Bahá’í Thought

American Dreamer

2012-01-15T15:45:00.003-02:00

Article first published as Martin Luther King, Jr: American Dreamer on Blogcritics.

The essence of the American Dream can be captured in two words: upward mobility. On more than one occasion, I have written about how for those left behind by the Great Recession, the American Dream has become a dream deferred.

Research recently reported on in the New York Times suggests that the problem is deeper than I imagined:

"Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. 'Movin’ on up,' George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil religion. But many researchers have reached a conclusion that turns conventional wisdom on its head: Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe."

Perhaps it is time to wake up from the so-called American Dream. Perhaps it is time to dream bigger than the opportunity of upward mobility in the material sense. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of America's greatest sons, offered an alternative kind of dream. While "deeply rooted in the American dream" its branches stretched to the heavens:

"And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Dr. King's dream was about acquiring the kind of wealth that is invulnerable to market forces and the chances and changes of life. His dream was about becoming rich in love and justice in our personal lives and in the nation. His dream was not just about upward mobility but upward nobility.

This kind of wealth demands just as much urgent national debate as the material kind. In fact we will never truly achieve the later without the former. I believe this is what 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921, meant when he made the following remarks while visiting the United States in 1912:

"Strive, therefore, to create love in the hearts in order that they may become glowing and radiant. When that love is shining, it will permeate other hearts even as this electric light illumines its surroundings. When the love of God is established, everything else will be realized. This is the true foundation of all economics... Manifest true economics to the people. Show what love is, what kindness is, what true severance is and generosity. This is the important thing for you to do... Economic questions are most interesting; but the power which moves, controls and attracts the hearts of men is the love of God."

King's life and death were an incarnation of this kind of deep love. As we commemorate the day set aside in his honor, let's consider the implications of his dream for the economic questions of this election year and beyond:

"This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy... Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, taken by the National Park Service and considered in the public domain

The Ocean of My Words

2012-01-05T09:33:00.001-02:00

In Man's Search for Meaning, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote:

"There is nothing in the world…that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is meaning in one’s life."

In the Baha'i Faith, the primary source of meaning in life are the words of Baha'u'llah (meaning The Glory of God in Arabic). Baha'u'llah (1817-1892) is the Founder of the Baha'i Faith and his writings are considered to be the revealed Word of God by Baha'is. These writings, totaling some one hundred volumes range from mysticism to laws, from theology to social commentary. You've heard the term "People of the Book." Baha'is are People of the Books.

Some key works include the Kitab-i-Iqan (the Book of Certitude) which explains the oneness of religion, the Kitab-i-Aqdas (the Most Holy Book) which contains Baha'i laws, and the Hidden Words, a collection of aphorisms similar to the Psalms. Recitation, study and meditation on Baha'u'llah's writings is a twice daily obligation of Baha'is. Baha'u'llah encouraged his followers to: "Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths."

So important is the practice of reading the writings that he prescribed the promotion of literacy as a religious obligation of parents and the wider community. Literacy is extremely important in a religion that has no clergy and emphasizes the independent search for truth. Baha’u’llah explains that daily immersion in the Word of God has profound spiritual effects:

“Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul.”

I once felt far from God and trapped in impenetrable darkness and agony. I became spiritually isolated and could not even pray. I literally groped for something in the writings of Baha'u'llah to save me. What I found was this: "Put your whole trust and confidence in God who hath created you and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succor cometh from Him alone. He succoreth whomsoever He will with the hosts of the heavens and of the earth."

I would weep my way through reciting this verse. I would carry it with me where ever I went. I even posted it in large letters on the ceiling of my bedroom so it would be the first thing I would see when I woke each morning. I continued this for several weeks and slowly, painfully, a flicker of faith turned into flame. I had been baptized in the ocean of Baha’u’llah’s Words and born again. This experience confirmed my faith in the creative power of his writings.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, taken by "Wiki" and considered in the public domain

BEST OF 2011

2011-12-31T14:22:00.002-02:00

As Baha'i Thought celebrates it's seventh year (you heard that right folks), I wanted to continue the long standing tradition of ending the Gregorian Year with what I consider the nine best pieces from 2011. Here it goes in no particular order:

1. Save Money. Work for Peace.

2. The Soul of Unemployment

3. The Paradox of Politics

4. Left Behind

5. Beyond Post-Racialism

6. What to a Felon is the Fourth of July?

7. Out of Deep Love

8. Truth, Reconciliation and Occupation

9. Money Cannot Be Eaten

Gene Marks Is Right

2011-12-18T11:25:00.002-02:00

Article first published as Gene Marks Is Right on Blogcritics.

Once again, someone has picked up their keyboard and whacked the hornet's nest of contemporary racial discourse in America. This time it was a self-described "short, balding and mediocre certified public accountant", named Gene Marks, writing for Forbes magazine. Marks used the occasion of President Obama's recent speech about inequality to engage in a thought experiment entitled, "If I Were a Poor Black Kid". This experiment yields the following breakthrough insight into escaping poverty:

"It takes brains. It takes hard work. It takes a little luck. And a little help from others. It takes the ability and the know-how to use the resources that are available."

Needless to say, this essay prompted some critical responses. Root.com has a nice round-up of some of them. Ranging from profound to funny, they capture the general critique of essays like "If I Were a Poor Black Kid", namely that they fail to take into account the history of racial oppression, contemporary structural inequities and white privilege.

However, I believe that there is truth worth considering in this essay. Changing the woeful conditions under which too many inner-city, poor, black youth live does require intelligence, intense striving, seizing opportunities offered by chance, assistance from others and creatively using available resources. Marks is absolutely right in that regard. What he fails to recognize is that it is the exercise of these virtues in dismantling structural racism that will make the most lasting and meaningful change in the lives of these youth. In this regard it's all of us who need to be smarter and worker harder not just poor, black kids. Personal responsibility and social responsibility must go hand in hand if we are to achieve true prosperity for all Americans.

My point is not to minimize the central role that poor, black youth, and poor folks generally have to play in changing their lives. As a Baha'i I believe that God expects no less from the poor, black kid than the middle-class, middle-aged white guy. I believe that we are more than the social conditions we find ourselves in by chance, choice, or policy. My point is that justice demands that each of us examine how our choices impact the quality our lives and the lives of our neighbors. This can protect us from the self-righteousness and self-delusion that too often poison the possibilities for change. As 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 wrote:

"For this reason must all human beings powerfully sustain one another and seek for everlasting life...Let them purify their sight and behold all humankind as leaves and blossoms and fruits of the tree of being. Let them at all times concern themselves with doing a kindly thing for one of their fellows, offering to someone love, consideration, thoughtful help. Let them see no one as their enemy, or as wishing them ill, but think of all humankind as their friends; regarding the alien as an intimate, the stranger as a companion, staying free of prejudice, drawing no lines."

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, property of the U.S. Government and considered in the public domain.

Money Cannot Be Eaten

2011-12-11T10:00:00.003-02:00

Article first published as Money Cannot Be Eaten on Blogcritics.

As the last of the Occupy encampments are swept away across the nation, few can fail to recognize that whatever the future of this movement, its activists have successfully "occupied" public discourse. Some see President Obama's recent speech in Kansas as an indication of this success. The speech, which focused largely on the theme of economic inequality, nicely captured the essence of the "American Dream," which for so many has become a dream deferred.

"If you gave it your all, you’d take enough home to raise your family, send your kids to school, have your health care covered, and put a little away for retirement."

Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress describes how the problem of economic inequality existed long before the Great Recession and actually contributed to it. She argues that stagnating incomes resulted in increased borrowing facilitated by an unregulated financial industry flush with cash. This unsustainable dynamic would eventually blow up in the 2008 financial crisis.

