I have reached a plateau..
Michael1954
questions outside my local area. I don't wish to air my questions here
in public and have them misconstrued or used by others as an attack
against the faith. Are there knowledgeable persons within the NSA that I
can address my questions to? I have turned in my 'card' but in no way
feel that I have turned away from my belief in Baha'u'llah being God's
current manifestation.
Michael
t h
Generally any of the National Assembly Members will be very
knowledgeable. You did not say what country you are in so perhaps the USA?
The staff who work with the USA NSA will also be very knowledgeable.
The Continental Board of Counselors and Auxillary Board Members are also
very impressive. Any Local Assembly in your area could tell you how to
contact the Board members for your area.
Another alternative for someone with private questions is to contact the
Universal House of Justice. Many of the questions sent to them are
handled by the research department.
The contact information for the US national center is at
http://www.bahai.us/contact
For the International Baha'i Community is http://contact.bahai.org/
Tom
diamondsouled
You could try joining the talisman9 yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/talisman9/?yguid=200332169
There are many knowledgeable people there who could answer any
questions you have. You can always join under a pseudonym if you wish.
Cheers
Larry Rowe
compx2
I believe examining one's faith in public is a good thing.
I believe the Faith of God can withstand any attack, especially if the
questions examined in the attack have no merit.
I believe examining questions of merit will strenghthen the Faith of
God.
I believe the Baha'i Faith has many, many defects. So many that I
will not say that it is The Faith of God, however it is one Faith of
God on earth, One among many.
It is my abiding contention that the Baha'i Faith needs to accept
wholeheartedly, embrace and defend, those of us like you and me,
Michael1954, who do not swallow everything every Baha'i seems to
believe as a matter of course.
We need to widen the accepted beliefs of Baha'is. And we can only do
so by standing tall and saying "I'm a Baha'i, and I believe things
different from what every other Baha'i I know believes".
If we don't do that, Michael1954 the Baha'i Faith will become a silly
little group of wierdos who just sit and wait for God to step in and
affirm their illogical faith.
Allah'u'Abha.
--Kent
Douglas McAdam
> I believe examining one's faith in public is a good thing.
>
> I believe the Faith of God can withstand any attack, especially if the
> questions examined in the attack have no merit.
> will not say that it is The Faith of God, however it is one Faith of
> God on earth, One among many.
In the spirit of examining one's faith in public I have some thoughts.
What is the Baha'i Faith?
What is the Faith of God?
Is there a description of each revealed by the Manifestations of God?
As I understand it Baha'u'llah is the Manifestation of God and His
Revelation is pure, holistic truth. It is this Revelation that is the
standard of all knowledge, not the knowledge current amongst men.
"In the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book) the following hath been
revealed: "Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with
such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book
itself is the unerring Balance established amongst men. In this most
perfect Balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds possess must be
weighed, while the measure of its weight should be tested according to
its own standard, did ye but know it." Epistle to Son of Wolf (0:189,
page: [129]
If an individual says there are defects in the Baha'i Faith then I
would think we need a definition of the term Baha'i Faith and to put
forward specific relevant quotes from the Baha'i Revelation that show
these defects.
regards,
doug
Michael1954
with me there.
Michael
Michael1954
> Michael1954 wrote:
>> I have reached a plateau in my faith and need to look for answers to
>> questions outside my local area. I don't wish to air my questions here
>> in public and have them misconstrued or used by others as an attack
>> against the faith. Are there knowledgeable persons within the NSA that
>> I can address my questions to? I have turned in my 'card' but in no
>> way feel that I have turned away from my belief in Baha'u'llah being
>> God's current manifestation.
>> Michael
>>
>>
> Hi Michael,
> Generally any of the National Assembly Members will be very
> Tom
>
I just looked at the contact page and I'm not seeing an appropriate
contact email.
Michael
[Mod: Lenore posted this:
The e-mail address of the National Spiritual Assembly is:
secretat...@usbnc.org
Tom]
Michael1954
> Hi Michael1954,
>
> I believe examining one's faith in public is a good thing.
>
> Allah'u'Abha.
>
> --Kent
I appreciate your thoughts but this is personal for me. I need
thoughtful and accurate responses from a source that can be
authenticated. I don't wish to enter into debates. The responses that I
get will help me determine if I remain a supporter and my possible
future action as far as seeking a membership card and all the
responsibility that it entails.
Michael
Sen
> I appreciate your thoughts but this is personal for me. I need
> thoughtful and accurate responses from a source that can be
> authenticated.
By a "source that can be authenticated" I suppose you mean Bahai
Scriptures (not the book, _Bahais Scripture, but the authentic
Writings)?
You started by asking for "knowledgeable persons within the NSA" and
then for authentic sources. Are you applying a non-Bahai model of
religious leadership? In Islam, Christianity and Judaism, the
religious experts are the leaders, so if you want someone to help you
find answers in the scriptures, you go to the leaders. But in the
Bahai Faith there is no requirement that people should be
knowledgeable about the Bahai writings before they get elected, and no
training (or time for training!) after they are elected. There's no
guarantee that there are any knowledgeable persons on your NSA, and
it's very unlikely that the most knowledgeable people, for your
question, will be on the NSA.
Because our leadership cadre are not religious experts, and our
experts are not leaders, if you are looking for Writings on a
particular topic, you look yourself, you ask your friends, or you put
up a query on Talisman or Planet Bahai or a specialist list (Tarikh
for history, Tarjuman for translation). You can do that under a
pseudonym. Or you can look in the discussions on these lists and
discussion boards, see who has knowledge about the topic that
interests you (we are all 'specialists' of one sort or another), and
put your question to that person off-list.
Sen
Douglas McAdam
In adddition to Sen's thoughts I would add that in the Baha'i Faith
there is a special Institution of the Learned in the form of
Counselors and Auxiliary Board Members that you might contact.
In my own case I studied the Faith for three years before
declaration. I read all the Primary and Secondary Sources as well as
90% of all books, papers, etc. written by Bahai's about the Faith. I
had disagreements, what appeared to be contradictions which bothered
me but a teacher told me that when these things are experienced it
usually means we are not deep enough in the Writings. He was right
for after a spell I found the answers for myself by being open minded.
Seems to me we tend to embrace a Faith that agrees with us and when we
run into specific teachings that don't we have a problem. It served
me well to realize Baha'u'llah truly is a Manifestation of God and
what He has revealed is pure Truth but our understanding is
continuously developing.
I eventually reached a point where I "just knew" what I was reading,
even though maybe seemingly to be a contradiction, was the truth and
it was me who was and is the problem.
As we develop by acquiring virtues and being obedient to the Covenant
and the House of Justice our understanding improves.
So I would pray and follow your heart's inspiration about who to
contact. Personally though I would research the Writings, go to the
House of Justice for advice, contact and ABM or Counselor rather than
an NSA.
God bless,
doug