To an outsider, or a newcomer from Roman Catholicism, the Bahai community can look like a closed little club: only registered members can go to Feast and serve on Assemblies, there are ID cards for members (in some countries), and some Bahais (like me) are not allowed to be registered members. In fact, it's not so simple: there is more to the Bahai model of community than just membership lists.
Posted on Talisman9, 6 February 2007
A thread on Talisman in April 2007 discussed the statement of the NSA of the UK on homosexuality in sexual education in schools (October 1996). The case illustrates some general principles about how Bahai institutions can legitimately engage in political discussions.
Is the need for organised religion just a phase: can we transcend the organisational form and continue with an individual and spiritual religion?
Posted on Talisman9, 7 December 2007
Some thoughts on how the institutionalization of religion, and freedom in religion, fit together. This was in response to one of those nasty messages that attribute various silly ideas to me, and then condemn me for them. Usually I do not respond, but this one happened to come when I was thinking about the importance of institutions, and the quite peculiar structure of the Bahai institutions, which are quite unlike those of other religions.
Also some thoughts on Garlington's Baha'i Faith in America, which has been subjected to a nasty smear tactic: saying things about the book that are simply untrue, and then discussing them in the same breath with people and books that really are perverse.
Posted on Tarikh, 18 December 2007
There seems to be a shift in the American Bahai community, towards increasing numbers of Bahais not choosing to enroll and take up the duties and privileges of enrolled membership. This posting touches on the evidence for this, and criticises an explanation put forward by Moojan Momen in a recent paper in Religion.
Posted to Tarikh, 9 December 2007
The Bahai community in the USA grows by leaps and slumps. Lately it's been slumping, and a lot of people have been thinking about the causes and solutions. This is part of the conversation
Posted to Tarikh, 26 Feb 2007
The beliefs held by Bahais, and Bahai practices, have changed over time. Some of those labelled as "dissidents" by Moojan Momen, in an article published in Religion, are just ahead of the curve in the changes taking place in the Bahai community.
Posted to Tarikh, 26 November 2007