Search found 98 matches
- Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:54 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: killing for killing, branding the forehead of the thief ...
- Replies: 20
- Views: 31662
Hasan, I'm the "guest" of the second post. It gives my name automatically when I post from work, but not from home, and I often let it slide. Here's a bit of trouble-making over the Aqdas. Penalty for adultery is a fine of gold, "to be doubled with each offense." Now calculate how many acts of adult...
- Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:31 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Arabic / Persian question ("heart")
- Replies: 3
- Views: 9841
Arabic / Persian question ("heart")
Does anybody know--what word do the Bab and Baha'u'llah use for for "heart"? I mean the "heart" of the poets, not the muscle that pumps our blood. As I understand matters Persian distinguishes between "garb" (the muscle) and "del" (the metaphysical heart). I'm not sure about Arabic. So when Baha'u'l...
- Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:39 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Obedience to government...?
- Replies: 1
- Views: 7862
Obedience to government...?
What precisely does "obedience to government" entail? If the government is divided into different branches, or political parties, or regional levels, how does one decide which element of the government should receive this loyalty? Is a Baha'i allowed to challenge a governmental ruling through the co...
- Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:22 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: prayer versus "writing"
- Replies: 12
- Views: 21491
What is the Arabic or Persian word used for "meditation"? I am not sure what the Islamic equivalent would be, and wonder if this was a bit of creative translation. (A century ago, something called "meditation" in English became popular owing to the influence of Theosophists, who thought it reflected...
- Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:18 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: corrections
- Replies: 19
- Views: 32433
- Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:08 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Progress in China
- Replies: 14
- Views: 21445
- Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:21 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Progress in China
- Replies: 14
- Views: 21445
The Chinese government officially recognizes five religions: Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism (in a form that doesn't recognize the pope). All of these are supervised by national "patriotic" organizations. In addition to these, there exist an uncertain number of "house churche...
- Wed Jun 01, 2005 3:22 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: September 11th Predicted by Shoghi Effendi???
- Replies: 9
- Views: 22927
In this case there seem to be multiple, reasonably reliable sources reporting more or less the same sort of statement on S.E.'s part. Moreover, the things which he is reported as saying, are of a piece with other apocalyptic fantasies of the time (whether Christian, spiritualist, or cold-war). All t...
- Wed Jun 01, 2005 3:14 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: The Two Stolen Cases of Baha'u'llah's Last Papers
- Replies: 10
- Views: 16865
Why do you think Muhammad 'Ali "stole" something? Where is this story coming from? Assuming that these mss. collections really exist, or once existed, aren't these accusations of thievery a bit extreme--a form of backbiting, really? (Unless one of us has definite knowledge of what occurred.) Given t...
- Tue May 31, 2005 7:23 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: A prophet may come before the end of a thousand years
- Replies: 67
- Views: 95334
- Tue May 31, 2005 7:19 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: The Two Stolen Cases of Baha'u'llah's Last Papers
- Replies: 10
- Views: 16865
- Mon May 30, 2005 7:49 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: September 11th Predicted by Shoghi Effendi???
- Replies: 9
- Views: 22927
- Sun May 29, 2005 8:44 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Baha'i "Wish" Prayers? What are they?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 15746
- Tue May 24, 2005 7:45 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: A prophet may come before the end of a thousand years
- Replies: 67
- Views: 95334
Here's an idea. What if the activities of the UHJ had to be suspended for some reason--let's say its members were all killed during World War III--and some time went by without a functioning UHJ. By the time peace returned and elections were possible, divisions had arisen over the means of election....
- Sun May 22, 2005 7:13 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: A prophet may come before the end of a thousand years
- Replies: 67
- Views: 95334
Hey, here's a thought. Maybe Rael (that crazy French UFO guy, got in the news recently for claiming to clone people) IS your next prophet, and you're all going to hell for rejecting him! Except Majnun, who is going to hell for comparing him with Meher Baba. :D Well, it makes as much sense as anythin...
- Wed May 18, 2005 4:57 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: corrections
- Replies: 19
- Views: 32433
Now we are talking about several things at once, I think. Here's how I read you: 1. Baha'i is growing, not shrinking. (Based on national Canadian statistics and local Canadian observations.) I wish we had better information, and from many more parts of the world. I too am curious to know the true si...
- Tue May 17, 2005 7:16 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: corrections
- Replies: 19
- Views: 32433
And how many Canadians left the faith during these months, either by choice or through death? (Since many quietly drop out rather than formally disenroll, this information may be hard to come by.) Do you notice more and more people coming to the local groups with which you are familiar? How does the...
