was Baha'u'llah green?

[dyesneancyDex]

allah'u'abha to all,

my wife had an interesting question that i thought might be a good topic for my first post at this site.

was Baha'u'llah green?

did he make any observations about unfolding enviromental disaster that was growing in the late 19th century due to unchecked industrial system.

anyways thanks for the input ahead of time.

someone

[brettz9]

Welcome "someone",

Although it does not refer to specific prophecies in this connection, I think this compilation would be quite invaluable in highlighting the Baha'i attitude: http://bahai-library.com/?file=compilat ... _resources

She may also be interested also in that Baha'is were, as I have read, the only religious NGO at the first Earth Summit in Brazil...

As far as a specific prophecy, there is this quotation which is somewhat related:

"Strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would prove lethal."

(Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 69)

So, in sum, Baha'is believe that Baha'u'llah was not only "green", but anticipated and provides the best means for the solution of such problems:

We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.

No movement in the world directs its attention upon both these aspects of human life and has full measures for their improvement, save the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, a letter dated 17 February 1933 to an individual believer)

best wishes,
Brett

[Hasan]

Thought the teachings are green in a lot of aspects, I'd not classify Bahá'u'lláh in any narrow human denomination with its respective activities.

[Baha'i Warrior]

I agree with Hasan.

[dyesneancyDex]

Thought the teachings are green in a lot of aspects, I'd not classify Bahá'u'lláh in any narrow human denomination with its respective activities.

absolutly.

I was curious of any specific writings.

thanks for the links brett

[Sean H.]

Thought the teachings are green in a lot of aspects, I'd not classify Bahá'u'lláh in any narrow human denomination with its respective activities.

absolutly.

I was curious of any specific writings.

thanks for the links brett

To get at the social part of the issue, you need to explicate the anti-bourgeois, anti-capitalist romanticist origins of the "green" paradigm, and then look at how they were picked up by leftists/liberals and then postmoderns.

Here is some background that identifies some of the major historical currents that underlie the assumptions and values of much of the "green" environmental movement:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/P ... 2gwtnf.asp


At the extreme, the "green" movement is characterized by various kinds of fanatics, and some terrorists. They share an anti-science/technology tendency with other groups that hate western modernism (democracy, industrialization, middle class economic system, rationalism, science).

At its worst, "green" reanimates the elitism and snobbery of the european left, and then combines it with references to "premodern authenticity", hand mades items, and so forth that is contrasted to the lifestye of consumption of industrially mass-produced items that liberated slaves and peasants all over the planet.

http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illic ... cular.html

On the other hand, a great deal of value can be found in "systems theory" as applied to environmental analysis.

Here is an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_points

In the "spiritual world", one or two of the major branches of transformational psychology overlap with "nature worship", which ties back into pre-modern motifs in Sufi-Baha'i metaphysics as well as many other traditions/cultures.

Note that Baha'u'llah used imagery of the Divine Feminine in some of His more esoteric/mystical writings, which for many people will reinforce the idea of spirituality being a devotional practice revolving around nearness to God, love, embrace, nurturance. Those themes are very ancient, and are frequently associated with nature, fertility, and so forth, especially tribal life in a setting of "unspoiled nature" before "civilization" developed.

It might shock some westerners, but there are also "Sufi" themes that revolve around the primal force of creation ("eros") in Baha'u'llah's mystical writings. In reality, it isn't any more "racey" than reading about Adam and Eve in the old Testament.

Regards,
Eric