Contradiction, Crisis, and the American Mind

From the beginning America has been a nation of moral contradictions that precipitate moral crises. One way in which this dynamic has been clearly dramatized has been in the painful history of race relations. A nation based on the highest ideals of personal freedom also enshrined the “peculiar institution” of chattel slavery into its constitution. This moral contradiction would eventually precipitate a civil war that nearly destroyed a young republic. The Civil War eventually ended, but the contradiction continued in Jim Crow segregation of the South and the ghettoization and disenfranchisement of blacks in the North. Twice, America sent its black sons and daughters to battle abroad for the freedom of other peoples, yet continued to deny them that same freedom at home. A Civil Rights Movement erupted from the legacy of what the Civil War had failed to adequately achieve. The images of savage violence perpetrated against black men, women and children striving peacefully for a better America, stirred the moral consciousness of millions. People marched, laws were passed and it seemed that finally the dynamic of contradiction and crisis would come to an end and a new, integrated, just and free America would emerge. Sadly, the United States in the 21^st century is still struggling with the same moral contradictions that appear deeply entrenched in the American mind. As in the past, these contradictions have precipitated the very crises that thoughtful men and women of all backgrounds wrestle with throughout our nation. We pride ourselves on being a country distinguished as a promised land of opportunity for immigrants, yet seem intent on criminalizing and dehumanizing so called “illegals” while simultaneously allowing corporate interests to exploit their desperation. We rightfully chastise Middle Eastern leaders for their lack of commitment to democracy, while believing we can promote democracy at gunpoint. We relish the material benefits of our free market economy while allowing the development of a global economic order that denies those same benefits to our fellow human beings. My point is not there are no Americans who recognize these contradictions and work to change them. My point is to say that the ways in which these contradictions get played out in the behavior of individuals and in public policy have become so deeply woven into the very fabric of our society that we may not fully appreciate the profound spiritual, moral and psychological transformation necessary to overcome them.

Baha’u’llah offers some insight into the spiritual nature of the moral contradiction that I have been trying to describe:

Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities. Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be...How bewildering, how confusing is such behavior! No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 218)

Say: Beware, O people of Baha, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 304)

My understanding of these verses is that moral contradiction is a reflection of the absence of what Baha’u’llah refers to as “inward” unity, a state of profound integration of spirit and mind, what some would describe as integrity. When this integration of spirit and mind is lacking it is reflected in behavior that is destructive to human relationships, so that we experience “outward” disunity. This integration of spirit and mind expressed in action is the definition of faith in the Baha’i Writings: By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds. (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 382)

The resolution of this state of moral contradiction involves the profound spiritual, psychological and moral transformation that I mentioned earlier. It is an issue of transforming human character. Such a transformation is the purpose of all divine Revelation and those Blessed Figures of history Who manifest the knowledge and love of God have been uniquely empowered to accomplish it:

...is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions? For if the character of mankind be not changed, the futility of God's universal Manifestations would be apparent. (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 240)

"For Such a Time As This", Esther and the Purpose of Privilege

(A picture of Queen Esther)

I often think about the divine standard given in the Gospel, "To whom much is given, much will be required". As a profoundly privileged black American I meditate on the meaning of this divine standard every day and try to live out its implications. It reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the Hebrew Bible about the purpose of privilege, the story of Esther. Esther had been favored with ascending from being a common person to being Queen of a foreign empire that ruled over her people. A time came when a powerful enemy arose intent upon her people's destruction. She was faced with a challenge, use her position to save her people and risk possible exposure and death herself, or keep silent:

Then Mordecai bade them to return answer unto Esther: 'Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such a time as this?' (emphasis mine) (Kesuvim (Writings), Esther)

This kind of moral challenge is mentioned at the end of Peggy McIntosh's article, "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies" (1988)

