As far as I understand the Baha'i Teachings encourage modesty in ones dress. If that is the case what happens at the beach?

Hi, anonyM. You bring lots of interesting questions to this forum!

Two short simple answers jump to mind. One, dress and modesty are obviously relative and culturally-defined; what's modest for a Japanese person in winter might be radically different from what's modest for a Brazilian in summer! Two, the writings of Shoghi Effendi disallow "nudism" (though not "nudity").

There are many Baha'i writings which do touch on modesty. See them by doing a keyword search at the official Sacred Writings website, http://reference.bahai.org/search?lang=en&query=modesty

Narrowing the search to "modesty + dress" brings up only this quote, from Advent of Divine Justice:

See http://bahai9.com/wiki/Sex_and_dress and http://bahai9.com/wiki/Sex_and_the_arts for some additional quotations.

Although I personally agree with Jonah's assessment about there being some cultural relativity here, I don't think the Baha'i quotations on modesty would be very meaningful if they could all be explained away in this way.

Here is the quotation I believe, Jonah, you must be referring to:



My personal sense is that the context here is referring to nudity in art, not that it would be sanctioned on the beach (as it is no doubt one of the "amusements" where a chaste and holy life is to apply and "a chaste and holy life...must be upheld, in all its integrity and implications, in every phase of the life of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their travels, their clubs, their societies, their entertainments, their schools, and their universities." (Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 29-30)).

As far as dress at the beach, even in the U.S. in the not distant past, people would wear more modest clothing. The Baha'i Writings might not spell out specific guidelines (there is one pilgrim's note, cited at the site above, another part of which having been endorsed by an authoritative source as legitimate, where there are some specifics for women, but pilgrim's notes are not considered authoritative), but conscientious Baha'is will no doubt increasingly feel the need to adhere to the words that "the obligation of chastity and holiness must claim an increasing share of the attention of the American believers" (Advent of Divine Justice, p. 29) and "not content themselves merely with relative distinction and excellence" (A Chaste and Holy Life, no. 7), especially as Shoghi Effendi gave such high prominence to these teachings for the American believers and since the Universal House of Justice has more recently drawn attention to them. Adherence to these teachings are associated with the potential for success in teaching work as well as being important in and of themselves, since "absolute chastity" is one of the three "spiritual prerequisites of success" which "stand out as preeminent and vital", on whose manner of fulfillment "must depend the measure of the manifold blessings which the All-Bountiful Possessor can vouchsafe to them all" and which "constitute the bedrock on which the security of all teaching plans, Temple projects, and financial schemes, must ultimately rest" (Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 21-22) and since Bahá'í youth combining "such personal purity with an attitude of uncensorious forbearance towards others...will find that those who may have criticized or even mocked them will come, in time, to respect them." (From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to a Local Spiritual Assembly, July 9, 1973, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1213).

We have a long way to go on this, I think, especially since in this age of maturity, the codification of minute details regulating behavior has been avoided (as has been open blame of others), leaving it more to the maturity and conscience of the individual (except in the area of administrative/community activities, where Assemblies are charged with protecting the community, albeit again, without tending to focus on assigning blame for these details which require gradual accustomization and education at the community level).

Best wishes,
Brett

The authoritative Baha'i Writings--which is our only firm guidance here, only say, to my knowledge, what is in those links I provided in my last post. And if you were not aware of it (I'm guessing you are a new Baha'i or someone studying it closely?), this is a very important point:



I was just arguing earlier that from the point of view of reason, there must be some kind of standard here, if there is to be any meaning to "modesty" (and since there are certain physical features which tend to be arousing bio-physically speaking, and with at least "books that arouse the passions" and "mental fantasies" (of that nature) to be avoided, as with the standards for dancers not to be "indecently clad"), but since there is no authoritative guidance of which I am aware which details specifics, and since typically the Baha'i Writings do not attempt to set out rules for every situation*, I don't think there is much else to say about it. That is up to the individual believer; perhaps it is like giving to the Baha'i Fund; the community is urged to give to it, but no one can tell you an exact amount to donate. The National Spiritual Assembly has the right to offer guidance in specific contexts**, but again, not to codify hard-and-fast rules.

As far as tribes, yes, I think you are right that such people may gradually become accustomed to civilized society, and the Baha'i Writings offer specific guidance on how to teach such groups, observing that



The same is true with Baha'i laws:



Best wishes,
Brett

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