The 2010 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, hosted in a country where the disparity between rich and poor is striking.  The paradox of hosting a multi-billion dollar global entertainment event amongst an economically lopsided population brings to light society’s seemingly tunnel-vision attitude towards pleasure-seeking, coupled with an indifferent oversight of attempting to meet the community’s basic needs:

We see amongst us men who are overburdened with riches on the one hand, and on the other those unfortunate ones who starve with nothing; those who possess several stately palaces, and those who have no where to lay their head.

Abdu’l-Bahá : Paris Talks

One could mention that an event such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup provides employment for thousands.  This may be true, but of a certainty there exist more genuine approaches of sustainable empowerment and community building; approaches that are not the mere by-products of a once-off event.

One could also argue that this camaraderie and entertainment promote personal as well as community well-being. This may be true, but where do our boundaries lie?

One of the signs of a decadent society, a sign which is very evident in the world today, is an almost frenetic devotion to pleasure and diversion, an insatiable thirst for amusement, a fanatical devotion to games and sport, a reluctance to treat any matter seriously, and a scornful, derisory attitude towards virtue and solid worth…Frivolity palls and eventually leads to boredom and emptiness, but true happiness and joy and humour that are parts of a balanced life that includes serious thought, compassion and humble servitude to God, are characteristics that enrich life and add to its radiance.

(From a letter dated 8 May 1979 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

Presently, the global sports industry is worth billions.  The question is what should it be worth?  Are the salaries that individual players earn just and acceptable?  Is the importance attached to one’s fanatical devotion to largely commercial entities justified?  Importantly, what qualitative value can be attached to sports, as far as the rank of professions and service to society is concerned?

The arrangements of the circumstances of the people must be such that poverty shall disappear, that everyone, as far as possible, according to his rank and position, shall share in comfort and well-being…Now the remedy must be carefully undertaken. It cannot be done by bringing to pass absolute equality between men…Equality is a chimera! It is entirely impracticable! Even if equality could be achieved it could not continue — and if its existence were possible, the whole order of the world would be destroyed. The law of order must always obtain in the world of humanity. Heaven has so decreed in the creation of man.

Some are full of intelligence, others have an ordinary amount of it, and others again are devoid of intellect. In these three classes of men there is order but not equality.

Certainly, some being enormously rich and others lamentably poor, an organization is necessary to control and improve this state of affairs. It is important to limit riches, as it is also of importance to limit poverty. Either extreme is not good. To be seated in the mean [1] is most desirable.

[1 'Give me neither poverty nor riches.' -- Prov. 30: 8]

Abdu’l-Bahá goes on further to outline the basic requirements of preserving the ‘law of order’:

There must be special laws made, dealing with these extremes of riches and of want. The members of the Government should consider the laws of God when they are framing plans for the ruling of the people. The general rights of mankind must be guarded and preserved.

The government of the countries should conform to the Divine Law which gives equal justice to all. This is the only way in which the deplorable superfluity of great wealth and miserable, demoralizing, degrading poverty can be abolished. Not until this is done will the Law of God be obeyed.

First, Arising to Serve: Glimpses from 41 Regional Conferences is a DVD capturing the highlights of the regional conferences that took place between November 2008 and March 2009. The scenes are vibrant and inspirational; check it out at www.bahai.org/arising. You can watch the DVD in parts online or download it in it’s entirety.

“Beyond our culture of contest lies a different kind of democracy: gentle, just and… inevitable”. This is the tagline from the recently released documentary entitled Beyond King of the Mountain produced by DoubleTake.tv. The best way to describe it would be to say that it will leave you begging for more! And here is the film below… enjoy it.

“Kevin Locke, world-renowned Native American performer and educator, and member of the Baha’i community, has been nominated by the Native American Music Awards for Artist of the Year and Flutist of the Year.

His newest album Earth Gift, has been nominated for Record of the Year.

http://www.kevinlocke.com/nammy.html

We invite you to consider voting for Kevin. Kevin’s life work is sharing an understanding of the oneness of humanity through his music, dance, and storytelling. We are excited about this year’s nomination and the opportunity it provides to introduce more people to the message of love, unity, and oneness.

To learn how to vote, visit http://www.kevinlocke.com/nammy.html. The last day to participate is October 3, 2009.”

I asked him, “What are the things you enjoy doing the most?”

He replied, “Are you serious? You know what things I enjoy doing!”