Although systemic change takes many decades, there are pressing questions for me and, I imagine, for some others like me if we raise our daily consciousness on the perquisites of being light-skinned. What will we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching men, it is an open question whether we will choose to use unearned advantage, and whether we will use any of our arbitrarily awarded power to try to reconstruct power systems on a broader base. (emphasis, mine)

I have to come to understand that the purpose of any privilege I possess, whether earned or unearned is to use it to empower others and serve the cause of justice. To wallow in self-pity and guilt over such privilege is an exercise in narcissism that accomplishes nothing and serves no one. One of the greatest betrayals in human relationships occurs when those blessed with the power of privilege fail to exercise that power in critical moments when it could have made all the difference. Baha'u'llah asks the following question of those blessed with privilege who fail to use it in the service of justice:

If ye stay not the hand of the oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men? What is it of which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food and your drink that ye pride yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the diversity and the cost of the ornaments with which ye deck yourselves? (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 252)

As I strive to fulfill the true purpose of those privileges I possess, I strive to meet the challenge inherent in becoming a true Baha'i:

Let your actions cry aloud to the world that you are indeed Bahá'ís, for it is actions that speak to the world and are the cause of the progress of humanity. If we are true Bahá'ís speech is not needed...Therefore strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers. Turn towards God, and seek always to do that which is right and noble. Enrich the poor, raise the fallen, comfort the sorrowful, bring healing to the sick, reassure the fearful, rescue the oppressed, bring hope to the hopeless, shelter the destitute! This is the work of a true Bahá'í, and this is what is expected of him. If we strive to do all this, then are we true Bahá'ís, but if we neglect it, we are not followers of the Light, and we have no right to the name. God, who sees all hearts, knows how far our lives are the fulfilment of our words. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 80)

Enemies of the State?

(As you can see from this photo of some of the Baha'is recently arrested in Shiraz, they are a dangerous group of people.)

As expected, things are getting worse and worse for the Baha'is in Iran as the current regime plays it's usual tricks to distract peoplesfrom its own morally bankrupt system. The latest is that Iranian officials arbitrarily arrested 54 Baha'is in Shiraz. The Baha'i World News Service has the story, the opening paragraphs are below:

NEW YORK, 24 May 2006 (BWNS) -- Iranian officials have arrested 54 Baha'is in the city of Shiraz, the Baha'i International Community has learned. They are mostly youth and were all engaged in humanitarian service when they were arrested. It is one of the largest number of Baha'is taken at once since the 1980s. The specific charges are not clear, though in the past, Baha'is have been arrested summarily on false charges.

The arrests occurred on Friday, 19 May, while the Baha'is, along with several other volunteers who were not Baha'is, were teaching classes to underprivileged children in a school as part of a UNICEF community service activity conducted by a local non-governmental organization. At the time of the arrests, they had in their possession a letter of permission from the Islamic Council of Shiraz. They also carried the letter of permission in each of their classes.

The nature of the charges against the Baha'is is unknown at this time. The day following the arrests, a judge told family members that the detainees would be freed soon. As of today, it appears that all of the non-Baha'is and one Baha'i junior youth have been released without having to post bail.

The arrests coincided with raids on six Baha'i homes during which notebooks, computers, books, and other documents were confiscated. In the last 14 months, 72 Baha'is across Iran have been arrested and held for up to several weeks. (Read the whole article here)

Message to the Mullahs: Your oppression of a people who's only crime is that their beliefs differ from your own has and will continue to accomplish nothing other than to bring shame to yourselves. I will pray that your eyes and your hearts will open to this truth.

Black in the Box: The Color-line is a Cage

I was just reading an article in the Boston Globe about the furor that has erupted at Boston College over Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice serving as commencement speaker.