While increased discussion of economic inequality and the importance of reducing poverty and strengthening the middle class are encouraging, analysis of the influence of materialistic values on this crisis remains largely on the margins. A short film called, The High Price of Materialism, produced by the Center for a New American Dream, offers a corrective. In highly accessible language and informed by social science, the film describes the negative psychological and social consequences when materialistic values become dominant in our lives. It's an excellent companion to, The Story of Stuff, which discusses the dynamics of consumerism and the system that supports it. These short, yet profound films suggest that Americans need to dream much bigger.

Moving the critique of materialism from the margin to the center of discourse about a new economy is a contribution that religious leadership and communities of faith can and should make. This will require more than denunciations of Wall Street, its political enablers, or the so-called one percent. We need to begin to recognize the ideology of materialism and its institutional manifestations as being just as oppressive as the other "isms" humanity has been struggling to free itself from. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892 to 1921 framed the challenge in these terms:

All the Prophets have come to promote divine bestowals, to found the spiritual civilization and teach the principles of morality. Therefore, we must strive with all our powers so that spiritual influences may gain the victory. For material forces have attacked mankind. The world of humanity is submerged in a sea of materialism.

Such a process should not be confused with asceticism or denial of the material realities of life in the 21st century. What is required is learning how to harmonize the spiritual and material dimensions of civilization so that both progress in a sustainable, just, and unified fashion conducive to real prosperity. Otherwise, our children's children may live to see fulfillment of that grim prophecy of an indigenous people whom, like so many others, clearly saw the inevitable consequences of soul-less consumption:

Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

Cree Prophecy

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, taken by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and considered in the public domain

A Politics of Possibility

2011-12-07T07:49:00.002-02:00

Article first published as A Study in Possibility on Blogcritics.

It's a holiday season crowded with crises. An entire continent slouches towards financial free fall, austerity emerges as a new normal in nation after nation, an angry and divided region continues to simmer, and our planet marches steadily toward climate catastrophe. Meanwhile, many of our political leaders appear to prefer playing musical chairs on the deck of the Titanic to actually solving our problems.

The numerous challenges facing the human race in the early days of the 21st century demand spiritual and moral leadership. This is leadership distinguished by vision that transcends the next election or news cycle, commitment to principle that transcends partisan preoccupations, and a deep love that transcends the limitations of socially constructed identities. Most of all, it is leadership animated by a profound appreciation of the unique possibilities presented by the times we are living in. In his political treatise "The Secret of Divine Civilization", 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 commented:

A few, unaware of the power latent in human endeavor, consider this matter as highly impracticable, nay even beyond the scope of man's utmost efforts. Such is not the case, however...Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor, is required. Nothing short of an indomitable determination can possibly achieve it. Many a cause which past ages have regarded as purely visionary, yet in this day has become most easy and practicable.

Many of us recently celebrated the life of Steve Jobs. His vision turned what only a generation ago would have been considered science fiction, into a new world that literally fits in the palm of your hand. If human beings can achieve things like that, why not a sane and sustainable financial system, or life-sustaining harmony with the natural world, or a free, united and just Middle East?

If we want the spiritual and moral leadership we need to achieve such things, we have to come to grips with the deficit of faith that contributes to its absence in our political life. This is a deficit of faith in ourselves and each other rooted in an impoverished view of human nature. The Universal House of Justice, the International Governing Council of the Baha'i Faith explained it this way:

Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behaviour is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable. With the entrenchment of this view, a paralyzing contradiction has developed in human affairs. On the one hand, people of all nations proclaim not only their readiness but their longing for peace and harmony, for an end to the harrowing apprehensions tormenting their daily lives. On the other, uncritical assent is given to the proposition that human beings are incorrigibly selfish and aggressive and thus incapable of erecting a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on co-operation and reciprocity.

The necessary spiritual and moral leadership will emerge as our political culture evolves and transforms. Such a change in culture will require a change in consciousness, an appreciation of the possibilities of this age and of human capacity to fulfill those possibilities.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, taken by NASA and considered in the public domain

'Tis the Season to Consume

2011-11-29T08:34:00.004-02:00

'Tis the season to spend money we don't have on things we don't need. The twelve days of debt are upon us and the annual festival of fights has begun. Apparently pepper spray will be this year's most popular gift. Peace on earth, good will toward men, only $19.95 if you call right now (plus shipping and handling). It's an excellent time, especially as you circle endlessly around a store parking lot, to meditate deeply on our culture of consumption.

Some thoughtful folks have already started. Writing for God's Politics, the blog of Sojourner's magazine, Jeremy John recently denounced Black Friday as the "Anti-Thanksgiving." In protest he refused to participate in this unofficial holiday which he describes as "a celebration of greed, unbridled consumerism and disregard for others."

Christianity Today features an interview with Laura Hartmann who explores the possibilities for "consumption ethics" in her book The Christian Consumer: Living Faithfully in a Fragile World. "Consumption ethics." There's a phrase you're unlikely to hear in the barrage of holiday-themed advertising bursting out of every television, radio, hand-held device, and print media over the next few weeks. In the interview, Hartmann makes the following observation:

"In some ways, this is the tragedy of consumerism: the consumerist culture recognizes that we're all needy but tries to fill it with the wrong stuff. It's a bottomless pit unless it's filled with the right stuff. We can just keep consuming and consuming and never be satisfied because we're not getting what we truly want."

Perhaps the resurgence of zombies in popular culture is a kind of subconscious reflection of this culture of consumption Hartmann and John are describing. Mouths gaping, arms outstretched, staggering ever forward, zombies represent consumption at its most basic. That George Romero's classic (and a really good remake) Dawn of the Dead takes place at a shopping mall is a none-too-subtle commentary on this culture.

As the title of Hartmann's book suggests, however, the consequences of consumption without consciousness or conscience involve more than maxing out a credit card. We can potentially max out the planet. It is in this context that public discourse regarding consumption is increasingly focused on "sustainability."

In 2010, the Baha'i International Community (BIC), a non-governmental organization representing the Baha'i Faith at the United Nations, contributed a statement to the 18th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Titled Rethinking Prosperity: Providing Alternatives to the Culture of Consumerism, the statement emphasizes the need for cultural transformation based upon a rethinking of human nature. The Baha'i International Community comments that:

"The human experience is essentially spiritual in nature: it is rooted in the inner reality – or what some call the 'soul' – that we all share in common. The culture of consumerism, however, has tended to reduce human beings to competitive, insatiable consumers of goods and to objects of manipulation by the market."

In this new era of Occupying Everything, perhaps its time for us to occupy our wallets as well. Perhaps it is time to demonstrate that we are not zombies. We are living, breathing, thinking human beings committed to consumption characterized by conscience, common sense and yes, love for our neighbor and creation. That would be a gift that truly keeps on giving.

Education Under Fire

2011-11-13T10:38:00.008-02:00

Article first published as Education Under Fire on Blogcritics.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

"Everyone has the right to education...Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit...It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups..."

According to Wikipedia, there are no less than fifty-two institutions of higher education in the Greater Boston area. Boasting more colleges and universities per square inch than some areas have churches or Dunkin Donuts, Greater Boston was just the right place for a conversation about the precious human right of education.

This conversation was hosted on November 12th by Wheelock College and co-sponsored by the National Center for Race Amity, Amnesty International, and the Education Under Fire campaign. Education Under Fire is an initiative seeking to raise awareness about the importance of education as a human right through telling the story of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education.

The Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) was founded in 1987 as a non-political and non-violent response the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran of denying Baha'is access to higher education because of their religious beliefs. Since that time, BIHE has been run by dedicated, volunteer instructors and graduated some 2,000 students many of whom have gone on to continue their studies at colleges and universities in the United States.