“Well… sure, I know some of them… maybe even most of them… but maybe there are things that will be new to me.”

My husband, always willing to play along, proceeded to highlight a list of things he enjoys doing, some of which I definitely knew and a few things that were new to me.

Then he proceeded to ask me the same question. I started to list the things I really enjoy doing, and a very strange thing happened. Halfway through my list, I began to tear up and eventually cry a bit. I realized that most of the things on my list were things I WANTED to do, but not things I was actually DOING. Woah, man!

My husband and I proceeded to break down my list and realized that most of the things I enjoy doing are creative in nature (i.e. reading for pleasure, dancing to happy music, listening to inspiring music, and the list goes on and on). Why wasn’t I doing any of it?

Initially I blamed it on a lack of time, but eventually we decided that if you really want to do an activity, you tend to make some time for it. Skip past further novice psychoanalysis, and we realized it all boiled down to guilt. I felt guilty spending an hour curled up with a good book or taking the time to listen to an inspiring song rather than using that same hour to do something more “productive” like responding to work e-mail after hours or doing an extra load of laundry.

The Baha’i writings speak highly of engaging in the arts such as music. In one passage, Shoghi Effendi tells us the following:

It is the music which assists us to affect the human spirit; it is an important means which helps us to communicate with the soul.

(Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 80)

Abdu’l-Baha tell us the following:

Among certain nations of the East, music was considered reprehensible, but in this new age the Manifest Light hath, in His holy Tablets, specifically proclaimed that music, sung or played, is spiritual food for soul and heart.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 112)

I started thinking that maybe my soul decided to start that conversation to let me know that it’s starved for some creative food. Although it’s still not second nature, I have allotted myself twenty minutes a day since our road trip to engage in non “productive” activities. I’m starting to think that these twenty minutes might end up being the most productive minutes I have.

FILMMAKER AIMS TO DEMOCRATIZE SOCIAL ACTION
Technology Puts a New Twist on Mobilizing Fans

Iranian-American documentary filmmaker Bita Haidarian, whose work has been described as “the best hope for film and politics in Australia,” launched a groundbreaking project this week, giving her fans a deciding voice in the new initiative.

After placing a rough trailer of her upcoming film Finding Bibi online in December, Haidarian was inundated with positive responses. The film itself, which follows Haidarian around the world as she documents the lives of Middle Eastern women and interviews notables like human rights activist Mukhtaran Bibi, already serves as a clarion call for women’s empowerment. But her fans wanted more.

In response, Haidarian, the daughter of Baha’i religious refugees from Iran, announced the Finding Bibi movement this week. But unlike many documentary activists, Bita decided to bring her fans in at the very beginning. Rather than craft a program in isolation and mobilizing supporters around it, she is offering them the chance create the first project themselves. Using the ranking technology Slinkset, similar to applications used in social bookmarking sites like Digg, Finding Bibi fans are able to submit project ideas and other comments which their peers can rate by clicking simple up or down arrows. Over time, the most popular ideas rise to the top. After submitting the top five projects to a final vote, Haidarian has committed to working out the logistics and obtaining the resources to transform the best idea into a reality.

“By giving our fans an active role in building the organization and its projects from the get-go, we know they’ll be even more committed to seeing it succeed later on,” said Todd Brogan, Head of Creative Expansion for Finding Bibi. “We’re creating a cycle of empowerment. We give fans ownership in projects that will in turn empower women and girls to act against the attitudes and practices negatively affecting them.”

The website, FindingBibi.com, also features updates on the film and its most recent trailer, as well as regular blog posts on the constantly innovating organization. The film is slated for completion late this year.

To read more about this initiative, as well as watch the trailer and have a say in the selection of the project, please visit FindingBibi.com. 

Recently, as many are already aware, he wrote a commentary for CNN bringing awareness to the plight of the 7 Baha’i leaders who remain wrongfully incarcerated in Iran.

And now, he will be chatting with Oprah Winfrey on her “Soul Series” webcast. Some details of the upcoming interview, taken from Oprah.com:

Rainn Wilson
Actor and creator of a website that aims to connect people and offer a place to discuss life’s big questions. 

