Baha'i Perspectives

nava May 29th, 2009

This morning a close friend of mine forwarded me an article from BBC News about a little child raised by dogs. The caption piqued my curiousity and before I read the article my mind flooded with romantic images of a little Jane-esque[of Tarzan and] child who was tragically abandoned by am empoverished mother but, against all odds, managed to survive. My version of the story was still sad, of course. After all, all children should have the opportunity to grow up among human beings who love them and care for them. But there was something exciting about the raw instinctual aspect of it. A lesson on human resilience.

Then I read the article. Even the fainstest glimmering of a Disney Channel plot line was completely annihilated.

A little girl in Russia raised by dogs…while her mother was there. The article is sparse in detail, but there is explicit reference to the fact that the girl was forced to live among the dogs inside the house, never to go outside. She, naturally, began to emulate the dogs’ behavior. She spoke no Russian, but instead mimicked the noises of the animals who were her [possibly sole] educators and jumped with fright anytime anyone approached the door, just as the dogs would do.

I cannot even begin to put into words the feelings of anger and almost rage that surged within me when I thought of the despicable actions of this “mother” who forced this kind of existence upon her own child. I immediately thought of one of  The Hidden Words of Baha’u'llah wherein He affirms that:

Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things. Thus, ere thou didst issue from thy mother’s womb, I destined for thee two founts of gleaming milk, eyes to watch over thee, and hearts to love thee…

God gave us parents, designed us in such a way, that at the very moment of our birth into this world we would be enveloped in love. Nurtured with love. Trained by love. Our parents have a responsibility not  just to provide for us materially, but to educate us and train us in such a way that we may develop a relationship with God.  Baha’u'llah says that the primary purpose of marriage is to bring forth children who will make mention of Him. We are here to know God and to love God. We are here to advance civilization.

And yet there exist human beings in this world who cannot even be bothered to speak to their children? Much less to give them a chance to develop an intimate relationship with their Creator. How unimaginably horrible. The sheer cruelty of it. The level of disconnect that this woman must have from her own humanity…one can only wonder what her own upbringing was like.

We know that if left to their own devices, without proper training and education, human beings can be given to cruelty more savage than that of the fiercest animal predator. ‘Abdu’l-Baha says “[w]ere there no educator, all souls would remain savage, and were it not for the teacher, the children would be ignorant creatures.”

On the overall importance of education, He goes onto say the following:

It is for this reason that, in this New Cycle, education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary. That is, it is enjoined upon the father and mother, as a duty, to strive with all effort to train the daughter and the son, to nurse them from the breast of knowledge and to rear them in the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they neglect this matter, they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the presence of the stern Lord.

This is a sin unpardonable, for they have made that poor babe a wanderer in the Sahara of ignorance, unfortunate and tormented; to remain during a lifetime a captive of ignorance and pride, negligent and without discernment. Verily, if that babe depart from this world at the age of infancy, it is sweeter and better. In this sense, death is better than life; deprivation than salvation; non-existence lovelier than existence; the grave better than the palace; and the narrow, dingy tomb better than the spacious, regal home…

Therefore, the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful must train their children with life and heart and teach them in the school of virtue and perfection. They must not be lax in this matter; they must not be inefficient. Truly, if a babe did not live at all it were better than to let it grow ignorant, for that innocent babe, in later life, would become afflicted with innumerable defects, responsible to and questioned by God, reproached and rejected by the people. What a sin this would be and what an omission!

Tags: childhood, education, motherhood, parents

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iman April 17th, 2009

I woke up with a thought in my mind: why do I sometimes resist change; character improvement for the better?  It’s simply easier to stay the same, I guess, even if it’s not always comfortable. Sometimes it may be because we are too comfortable that we don’t feel the urge to adjust ourselves. Sometimes we just don’t realize that we need to change. Realization occurs only after careful and constant reflection on our actions; but sometimes we don’t reflect and don’t try to change. In truth, however, it isn’t easy to disregard all past habits and experiences and start anew.  Abdu’l-Baha says:

It is extremely difficult to teach the individual and refine his character once puberty is passed. By then, as experience hath shown, even if every effort be exerted to modify some tendency of his, it all availeth nothing. He may, perhaps, improve somewhat today; but let a few days pass and he forgetteth, and turneth backward to his habitual condition and accustomed ways.