It may be such success that has prompted a recent, brutal crack down on BIHE by the Iranian government. In May, more than 30 Baha'i homes across Iran were raided and several faculty and administrators were arrested. Seven professors and administrators were last month sentenced to four and five years each, for allegedly being involved in an illegal group intending to commit crimes against national security.

A primary advocacy tool of the Education Under Fire Campaign is a documentary produced by David Hoffman and directed by Jeffrey Kaufman. Wheelock College hosted one of several screenings and discussions of the documentary that are taking place in the Boston area including at MIT, Harvard, and Boston University. Jeffrey Kaufman introduced the screening pointing out that he is not a Baha'i but was inspired to tell the story of this "tragic and ongoing international disgrace". Kaufman noted that making the film was a collaborative effort, including Iranians helping to get footage out of Iran at great personal risk.

The 30-minute documentary includes interviews with several graduates of BIHE, human rights activists and Iran experts. The stories of the graduates were the most poignant parts of the film. This included Nikan Milani and Mojdeh Rohani who were present for the screening. Both have lost family members who were "disappeared" or executed by the Iranian regime for being Baha'is. Among BIHE's earliest students, in the film they provide historical context regarding the circumstances of its founding and the practical challenges of trying to educate young people in secret.

After the screening, a panel discussion took place including Jeffery Kaufman, Joshua Rubenstein Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA, and actor/comedian Rainn Wilson. The panel was moderated by Northeastern University Professor Dr. Robin Chandler.

Kaufman explained that the story of BIHE is a story of hope and instilling hope is critical in the fight for human rights. He also mentioned that the campaign to shine a light on this issue is gaining momentum including a recent open letter written by Nobel Laureates Desmund Tutu and Jose' Ramos-Horta. Wilson, a Baha'i emphasized that being involved in the Education Under Fire Campaign has deepened his appreciation of education as a "human right". He also commented on why the Baha'i Faith is so threatening to the Iranian government explaining that it is viewed as a heresy and has teachings such as the equality of men and women and religious organization without clergy. Rubenstein reminded the audience that the attacks on BIHE are taking place within a wider context of state-sanctioned repression of political views and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iran. BIHE graduate Mojdeh Rohani reponded to the question of why Baha'is stay in Iran given the oppression they face describing the centrality of service in Baha'i teaching and the desire of Iranian Baha'is to serve their nation and promote its advancement.

The evening concluded with participants being able to visit a variety of "action stations" to learn about steps they can take to support the human right of education. These steps include the following:

Arranging for screenings of the documentary at their colleges or universities.
Signing the Nobel Laureate's Open Letter to the international academic community.
Assisting with the development and teaching of on-line courses for BIHE students.
Encouraging their colleges and universities to accept diplomas and credits from BIHE graduates applying to them.

Truth, Reconciliation, and Occupation

2011-11-05T08:29:00.005-02:00

Article first published as Truth, Reconciliation, and Occupation on Blogcritics.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

A literal chill has recently settled over the Occupy Wall Street protests even as the movement itself has heated up with general strikes and Bank Transfer Day. As days have turned into weeks since the protests began, I've found myself pondering Martin Luther King's famous question, "where do we go from here? chaos or community?"

I've been blessed to have recently read God is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations, a collection of speeches, sermons and writings of the retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Reading this book got me thinking that one demand the 99% could make is that there be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the Great Recession. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a critical and controversial aspect of South Africa's transition for apartheid to democracy, based upon the principles of restorative justice. The work of the Commission included inquiries and hearings about human rights violations, hearing applications for amnesty from those who had committed crimes and told the truth about them, and recommendations for reparations and rehabilitation for victims and their families. Archbishop Tutu explained the spirit of the Commission in this way:

"Restorative justice believes that an offense has caused a breach, has disturbed the social equilibrium, which must be restored, and the breach healed, in a process through which the offender and the victim can be reconciled and peace restored."

My point here is not that a straight line of comparison can be drawn between the choices precipitating the Great Recession and the apartheid regime. I believe that the spirit and processes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could restore social equilibrium, heal the breach between the 1% and the 99%, and encourage reconciliation between the wronged and the wrong doers.

Imagine if rather than the tragicomic "hearings" following the 2008 financial crisis, Americans were able to witness those who helped cause it tell the truth, ask for forgiveness and commit themselves on national television to helping those hurt by their actions? Imagine if we all heard and really listened to the stories of those left behind by the Great Recession broadcast in our living rooms night after night?

Such a process could contribute to the kind of transformative, interclass dialogue my fellow scholar at State of Formation Paul Joseph Greene advocates. It could also help us avoid the dangers of "us" vs. "them" discourses another State of Formation Scholar, Yaira Robison warns of. Pursuing truth and reconciliation could ultimately represent one form of operationalizing love in a new social order, what the Baha'i Faith refers to as a divine civilization.

Commenting on the relationship between justice and unity, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892) the Founder of the Baha'i Faith wrote:

"The light of men is Justice. Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within this exalted word, while the books of the world cannot contain its inner significance."

Whether the Occupy Wall Street movement will promote sustainable, life-giving social change based on the spirit and practice of love is as important as the wrongs that gave birth to it. The example set by their brothers and sisters in South African is a model the activists and their supports should ponder as they move forward. If white and black could reconcile after the horrors of apartheid, why not Wall Street and Main Street?

We All Have Our Choice

2011-10-29T11:07:00.008-02:00

Article first published as We All Have Our Choice on Blogcritics.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.com

The participation of religious folk in the various "occupations" springing up throughout the U.S. is receiving increasing attention. Jonathan Oskins, writing for State of Formation provides a remarkably comprehensive roundup of religious involvement in this movement. People of faith have lent their support in variety of ways ranging from providing sacred spaces for worship, meditation or reflection to providing practical, material support and services.

As a Baha'i, I've been pondering the role of religion in the Occupy movement since its inception. One contribution I think could become more prominent is to broaden and deepen the discourse regarding justice among the activists, their supporters and ultimately the country as a whole. Most of the discourse to date has focused on the perceived injustice of the increasing wealth gap in America and the economic and political system that appears to perpetuate it. All of my writing on the subject, including long before Occupy Wall Street began has been along these lines.

However, my faith challenges me do more than admonish the 1% and their political enablers. I have to engage in self-criticism with the same passion. I have to ask myself on a daily basis how committed I am to behaving justly toward my neighbor and how consistent my actions are with that commitment. When and where am I perpetuating the very injustices I condemn in others and in society? 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 commented that:

"Justice is not limited, it is a universal quality. Its operation must be carried out in all classes, from the highest to the lowest. Justice must be sacred, and the rights of all the people must be considered. Desire for others only that which you desire for yourselves...A humble workman who commits an injustice is as much to blame as a renowned tyrant. Thus we all have our choice between justice and injustice."

While the social conditions under which we make these choices differ, we all have moral agency and thus moral accountability. When it comes to justice, personal responsibility is as significant as social responsibility. Baha'i teaching says that all human beings have been created in the image of God and thus we all "embody divine possibilities." One of the these possibilities is the practice of justice as a way of life.

While not always explicitly spiritual, talk about justice within the Occupy movement is shifting. Activists are turning a critical gaze on themselves and discussing issues of gender and race. Occupy the Hood is one development animated by this spirit.

I pray these conversations will continue. The quality of these conversations and whatever actions emerge from them will be enhanced by striking a balance between indignation and introspection. As many of the great change agents in every age, nation and religion have taught us, some of the hardest struggles toward the world we want are within ourselves as much as in society. Mohandas K. Ghandi put it this way:

"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves."

Out of Deep Love

2011-10-23T10:06:00.011-02:00

Article first published as Out of Deep Love: The Lessons of Martin Luther King Jr. on Blogcritics.

