Religion is encrustation/anti-pattern, but spirit transcends limits.

yoorana said:
“these realities will always be, also in non religious movements.”

Religious movements make claims based on purity myths, clinging to illusions that cause suffering and that enslaved people for thousands of years. Purity myths are part of autocratic paradigms, excess hierarchy, dysfunctional/controlling memes.

When a religion can not make sense of the modern world, it regresses into backward ideas. abdul-baha was wrong about evolution and buddhism, there was no “infallibility”, and bahais should not deify things that are wrong because doing so supports suffering and cliging to illusion.

(yoo) “as well deification as fear are everywhere and their faces are uncountable.”

Fear of what? Anxiety is the result of clinging, suffering. The human brain evolved to produce serenity because humans can imagine their own death in ways other animals can’t. Serenity evolved so that the pain of seeing a future death could be transcended. All “religion” comes from such evolution.

(yoo) “you blind yourself by focussing on those fenomens”

Truth, Goodness and Beauty are above the limits of any religion, including bahaism, its purity myths, and its backward conformism.

(yoo) “read the holy books … but try to do it with an open mind”

It is simple, if something causes suffering, becomes dysfunctional, and can not heal itself by coming to terms with reality, the world is better without it. People will always dream of the good they remember, and hope for healing.

“it is not easy at all”

bahais take the easy way out – starting with clinging to purity myths, childishness and autocracy.

Why cling to things that are wrong and cause pain?

Can good come from such lies? Why oppress people with such evil?

Yes the teachings of Bahaullah are a Lullaby to the investigative child in all human hearts. They are love, forgiveness, kindness, justice, fairness. He awaits us at that sandy beach singing his songs of peace and unity to all the star nations. And yes at the very end of the song IZ musically reminds us that not only we but also our beautiful Manifestations are all fallible no matter how close to the Great Mysterious One they may dwell and that we love and respect them all the more for it. Like the loose thread that Huichol artists leave on all their yarn paintings to remind us all that only God is infallible.

Where troubles, pain and hurt from the fallible misunderstandings, shunning and excommunication of Masters, Guardians, Universal Houses of Justice melt like lemon drops high above the chimney tops that’s where you will find the true face of Bahaullah – a place where all the voices of love gather each moment in peace, calling us to follow their lead and let this planet breathe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I

in other words, if you took that same group of people and convinced them that sitting in a field worshiping sunflowers was “godly”, you would see about the same rate of “healing” from the practice of sunflower worship as you do from worship of so called “prophets”.

the experience of spirituality is a product of evolution (brain wiring), no prophets or revelation is required beyond the “natural” revelation of spiritual talent that exists across the members of any human population at any point in human history.

there is a clear item in bahai scripture that states that religion is dead when it becomes too bureaucratic.

that point came and went a long time ago for bahai.

I think that the holy writings of the prophets of our world religions have words for every unique soul, it is like an ocean of wise words for all mankind.
And I think that it is import to see it that way.
Many people make ‘folk art’ when they are creative, also when they make their painted / embroidered / sculpted / etc portraits or symbols of something or somebody they admire.
A lot of people get strength from these portraits as a kind of symbol to lead them, and there is also a group of people ( where to belong many professional artists I think) who don’t like or need to imitate symbols or prefer to create new ones
I think that there is nothing wrong with that.
Let it be .. let be unity in diversity, our only way to world peace.
There are so many kinds of expressions on art, every soul its own expression
As well children as old people, as well intellectuals as more practical skilfull people, as well peace and quietness loving people as sceptical or assertive people, as well mentally handicapped as … etcetera etc
It’s just freedom of expression that I find in the Bahai scripts.
It’s all about being original, working together and not about sticking on our own self as the only example.
I’m not a facebook member so I don’t know about this Bahai art group.
I think … when you think that the label is not right you could give a comment on their page?
I wonder if there is also professional art on this site?
In my opinion there is nothing wrong when professional art and outsider art mixes.
I think that it’s all about the process of learning, discovering, expressing and exchange of those actions between the family of man to become a more loving family

I want to end with a phrase of Maria Yeliseyeva:

When we use our creative talents, we are one with our Creator, one with ourselves, and one with the world.

http://mariaschildren.ru/content/view/141/96/

no you missed my point. My point was that without freedom you don’t have newness. In my view the example you gave is a silly one no serious artist would be interested in because it is such a cliched approach. “oh let’s shock someone throw in a naked body” – serious artists are more interested in nuance / in using the arts in multifaceted ways. Your example is as flat as the examples of the copied portraits illustrated in the blog above. There’s no magic, no room for the aesthetic. My point: without freedom of expression there’s no room for this – for art.
You continue to suggest that it doesn’t matter if a local (and in my post I was referring to a global, not just a particular locality) Bahai community rejects art. Artists can make art and be answerable to God about this. Agreed and artists do make art. I do and many others do (http://www.bahai-library.com/bafa) but my point was that Bahai communities, in only promoting art as a type of copying of the lowest domination one might call art (the trend of ‘musical firesides’ is another example. In the old days Bahais would choose their own songs to sing instead of following a formula), it means artists such as myself, do not have any dialogue with the Bahai community. Rather odd for a religion whose writings seem to have such a praise and value for the arts, don’t you think?

Of course, I’m not sitting around waiting for anything to happen. That would be silly. All I am saying is that there are many Bahais such as myself who engage with the world as artists and our work certainly is Bahai in spirit and approach and engagement, but that the Bahai community (in general) misses this because there’s no space and no appreciation for the arts (as something original, expressive or free) in Bahai communities and that facebook book Bahai art group is a typical example of what you get instead.