Therefore it is in early childhood that a firm foundation must be laid:

It followeth that the children’s school must be a place of utmost discipline and order, that instruction must be thorough, and provision must be made for the rectification and refinement of character; so that, in his earliest years, within the very essence of the child, the divine foundation will be laid and the structure of holiness raised up…Know that this matter of instruction, of character rectification and refinement, of heartening and encouraging the child, is of the utmost importance, for such are basic principles of God.

Hardship and tests can act as a catalyst for change, not only on a personal level but also on a global one. Mankind as an entity faces challenges similar to those restraining us in our journey of personal transformation. It seems to be the common case, globally, that change is resisted. It seems as though only until our ‘backs are against the wall’ that we begin to discern the importance of altering our unsustainable patterns of old.

How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society?…The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 215)

Shoghi Effendi goes on to say:

Economic distress…together with political confusion, financial upheavals, religious restlessness and racial animosities, seem to have conspired to add immeasurably to the burdens under which an impoverished, a war-weary world is groaning…The world…is everywhere assailed by forces it can neither explain nor control.

That the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such a new phase of human thought is, alas, becoming increasingly apparent. That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity, can fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present-day civilization, into the integral components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate.

Does this imply that dire times lie ahead?

Nothing but a fiery ordeal, out of which humanity will emerge, chastened and prepared, can succeed in implanting that sense of responsibility which the leaders of a new-born age must arise to shoulder.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 45)

Drawing on Ohm’s law, the more the resistance experienced, the greater the potential. The onus is on us to make use of this potential.

Tags: change, education, integration/disintegration

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elliott February 24th, 2009

In “Addressing Discrepancies – Part I,” we discussed one of the major obstacles to the unity of religion and science. Science seems to have incorrectly invalidated religious longings. In this post we investigate a second major obstacle.

This one may seem more obvious. To many, religion itself is the main reason why it cannot exist in harmony with science. Every day, acts of religious dissention take spotlight in the media. How can religion possibly stand for truth, with all its various sects and orthodoxies which are clearly not in agreement with one another?

Science, on the other hand, keeps its composure. Disagreements occur and conflicting theories arise, but these are investigated, and eventually, when scientists have sufficient faith in a common idea, textbooks are written and the rest of the world tends to jump on board. How can such a logical approach to the investigation of truth possibly be in accord with the farce associated with assertions of religious truth?

Dr. William Hatcher, in his essay “The Unity of Science and Religion” explains that the characteristic feature of science and the basis of its unity is scientific method. Scientific phenomena are systematically investigated by use of our mental faculties.

Abdu’l-Baha asserts that this is also necessary to arrive at an understanding of religious truth:

God has endowed man with intelligence and reason whereby he is required to determine the verity of questions and propositions. If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science they are mere superstitions and imaginations; for the antithesis of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition. Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and science. If a question be found contrary to reason, faith and belief in it are impossible and there is no outcome but wavering and vacillation.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 239)

If mankind took a more objective, scientific approach to religion, it would arrive much more quickly at a common understanding of the fundamental verities religion presents. Rather than resorting to weapons, people should turn to elevated discourse, consultation and independent study. With this standard of investigation of the truth, the notion that scientific concepts and religious ideals can exist in harmony won’t seem so far-fetched.

Tags: education, religion, science

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elliott January 28th, 2009

Following the spirit of Negin’s article “Religion or Science: Do we have to choose?”, we tackle specific points regarding science and religion to reinforce an understanding of their harmony with one another.