Comments on Bahá’í Thought: Virginia Tech: Is God Guilty?

True Druzelle, the prevailing social order is defe...

2007-04-20T13:25:00.000-03:00

True Druzelle, the prevailing social order is defective and unjust and acts as a perverse kind of womb in which a million horrors are currently waiting to be born. The remedy is offered by the Divine Physician, the consciousness of the fundamental oneness of humanity and creating a global society that reflects that reality. Keep commenting!

Thank you, Phillipe, for touching on a deep topic....

2007-04-20T12:13:00.000-03:00

Thank you, Phillipe, for touching on a deep topic.It brings up far more thoughts than I can share here. Baha'u'llah does say "For were men to abide by and observe the divine teachings, every trace of evil would be banished from the face of the earth." All scriptures tell us to love others as much as we love ourselves, to be not only caring but just in all our relationships. One thing I find interesting is that sciences such as psychology uncover for us many details of what caring behavior looks like, and the conseqences of not caring. Any violence has a deeper story. Part of that story is
that we really are all in this together. These monstrous acts of violence are not born in a vacuum. It all really does bring me back to the important Baha'i work of developing communities in which everyone is loved and respected.

Liz of PA, welcome, welcome, welcome to Baha'i Tho...

2007-04-19T06:54:00.000-03:00

Liz of PA, welcome, welcome, welcome to Baha'i Thought. It was nice to see you in Teaneck on those hallowed grounds as well. I hope that you will organize a devotional and invite the brothers support. Prayer is the food of the spirit and there's nothing better at times like this. Keep coming back and sharing your sterling prose with the world.

Your brother, P.

Hi Phillipe, It was so great to see you in Tean...

2007-04-19T01:23:00.000-03:00

Hi Phillipe,
It was so great to see you in Teaneck on Sunday. For those of you who haven't yet made it to a BMG-style devotional, I am compelled to comment on the beauty, power and deep sense of spiritual healing that takes place at these music-filled prayer meetings. If you're not a Baha'i, don't think you aren't invited. Prayer from the heart, any heart, is accepted and cherished at these gatherings. Or you can just sit in silence and soak up the rays of light that will descend upon you successively.
How wonderful it will be when the Baha'i community is able to offer these soul-healing devotionals not only on a regular basis in our communities, but also on demand when the need is great. Like in Virginia right now. Since it's certain that the indisputable symptoms of the world's pathology are only going to grow more severe and sickening with every passing day, it seems natural that we step up with the Rx from the Divine Physician. If I could do this week over again, as soon as I heard what happened in Virginia I would've requested a meeting of the Baha'i college clubs in my immediate neighborhood here in PA (Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore students have a tri-college club) and suggested that we organize a devotional gathering that's open to all. In fact, maybe I'll send them a link to this blog and see if there's an interest in doing this in the future. It's not too late. Maybe it'll be even more effective after all the media hoopla has died down.
Just some thoughts at the end of a long day... and Phillipe, thank you so much for creating a cyberspace/place where Baha'i thought can flow like the River of Life Eternal it is. I'm quite impressed with the level of dialogue that exists here, to say the least. Please continue to keep up the good work.
Your sister,
Liz
P.S. Since I'm new to the blogging scene, please excuse any neophyte mistakes I may make ...(like, how do I create a link between "Divine Physician" and the writings on this topic ...?)

Helen, I was wondering when you were going to stop...

2007-04-18T22:40:00.000-03:00

Helen, I was wondering when you were going to stop being anonymous! Thanks for taking the time to comment, this blog really is intended to provoke thought and dialogue. I agree that the power of true religion must be harnessed to transform the society and free us from the dictates of our ego which seems to be running rampant in a declining social order. I too feel great sorrow for the victims and their families and also feel greater resolve to offer my life as a living sacrifice in the path of service to a better world where things like this will no longer take place. Looking forward to hearing more from you and also to reading other comments that people share.

FYI-That comment comes from me - Helen in AlabamaF...

2007-04-18T20:31:00.000-03:00

FYI-That comment comes from me - Helen in Alabama

Forgot to sign it. Thanks

Very well said. Oddly enough, I've spent a lot of...

2007-04-18T20:29:00.000-03:00

Very well said.

Oddly enough, I've spent a lot of time on the VA Tech campus personally - I used to live in Blacksburg, several of my relatives attended VA Tech and we visited the campus because my oldest was thinking of attending next year. It is such a large campus that it is ludicrous to think that any measure instituted by the powers that be there might have kept such a thing from happening.

I keep thinking of a number of things Shoghi Effendi spoke of:

"That the forces of irreligion, of a purely materialistic philosophy, of unconcealed paganism have been unloosed, are now spreading, and, by consolidating themselves, are beginning to invade some of the most powerful Christian institutions of the western world, no unbiased observer can fail to admit. That these institutions are becoming increasingly restive, that a few among them are already dimly aware of the pervasive influence of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, that they will, as their inherent strength deteriorates and their discipline relaxes, regard with deepening dismay the rise of His New 181 World Order, and will gradually determine to assail it, that such an opposition will in turn accelerate their decline, few, if any, among those who are attentively watching the progress of His Faith would be inclined to question.

"The vitality of men's belief in God," Bahá'u'lláh has testified, "is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it?" "The world is in travail," He has further written, "and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly."

This menace of secularism that has attacked Islam and is undermining its remaining institutions, that has invaded Persia, has penetrated into India, and raised its triumphant head in Turkey, has already manifested itself in both Europe and America, and is, in varying degrees, and under various forms and designations, challenging the basis of every established religion, and in particular the institutions and communities identified with the Faith of Jesus Christ.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 179)

I am so sad for everyone involved, and it fuels my resolve to to become an ever better and more effective teacher of the Baha'i Faith, for I feel that nothing less can protect us.