Thank you for your post. All very good points and all completely worthy insights. But what to are saying here is bottom up OLDTHINK in the BAO. In the current top down NEWTHINK BAO what you are saying here is treason. Keep it up and you will get a file opened on you in Haifa and put under 24/7/365/1000 surveillance for thought crimes. Be very careful about what you say.

1. I wish the word teaching hadn't been used – unfortunately in society it has such a negative, hierarchical connotation, that it creates a certain barrier. If one goes through the writings, I think it becomes clear that the spirit of "teaching" is really "sharing" – and this i think differentiates it from proselytization. Proselytizing has a clear purpose – to convert. Sharing, on the other hand, is just openly, directly, talking about things that mean a lot to you with others. There is no expectation of change in the other person – if they show interest, you continue, if not, you leave it at that. I believe that's the spirit in which teaching is truly meant to be done in the faith. Of course, Baha'is are imperfect individuals (just like everyone else), and few probably live up to this standard.

2. Teaching is something that is not meant to be just from a Baha'i to a non-Baha'i, but between Bahai's too – in fact, the foremost attitude in a society where everyone is "teaching" everyone else is a culture of learning. And so we should all be attempting to learn from each other. Of course, when we "teach" someone, it is not to be from a standpoint of superiority, but rather one of humility, and of sharing sincerely trying to, together, come to a better understanding of truth.

3. This view of teaching is closely related to the Baha'i view of education in general as not the filling of empty vessels, but rather the mining of gems that already exist within each individual. This clearly puts the "teacher" in a role of service rather than one of superiority.

At this point in history, when in most cultures people are still uncomfortable talking about spirituality openly, I think even this notion of sharing one's beliefs openly can come across as being too pushy. However I think that the Baha'i vision really is for a world where people on the whole are more spiritual, more keen to learn from each other, and more open in sharing their spiritual beliefs with others. In such a milieu, we would all be "teaching" each other, as well as learning from each other.

All this being said, its important to reiterate that Baha'is are of course imperfect like everyone else – so its important not to take the actions of Baha'i people as a standard for the teachings. As Abdu'l Baha once said, the biggest test for Baha'is will always be other Baha'is

Baquia, I have no agenda and neither time, nor any of your competence and artistic talent for setting up a blog. After going back to the Willow Creek link, I noticed that I had been there three weeks ago without remembering the name and any connexion with the comments above that concluded your usual diatribe against Ruhi and your scepticism on the contents of the UHJ letter.

You haughtily attribute this lack of attention to insincerity. I already explained that under Internet Explorer, my wide PC screen at work often freezes and when it works, Intense debate asks me to break down my comments to shorter ones. My 13” laptop with Firefox, works better, although I have trouble finding the initial comment, and reading is more tedious and I will be getting new glasses next week.

Once again, if you want to “see the money” you should participate in the activities and notice the change in attitude and behaviour. What I can say for my own self is that after the learning experiences of mass entry in the 1970s where I understood that the immaturity of the Baha’i community did not allow us to welcome large groups, I decided to resort to indirect teaching, including with my own children. I am now much more at ease for welcoming people into all the activities made available through the institute process. This I can attest, but not show in cash. You can show leaves and fruits of a tree, but not its roots: a matter of faith and belief.