The recent dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has inspired some to invoke his name in relation to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Shortly before his arrest in Washington D.C. while protesting outside the Supreme Court, Princeton Professor Cornel West stated:

"We will not allow this day of Martin Luther King Jr's memorial to go without somebody going to jail, because Martin King would be here right with us, willing to throw down out of deep love."

What kind of love would inspire King to "throw down"? In Where Do We Go From Here?: Chaos or Community, King wrote:

"Power without love is reckless and abusive and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

The willingness to pursue justice in the spirit and language of love without embarrassment or apology is a characteristic that distinguishes the Martin Luther King Jr's of the world.

We live in a time filled with anger. I feel it as much as the next person. Anger is a powerful fuel. It has the power to motivate, to mobilize, to get people moving. In the short term, it can get us where we think we want to go. However, in the long term anger acts like a fossil fuel. It poisons the atmosphere of public discourse and wrecks the ecology of human relationships. Lasting, sustainable, life-giving change requires a cleaner form of energy. It requires love. This is the lesson taught by Martin Luther King Jr. and exemplified by his life and death.

As a Baha'i, I believe that this is a lesson that must be learned by any movement that hopes to succeed in truly changing the world. The spirit and language of love must move from the margin to the center of discourse and policy regarding the issues of economic justice, equity and reform. In fact, learning to operationalize love in the structures of a new social order is the greatest challenge facing a human race which must either unite or perish.

This kind of love is universal and unconditional. This kind of love acknowledges that the distinction between the wealthiest 1% and the 99% must change, while animated by the conviction that the wealthy are also God's children. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1912), Head of the Baha'i Faith once stated:

"Shed the light of a boundless love on every human being whom you meet, whether of your country, your race, your political party, or of any other nation, colour or shade of political opinion. Heaven will support you while you work in this in-gathering of the scattered peoples of the world beneath the shadow of the almighty tent of unity."

This is the kind of love President Obama might have had in mind when he made the following observation during his speech at the dedication of the King Memorial:

"If he [King] were alive today, I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there."

Obviously this is all easier said than done. If it were easy, people like Dr. King would neither awe nor inspire us. But his life and the lives of countless others like him in every age, among every race, nation and religion, provide the living proof of what love can do.

Hunger Games

2011-10-16T11:48:00.015-02:00

Article first published as Hunger Games on Blogcritics.

In Suzanne Collins' trilogy The Hunger Games, youth are forced to fight to the death as entertainment for the ruling elite. While the title refers to the name of this annual ritual of human sacrifice, it could equally describe the struggle for survival of most of the people living in this dystopian, future America. A particularly cruel example is a policy where people can get additional rations of food if they if they submit their names to the lottery for the Hunger Games. This increases their likelihood of being "reaped".

As difficult as times are, we do not yet live in an America as horrific as the one in Collins' imagination. However, as far as hunger goes, for some left behind by the Great Recession the future is now. According to a recent report by the Center for American Progress in 2010 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households. This refers to those who were hungry or faced food insecurity at some point during the year.

As a social worker, I've met many people who are living with food insecurity. One was a woman who had been laid off from her job as an engineer. Her deteriorating economic situation was tearing at the fabric of her family life. She shared that her teenage daughter was enraged that they had too little food to eat at home. For the first time in her life, this mother had to learn about food stamps and food pantries.

Americans like these have to play a hunger game of their own. The game goes like this. Do I pay for medications or do I pay for food? Do I pay my mortgage or do I pay for food? The Center for American Progress reports that in 2010 nearly half of the households seeking emergency food assistance had to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food. More than a third had to choose between their medical bills and food. Nearly 40 percent had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food.

The Baha'i Faith identifies hunger as one indication of a social order that has proven to be lamentably defective at supporting material well-being. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921) Head of the Baha'i Faith observed that:

"One of the most important principles of the Teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the right of every human being to the daily bread whereby they exist, or the equalization of the means of livelihood...Some we find with numerous courses of costly and dainty food; whilst others can scarce find sufficient crusts to keep them alive.This condition of affairs is wrong, and must be remedied."

The significance of hunger, and the economic inequities it dramatizes transcends personal agony. The Baha'i Faith teaches that extremes in the gap between the haves and have-nots have negative consequences for society as a whole. This spiritual principle is confirmed by the the Center For American Progress' report. Lost economic productivity per year, more expensive public education because of the rising costs of poor education outcomes, avoidable health care costs, and the cost of charity to keep families fed costs America at least $167.5 billion.

Many are seeking to draw attention to the ways in which the American Dream has become a dream deferred. Increasing food insecurity is yet another example of a society which desperately needs to rethink its priorities and it policies.

Facing Race 2012

2011-10-11T19:15:00.003-03:00

The exceptional Applied Research Center (ARC), publisher of Colorlines magazine has announced its next national conference, Facing Race 2012. Here's some information about the conference from their website:

Facing Race is a conference like no other – it is the largest national, multi-racial gathering of leaders, educators, journalists, and activists on racial justice. Baltimore is the perfect setting for Facing Race 2012 because of its deep history in the racial justice movement and continued efforts to curtail institutional and structural racism.

Facing Race 2010 participants benefited from an electrifying keynote address from Melissa Harris-Perry, thought-provoking panels with activists including Van Jones, Maria Theresa Kumar, and Tim Wise, innovative and practical breakout sessions on a range of issues, and the opportunity to network with the most active members of the racial justice movement.

Facing Race 2012 takes place just weeks after the 2012 Presidential Election – so don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the timely discussion on the implications of the election for communities of color. It also marks ARC’s 30th Anniversary so we’re working to make it monumental!

Registration for Facing Race 2012 begins in January but you don’t have to wait. Sign up today to be on the Facing Race 2012 email list and you’ll receive exclusive discounts and information available only to email list members!

We hope to see you in Baltimore for Facing Race 2012!

I also hope to make it to this timely conference and see many readers and/or racial justice educators and activists there.

Blog Action Day 2011: Food

2011-10-11T15:05:00.002-03:00

Baha'i Thought has just registered to join bloggers from around the world for Blog Action Day 2011. The subject this year will be FOOD. Here's the 411 from the folks that are leading this annual effort:

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all.

For 2011, our Blog Action Day coincides with World Food Day, so our topic of discussion for this year will be food. Take the first step now and sign-up your blog to Blog Action Day and then look at our suggested topics for some food flavoured inspiration to discuss.

Our Goal

First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue. Our hope is that out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action.

I hope that Baha'i Thought readers and many of the bloggers among the readership will join in this important global conversation.

A War Against Knowledge

2011-09-26T09:51:00.005-03:00

This Article was first published as A War Against Knowledge on Blogcritics.

Writing in The Huffington Post, Nobel Laureates Desmond Tutu and Jose Ramos-Horta note:

Freedom of education and freedom of information are integral to freedom of thought. Few advances have been made for humankind which were not preceded by new ways of looking at our world and new schools of thought. So it is particularly shocking when despots and dictators in the twenty-first century attempt to subjugate their own populations by attempting to deny education or information to their people.

In an unprecedented moment in the long struggle for religious freedom of Iran's Baha'i minority, Tutu and Ramos-Horta have addressed an open letter to the international academic community. The letter seeks to inform and mobilize academics to support the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) which has come under increasing pressure from the Iranian government. This includes the recent arrest of the lawyer who was going to defend Baha'is arrested for participating as educators of the BIHE. It is the policy of the current regime to deny access to higher education to Baha'is solely due to their religious beliefs.

The letter provides historical background about the BIHE which was a non-violent, non-political response this discriminatory policy. The specifically calls upon academics to show their support through several possible actions, including calling on the government of the Iranian Republic to drop charges related to their educational activities filed against BIHE educators and release them unconditionally.