Though the objections to Rice's speaking at BC are mostly focused on people's ire regarding the Iraq war, it made me think of something that has been on my mind for say, 31 years now. One of the frequent and most vicious criticisms made of Secretary Rice is that she is an "uncle Tom" and a "race traitor", a servile ally of the "white man". Such criticisms are frequently leveled at other black Americans who I respect (though often disagree with) such as Lashawn Barber, or Shelby Steele. The unforgiveable crime which such people stand accused of is daring to offend the orthodoxy of racial identity politics as adhered to by many in the black community and actively promoted by those considered to be our "leaders". These "uppity Negroes" actually have the nerve to (gasp!) think for themselves! Orthodoxy demands obedience and the boundaries of "blackness" are rigorously policed by those who have the privilege of deciding who is "black enough" and who is not. I've known such people my whole life and have been frequently stopped at the color-line and asked "Papers please!" Sadly, what is considered "black enough" often closely resembles those very dehumanizing stereotypes hatched in the minds of our former slave masters. Ironically, folks who are not black seem to have no problem recognizing that I am a black man without subjecting me to an ethnic litmus test to see if I measure up to their imagination. What is so scary about the possibility that there might be more than one way to live out one's blackness in the world and to understand who we are, where we've been, and where we need to go? I believe that the essence of the "who's black/who's not" mentality is about power, the power to define your own reality and then impose that on others. Such a mentality is not unusual among enslaved, colonized and oppressed people throughout the world and reflects a psychospiritual internalization of the very worldview that such people are struggling against. This is why so often when people manage to free themselves from oppression, they immediately recreate the very relationships and social order they claimed to be fighting against. I find it hard to believe that my ancestors struggled so hard for the freedom to define themselves and determine their own destiny so that today some black person who doesn't even know me gets to decide how I think, how I talk, how I dress, what music I listen to, who I can marry and on and on! Black people need to stop calling each other names and focus on our healing and moral and spiritual empowerment to contribute as equals to the building of a just, free and united America.

"...America, is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble."
('Abdu'l-Baha, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 6)

Talking Back Continues

(Egyptian Flag)

Below are some responses from readers to the Al-Ahram article about the "Baha'i Question" in Egypt.Keep speaking truth to power my friends!

Sir-- There is no one named Misson who was ever made leader of the Baha'i faith ('The others' Al-Ahram Weekly 11-17 May). The head of the Baha'i community from 1921-1957 was Shoghi Effendi Rabbani. In 1963, the Baha'is elected, from among all Baha'is in the world, the nine men of the Universal House of Justice, which is the community's governing body. Those nine men come from many places including Iran, Africa, Europe, America and Asia. The Baha'i faith's world centre is in Haifa and Akko because its founder, Baha'ullah, was exiled there by the Iranian and Ottoman authorities in 1868, long before the establishment of the state of Israel. The Mosque of Al-Aqsa is in Jerusalem, now ruled by Israel, yet you do not attack your fellow Muslims as being in league with Zionism because your own holy place is there. Do not Muslims send endowments to the sacred Muslim shrines in Jerusalem? Why constantly call the Baha'is "Zionists" and "spies" because our holy places are there and we send funds for their upkeep? Our funds go only to the Baha'i endowments there just as yours go only to the Islamic endowments.

Baha'is are categorically forbidden to engage in political activity, sedition, and dissension. We are not permitted to interfere with government affairs. We only seek to practice our faith without fear.

William Collins
Virginia
USA

Sir-- There is no respectable evidence at all that the Baha'is are "Israeli spies", have "strong links with global Zionism in both theory and practice", or "were notorious for being instrumental in helping the British occupation of India". The Baha'i faith is recognised as a world religion and is respected for the contribution that it makes towards inter-faith dialogue, women's rights, and social and economic development.

Behyar Nikravan
Bedfordshire
UK

Sir-- Baha'i is not a cult and it is not founded in Israel. It comes from Persia. They are not atheists. They believe wholly in God so if you want to call it a cult, then call all religions cults.

