Supreme Segregation?

Photo of members of the Supreme Court of the United States

If you haven't been following the latest from the U.S. Supreme Court, you might want to check this out. Here's a bit of one article about the rulings:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Students cannot be assigned to public schools because of their race, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a significant civil rights decision that casts doubt on integration efforts adopted across the country.
By a 5-4 vote on the last day of its term, the court's conservative majority struck down voluntary programs adopted in Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky, to attain racial diversity in public school classrooms.

The ruling added to a string of decisions this term in which President George W. Bush's two appointees -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito -- have shifted the court sharply to the right on divisive social issues like abortion.

"The principle that racial balancing is not permitted is one of substance, not semantics," Roberts wrote for the majority. "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

The court's four liberal members said in a bitter dissent that the ruling threatened the Supreme Court's historic Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 that outlawed racial segregation in the nation's public schools.

"The last half century has witnessed great strides toward racial equality, but we have not yet realized the promise of Brown," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote. "This is a decision that the court and the nation will come to regret."

Justice John Paul Stevens, in a separate dissent, said, "There is a cruel irony in the chief justice's reliance on our decision in Brown v. Board of Education." (Read the whole article and watch related video here).

If you've been reading this Baha'i thinker for awhile, you know that I believe that race conscious policies are both spiritually and morally consistent with a commitment to racial justice and unity based on the oneness of human kind. Based on what I know at this moment, the decisions handed down by the Court today provide brilliant examples of institutionalized white rage and racial moral relativism. Only in a nation founded on the enslavement of Africans and the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples while proclaiming the highest ideals of freedom under law, could educated people in positions of power come to see "color-blindness" as a civic virtue. Last I checked, blindness was not a state of being that one would strive for, much less organize a social order around. Let's be clear, color-blindness is simply a code for "blind to the reality that not everyone is white and color still matters in America". I always find it ironic that those who have suffered the least from the insanity of skin-color privilege are the ones who get to decide when skin-color is no longer a problem and thus we no longer need "race conscious" policies to address the consequences of racism. Of course those who subscribe to racial moral relativism see no irony in this at all as they presume to be the intellectual descendants of the abolitionists and civil rights warriors of the past. In this great reversal, those seeking to uphold race conscious policies that help keep schools integrated are no different than those whom a generation ago formed into mobs in order to keep black children out of these very same schools! Are we really arguing that a half century of allowing a handful of black folk to get a chair or two in a predominately white school is the equivalent of being systematically denied an equal education during 300 years of chattel slavery, 100 years of segregation, and 50 years of still largely segregated, poorly funded schooling in America? Is this the kind of reasoning and policy making of a people who claim to believe in a just and compassionate God, a God of liberation and resurrection?

"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? If true glory were to consist in the possession of such perishable things, then the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over you, because it supplieth you, and bestoweth upon you, these very things, by the decree of the Almighty. In its bowels are contained, according to what God hath ordained, all that ye possess. From it, as a sign of His mercy, ye derive your riches. Behold then your state, the thing in which ye glory! Would that ye could perceive it! Nay! By Him Who holdeth in His grasp the kingdom of the entire creation! Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God, your wholehearted observance of His laws, your resolution to see that they do not remain unenforced, and to pursue steadfastly the right course."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 252)

Blogwarriors: Transformers Edition

I don't know about you, but next week on July 4th, the day commemorating the birth of America, I will be in an air conditioned theater watching giant robots who can change into various forms of transportation battle to determine the fate of humanity. If you do not know what I'm referring to, watch this and read this. Like the Transformers, Baha'is are also "more than meets the eye". Though appearing to be simply cute and cuddly, koala-like religious people, we are actually a revolutionary force for global transformation. I may just continue the tradition on this blog of providing theological analysis of Hollywood blockbusters when The Transformers Movie comes out next week, but we will see what happens. In the mean time, enjoy some choice Baha'i blogging from the past couple of weeks.

Baha'i Epistolary Blog gets its verse on with a poem

History repeats itself as yet another small religious community strides toward freedom in the Land of Egypt. Baha'i Faith in Egypt has the latest

A band of Baha'i bloggers converge coincidentally in Geneva

Doberman Pizza feels the power of God's Word

Los Angelista, Depeche Mode Lover, is a survivor

Love From Leila chronicles her first baseball game

The incomparable Phyllis Ring talks about her father

New blogger on the block, Pearl Bearer is excited about children's education

Seven Candles is headed for the Live Earth concert

The Struggle Within once again sends a heat-seeking missile into the heart of white supremacy


Coming Soon on Baha'i Thought: Baha'u'llah and the Black Elite

Self Hate, Self Love, or Self Sacrifice?