The letter also urges academic leaders, administrators and professors to register in the Iranian academic community their disagreement with and disapproval of any policy which would bar individuals from higher education based on their religious background or political persuasion, or which would remove or corrupt any established fields of study from a university curriculum for religious or political reasons.

The open letter is part of a larger campaign that will include showings of a 30 minute documentary about the BIHE in several cities throughout the United States. The Baha'i Faith was founded in Iran in the mid-19th century and Baha'is represent the largest religious minority in the country. Since its inception, the Baha'i community of Iran has faced relentless persecution including harassment, arrests, executions and destruction of gravesites.

Question Bridge

2011-09-19T14:56:00.002-03:00

I wanted to get the word out to readers about a fascinating initiative about Black male identity in America. The 411 is included below:

"Question Bridge: Black Males is an innovative transmedia art project that facilitates a dialogue between a critical mass of Black men from diverse and contending backgrounds; and creates a platform for them to represent and redefine Black male identity in America. The project creates and develops a Question Bridge and Identity Map to fulfill its mission:

A Question Bridge is a media-facilitated dialog among a critical mass of people within a demographic. Its core methodology is this: on video, a Black man asks a significant question of a Black man they feel estranged from; on video, a Black man representing that difference, video records his answer.

An Identity Map is a group-generated illustration of self-described identity tags within a single demographic. Black men create a profile on QuestionBridge.com with tag words that they feel describe their identity. These identity tags are synthesized into a comprehensive map that illustrates how Black men in America describe themselves. Our hypothesis is that the map will deconstruct monochromatic views of black men and expose a highly complex, dynamic, and multi-faceted view of their identity.

The Question Bridge and Identity Map are made available for people to explore in multiple ways: a website (QuestionBridge.com), video art installations in museums and galleries, community events and discussions, and the high school and university curriculum."

You can watch a video about the project here. I hope many readers will consider supporting this project and telling others about it.

A Dream Deferred

2011-09-18T15:49:00.021-03:00

Article first published as A Dream Deferred on Blogcritics.

The Baha'i Faith teaches that an equitable and just distribution of wealth is essential to the prosperity and progress of civilization. When 'Abdu'l-Baha, Head of the Baha'i Faith (1892-1921) visited North America in 1912 he observed that, "This readjustment of the social economic is of the greatest importance inasmuch as it insures the stability of the world of humanity; and until it is effected, happiness and prosperity are impossible."

A mayor of a major U.S. city was recently quoted as concerned about the stability of the country in the face of our economic malaise. For those who have been left behind by the Great Recession, learning that they have been part of a "lost decade" based on recent analysis of census data may deepen their frustration.

According to the Center for American Progress, some grim realities revealed by this data include:

More than a third of our population is living on a low income. In 2010, 103.6 million people were living below $44,000 for a family of four (two times the federal poverty line).

Income inequality increased from 2009 to 2010. Households in the bottom 20 percent by income saw their incomes fall by 4.5 percent, more than six times as much as the households in the top quintile.

Young people are getting hammered in this recession. More young adults (age 25-34) are moving in with their parents: 5.9 million young adults lived with their parents in 2010, up from 4.7 million before the recession. If you look at only the young adults’ income (instead of their parent’s income), the poverty rate among this group would be 45.3 percent. Households headed by a young person (age 15-24) saw the largest income decline of any age group as their income fell by more than 9 percent in the last year.

As explained by the Urban Institute, the jobs crisis is a significant contributor to these statistics. Approximately one in five non-elderly families experienced unemployment in 2010. Poverty increased with the number of weeks of unemployment. The poverty rate of the long-term unemployed was more than twice the rate of those with no unemployment in 2010.

Meanwhile the rich continue to get richer while most of us are just getting by. According to Mother Jones, a huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household while the average income for the bottom 90 is $31,244. And while millions of Americans struggle to find a job or keep their home, corporate profits are boomin'.

For so many, the American Dream has become a "dream deferred". Those who fear our current economic catastrophe may have apocalyptic consequences are pondering the question voiced by poet Langston Hughes:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Faith in Action DC

2011-09-12T09:35:00.002-03:00

I wanted to get the word out about this amazing initiative by my dear brother Jack Gordon. The 411 is below. I hope readers in the DC area will give him lots of support, love, hugs, prayers and hey, why not a bite to eat. This guy works hard. Oh, and Jack you need to bring this to Boston next. Just sayin'.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE PAST DECADE AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE THE COMING ONE?

Dear friends,
I'm excited to share with you the launch of my new project, Faith in Action DC, a multimedia project celebrating the work of diverse people of faith to build community in the nation's capital region.

Instead of focusing on aesthetic or theological differences, Faith in Action DC examines the common ground of all faith communities: service to humanity.
Over the coming months, I'll be visiting with a wide range of faith-based organizations, institutions, and individuals in the DC area to document through photographs and video the many ways ordinary people are creating positive change in their neighborhoods by transforming core values into direct service.

http://www.faithinactiondc.com

The goal is to produce (1) a dynamic website with new content each week; (2) a traveling photo exhibition to bring inspiring images to community centers throughout the area; and (3) a photo book to create a permanent document of our struggles for a better tomorrow. This project is being done in collaboration with the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and a significant portion of revenue generated will be going to support IFC's programming.

As we step into the next 10 years post-9/11, let's tell a new story - of hope and collaboration and strength through unity. Whether you live in DC or not, whether you identify with a particular religious group or not, imagine the benefit of a capital city that stands before its nation as a model of tolerance and understanding amongst diverse communities, celebrating the work of those who arise to serve.

I encourage you to learn more and participate through our website and social media sites... and most importantly, to share information about this project with someone you know: your clergy, your congregation, your co-workers. Faith in Action DC is a project with unlimited potential for growth, but it depends on the involvement of more communities telling us about how they are helping their neighbors. We want to promote the good work you and your friends are doing in the field of service, so let us know about it!

Thanks in advance.
Looking forward,
Jack Gordon

Producer, Faith in Action DC

Please direct all questions to info@faithinactiondc.com

Mooz-lum

2011-09-09T16:27:00.013-03:00

Article first published as Mooz-lum on Blogcritics.

In the film Mooz-lum (2010) a family shares a moment of grief. Tightly embracing with bowed heads pressed together while their bodies shake with sobs, it's an image appropriate for the anniversary of 9/11. It is a metaphor for an American moment of national grieving. Given the state of discourse on Islam among some Americans, that the family depicted in the film is Muslim American makes the image all the more arresting.

Mooz-lum, is a film about the formation of religious identity in the crucible of conflicting cultures. It is about a "clash of civilizations" within the heart of a young man named Tariq (Evan Ross) as he navigates a college life of parties, booze and sex on the one hand and Muslim youth and faculty on the other.

Through flashbacks we are introduced to Tariq and his family when he is a child. His young sister, who like him, faces teasing at school, his observant but "liberal" mother (Nia Long) and his "conservative" father (Roger Guenveur Smith). The liberal vs. conservative parenting styles are a source of constant conflict within the family. Tariq's father wants him to express his devotion to Allah in the way that he does. He enrolls him in a Muslim school which becomes the site of critical moments on Tariq's spiritual path. What happens there ultimately explains Tariq's attitude toward Islam as a college student which ranges from ambivalence to aggression.

"What's wrong with you?", his sister demands at one point. The lone Muslim faculty member on campuses wonders, "What's your deal?" This questioning is a theme throughout the film. Like the image of Tariq's family grieving together, this insistent questioning is a timely metaphor for an America trying to make sense of its increasing diversity. Particularly where Muslims fit in (or don't).

The terrorist attacks increase the tensions on screen exponentially. These tensions climax in mob violence on the campus. Courage is tested and students find themselves soaked with blood and tears. Tariq and his sister argue passionately about what Islam is and is not and the source of his inner-conflict is finally revealed to his parents.