The Baha'i faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. It is based on the teachings of Baha'ullah (1817-1892), who is regarded by Baha'is as the most recent in a line of messengers of God. Baha'ullah taught that there is only one God and one human family, that all religions represent progressive stages in the revelation of God's will, and that humanity is reaching its long-awaited stage of maturity, when a peaceful and just world order can finally be realised.

Jane Meadows
New York
USA

Egyptian Baha'is Suffer a Reversal

Hey Pharaoh! LET MY PEOPLE GO!


The latest news out of Egypt is irritating but not too surprising.

CAIRO, 16 May (IRIN) - Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court decided on 15 May to suspend the implementation of an earlier lower court ruling that allowed Bahais to have their religion recognised on official documents.
"While [we are] disappointed by the decision to suspend the administrative court ruling…it is important to note that the Supreme Administrative Court has yet to decide on the merits of the case," read a press statement issued by the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Private Rights (EIPR). The earlier ruling, made on 4 April, was passed after a case was filed by a Bahai couple whose official documentation – on which their affiliation to Bahaism was stated – had been confiscated by the state. The ruling quickly became the epicentre of controversy in parliament, led by members of both the ruling National Democratic Party and the banned-but-tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, after which the interior ministry quickly filed an appeal to overturn the ruling. "We have no issue with people describing themselves as followers of beliefs not recognised by Islam," prominent Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abul Futouh said on 7 May. "What must be appealed is a ruling allowing followers of unrecognised faiths to describe themselves as followers of a religion in official documents when it's not technically a religion." According to the EIPR statement, the Supreme Administrative Court has denied a request by the defence team for a postponement of the suspension until its members could present a written rebuttal. Officials at the Supreme Administrative Court meanwhile declined to comment.Informal estimates suggest that there are approximately 2,000 Bahais currently resident in Egypt. Founded in Iran in the 19th century, the movement's spiritual and administrative homes are now respectively located in Akka and Haifa, Israel.

I find the statement by the "prominent" member of the Muslim Brotherhood to be particularly bizarre:

"We have no issue with people describing themselves as followers of beliefs not recognised by Islam," prominent Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abul Futouh said on 7 May. "What must be appealed is a ruling allowing followers of unrecognised faiths to describe themselves as followers of a religion in official documents when it's not technically a religion."

What in the world is he talking about? So people can "describe" themselves as Baha'is, just not on "official" documents because the Baha'i Faith is "not technically a religion". Does he mean that the Baha'is can go around with big bright T-Shirts saying "I'm a Baha'i" but they can't put the word "Baha'i" on their birth certificate?! As for the Baha'i Faith not "technically being a religion", if the second most geographically wide-spread faith community after Christianity that has it's own independent scripture, laws, calendar, Holy Days, administrative system, places of worship and Holy sites is not a "religion" then what on earth is a religion? I have no problem with people expressing differences of interpretation or understanding regarding the teachings of Baha'u'llah relative to Islam, but when people make statements like the one made by this member of the Muslim Brotherhood, they expose the fact that they really know nothing at all about the Baha'i Faith. The decision of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court is a step backward for all the people of Egypt, not just Baha'is. Seems like not much has changed in Egypt since the days of Moses.

4,21 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. (Torah (Law), Shemos (Exodus))

Race and American Insecurity

(Firemen unfurl an American flag over the Pentagon after the September 11, attacks)

Conservative African American author, Shelby Steele has a truly fascinating (whether you agree with it or not) article in the Opinion Journal called, White Guilt and the Western Past
Why is America so delicate with the enemy? A portion of this remarkable article is included below:

America and the broader West are now going through a rather tender era, a time when Western societies have very little defense against the moral accusations that come from their own left wings and from those vast stretches of nonwhite humanity that were once so disregarded.