The Morpheous-like Malik at the Struggle Within has a couple of stimulating posts that have recently set my Baha'i mind in motion. I've been getting my geek on as usual reading about things like theological anthropology and pastoral theology and preparing to start what may be a series of posts in Struggle Within-style, called Knowing, Loving and Liberation. This series of posts are part of my long time project of discerning and articulating a Baha'i theology of Black liberation that has been inspired by such theological luminaries as Howard Thurman and James Cone. On Malik's recent post about the "N" word, I made the following comment:

"I was just talking with my sister this weekend about the use of the “N” word. The idea that people can turn it into something positive by appropriating it and using on each other at every opportunity is kind of like the age old effort to transmute elements. Just like humanity has not yet attained the maturity to change copper into gold, we have not yet attained the maturity to change a word forged and formed in the fires of white supremacy and the systematic enslavement and traumatizing of millions of human beings into a “positive word”. People who believe that it is possible to do that are suffering from a delusion, a pathetic attempt to rationalize their self-hatred and hatred of other black folk while trying to sound all hip and revolutionary and metaphysical. I feel sorry for them." (Enjoy the actual post here)

Malik had another post with an ad that is an unintentionally hilarious example of commercialized self-hatred based on skin color.

All this talk of self-hate made me start to meditate on this question: Is there a healthy form of "self-love", from a Baha'i perspective?

I've spent a lot of time studying the Baha'i Writings over the past 10.5 years and have found few explicit references to what has become popularly known as "loving yourself". There's quite a bit about being patient with oneself and fair to oneself, but not so much about loving oneself. In fact the following reference to self love seems to question the health benefits of such an orientation:

"All these wishes are well worthy of asking. Especially the rescue from self-love. This is a strange trait and the means of the destruction of many important souls in the world. If man be imbued with all good qualities but be selfish, all the other virtues will fade or pass away and eventually he will grow worse."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 136)

And again:
"O army of God! Whensoever ye behold a person whose entire attention is directed toward the Cause of God; whose only aim is this, to make the Word of God to take effect; who, day and night, with pure intent, is rendering service to the Cause; from whose behaviour not the slightest trace of egotism or private motives is discerned -- who, rather, wandereth distracted in the wilderness of the love of God, and drinketh only from the cup of the knowledge of God, and is utterly engrossed in spreading the sweet savours of God, and is enamoured of the holy verses of the Kingdom of God -- know ye for a certainty that this individual will be supported and reinforced by heaven; that like unto the morning star, he will forever gleam brightly out of the skies of eternal grace. But if he show the slightest taint of selfish desires and self love, his efforts will lead to nothing and he will be destroyed and left hopeless at the last."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 71)

But Phillipe, you say, these Writings are talking about "selfishness" and selfishness is not "self love". Are you sure?, is my reply. My experience of America culture is that we are now living under a "self-esteem" regime where "feeling good" has become more important than "doing good". The line between self love and selfishness is not a bright and well-lit highway, but is more like a spider's web in a dark attic.

It may be helpful to understand the two ways that "self" or "ego" is understood in the Baha'i Writings as explained by Shoghi Effendi:

"Regarding the questions you asked: self has really two meanings, or is used in two senses, in the Bahá'í writings; one is self, the identity of the individual created by God. This is the self mentioned in such passages as "he hath known God who hath known himself", etc. The other self is the ego, the dark, animalistic heritage each one of us has, the lower nature that can develop into a monster of selfishness, brutality, lust and so on. It is this self we must struggle against, or this side of our natures, in order to strengthen and free the spirit within us and help it to attain perfection.

Self-sacrifice means to subordinate this lower nature and its desires to the more godly and noble side of our selves. Ultimately, in its highest sense, self-sacrifice means to give our will and our all to God to do with as He pleases. Then He purifies and glorifies our true self until it becomes a shining and wonderful reality."
(From a letter dated 10 December 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
believer)

It would seem to me as a Baha'i and as person dedicated to psychological empowerment and healing, that the Baha'i Faith is encouraging us to focus on "God love" rather than "self-love". The most effective and safest way to love ourselves is to love the image of God that is potentially reflected in the reality of our true identity which is the soul. Paradoxically, the way we express this kind of love is through "self-sacrifice". This is not some kind of misguided process of puritanical of ascetic self injury, but is fundamentally life-giving and allows God to purify and glorify "our true self until it becomes a shining and wonderful reality." This is the ultimate antidote to self-hatred whatever inspires such feelings.