Mooz-lum is a film that needed to be made and needs to be seen. It provides an intimate portrait of a Muslim American family in contrast to the parade of horrors that fills the nightly news. Even non-Muslim's may see their spiritual journeys mirrored in Tariq's. Nia Long and Roger Guenveur Smith give touching and powerful performances as Tariq's parents. Evan Ross embodies Tariq's pain and barely restrained rage, his awkwardness and ambivalence effectively. A scene that juxtaposes him reciting Quranic verses while reliving soul-crushing events at the Muslim school is one of the best. The always compelling Summer Bishil is fierce as a fellow Muslim student. As Tariq's sister suggests they should take off their head scarfs in the face of approaching danger, her response seems to give voice to Muslim women throughout the West who are harassed and worse for daring to wear the hijab.

For all its strengths, this is also a film where opportunities were missed. An unfortunate aspect of the film is its portrayal of Tariq's father. While it manages to avoid presenting him as a monster (it leaves that role to another character) it suggests that being devoted to one's faith is rigid or backward. His mother, who is portrayed as being more compassionate about her kid's struggle to fit into the wider world comes across as the "good Muslim".

A related and troubling aspect of the film is its explanation for Tariq's rejecting Islam. It would have been enough to have it involve disagreements with his father's version of Islam or even estrangement related to how this impacted their relationship. Instead the film insists on injecting an unnecessary trauma at his Muslim school into the story. Ironically, this may perpetuate stereotypes the film as a whole is attempting to critique.

'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith (1892-1921) wrote, "See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness." While Mooz-lum is not a perfect film, it offers an opportunity for viewers to see Muslims as neighbors rather than "others". For that alone it deserves a viewing. May it prove to be one of many films that seek to humanize Muslim Americans in these times that test the character of our country.

Jobs Are Freedom

2011-08-29T13:08:00.007-03:00

Article first published as Jobs are Freedom on Blogcritics.

'Abdu'l-Baha , Head of the Baha'i Faith (1892-1921), wrote:

"Until the nerves and arteries of the nation stir into life, every measure that is attempted will prove vain; for the people are as the human body, and determination and the will to struggle are as the soul, and a soulless body does not move."

After many years, a memorial to an American who stirred this nation to life has emerged on the National Mall. The first dedicated to an African American, the memorial to civil rights martyr Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has generated considerable emotion and reflection. Recent visitors since it was opened to the public have described it as holy ground. Paul Raushenbush of the Huffington Post experienced the memorial as embodying King's theology. Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. calls on visitors, particularly African Americans to remember their dead such as Emmit Till when visiting the memorial. Professor Cornel West, also of Princeton, describes the apocalyptic warnings of a King concerned America "might go to hell owing to its economic injustice, cultural decay and political paralysis."

For some, the significance of the memorial is as a reminder of King's dedication to economic justice. Algernon Austin, Director of the Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, reminds us that the March on Washington was for Jobs and Freedom and that King was assassinated while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis Tennessee. King called for an economic bill of rights that would guarantee employment to those who wanted it, organized a "Poor People's Campaign" and identified the Labor Movement as being as important as the Civil Rights Movement.

With an unemployment rate still at 9.1 percent and some projecting that we will not achieve full employment until 2017, King would probably agree that the jobs crisis is our most pressing national issue. King would also likely be appalled that the burden of unemployment continues to be distributed according to race. Black unemployment is at 16.2 percent, while white unemployment is at 8 percent.

While people throughout the Middle East celebrate a much deserved "Arab Spring", for too many it remains winter in America. The King memorial should remind us that for those out of work, jobs are freedom. It should move us to take collective action to make sure both industry and government do what is necessary to get people back to work and that workers are payed a fair and livable wage. As King wrote in one of his sermons:

"The dispossessed of this nation...live in a cruelly unjust society. They must organize a revolution against that injustice, not against the lives of the persons who are their fellow citizens, but against structures through which the society is refusing to take means which...are at hand...There are millions of...people in this country who have very little, or even nothing, to lose. If they can be helped to take action together, the will do so with a freedom and a power that will be a new and unsettling force in our complacent national life."

The New Jim Crow: A Series

2011-08-20T15:29:00.003-03:00

I've recently experimented with doing a series of posts about the same topic. I'm calling it The New Jim Crow: A Series. Each of the posts in this series is compiled below from first to last.

Common Ground

2011-08-16T05:55:00.002-03:00

I wanted to make sure readers were aware of a new blog called Common Ground. Here's how this team-authored blog is described on their site:

What is Common Ground?

“When you meet those whose opinions differ from your own, do not turn away your face from them. All are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading thereto. Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one. Do not allow difference of opinion, or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellow-men, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts. Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends.” — Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 53

Common Ground is a working group aimed at creating an active venue for discussion & communication, resource sharing, consultation, learning, study, & community-building for anyone interested in finding common ground in the areas of faith and reason, science and religion.

email us at: blogcommonground@gmail.com

Race, Incarceration, and American Values

2011-08-13T18:20:00.010-03:00

Article first published as Book Review: Race, Incarceration, and American Values by Glenn C. Loury on Blogcritics.

"Never before has a supposedly free country denied basic liberty to so many of its citizens", writes professor Glenn C. Loury. "Despite a sharp national decline in crime, American criminal justice has become crueler and less caring that it has been at any other time in our modern history. Why?"

Answering this question is the heart of Loury's thought-provoking book, Race, Incarceration, and American Values. Loury begins with jaw-dropping statistics. These include the fact that our corrections system employs more people than General Motors, Ford and Wal-Mart combined, with five percent of the world's population, we house twenty-five percent of its inmates, and that our incarceration rate is forty-times our nearest competitors including Russia.

Loury argues that these statistics represent a choice America has made to shift from rehabilitation to punishment. This shift is due to the association in the minds of many of criminality with blackness. Loury notes that since the mid-60's a similar association has emerged related to the welfare state which has also become more punitive. Indeed, as Barbara Ehrenreich has written poverty itself is becoming criminalized. As crime has become synonymous with blackness policy has become colored by racial animus and racial indifference. The effects have been devastating. Citing one example, Loury refers to the research of Princeton University sociologist Bruce Western who found that the racial disparity in incarceration rates is greater than another other arena, including unemployment, non-marital child rearing, infant mortality, and net worth.

Loury's agenda of course is not to provide a litany of complaints about the current system. As the title of his book implies, his goal is to raise moral questions:

"We ought to ask ourselves two questions: Just what manner of people are we Americans? And in light of this, what are our obligations to our fellow citizens-even those who break our laws?"

Loury approaches these questions by drawing on John Rawls' concept of justice. He demands that we consider what policies we would endorse if we did not first know our own chances of being on the wrong end of such policies. How would the criminal justice regime look if "we" were "them"? While Loury discusses justice in secular terms, his approach has echoes of the "Golden Rule". Simply put we should treat criminals the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes. This conceptualization of justice is akin to the way it is conceptualized by 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921) Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921:

"The second attribute of perfection is justice and impartiality...It means, in brief, to regard humanity as a single individual, and one's own self as a member of that corporeal form, and to know of a certainty that if pain or injury afflicts any member of that body, it must inevitably result in suffering for all the rest."

The next portion of the book is where things get really interesting. He argues that we cannot think of criminal behavior purely in terms of personal responsibility. These behaviors emerge from a social context which we have all contributed to creating, a context that often benefits us at the expense of those whose actions we condemn. We can not engage in ethical discourse about crime unless we speak of both social responsibility and personal responsibility.

As if Loury's discourse were not enough food for thought, this book offers desert as well. Its second half includes responses to Loury from Pamela S. Karlan, Loïc Wacquant, and Tommie Shelby.