Europeans are utterly confounded by the swelling Muslim populations in their midst. America has run from its own mounting immigration problem for decades, and even today, after finally taking up the issue, our government seems entirely flummoxed. White guilt is a vacuum of moral authority visited on the present by the shames of the past. In the abstract it seems a slight thing, almost irrelevant, an unconvincing proposition. Yet a society as enormously powerful as America lacks the authority to ask its most brilliant, wealthy and superbly educated minority students to compete freely for college admission with poor whites who lack all these things. Just can't do it.

Whether the problem is race relations, education, immigration or war, white guilt imposes so much minimalism and restraint that our worst problems tend to linger and deepen. Our leaders work within a double bind. If they do what is truly necessary to solve a problem--win a war, fix immigration--they lose legitimacy.

To maintain their legitimacy, they practice the minimalism that makes problems linger. What but minimalism is left when you are running from stigmatization as a "unilateralist cowboy"? And where is the will to truly regulate the southern border when those who ask for this are slimed as bigots? This is how white guilt defines what is possible in America. You go at a problem until you meet stigmatization, then you retreat into minimalism. (Read the whole thing here)

The Baha'i Writings describe racism as the "most vital and challenging issue" facing America, the elimination of which is a prerequisite for the fulfillment America's destiny in the world which is to become a nation of spiritual distinction and leadership that will rally all the other nations into that Peace promised in all the Holy Books. These writings describe racism as a "corrosion of which,...has bitten into the fiber, and attacked the whole social structure of American society" that Americans must cast, "away once and for all the fallacious doctrine of racial superiority, with all its attendant evils, confusion, and miseries" and "demonstrate to the world at large" our freedom "from the taint of those prejudices which have already wrought such havoc in the domestic affairs, as well as the foreign relationships, of the nations". (Selections quoted from The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi)

Though Shelby Steele is right to acknowledge that many white Americans have, "achieved a truly remarkable moral transformation" relative to their overt rejection of white supremacy, the psychospiritual legacy of racism has not simply disappeared because of the successes of the Civil Rights Movement. The following statement about racism from the Promise of World Peace addressed to the peoples of the world by the Universal House of Justice, offers insight into what
I mean by the "psychospiritual legacy of racism":

Racism, one of the most baneful and persistent evils, is a major barrier to peace. Its practice perpetrates too outrageous a violation of the dignity of human beings to be countenanced under any pretext. Racism retards the unfoldment of the boundless potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetrators, and blights human progress.
(The Universal House of Justice, 1985 Oct, The Promise of World Peace, p. 3)

One of the limitations that I've always noticed in the analysis of "progress" made by minority groups is that progress is generally measured in a purely materialistic, egocentric way. If more minorities are able to enjoy the benefits of a free market economy or some legal protections or experience less bigotry directed at them as individuals then it means that the problem of race has been solved. Steele's article makes it clear though that the psychospiritual legacy lingers and continues, as the Baha'i Writings point out, to wreak "havoc in the domestic affairs, as well as the foreign relationships, of the nations." We have reached a point in our nation's history where we seem unable to have a rational discussion about domestic or foreign policy because whether we like it or not, race keeps coming up in the equation. We can't talk about Hurricane Katrina, immigration reform, the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, education, health care, the criminal justice system, genocide in Darfur, HIV/AIDS in Africa, or any number of other compelling issues facing us because it quickly becomes a shouting match of "you're a racist", "no I'm not!" In a post 911 world, not being able to deal adequately with the psychospiritual impact of racism on our society exposes our nation to dire peril. It is perhaps this very peril that was meant by a statement attributed to 'Abdu'l-Baha , the son of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith and leader of the Baha'i community from 1892-1921, during an interview with a Baha'i in the early part of the last century:

"If the races do not come to agreement, there can be no question or doubt of bloodshed. When I was in America, I told the white and the colored people that it was incumbent upon them to be united or else there would be the shedding of blood. I did not say more than this that they might not be saddened. But, indeed, there is a greater danger than only the shedding of blood. It is the destruction of America. Because aside from racial prejudice there is another agitating factor. It is that of America's enemies. These enemies are agitating both sides, that is, they are stirring up the white race against the colored race and the colored race against the white race. But of this the Americans are submerged in the sea of ignorance...Now is the time for the Americans to take up this matter...Otherwise, hasten ye towards destruction! Hasten ye toward devastation!"