Of course in order to love God, we have to "know God" which is why both knowing and loving are necessary for true liberation. But that's for another post.

So brave readers, weigh in. What do you think about self-hate, self-love and self-sacrifice?

Why It's Worth It

This is the author of Baha'i Thought trying to look thoughtful. Don't laugh (well, you can laugh if you want just don't tell me you did!)

People often ask me how much time I spend on my blogging and I say that I work on it everyday. On average I spend about 5-7 hours a week on it. I recently received an email from one of the folks who reads Baha'i Thought that really reminded me why it's worth the effort. I hope that this touches others in the way that it touched me and encourages them to pour their own passion into this spiritual discipline with the weird name (blogging I mean). The person who wrote this will remain anonymous at their request. Enjoy.


"I've been going through some pretty intense tests of my Faith of late, really questioning my spiritual identity and how being a Baha'i fits in with my pre-Baha'i life. (I declared in 2005, so I still consider myself a relative newborn). I'd started to feel alienated from the Institutions, the Laws and, saddest of all, the Holy Writings that had previously drenched my heart with such bliss.

Anyway, late last night I discovered your blog via a friend's and although I was doooog tired, I found myself transfixed for almost two hours. I so enjoyed your posts, photos and links as well as your good humour, tolerance, compassion, vision and humility. I very recently purchased my first computer in about six years so the whole blogosphere is totally novel to me and I felt giddy-excited, not just by the Message of Baha'i Thought, but also by the infinite possibilities latent in its very medium.

When I finally dragged myself to bed with thoughts of 'Now I remember why I'm a Baha'i!' I reached automatically for the copy of the Hidden Words that sits on my nightstand. Short doses of scripture have been pretty much all I can will myself to partake of lately and honestly, it's felt like more of a chore than a pleasure. However, last night something compelled me to my bookshelf where I observed my hand spontaneously reach out and pluck a dusty Kitab-i-Aqdas from amongst the other texts. And there, in the early hours of the morning, I sat and for the first time in months reconnected with the love Baha'u'llah has for me and I for Him.

I've woken today exhausted but hopeful. There's going to be a way for me to reconcile everything I need to. I'm going to learn to teach the Faith in ways that are meaningful and authentic to me. I'm going to learn how to balance the service I do with my needs and my dreams. I'm going to be kept safe while I grow and stumble and shine. I'm going to because I have a Guide. I just need to start trusting Him.

Well, that was a kind of long-winded expression of my gratitude! I hope I haven't overdisclosed. I'm aware of the potential pitfalls of the 'instant-imacy' engendered by online communication and find it a tad odd you now know more about my deepest inner struggles than you do about, say, my eye colour. Nonetheless, I'm still going to hit send, because I imagine it would be oh-so-validating to know that the time and energy you invest in Baha'i Thought touches people. In really crucial ways. Thank you, Phillipe.

Mission accomplished : )"

I'll close with the Words of Baha'u'llah that may serve as inspiration for those of us who have consecrated our pens (or in my case, my keyboard) to the service of the Cause of God:

Say: O men! This is a matchless Day. Matchless must, likewise, be the tongue that celebrateth the praise of the Desire of all nations, and matchless the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight. The whole human race hath longed for this Day, that perchance it may fulfil that which well beseemeth its station, and is worthy of its destiny. Blessed is the man whom the affairs of the world have failed to deter from recognizing Him Who is the Lord of all things.
("Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh" (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1983), sec XVI, p. 39) 408

Do You Mind?!

Photo of a child reading a prayer at the House of Worship in Sydney, Australia

I just tripped over this really interesting article in the New York Times about the use of mindfulness training with children in schools. Here's a tasty morsel:

OAKLAND, Calif., June 12 — The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness.

With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.