Karlan, a Professor of Public Interest Law at Standford University, focuses on voter disenfranchisement and its relationship to mass incarceration. She illustrates the shear insanity of the practice of taking away voting rights of those convicted of crimes with the story of a man who lost the right to vote for bouncing a check. She also brings American policies in this area into sharp relief when compared to other countries such as Israel where polling places are set up in prisons and detention centers.

Wacquant, a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, reminds us that the horizontal growth of the prison industrial complex (the numbers of those on probation or parole) is even greater than its vertical growth (the number of those incarcerated). He also critiques the concept of "mass incarceration" as a misnomer. "Mass" implied a large portion of the general population whereas the criminal justice system is largely concentrated among "lower-class black men in the crumbling ghetto". He refers to this as "hyper-incarceration". In the most compelling part of the book, Wacquant argues that hyper-incarceration represents a reaction to the collapse of urban ghettos as forms of social control. Prisons have come to replace the geographic concentration of marginalized and exploited populations (ghettoization) as the primary means of "managing" them. He rejects Loury's approach of appealing to values and argues instead for a pragmatic, political approach that mobilizes shared interests.

Tommie Shelby, Professor of African-American Studies and Philosophy at Harvard goes a step further and suggests that mass incarceration is not the core of the current struggle facing African-Americans. He recommends a critique of personal responsibility is a good place to begin to shift the discourse.He reminds us that, "individuals are forced to make choices in an environment they did not choose" and asks, "whether the denizens of the ghetto are entitled to a better set of options, and if so, whose responsibility it is to provide them."

Race, Incarceration, and American Values is a little book (a mere eighty-nine pages) that raises big questions. It is an excellent companion piece to Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness. Those who care about the character of our country and the inevitable consequences of the color-line should contemplate its contents deeply.

A Baha'i Economics Blog

2011-08-09T07:14:00.003-03:00

Just in time for yet another self-inflicted financial apocalypse there is a new blog on the scene talking about economics from a Baha'i point of view. I hope you'll take some time to visit this blog called The Fruit Tree. Here's a taste of the author's most recent post:

A couple of months ago one of the economics blogs I follow opened up a sounding board for its readers to answer the question: What’s the most important problem the US faces? There were some interesting opinions, but the most remarkable thing I noticed was the variety of topics that people brought up. Debt, unemployment, technological change, war, the erosion of manufacturing, climate change, ideological narrow-mindedness — these were among the many explanations for what’s wrong with America right now.

My view on this is that nearly every major problem the US faces right now can be traced back to a single phenomenon: coordination failures. “Coordination failures” is a term used by economists and political scientists (known by many other labels) that simply means that it’s relatively hard for large numbers of people, each with a relatively small stake in a decision, to coordinate into one political voice; while it’s relatively easy for a small groups of people, each with a relatively large stake in a decision, to coordinate into a political voice. The result is that the outcome of important decisions are often skewed towards the interests of the few, even though that outcome is not the optimal one in terms of maximizing the well-being of all the stakeholders.

Who Would Jesus Incarcerate?

2011-08-06T06:20:00.005-03:00

Article first published as Who Would Jesus Incarcerate? on Blogcritics.

Evangelical activist and author Jim Wallis recently framed debate about our nation's debt as a potential "moral default":

"This national debate about our priorities and, indeed, our character, is far from over. When all is said and done in any final deal, the faith community will be watching to see if the most vulnerable are being protected or savaged for the financial sins of the rest of us. If low-income people are not exempted from deficit reduction, the result will be a fundamental moral default."

While it is true that Wallis and many of his fellow evangelicals do not speak for all Christians on such issues, as a Baha'i I have found the way that they have provided prophetic vision and voices to the debate is truly inspiring. An effective strategy for mobilizing moral and spiritual energies to defend the most vulnerable has been the "circle of protection" initiative. The Circle of Protection is a diverse, non-partisan coalition of Christian leaders dedicated to that efforts at financial responsibility by our government are balanced by social responsibility towards the poor. The principle statement of this group which articulates its values and priorities includes the following:

Programs focused on reducing poverty should not be cut. They should be made as effective as possible but not cut. A fundamental task is to create jobs and spur economic growth.

Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.

As laudable as efforts like The Circle of Protection are, they are incomplete if they do not address the fact that many people in America are unable to access poverty reducing programs or decent jobs. As Michelle Alexander has described in her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness, once you are labeled a felon, you can be legally discriminated against in the very areas that Wallis and others are fighting for. Surely the circle of protection is large enough to embrace the largely black and brown men who are being incarcerated at rates unheard of in American history, condemned to civic death and internal exile, and locked in a condition of racial caste by law and custom. Efforts to protect the poor must include addressing mass incarceration, which not only contributes to poverty but primarily targets the poor. As the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get prison. In a study of the relationship between incarceration and poverty, the Justice Policy Institute put it this way:

"Poverty does not create crime, nor is limited wealth and income necessarily a predictor of involvement in the justice system; however, people with the fewest financial resources are more likely to end up in prison or jail."

Many faith communities are already deeply involved in advocacy to reform the criminal justice system and minister to those impacted by the prison industrial complex. Much more needs to be done however. As Alexander and other scholars have noted, mass incarceration is being largely driven by the War on Drugs. In order to turn the tide, this "war" must come to an end. Nothing short of a massive mobilization of concerned citizens will accomplish this task. It is time for people of all faiths who care about "the least of these" to confront the War on Drugs head on as a spiritual crisis just as important as the federal budget. The opportunities for a new kind of interfaith, anti-war movement are profound.

As they have done so well regarding the budget debate, people of faith can transform the discourse about the Drug War and crime and punishment generally. They can open minds, soften hearts, and sharpen vision. They can inspire, mobilize, an canalize collective compassion. They can create politically educated and engaged communities. They can nurture an emerging generation of prophetic leaders while deepening the wisdom of veteran spiritual warriors.

Video related to the NAACP's historic call to end the War on Drugs closes with participants gathered together in prayer. In this spirit, I'd like to close with a Baha'i prayer written by Baha'u'llah the Founder of the Baha'i Faith:

My God, Whom I worship and adore! I bear witness unto Thy unity and Thy oneness, and acknowledge Thy gifts, both in the past and in the present. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the overflowing showers of Whose mercy have rained down upon high and low alike, and the splendors of Whose grace have been shed over both the obedient and the rebellious.

O God of mercy, before Whose door the quintessence of mercy hath bowed down, and round the sanctuary of Whose Cause loving-kindness, in its inmost spirit, hath circled, we beseech Thee, entreating Thine ancient grace, and seeking Thy present favor, that Thou mayest have mercy upon all who are the manifestations of the world of being, and to deny them not the outpourings of Thy grace in Thy days.

All are but poor and needy, and Thou, verily, art the All-Possessing, the All-Subduing, the All-Powerful.

Just Say No

2011-07-28T20:07:00.005-03:00

Article first published as Just Say No on Blogcritics.

With all the talk about the debt ceiling, it would be easy to forget that America is enmeshed in military engagements in Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and the Middle East, not to mention the broader "War on Terror". There's a whole lot of war going on, and at least some of us are becoming war weary. Particularly since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, there are increasing calls for us to change course in of Afghanistan for example. Even before Bin Laden's demise, support for the Afghanistan conflict was eroding. A CNN poll in January found 63% of Americans opposing the war. Some are predicting a resurgence of the anti-war movement as the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks arrives and the war in Afghanistan nears the beginning of its second decade.

