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A Chat with a Baha’i Youth in Iran

Published
by
Baquia
on June 2, 2008
in Iran
. 25 Comments

iranian-youth
I’m grateful to a “Anonymouz”, a reader, who forwarded an informal chat with a Baha’i youth living in Iran. The youth gave their permission for their conversation with Anonymouz to be made public (omitting his name).

My comment regarding the equal susceptibility of Baha’i youth in Iran to the same societal pressures as other youth upset a few fellow Baha’is. We seem to have an idealized picture of Baha’i youth as spotless “Supermans”, somehow remaining pure even while swimming in the foulest muck. While I don’t doubt that there are Baha’i youth in Iran who do fit that bill, I also acknowledge that they are for the most part, human, just like you and I.

Being young and living in a very harsh and restrictive atmosphere, it is only natural that they “rebel”. This is true for religious youth or those who have no real religious identities or beliefs. Such pressures are even more pronounced when the ideals of the Baha’i Faith are heaped upon them and to top it off! the constant and growing pressure of potential religious persecution.

Depression is rampant among the Iranian youth. So is drug abuse and other activities not suitable for explicit mention in a family friendly blog. In any case, I hope that my characterization of the unfortunate situation in the Cradle of the Faith is not misconstrued by some as an attack on the precious Baha’i youth in Iran but rather as even more reasons why they deserve to exit and live in a free and just society.

What follows is an informal, somewhat rambling “chat”. I’m sure your honors will forgive Anonymouz for leading the witness. The Baha’i youth in Iran, whoever he or she is, does offer some interesting information. Finally, I should also mention that I simply take Anonymouz on his/her word and have no way to verify if s/he did indeed have this conversation with a Baha’i in Iran. Enjoy and please keep the Baha’is of Iran in your thoughts and prayers.

[START DOCUMENT]
Baha’i youth in Iran: allah u abha Mr …!!!!
Me: Allah’u’Abha!
Me: Chetori agha [how are you]
Continue reading ‘A Chat with a Baha’i Youth in Iran’

Power of Love or Love of Power?

Published
by
Baquia
on May 31, 2008
in Sundry
. 2 Comments

Hope you like this little noetic eye candy I cooked up for you:

power-of-love

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
Jimmi Hendrix

The way I see it, power is all about control. Love is all about losing control.

God’s love for us is the primary force behind Creation and the fountain of mankind’s nobility is free will. Which in a funny sort of way means that God gave up “control” and in a sense, put it in our own hands. We are not brute animals, controlled, lashed or beaten by God throughout our lives but instead are guided lovingly by His manifestations through intermittent divine revelations. And yet, whether we realize it or not, we always have the freedom to choose our reactions, behavior, speech… our very lives.

You and I may not be covetous of power in the meaning that we want to rule a country or take over the world. But in our own way we each choose, moment to moment, to either let go and love; or grab on to gain and maintain control and therefore, power. Lord knows I could sure use less of the latter and a heaping spoonful of the former.

Here’s the curious thing, when your power to love overcomes your love of power, something magical happens. People are drawn to you. You become a beacon, attracting others as if magnetized. They may not even know why but they sense something in you that others lack. Look at the example in the life and person of Abdu’l-Baha. Even as desiring no rank nor station beyond that of servitude, Abdu’l-Baha was so loved, revered and respected by all people.

Sounds good. Now how do we do that?

The Baha’i Faith certainly has answers - which take a lifetime to glean. These two ladies also have some ideas: Karen Armstrong + Jill Bolte Taylor

Just a little something to ponder over the weekend. Hope you all have a wonderful and restful time. It wouldn’t hurt to crank up some of Jimmi’s music and dance like no one’s watching.

We Have Annulled The Rule Of The Sword

Published
by
Baquia
on May 29, 2008
in Iran
. 179 Comments

As my fellow Baha’is in Iran face a renewed wave of persecutions, there are some who charge the Baha’i community to be perpetrators of violence.

Of course these charges have no credibility but still I thought it would be fruitful to go to the source and see what Baha’u'llah commands:

Beware lest ye shed the blood of any one. Unsheathe the sword of your tongue from the scabbard of utterance, for therewith ye can conquer the citadels of men’s hearts. We have abolished the law to wage holy war against each other. God’s mercy hath, verily, encompassed all created things, if ye do but understand.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

And again, speaking to the Babi and Baha’i community of the time, Baha’u'llah explains not only the injunction to eschew violence but He explains in no uncertain terms that His Cause has no desire to gain or hold power in the form of civil authority:

Know thou that We have annulled the rule of the sword, as an aid to Our Cause, and substituted for it the power born of the utterance of men. Thus have We irrevocably decreed, by virtue of Our grace. Say: O people! Sow not the seeds of discord among men, and refrain from contending with your neighbor, for your Lord hath committed the world and the cities thereof to the care of the kings of the earth, and made them the emblems of His own power, by virtue of the sovereignty He hath chosen to bestow upon them. He hath refused to reserve for Himself any share whatever of this world’s dominion. To this He Who is Himself the Eternal Truth will testify. The things He hath reserved for Himself are the cities of men’s hearts, that He may cleanse them from all earthly defilements, and enable them to draw nigh unto the hallowed Spot which the hands of the infidel can never profane. Open, O people, the city of the human heart with the key of your utterance.
Tablet to Nabíl-i-‘Azam

annulled-rule-of-the-sword

I was going to write this in the comment section of a previous post but Baha’u'llah’s clear words deserve a more prominent exposition. I’m going to delve further into the question of church and state within the Baha’i Faith a bit later. But can’t resist for now to touch on it since it is so important an issue.