“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to his classmates the next day. “The mindfulness really helped. (Read the whole thing here)

This is something I've been thinking about and trying to introduce into my work with mentally ill and addicted clients. A while ago I did a post on concentration as a spiritual discipline and this article and stimulated some more Baha'i thoughts. I'll start with some selections from the Baha'i writings that first that popped into my head when I read this article:

"Disencumber yourselves of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof. Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious Path. Know ye that by "the world" is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The "life to come," on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 275)

"O thou spiritual friend! Thou hast asked the wisdom of prayer. Know thou that prayer is indispensable and obligatory, and man under no pretext whatsoever is excused from performing the prayer unless he be mentally unsound, or an insurmountable obstacle prevent him. The wisdom of prayer is this: That it causeth a connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state (i.e., prayer) man with all heart and soul turneth his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and compassion. The greatest happiness for a lover is to converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become familiar with the object of his longing; that is why with every soul who is attracted to the Kingdom of God, his greatest hope is to find an opportunity to entreat and supplicate before his Beloved, appeal for His mercy and grace and be immersed in the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity. Beside all this, prayer and fasting is the cause of awakening and mindfulness and conducive to protection and preservation from tests."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 683)

"I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)

When people talk about being "mindful" it's reasonable to ask, "mindful of what?" and also to ask how one can actively empower this state being. When I meditate on the Baha'i Writings it seems to me that humanity is encouraged to mindful of the following:

1. Of the reality of God: There is no God but God, the Sovereign Lord and Creator of the entire universe, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, All-Loving.

2. Of our spirituality reality and its relationship to God: My reality is the soul, created by God whose essential quality, or "fruit" is the mind. "Spirit is the tree and mind is the fruit". God provides me with the guidance and love that I need for my soul to develop and, when things work the way that they should, I actually love God back and follow the guidance I've been given.

3. Of the relative value of the material compared to the spiritual: God created a beautiful world, full of beautiful things. These things are designed to meet the needs of my body, mind and spirit. In order for this to happen in a healthy way however, I have to remember points 1 and 2. When I forget, I get into trouble and bring the rest of humanity along with me.

4. The transformative power of thought: Luckily the mind, fruit of the spirit, has the God-given power to refocus on points 1 and 2, thus making me and the world more likely to benefit from point 3. Thinking differently actually can change things in myself and in the world.

According to Baha'i teaching, prayer and fasting are two great ways to help me with all four of the points listed above. If schools are comfortable with children practicing meditation (including Buddhist bells by the way) perhaps we will reach a time in our society where both prayer and fasting will be practiced in the schools. A little fasting might assist with that pesky childhood obesity problem we seem to be having and prayer, just like meditation, could keep kids from getting mad and throwing a bat at someone.

We have so much to learn about the relationship between mind and spirit and it's implications for social order. I'll close with these comments of Baha'u'llah about the rational faculty:

"Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise its function, and will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is indubitably clear and evident that each of these afore-mentioned instruments has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its manifestation all these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the suspension of its action they are all destroyed and perish...Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of man's development."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 163)

No Less Noble: Mental Illness, Addiction and the Soul

Logo of the Baha'i Association of Mental Health Professionals, whose Board of Directors I have the pleasure to serve upon. Check us out at www.bamhp.org and consider becoming a member.

Even though it is what I do everyday, recently the nature of my work with people with mental illness and addictions seems to keep coming up in conversation. I'm often asked about what I do for a living. You know how it goes, you're in some social setting and for lack of anything else to say, a person breaks the ice with "So what do you do?" "I'm the Director of a program of the Boston Public Health Commission that serves people with mental illness and addictions" I replay with a smile. At this point the person almost always makes a face like I just told them I was afflicted with some kind of flesh eating bacteria. "Oh, that must be haaarrrd!" they say. "I love it, I wouldn't do anything else", I say.

My years in this profession have been hard at times, it's true, but in the best kind of way, way that has only deepened and confirmed my faith in God and in humanity. What has kept me going is are the teachings of Baha'u'llah. One of things He said that I often meditate on when I'm working is this:

"Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between his soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily ailments. Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external object may interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to shine with undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting the body of man is an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and power. Consider the lamp which is hidden under a bushel. Though its light be shining, yet its radiance is concealed from men. Likewise, consider the sun which hath been obscured by the clouds. Observe how its splendor appeareth to have diminished, when in reality the source of that light hath remained unchanged. The soul of man should be likened unto this sun, and all things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as no external impediment interveneth between them, the body will, in its entirety, continue to reflect the light of the soul, and to be sustained by its power. As soon as, however, a veil interposeth itself between them, the brightness of that light seemeth to lessen. Consider again the sun when it is completely hidden behind the clouds. Though the earth is still illumined with its light, yet the measure of light which it receiveth is considerably reduced. Not until the clouds have dispersed, can the sun shine again in the plenitude of its glory. Neither the presence of the cloud nor its absence can, in any way, affect the inherent splendor of the sun. The soul of man is the sun by which his body is illumined, and from which it draweth its sustenance, and should be so regarded."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 153)