- Tue May 17, 2005 7:10 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: The Qur'an and taking away power from the corrupt.
- Replies: 1
- Views: 6834
- Mon May 02, 2005 7:45 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Feedback on website
- Replies: 6
- Views: 13961
I don't get this. What's the purpose of this site? To search for common terms or themes in the Bible, Qur'an, and Kitab-i-Aqdas? But you'd have translation problems between the multiple languages. Anyway why these three? Is it meant to be expanded to other texts later? (One would think Baha'is would...
- Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:26 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Budding Bahai
- Replies: 16
- Views: 34599
I've seen Douglas Martin's piece before. Martin is basically a Baha'i polemicist who objects to people who object to his religion. His major complaint is that Miller uses Azalis, Remey-ites, and other "covenant breakers" as major sources. Presumably he should have stuck with Nabil, Abdul-Baha, and t...
- Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:45 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Budding Bahai
- Replies: 16
- Views: 34599
As an introduction, I recommend "The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings" by William McElwee Miller. http://www.gospelcom.net/wclbooks/thebahaifaith/ For some reason Baha'is don't seem to like this book--perhaps because the author neglected to convert to Bahaism, or because he brings up some stu...
- Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:34 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Democratic-Peace and the Lesser Peace
- Replies: 9
- Views: 16874
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:58 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Noah's Flood?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 42097
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:36 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Noah's Flood?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 42097
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:33 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Happy New Year!!!
- Replies: 5
- Views: 13400
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:32 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: converting
- Replies: 8
- Views: 19833
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:27 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Is the Virginity so important for a bahá'í?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 46179
"Love is a promise without a guarantee." --Milan Kundera "The courts are not a remedy for every one of life's ills." --some U.S. judge, throwing out a lawsuit by a high school girl whose boyfriend broke up with her before the prom One of the wisest things I ever read about relationships was, oddly e...
- Tue Mar 22, 2005 5:49 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Baha'i colours??
- Replies: 3
- Views: 12356
- Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:27 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Noah's Flood?
- Replies: 24
- Views: 42097
Some of you may be interested in William Ryan and Walter Pittman's book "Noah's Flood." The authors are geologists who study the former Black Sea coastline, circa 6,800 BC, when it was a fresh-water lake about half its present size. Then the waters of the Mediterranean poured in, swiftly destroying ...
- Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:20 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Is the Virginity so important for a bahá'í?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 46179
Hasan. no--I'm not a Baha'i. By "regressive" I mean basically, a step backwards from the best, wisest, or most enlightened voices in the world today. Mat suggests that this was a concession to Baha'u'llah's immediate cultural context. Fine, so should we start regarding parts of the Baha'i faith as s...
- Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:24 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Is the Virginity so important for a bahá'í?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 46179
- Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:25 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Is the Virginity so important for a bahá'í?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 46179
Ok, I think virginity refers to any form of sex, oral, anal, vaginal and more than that any 'genital contact'. Hasan, did you really mean to include kissing? A more precise definition of "sexual contact" was attempted by Bill Clinton's judge (who however missed one crucial possibility). Brett, if t...
- Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:37 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: converting
- Replies: 8
- Views: 19833
And here is a website on Bahaism from a Christian point of view. With many links to ex-Baha'is, critics, and so on. (For the democratic response.)
http://www.bahai-faith.com/
http://www.bahai-faith.com/
- Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:33 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Manifestation vs. Prophet
- Replies: 18
- Views: 33007
Baha'i writers often favor "manifestation" (or "prophet-founder") as a description of Baha'u'llah's role, because to Christians, "prophet" suggests a figure like Elijah or Isaiah--i.e. a saintly person who is favored by God and entrusted with some divine mession, yet subordinate to Jesus. "Godhead" ...
- Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:16 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
The two big problems are (1) apparently contradictory, but equally authoritative, recommendations on behalf of Arabic and (reformed) Esperanto; and (2) apparently contradictory descriptions of a future linguistic order featuring one auxilliary language, in which other tongues continue to flourish; o...
- Sun Mar 06, 2005 11:59 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Masturbation
- Replies: 54
- Views: 94258
- Sun Mar 06, 2005 8:40 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Masturbation
- Replies: 54
- Views: 94258
- Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:27 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: what should I do after my husband commit the adultery?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 17709
Without drawing any conclusions about what your husband did or didn't do with the woman in her pajamas, you should know that most men instinctively view the women around them in terms of their sexual potential. (Whether we act on our desire is another story.) You can't change this short of gelding u...
- Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:44 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Persian Bayan
- Replies: 6
- Views: 16183
- Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:39 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: what should I do after my husband commit the adultery?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 17709
May I suggest marriage counseling? The therapist will typically want to talk to each of you individually, and also both together. Since both of you apparently want to stay married, you will stay married. But rebuilding trust is another matter. If it helps, infidelity is a very, very common problem (...
- Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:38 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
I feel the same way about race unity! I think your feeling is shared by many, perhaps most, Baha'is, who are no longer enthusiastic about Esperanto or any other world language scheme (though they of course believe in the idea in principle). I've heard many say that English will inevitably become, or...
- Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:10 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Does Bahai faith have any flaws?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 22666
Here's something I got e-mailed, which seems directly relevant since it discusses perceived flaws *of the faith* (not of the writings, or of particular followers of the faith). Apologies for the length, but it strikes me as very well considered. March 21, 1999 The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bah...
- Sun Feb 20, 2005 7:44 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
It looks to me like Baha'i writings, taken together, give vague and confused advice about this language thing. (Esperanto or Arabic? Auxillary or sole surviving language?) Some specifications even appear contradictory. In any case, I thought the choice was to be made (according to the Baha'i scenari...
- Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:44 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
AA: Thanks - and is “kumquat” also reasonably close? I have no idea what language that's from. It couldn't be Mandarin. P.S. I looked it up. One site says it IS from Mandarin, but the Mandarin sounds like "jin ji" or 'jin jie" (golden small-tangerine?) or "jin guo" (gold fruit). Another says it come...
- Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:57 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
But if you think that cultures cannot be defined, then doesn't that mean that people will possess multiple cultures and inevitably be a minority in some sense in their own country? I think they are defined through national struggle--through blood, if you will. Any group of fools can start their own...
- Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:22 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
AA: What about Chinese words such as “tea, tycoon, kumquat, lychee, chop-suey, chow-mein” which have entered English? These are good examples, except "tea" (cha, chai) which is not any form of Chinese that I know of. "Lychee" sounds completely different in English than in Mandarin (li-chr). "Chop-su...
- Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:53 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Brett: Our Writings do not proposed an overcentralized world state, by the way. They refer to the ceding of "certain" rights. Its watchword is "unity-in-diversity". It's hard to imagine anybody advocating an "over-" centralized state, any more than they would declare their religion to be the world's...
- Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:08 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Chinese has a mixture of one-character "words" and two- or more character "compounds." (The definition of "word" is a point of debate.) As an analogy, how many English words are of only one syllable? Most of them if you go by frequency of usage, much less if you look at the word-list in a dictionary...
- Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:50 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Was Tahirih "on intimate terms" with Quddus?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 14058
- Tue Dec 28, 2004 2:55 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
A key problem with a centralized world state is that it would be dominated either by the largest ethnic populations (Chinese and Indians), if voting is allocated that way; or by those parts of the world with the most voting districts (Europe), if each country is to have one representative. Either wa...
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 8:20 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Brett, your link just leads to a statement that there should be some kind of council devoted to studying national borders. It doesn't say who should be on it (or in what proportions), or on what basis they should make their decisions. The meaning of "autonomy" is profoundly unclear to me. Does it st...
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:11 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
While we're mulling over a hypothetical language council, in Taiwan the government is mulling over real-life decisions related to language choice. You probably think your council would be different / better; I'm not so sure. Some background: Prior to the 1980's, Taiwan was a one-party dictatorship--...
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:26 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Was Tahirih "on intimate terms" with Quddus?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 14058
Uh, purely academic. (That is kind of what this site is for, right?) Come on, these people have been dead for 150 years. And considering that they were two of the most important Babi leaders, wouldn't this change the dynamic a bit to learn this? Is having another relationship after divorce (possibly...
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:16 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Bahai adopted the best of all religion, especially Hinduism
- Replies: 4
- Views: 10285
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:27 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Was Tahirih "on intimate terms" with Quddus?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 14058
Was Tahirih "on intimate terms" with Quddus?
William Miller writes of Tahirih / Qurrat al-'Ayn: Hence her freedom of travelling about the country with the Babi chiefs scandalized many people, and there was probably some ground for criticism of her disregard of convention. It appears that some of the Babis considered this period a time of freed...
- Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:07 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Should Year 1 of the Babi calendar = AD 1850?
- Replies: 0
- Views: 8442
Should Year 1 of the Babi calendar = AD 1850?
From William Miller's "Baha'i Faith" book: The declaration of the Bab in Shiraz on May 23, 1844 A.D. was on Jamad-i-Awwal 5, 1260 A.H., and it has been generally supposed that the Babi Era began on that date, or on the No Ruz which preceded it (March 20, 1844).(31) However, from the Bab’s personal D...
- Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:24 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
It's like this: neither Stalin nor the People's Republic of China wanted to encourage pan-Turkism, so they insisted on dividing mutually intelligible dialects of what was once called "Turki". Several different orthographies (Roman, Cyrillic, Arabic) have been promoted at different times and places. ...
- Thu Dec 23, 2004 2:50 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Brett: Now, for Chinese, one could reduce the number somewhat if one gave primacy to the written language. That's a bit like saying that the number of European languages could be reduced if we focus on the fact that most of them use the Roman alphabet. The difference between "dialect" and "language"...
- Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:51 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
AA: I thought the four Mandarin tones were used to distinguish words that would otherwise be pronounced identically. Yes, that's fair. The tones are high or low, and level, rising or falling - but there surely has to be a fixed standard sound for the tones to be rising or falling against. So is ther...
- Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:44 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: How many bahá'ís are in the World?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 26173
Yes, that's very true. I just read somebody's memoir about life in Kiribati, who said that he had heard that Baha'is aren't supposed to proselytize, and said it must be true because after knowing some for two years, he still had no idea what they believed! But I have heard that you do agonize about ...
- Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:40 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: How many bahá'ís are in the World?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 26173
janine says: What you say about Islam, Buddhism etc. is not fair in this content, since they have been around for much much longer than the Bahai faith. Since Baha'is don't accept the existence of any other independent religions which are roughly the same age as they are (ignoring the Babis for a mi...
- Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:39 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: Baha'i and the Unforgivable Sin
- Replies: 6
- Views: 17989
- Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:32 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: How many bahá'ís are in the World?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 26173
Does anyone refute that it is the 2nd most wide spread religion right behind Christianity? Me! Me! Well technically, this would depend on the meaning of (a) widespread, and (b) religion. I fear that Baha'is have artificially manipulated these in their favor. What does "widespread" mean? Baha'is thi...
- Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:45 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: How many bahá'ís are in the World?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 26173
Well, one reason is simple curiosity. Don't YOU want to know how many of you there are? Another reason is that the more of you there are, the more important your religion is. That's not the ONLY thing that might make your religion important (age is another good one, nifty philosophy could be another...
- Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:02 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Setting aside my natural skepticism for a moment, and looking at this as an engineer would (although I'm not one), how could a project like this work? First, there is the matter of procedure. A lot of people have had the feeling of being divinely inspired--including the creator of Volapuk, which was...
- Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:09 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: How many bahá'ís are in the World?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 26173
Well, how would you suggest we answer a question like this? Since it's not possible to conduct a worldwide poll, I suggest the most realistic numbers would come from checking the Baha'is own figures, and finding out to what extent these are reliable. You can do this on your own. Anytime you go trave...
- Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:02 pm
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
Brett says: And if it is not the will of the people of the world (as shown by a global represenative meeting to decide the topic)... If we believe in democracy, giving a choice should be the way to go. A key question becomes, who are to be the electorate? (If territorial-based, what is the voting di...
- Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:26 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: The Apocrypha
- Replies: 4
- Views: 13182
I believe there is some confusion here. I and II Maccabees etc. are considered canonical by the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Oriental Churches, but not by Jews or Protestants (because they were written in Greek, not Hebrew). These are sometimes referred to as the "Apocrypha," but are in an entirely...
- Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:04 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
I use Internet Explorer, and the underlining effect happens in the FAQ file. Ha ha, and you could call the group the "Universal Language Auxiliary"! Your assumption that language usage can or should be legislated from on high (government or religious body or supranational entity) rather than evolvin...
- Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:52 am
- Forum: Discussion
- Topic: World Auxiliary Language
- Replies: 113
- Views: 165015
A few suggestions, if I may...? Brett, if there is ever a future World McLanguage, I hope to dear God that it will not allow every word and every sentence to be underlined, as you have done on your site. :? Have you considered having both "for" and "against" columns? Maybe side-by-side, so there cou...