It is time for the American people of all races to unite, to heal our wounds, and fulfill our true destiny as a nation. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate. Politics, economics and social engineering have taken us as far as they can. It is time to call on the one power which can save us from ourselves:

"...there is need of a superior power to overcome human prejudices, a power which nothing in the world of mankind can withstand and which will overshadow the effect of all other forces at work in human conditions. That irresistible power is the love of God." (Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 68)

Talking Back to Egyptian Critics of the Baha'i Faith

(David prepares to lay the almighty "smack down" on Goliath. Don't people learn anything from history?)

The struggle against recognition of the status of Baha'is in Egypt as members of an independent world religion continues as political, religious and cultural leaders and everyday folks debate the "Baha'i Question" in the media.

The Weekly Ahram features one of the latest articles detailing this debate.

Truthexaminer systematically knocks down all the false accusations and misinformation in the Ahram article.

An Egyptian Blogger attacks the Baha'is as a threat to national security.

My man Marco in Portugal gives this blogger a good "smack down".

A free thinking blogger in Egypt ask some refreshing questions about this whole issue with great humor and sums up his opinion of what this is really all about:

"Again I am ignorant of the Bahaai faith, but in this controversy it appears to be only our ignorance and prejudice talking so far."

No doubt my brother, no doubt! For Baha'is of course none of this is new as it has been this way since the inception of our Faith more than a century and a half ago. Our critics will continue their unsuccessful campaign to destroy us, particularly in the Middle East, and Baha'is will continue doing what we've always done, promoting the oneness of humankind.

Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! Such is God's transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things....Consider at all times the sovereignty exercised by the Ideal King, and behold the evidences of His power and paramount influence. Sanctify your ears from the idle talk of them that are the symbols of denial and the exponents of violence and anger.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 72)

The Pursuit of a Pain Free America

As you know I am a mental health professional working in the field of additions and I absolutely love it! I recently heard a discussion on National Public Radio about the public health crisis of people abusing prescription medications. Below is the introduction to a research report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that describes this disturbing phenomenon:

The nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs is a serious and growing public health problem in this country. The elderly are among those most vulnerable to prescription drug abuse or misuse because they are prescribed more medications than their younger counterparts. Most people take prescription medications responsibly; however, an estimated 48 million people (ages 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons in their lifetimes. This represents approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population.

Also alarming is the fact that the 2004 National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA's) Monitoring the Future survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th-graders found that 9.3 percent of 12th-graders reported using Vicodin without a prescription in the past year, and 5.0 percent reported using OxyContin-making these medications among the most commonly abused prescription drugs by adolescents.

The abuse of certain prescription drugs-opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants- can alter the brain's activity and lead to addiction. While we do not yet understand all of the reasons for the increasing abuse of prescription drugs, we do know that accessibility is likely a contributing factor. In addition to the increasing number of medicines being prescribed for a variety of health problems, some medications can be obtained easily from online pharmacies. Most of these are legitimate businesses that provide an important service; however, some online pharmacies dispense medications without a prescription and without appropriate identity verification, allowing minors to order the medications easily over the Internet.

NIDA hopes to decrease the prevalence of this problem by increasing awareness and promoting additional research on prescription drug abuse. Prescription drug abuse is not a new problem, but one that deserves renewed attention. It is imperative that as a Nation we make ourselves aware of the consequences associated with the misuse and abuse of these medications.

Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director
National Institute on Drug Abuse

For trends in prescription drug abuse read here.