It has been not only an important issue but a contentious one for almost the whole duration of the Faith. Originally those who sought to cast the Baha’i Faith as supportive of theocracy were mischief makers who wished it ill. For example, they spread lies and rumors that Abdu’l-Baha was not building simply a shrine (of the Bab) but a citadel from which He would attempt to overthrow the government.

More recently the perpetrators are well meaning but ignorant Baha’is who have not bothered to read the consistent, clear and repeated Writings of their own Faith about this matter. Such error is dangerous whether the intention behind it is evil or not because it misrepresents the Baha’i Faith and it opens it to attacks from those who mistake it as having temporal motivations.

All I can say to fellow Baha’is who are under the wrong impression that their Faith promotes or condones in any way a theocratic model is, please, inform yourself. There are clear texts. You have but to read and study them.

Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs of their Faith, to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country’s constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective countries.
Shoghi Effendi

If you don’t know where to begin, a good place to start would be Church & State , a book that has passed Baha’i pre-publication review (as have all books published by Kalimat) [Ed. please see comments for clarification]. It contains a methodically and exhaustively collection of Baha’i texts on the relationship of church and state. Here is a recent and relevant entry from the author’s blog.

There is no shame in not knowing but there is shame in wallowing in ignorance. As a Baha’i the standard is extremely high and our duty is to fulfill individual investigation of truth.

God bless.

Recent Baha’i Arrests Tied To Shiraz Bomb Blast

Published
by
Baquia
on May 20, 2008
in Iran
. 24 Comments

According to an article on May 17th, 2008 in the Iranian newspaper the Quds Daily, the reason for the recent arrest of seven Baha’is is suspicion of involvement in last month’s bomb explosion.

You’ll recall that there was an explosion in a Shiraz mosque on April 12th - at the time a part of me hoped that the Islamic Regime in Iranian would not use it as a pretense to crack down on Baha’is there.

Although initial news reports mentioned the blast as a bomb attack, the official response following the event blamed improperly stored ordinance inside the mosque and classify it as an accident.

bomb-blast-shiraz-iran-april-2008However, less than 3 weeks later official sources in Iran changed their tune saying that it was a terrorist act. Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi blamed the blast on “monarchists” and “enemies of the Iranian people”.

Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie also mentioned that people had already been arrested in connection with the explosion.

The only group to have claimed responsibility is the UK based “Kingdom Assembly of Iran” who issued this press release.

It is very difficult to get a clear sense of anything from the Iran regime and this is mostly by design. The Islamic regime revels in confusing and befuddling everyone, including themselves on occasion. There is such varying and competing agendas within the government that it really depends who you listen to and on which day.

My personal conviction was from the very start that the blast in Shiraz was a terrorist act and that calling it an “accident” was a convenient way for the Iranian regime to appear impregnable until they could calculate a means to extract further means to use it to their advantage.

Similarly the attempt to tie this tragic event with the Baha’i community in Iran is yet another tactic which affords them the convenience of deflecting international pressure regarding the arrest of the national Baha’i administrative group. They no longer have to answer to the world community on charges of religious persecution.

They can now use the smoke screen of national security to hold the 7 Baha’is and who knows, perhaps make further arrests and ratchet up the already alarming level of persecution of Baha’is in Iran.

Of course, the Baha’i Faith does accept and prefer monarchy (as a symbolic station devoid of civil authority) but no one except the most fanatic and ignorant Muslims would believe that the Baha’i Faith would in any way shape or form condone violence. On the contrary, we have clear and repeated guidance to uphold the laws of the country in which we live and to respect civil authority. This is something that the Baha’i community of Iran has been doing since its founding, even when under severe oppression.

I continue to beg my fellow Baha’is inside Iran to leave and start productive lives in the many alternative civilized countries around the world - for themselves and their children.

UPDATE:
Thanks to Bahaisonline.net for pointing out that the Baha’i International Community has now responded to the IRI’s allegations and rejected them completely.

I don’t think they will persuade anyone but fellow fundamentalist Islamic regimes (who would support them in the UN in any case) in arguing that the Baha’is had something to do with the Shiraz explosion last month. In any case, a civilized country that respects basic human rights would swiftly bring on charges and commence a fair and transparent trial. The charges of “Zionism” ring hollow and underscore the Iranian government’s moral as well as creative bankruptcy.