'Abdu'l-Baha has also said something that I draw upon during the inevitable tests and trials of my profession:

"Inasmuch as all were created in the image of God, we must bring ourselves to realize that all embody divine possibilities."
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 113)

Whenever I remember the reality of the soul of each person I'm privileged to serve, the soul whose light has been temporarily obscured by the clouds of illness, my heart is filled with the Holy Spirit and I feel empowered to minister to them in a way that transcends the sum of the problems in his or her life. When I remember that every single man and woman I try to assist was created in the image of the same God that I was and thus embody divine possibilities, I'm able to focus on discovering with them what those divine possibilities might be. If work really is worship, I get to pray all day. What could be sweeter than that? Each day, I have the opportunity to witness a resurrection of some soul, if I just pay attention. I just have to never forget that these men, women, youth and children are no less noble because of their afflictions. I'll close with the Words of Baha'u'llah:

"From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation. The greater the effort exerted for the refinement of this sublime and noble mirror, the more faithfully will it be made to reflect the glory of the names and attributes of God, and reveal the wonders of His signs and knowledge. Every created thing will be enabled (so great is this reflecting power) to reveal the potentialities of its pre-ordained station, will recognize its capacity and limitations, and will testify to the truth that "He, verily, is God; there is none other God besides Him."...
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 262)

What do you think?

Coming Soon on Baha'i Thought: Biblical Literacy and Building Community

Blogwarriors: Race Unity Day Is On the Way Edition

Photograph of 'Abdu'l-Baha

"Consider the flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, colour, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. Thus when that unifying force, the penetrating influence of the Word of God, taketh effect, the difference of customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions and dispositions embellisheth the world of humanity."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 291)


Tomorrow Baha'is all over the U.S.A will be commemorating Race Unity Day, promoting the reality of the oneness of humanity in ways great and small. In Boston, a city blessed by three visits from 'Abdu'l-Baha, we will be having a picnic in a park right near one of the places where he spoke during his historic visit to North America in 1912. As I contemplate getting my act together and mowing my lawn before it rains, I'll offer some of my favorite Baha'i blogging from this past week including some new folks who deserve your enthusiastic support:

The Neocrats wax prophetic about The Most Great Justice

Povo De Baha informs us of a lovely compliment given to the Baha'i Faith in the Guardian

Poetry of Peace as a post on the amazing Spoken Word artist and Slam Poetry champ Anis Mojgani who I've been fortunate enough to meet in person

Plausible Deniability recently shared the Good News with the Bishop of Oxford

Phyllis Ring does it again with a piece on commitment to race unity even at gunpoint

Poor Love from Leila is having nightmares about Israel

Los Angelista responds to interview questions from another blogger

Is Something Bothering You?, reminds us that money ain't everything

Doberman Pizza is trying to get organized

Seven Candles, meditates on the G-8 summit (where do they get names like "G-8" anyway?)

Baha'i Faith in Egypt has video of a trailer for a new documentary film about the struggle of the Baha'is in that land

German blog Baha'i Einblicke has a little something that mentions the Baha'i martyr Mona
it is translated into English but poorly so read it with your heart rather than your head

Yeah, So and Anyway talks about trying to host an event for Race Unity Day

Coming Soon On Baha'i Thought: No Less Noble, Behavioral Health and the Soul

Also check out the new What Do You Think poll question, What Makes a Good Marriage?

Bowling for Jesus: Mature Faith and Mental Health

A picture of one of the Jesus Camp kids, courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com


I just got back from a really wonderful Alumni/ae Day at my dear old Harvard Divinity School where I was fortunate enough to study theology, pastoral care and religious education. One of the cool things that happened was a screening of the documentary film Jesus Camp that profiles an evangelical youth minister in Missouri and some of the children who she is seeking to transform into spiritual warriors for Christ. I highly recommend that every one, particularly every Baha'i who reads this post, should go out and rent this film and get some friends together and watch it. I don't want to spoil it so will just provide a really brief summary to wet your appetite. The film is bookended by the political struggle over the appointment of Judge Samuel Alieto to the Supreme Court and its implications for the future of abortion. Within this context we are introduced to a variety of key figures in the drama that unfolds, the charismatic female youth minister who runs the "camp", a radio host who thunders about the dangers represented by the "religious right" and a boy and a girl who both embody what the camp is intended to create, children who are devoted and righteous disciples of Christ who will hopefully win their generation for the Lord. There are several really interesting moments where these two children offer personal testimony of their faith and how it shapes their view of the world. You get to see these children at home, in social settings (the girl at one point asks Jesus to help her with her bowling) and of course at the camp. The camp is an intense example of children's education and has almost a boot camp feel to it. You get to see children preaching, which if you haven't seen is pretty powerful and involved in ecstatic, highly emotional prayer. It is riveting to watch if a bit disturbing at some moments.