I believe that the rising abuse of prescription medications is a symptom of a deeper psychospiritual problem, namely the harmful effects of a materialistic view of reality that are particularly acute in American society (not withstanding that the overwhelming majority of Americans claim to believe in God). One Common Faith, an amazing commentary commissioned by the Universal House of Justice makes the following observation:

People's happiness would be the natural result of better health, better food, better education, better living conditions-and the attainment of these unquestionably desirable goals now seemed to be within the reach of a society single-mindedly focused on their pursuit...Consumer culture, today's inheritor by default of materialism's gospel of human betterment, is unembarrassed by the ephemeral nature of the goals that inspire it. For the small minority of people who can afford them, the benefits it offers are immediate, and the rationale unapologetic. Emboldened by the breakdown of traditional morality, the advance of the new creed is essentially no more than the triumph of animal impulse, as instinctive and blind as appetite, released at long last from the restraints of supernatural sanctions. (Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith)

Generations of Americans who have grown up conditioned by a materialistic, consumption-driven culture have come to believe that they are entitled to a life free from pain or discomfort of any kind. According to this view of life, pain is pathological, even worse than death. The "pursuit of happiness" recognized by our Founding Fathers as an important aspect of freedom has mutated into an egocentric sense of entitlement to happiness on demand, 24/7. Our whole society has become increasingly organized around "feeling good" and if that doesn't work not "feeling" at all. If a pill can make either of those things happen reliably, "PASS ME THE PILLS!" This attitude is widespread and impacts every challenge America is facing at this time. The solution to these challenges requires a willingness to sacrifice, but that would involve pain, which has become unacceptable to the American psyche. This is not to suggest that there are not millions of Americans making sacrificial contributions every day for the betterment of our society and the world. But in my experience even well-meaning people have a "pain threshold" beyond which they are not willing to go even when achieving their well-meaning goals clearly demands it. Why? Because the right to happiness in the final analysis trumps everything else. The logic plays out something like this:

Well-meaning American: I teach in the inner-city, only eat organic food, call my mom every Mother's day and volunteer as a member of _____ political party that if they just controlled the government would make the world a better place.
Me: That's awesome, it's seems like you really care about making America better.
Well-meaning American: No doubt.
Me: But what about that big SUV you drive around? Would you be willing to give that up so that say, future generations would not have to live underground because we have a big hole in the Ozone layer?
Well-meaning American: What are you, a socialist or something?! Er, look at the time, I have to get to that Boy Scout meeting. That's what the SUV is for, to drive the Scouts around.
Me: I see.

From a Baha'i perspective pain is a necessary element of our psychospiritual development:

The steed of this Valley (The Valley of Love) is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend. (Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7)

In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain. Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of usefulness. But when sadness visits us we become weak, our strength leaves us, our comprehension is dim and our intelligence veiled. The actualities of life seem to elude our grasp, the eyes of our spirits fail to discover the sacred mysteries, and we become even as dead beings. There is no human being untouched by these two influences; but all the sorrow and the grief that exist come from the world of matter -- the spiritual world bestows only the joy! If we suffer it is the outcome of material things, and all the trials and troubles come from this world of illusion...All these examples are to show you that the trials which beset our every step, all our sorrow, pain, shame and grief, are born in the world of matter; whereas the spiritual Kingdom never causes sadness. A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his life, the depths are calm and serene. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 109)

While a man is happy he may forget his God; but when grief comes and sorrows overwhelm him, then will he remember his Father who is in Heaven, and who is able to deliver him from his humiliations. Men who suffer not, attain no perfection. The plant most pruned by the gardeners is that one which, when the summer comes, will have the most beautiful blossoms and the most abundant fruit. The labourer cuts up the earth with his plough, and from that earth comes the rich and plentiful harvest. The more a man is chastened, the greater is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth by him. A soldier is no good General until he has been in the front of the fiercest battle and has received the deepest wounds. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 50)

If America is to fulfill its destiny as a nation, was must reconsider our assumptions about pain and its place in our lives. We must reclaim pain as a gift to our psychospiritual development, without which we cannot experience true happiness. We don't need to "kill" our pain with pills, we need to learn to live with it.

