’i Faith, we do invite people to Baha’i meetings. We invite people to children’s classes, to study circles, to devotional meetings.”

The bold is my own emphasis to draw your attention to the excerpt.

It jumped out at me because lately I’ve been thinking about the difference between the two: proselytizing and teaching. I suppose for everyone it depends. We draw the line at different points and the behavior which you may categorize as teaching, another Baha’i may see clearly as proselytizing.

Although in the Baha’i writings we are prohibited from proselytizing, it isn’t really defined nor clearly delineated. The need for such clarity is vital since we are asked to teach the Faith.

In current Baha’i culture teaching and proselytization can be blurry. For example, did you know that in contrast to what Mr. Dobbs says above, Baha’is have started to go from door to door?

That is, actually knocking on doors and starting to speak to people about the Baha’i Faith? They may not “teach” directly or in the same pushy style as Jehovah’s Witnesses but they are going up to strangers with the intention of converting them to the Baha’i Faith.

So although the actual action is to invite you to participate in say, children’s moral education classes organized by the local Baha’i community, or a devotional event, the intention is teaching. So is that then proselytizing?

In talking with Baha’is about this one person told me that for them proselytizing is when you force someone to change their religion. Or promise them some kind of reward. In other words, bribe them. Anything short of that is ok.

However this definition of proselytism is not correct. In actuality proselytism is “the practice of attempting to convert people to another opinion, usually another religion.

The word proselytism is derived ultimately from the Greek language prefix ‘pros’ (towards) and the verb ‘erchomai’ (I come). Historically in the New Testament, the word proselyte denoted a person who had converted to the Jewish religion. Though the word proselytism was originally tied to Christianity, it is also used to refer to other religions’ attempts to convert people to their beliefs or even any attempt to convert people to another point of view, religious or not.”

Clearly, by this definition, what Baha’is are doing is proselytizing, and any assertion to the contrary is really a semantic game, rather than a genuine distinction.

Of course, Baha’is are not the only ones trying to pin down this concept. According to Wikipedia, here are the differences between what some consider to be legitimate versus illegitimate proselytism:

• No attempt to convert others unless they specifically ask about one’s religion
• Preaching
• Providing physical benefits in hopes that recipients will be open to listening
• Providing physical benefits only to those willing to listen
• Providing physical benefits only to proselytes
• Forcing people to become proselytes

What about you? What do you consider to be the the difference between these two? How can they be recognized? How are they defined?

If a friend starts up a conversation with another friend and it leads to religion and they end up talking about the Baha’i Faith is that
teaching or proselytizing? What if instead of a friend it is a stranger? What if the Baha’i flat out says, “You know, you should become a Baha’i. Here’s a card.”

What if a Baha’i goes door to door in a neighbourhood to invite people to a fireside? to a children’s class? to some other Baha’i inspired and organized meeting or event? Is that proselytizing or teaching?

Where does one begin and the other end? Can you provide specific examples from your own experience or imagination?