Coming Up: March 9

Be sure to tune in online. Spread the word to your friends. And in case you were wondering which website is being referred to, here is a sneak preview:

Soul Pancake

In Episode 4, he travels to the Middle East to explore the roots of religious conflict in the region, but ends the episode on a rather different note: proclaiming the unifying message of the Baha’i Faith! In spite of some factual inaccuracies, this is an interesting clip to watch. Skip through to minute 5:30:

“I hope that this is the future” declares Owen Jones, emotionally, as he brings the episode to a conclusion. It surely will be.

Hearken unto the Voice of the Lord of Names, Who from His Prison hath directed His gaze towards thee and is making mention of thee.

He hath extended assistance to every wayfarer, hath graciously responded to every petitioner and granted admittance to every seeker after truth. In this Day the Straight Path is made manifest, the Balance of divine justice is set and the light of the sun of His bounty is resplendent, yet the oppressive darkness of the people of tyranny hath, even as clouds, intervened and caused a grievous obstruction between the Day-Star of heavenly grace and the people of the world. Blessed is he who hath rent the intervening veils asunder and is illumined by the radiant light of divine Revelation.

(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 255)

We swim upstream and currents strong

Heighten struggles to move along

We paddle hard, yet go so slow

Why so painful, it’s hard to know

But hearts seek beauty, and so we go

The voyage long, the distance far

The path uneasy, the goal so hard

For growth we battle, for truth we yearn

With guidance we move, through failure we learn

For nearness we strive, with longing we burn

Scars we accrue, and strength we amass

Wisdom we glean, and tests we pass

We pray, we beg, we bow, we cry

We worship, we kneel, we love, we die–

To ourselves, to the world, but in Him, we abide

In heart’s beloved, at last, we’re alive

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man.

I’m not sure what marked the turning point, but it certainly came. The point when it actually became the praiseworthy goal for men to act like buffoons, the point when women were all too happy to live up to their objectified status.  And it’s not just confined to Western society; evidence of the spread of both of these phenomena across cultures is undeniable (take Japanese extreme reality TV, for instance.) The US culture, the one I am most familiar with, however, is rife with examples of this. Take the  television shows that are or have been incredibly popular in recent times. Shows like  ”Fear Factor” where you eat the most vile and disgusting things imaginable, “Jackass” where you live to prove you are just that — do shows like this promote the dignity of man, or do they rather encourage him to act like the beasts of the field? To degrade himself and humiliate himself for fifteen minutes of a very odd kind of fame, and some potential monetary gain?

Humor is good, of course. One of God’s titles is the Humorist, after all. But there is a difference between tasteful playfulness and wit, and ridiculous, debasing, meaningless, unintelligent attempts at humor. The young men of the world encouraged to act like beer-guzzling idiots who are only as cool as their next stunt, as humorous as their willingness to engage in physical pain, and as appealing as their ability to ape the basest of creatures in their attempts to be “men”.

Gone is chivalry. Gone is wit. Gone is dignity.

And what about women? There was a time, one hears, when women were respected for their chastity, for their modesty. True that men were not held equally accountable for embodying these virtues. So did we decide that true equality meant women should degrade themselves rather than demand that men arise to the station which was already theirs [women's]? Now it seems women are only as appealing as the flatness of the tummies they show off in midriff bearing t-shirts; as attractive as the curves of the body all their figure-hugging clothes expose; as fun as an experimental nature which would allow them to sample in all things, irrespective of what common decency and even the most basic of morals should still their hands from doing.

Gone is modesty. Gone is personality. Gone is dignity.

Even shows like “The Bachelor” (let’s not even talk about their VH1 counterparts like, “Flavor of Love” or “Rock of Love”) are examples of — perhaps perpetuators of — a society eating away at the most basic foundations of decency and dignity left in the human race. Hordes of women chase away after one man (or hordes of men after one woman); and no one even blinks at the fact that these people are engaging promiscuously with one another, IN FRONT of one another, all in an attempt to find love — it’s absolutely astonishing.

We’re living in a decadent age which promotes materialism over virtue, self-love over any true and meaningful love, and self-interest over the promotion of the well-being of the generality of mankind. And as the manifestations of all the virtues wane and fade, dignity suffers the unfortunate fate of no longer being looked upon as a virtue.  Most people today will still acknowledge that honesty is important, for example. And while some may pay lip service to dignity, most of us don’t even know what it looks like anymore. The balance of the world around us is so completely askew that our perception of right and wrong has been completely watered down. It’s no wonder then that we often struggle to grasp what it means to be truly modest. Noble.

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.

If and when when we try to arise, I hope we know what it is we’re arising to.