Mamma's Boy

It's mother's day and I wanted to celebrate that dear Mom 'O' Mine before the day is over. Hi Mom! Where do I begin? Do I begin with the warmth of her smile, the light in her eyes or the sound of her laugh? Maybe I should mention that she is one of the best dancer's I know, full of vitality and spunkiness. Or maybe I should mention the depth of her generosity, her indiscriminating sociability with everyone around her. Or maybe her love for reading, her fascination with horror movies, or her acute terror of snakes! My mom is fun, funny, feisty, can't find her keys most of the time (just like my wife), drives my dad up the wall (and seems to enjoy that sometimes), treats my sister more like her own sister than a daughter, is intelligent without being overly intellectual, makes the best biscuits in the whole world and is an all around great gal. Also, from a Baha'i perspective her contribution to who I am today cannot be overestimated:

If the mother is educated then her children will be well taught. When the mother is wise, then will the children be led into the path of wisdom. If the mother be religious she will show her children how they should love God. If the mother is moral she guides her little ones into the ways of uprightness. It is clear therefore that the future generation depends on the mothers of today. Is not this a vital responsibility for the woman? Does she not require every possible advantage to equip her for such a task? (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 161) For mothers are the first educators, the first mentors; and truly it is the mothers who determine the happiness, the future greatness, the courteous ways and learning and judgement, the understanding and the faith of their little ones. (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 126)

In closing I simply say, Mom you go girl!

Love,
Your son

Attacks on Egyptian Baha'is Continue

Seems the government of Eqypt is using the same play book as the Iranian government. It is appealing the recent ruling that would have allowed Egyptian Baha'is to call themselves "Baha'is" on national identity cards. A few choice excerpts from and article on this new development are below:

Religious Endowments Minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk told parliament the government would base its appeal on the opinion of the country’s leading Muslim cleric, the Sheikh of al-Azhar, that Baha’ism is not a “revealed religion” recognised by Muslims.

Members of parliament attacked Baha’is as deviants and extremists and noted that the group’s international headquarters is in the Israeli city of Haifa.

One member of parliament, Gamal Akl of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said the Baha’is were infidels who should be killed on the grounds that they had changed their religion.

“The problem with the Baha’is is they are moved by Israeli fingers. We wish the Ministry of the Interior would not yield to the cheap blackmail of this deviant group,” added another Muslim Brotherhood member, Mustafa Awadallah.

Zainab Radwan of the ruling National Democratic Party, however, said she favoured recognising the Baha’is on identity cards issued by the state.

”There is an interest in them being known rather than unknown so that they do not succeed in infiltrating the ranks of society and spreading their extremist and deviant ideology,” she said. (Read the whole thing here)

Let me see if I get this straight. The Baha'i Faith is not a "revealed religion", the Baha'is are infidels who should be "killed", they are "deviant", they are trying to spread an "extremist and deviant ideology". Interesting. First of all, there are many that claim Islam is likewise not a "revealed religion". The Baha'i Faith is the only other world religion that recognizes the Prophethood of Muhammad and the Quran as the Word of God. As for Baha'is needing to be killed as infidels, Islam teaches emphatically that "there is no compulsion in religion". And can someone explain to me what is deviant and extreme about teaching that humanity is a single family created by God, that religion is one, that men and women are equal, that world peace should be established, that extremes of wealth and poverty should be eliminated, that all children should be educated and that the establishment of a world language secondary to our native languages would faciliate greater communication between peoples and nations?
Who is more extreme and deviant, those whose are sacrificing their lives for a religion whose mission is the unity of humanity or political and religious leaders whose sole concern seems to be maintaining control over the conscience of their fellow human beings?

Unlike the government of Egypt and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, I'll allow my readers to decide for themselves.