Watching this film made me reflect on some of the previous writing I've done on what constitutes mature religious faith. You can read some of that here and here. It also got me thinking about how that may relate mental health, which is my other passion in life. As I've said before, mature religious faith involves a balance between integrity and flexibility, the maintenance of which is actually written into the very constitution of the Universal House of Justice. It occurred to me that what I refer to as integrity and flexibility in a spiritual sense is what some psychologists refer to as ego strength and adaptability. Ego strength as I understand it involves the capacity of the ego to maintain its "shape" if you will in the face of internal and external stressors, as well as its ability to perform functions essential to a healthy mind. One of these functions is adaptability, namely the capacity to make changes according to the diverse needs the dynamic reality of between self, others, and the world. Both mature faith and mental health demand balance and it is the absence of such balance which is manifest as both spiritual and psychological pathology. Certain forms of religious fundamentalism could be understood as a psychological defense against the perceived threat of disintegration of the ego by hostile internal and external stressors. As such it is an attempt at adaptation, that is spiritually immature and should evoke compassion rather than contempt. It would not surprise me if both the children and adults featured in this film would exhibit signs of mental health difficulties if I met them in person. Understand that I am making a psychospiritual assessment and not a moral judgment as to them being "good" or "bad" people because of their beliefs, attitudes or behavior. As someone about to work on his doctorate, I will hopefully have a chance to explore these ideas further, but I'll stop for now.

So all you people interested in religion and/or psychology, what do you think?

Moral Excellence Ain't Easy!

"The foundation-stone of a life lived in the way of God is the pursuit of moral excellence and the acquisition of a character endowed with qualities that are well-pleasing in His sight."
(The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 345)

Moral excellence is something that has been on my mind these days. God has been helping me to become painfully aware of some of my shortcomings and I've been burning up my little prayer book with passionate supplications to the Lord for spiritual transformation and detachment from self. I've also been meditating on conversations that I have had with various Baha'is who have been struggling to live up to the high standards that are set us, both personally and socially by Baha'u'llah. Though most of my experience involves attempting to live a Baha'i life, my sense is that the struggles are deeply human and common to anyone who has committed themselves to the pursuit of moral excellence, whatever their belief system. I think this is particularly true of young people (a demographic which I am rapidly becoming unqualified to claim!). Of course, as a mental health professional, my views are colored by my professional training as well. Here are a few things that I've found helpful to keep in mind:

Follow the Prescription:
Baha'u'llah has described those Exalted Figures of history, such as Moses, Christ and Muhammad as being like Divine Physicians, highly skilled in diagnosing the disease(s) afflicting humanity and prescribing the best possible remedy. What I have had to learn is that when it comes to the Divine Physician, seeking a second opinion is not an option. Every soul has a choice, take the medicine that's given, or take your chances doing your own thing.

O SON OF BEING! My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish.
(Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Shame is Good For You:
In the professional circles I travel in, shame has fallen out of favor. Shame is viewed as having little or no therapeutic value and is largely a cause of pathology (this is a generalization, but I think a fair one). Not surprisingly, Baha'u'llah had a different view of shame:

Indeed, there existeth in man a faculty which deterreth him from, and guardeth him against, whatever is unworthy and unseemly, and which is known as his sense of shame.
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 27)

Shame is a faculty of human beings that acts as a deterrent and guard against unworthy or unseemly behavior (basically whatever is contrary to our true spiritual nature) and is actually necessary in our lives. Today we live under the self-esteem regime where it's more important to feel good about yourself than to "be good". However we have a name for people who never feel bad when they do bad things. We call those people sociopaths. This is hardly a state of being that healthy society should be advocating. It's important to consider what Baha'u'llah is saying about shame in the balance of other statements that He has made, such as the following:

"Whatsoever passeth beyond the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial influence."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 216)

"Be fair to yourselves and to others, that the evidences of justice may be revealed, through your deeds, among Our faithful servants."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 278)

In order to make healthy use of shame we have to practice moderation, fairness and justice towards ourselves. What could be more morally excellent than that? To continue the metaphor of the Physician, shame is like powerful medicine. Taken in the appropriate dose, it may taste terrible or even have uncomfortable side effects, but can ultimately be a source of healing. An overdose of shame can prove fatal.

Imperfections Make Us Perfectly Human:
To be human is to mess up. Otherwise we would be God (personally I don't want the job). It is our effort to learn, to grow and to progress in a conscious fashion in spite of ourselves that is what moral and spiritual development is all about. Take that away and where would we be? Pretty bored and stunted in our development. One of the mysteries of life is that God makes use of imperfect instruments like ourselves to achieve His will in the world. It will never cease to amaze me.

"Bahá'u'lláh and the Master ['Abdu'l-Baha] have both urged us repeatedly to disregard our own handicaps and lay our whole reliance upon God. He will come to our help if we only arise and become an active channel for God's grace. Do you think it is the teachers who...change human hearts? No, surely not. They are only pure souls who take the first step, and then let the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh move them and make use of them...The criterion is the extent to which we are ready to have the will of God operate through us."
(Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 219)

Being a Baha'i means to Try:
The primary reason for anyone becoming a Bahá'í must of course be because he has come to believe the doctrines, the teachings and the Order of Bahá'u'lláh are the correct thing for this stage in the world's evolution. The Bahá'ís themselves as a body have one great advantage: they are sincerely convinced Bahá'u'lláh is right; they have a plan, and they are trying to follow it. But to pretend they are perfect, that the Bahá'ís of the future will not be a hundred times more mature, better balanced, more exemplary in their conduct, would be foolish.
(The Universal House of Justice, quoting Shoghi Effendi, 1977 Aug 21, Work for Reconstruction of Human Society, p. 1)

One of the unfortunate things that I have witnessed is that some people deal with the challenge of living according to the Baha'i teachings by either rejecting the validity of those teachings, or accepting their validity but believing that they can never follow them. Both attitudes tend to contribute to feelings of despair or frustration and ultimately, alienation from the Baha'i community in one form or another. If people saw moral development as a dynamic process of change that functions most effectively in the context of community, they would understand that they can be a fully committed Baha'i while also struggling with what that means for their lives. I often reflect on these words of Baha'u'llah:

"The steed of this Valley is patience; without patience the wayfarer on this journey will reach nowhere and attain no goal. Nor should he ever be downhearted; if he strive for a hundred thousand years and yet fail to behold the beauty of the Friend, he should not falter. For those who seek the Ka'bih of "for Us" rejoice in the tidings: "In Our ways will We guide them."
(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 4)

The way that I read this passage is that God guides and blesses us according to our effort, rather than a particular outcome. Outcomes are ultimately the fruit of the dynamic interplay of human striving and divine assistance. It's the striving that really counts. Personally, I'd rather be part of a community of imperfect people striving to be their best, than people who've already attained perfection (or at least think they have!).

Enough from me, what do you think reader?

Blogwarriors: Whale Watch Edition

Once again I will be doing something that I've never done before on account of my wife who is excellent at getting me to do new things (as well as things I don't want to do!). Tomorrow we will be going on a whale watch and hopefully these noble creatures will cooperate and show themselves and not try to swallow me (I doubt Jonah had access to high speed Inter-Net so no blogging for him. Also if you don't understand this reference, please go read the Bible). In the mean time, Baha'i bloggers are just getting hotter every week. Check out these folks and tell everyone you know (you could mention this blog too while you're at it, hint, hint).



Malik the Magnificent proves once again to be the smartest writer about race I've come across in many years

The notorious Neocrats are caught between a left and a right place

Randy Burns is taking on the Kitab-i-Iqan Page by Page

Phyllis Ring, Empress of Expression offers loving tribute to the Lord of Hosts

Liz (aka Los Angelista) gives encouragement to Miss USA

Dan, Duke of Doberman Pizza, shows his Roots with some cool video

Aaron at Between the Lines recommends a book about the Closing of the Western Mind

Barney, the coolest Englishman I've never met, shares his experience of the recent Baha'i Holy Day

Ishmael at Baha'i Epistolary, breaks it down regarding Due Process in the Baha'i Faith