For all the weariness with seemingly endless war abroad, the U.S. recently passed a grim milestone of an even longer conflict largely fought here at home. Forty years ago, our government declared war, essentially against its own people, and has been fighting ever since at a cost of 2.5 trillion dollars. Referred to during the Nixon administration metaphorically as the "War on Drugs" and literally militarized on a massive scale during the Reagan administration, this policy was recently declared a failure by the Global Commission on Drug Policy:

"The global war on drugs have failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world...Vast expenditures on criminalization and repressive measures directed at producers, traffickers, and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed to effectively curtail supply or consumption."

According to the extraordinary book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness", the "devastating consequences" have included the mass incarceration of African Americans and the emergence of a system of racial caste. This racial caste system has been built under the veneer of "law and order", fueled by the Drug War and literally locks thousands of black folk in a position of racial marginalization. The author, Michelle Alexander, refers to this system as the New Jim Crow. The horror she reveals through page after page of research data, jurisprudence, and personal narratives reminds me of the powerfully imagery of 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921:

"The fires of conflict have blazed so high that never in early times, not in the Middle Ages, not in recent centuries hath there ever been such a hideous war, a war that is even as millstones, taking for grain the skulls of men...Loud are the piercing cries of fatherless children; loud the mothers' anguished voices, reaching to the skies."

Alexander argues that nothing short of ending the War on Drugs will be sufficient to dismantle the New Jim Crow. Given the staying power of this policy, this will be no easy task. Thankfully, voices are being raised and forces mobilized for what could be a new kind of "anti-war" movement. Recently, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for an end to the Drug War, specifically citing its disproportionate negative impact on African Americans. Like past wars, veterans of the Drug War are also speaking out such as the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. As the group's Executive Director eloquently put it, "Who ever heard of curing a health problem with handcuffs?"

It's important to understand that seeking to end the War on Drugs does not require a person to support the recreational use of drugs or alcohol. Such support would be experienced as problematic by many people for spiritual, moral, or even medical reasons. The issue, which the Global Commission on Drug Policy's report makes clear is what is the most effective way of dealing with the challenge of drug use and abuse? Is it spiritual, moral, ethical or even scientific to continue an approach which forty years of experience suggests has not achieved its stated aims? Is it spiritual, moral, or ethical to continue a policy which, intentionally or not, perpetuates gross racial inequities? A young veteran of another war poignantly asked, "How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" We should ask ourselves, "How can we ask a man or woman to be the last incarcerated for a mistake?"

I believe it is time for a new anti-war movement to emerge in America; a movement to end the War on Drugs. I believe it is time for public health to take precedence over the prison industrial complex. I believe it is time for compassion and common-sense to replace "tough on crime" political posturing. I believe it is time to just say no to the Drug War.

The New Jim Crow

2011-07-26T07:09:00.008-03:00

Article first published as Book Review: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander on Blogcritics.

I thought that I understood racism. After reading Michelle Alexander's, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness I realize that I had no idea what I'm up against. Reading this book was a trip down the rabbit hole into an alternate universe where things many of us believe no longer happen in America are the new normal.

This alternative universe, far removed from an imagined post-racial America is what she refers to the as "New Jim Crow". Simply stated, the New Jim Crow is a system which by law and custom perpetuates a largely African American racial caste locked at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. What the book does incredibly well is explain how we got here and how this system operates.

Alexander begins by reminding us that racial caste is nothing new in America. Both slavery and the original Jim Crow were racial caste systems. What is most significant in the early portion of the book is how she describes the way that these systems evolve as historical circumstances change. In each era, the racial caste system is challenged, loses it equilibrium and creates a kind of existential crisis for the white elites that it serves. In order to regain equilibrium the system has to adapt, generally through manipulation of the fears and resentments of poor and working-class whites. Alexander argues for example that the original Jim Crow was an adaptation to the emancipation of enslaved Africans and the progress made during the era of Reconstruction.

The New Jim Crow is presented in the book as an adaptation to the gains of the Civil Rights revolution. The difference this time was that regaining the equilibrium of the racial caste system could not be accomplished through explicit references to white supremacy. Conservative politicians of that era seized upon the rhetoric of "law and order", conflating civil disobedience, urban rebellions (so-called riots) and street crime. Declaration and prosecution of the so-called War on Drugs emerged as the favored "race neutral" tactic of the post-Civil Rights era.

Trained as a civil rights lawyer, Alexander lays out a searing indictment of the War on Drugs as the central engine of the emergence of the New Jim Crow. Through page after page of data and the narratives of the victims of this "war", she reveals how it perpetuates racial caste. The process works in three phases. The first phase involves vast numbers of people being rounded up by the police who conduct this war primarily in communities of color with near unlimited discretion to stop, interrogate and search whomever they choose. The second phase is the conviction, where many lack effective legal representation and are pressured to plead guilty through the threat of lengthy sentences if they don't. Like the police, prosecutors have near unlimited discretion during this process. Due to the harshness of drug laws, once convicted people spend long periods of their lives under the formal control of the criminal justice system. The final phase begins after people are no longer under formal control, but now are locked out of mainstream society, some for the rest of their lives due to laws that allow discrimination in housing, employment, public assistance, education and so on. Alexander argues that these "invisible punishments" are in some ways worse than the original sentence. The most disconcerting part of the book however, may be her description of the ways in which the Supreme Court has aided and abetted this machinery of the Drug War. Not only has the court legitimized these procedures and laws but it has made it virtually impossible to fight them through arguing they are racially discriminatory.

Alexander not only indicts the War on Drugs, but also traditional civil rights organizations for failing to fight as hard for its abolition as they have for other issues such as affirmative action. Many may find this portion of the book hard to read as it exposes how so many of us have been complacent and complicit as this human rights nightmare has unfolded over the past three decades.

One of the weaknesses of the book is that Alexander calls out civil rights organizations but does not provide a similar critique of faith communities. In fairness, Alexander is a lawyer and not a preacher and this is primarily a secular text. However, given how often she evokes the words and wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, this omission seems odd. She is surely aware that people of faith have long played significant roles in challenging the previous systems of racial caste. Can this new struggle really succeed without prophetic voices, prophetic vision and what Ghandi referred to as "soul force". Regarding the motivational power of faith, the Universal House of Justice, the International Governing Council and Head of the Baha'i Faith put it this way:

"Religion, as we are all aware, reaches to the roots of motivation. When it has been faithful to the spirit and example of the transcendent Figures who gave the world its great belief systems, it has awakened in whole populations capacities to love, to forgive, to create, to dare greatly, to overcome prejudice, to sacrifice for the common good and to discipline the impulses of animal instinct. Unquestionably, the seminal force in the civilizing of human nature has been the influence of the succession of these Manifestations of the Divine that extends back to the dawn of recorded history."

However, letting the faith community off the hook is a sin that can be easily forgiven in light of what Alexander has achieved. She has shown us just how deep the rabbit hole goes. She has exposed for all to see that racial caste is alive and well in America. If you care even a little about racial justice, The New Jim Crow should be on your bookshelf. It is the most important book you will read this year.

I Know I've Been Changed

2011-07-17T07:52:00.009-03:00

Article first published as I Know I've Been Changed on Blogcritics.

In 1987, a black man named William Roberts was concerned about the state of black men in America. Headlines at the time raised the question of whether black men were an "endangered species". Dr. Roberts also noticed that the black men in his faith community, the Baha'i Faith, were not immune to the poisonous effects of multi-generational racial trauma afflicting black men as a whole. He convened a group of twelve black Baha'i men in Greensboro, North Carolina to consult about these challenges and how to apply the teachings of Baha'u'llah, (1817-1892) Founder of the Baha'i Faith to overcome them.

This past week I celebrated, along with one-hundred and seven Baha'i men of African descent the twenty-fifth anniversary of what has become known throughout the world as the Baha'i Black Men's Gathering. The Gathering took place at the historic Green Acre Baha'i School and Conference Center. The Universal House of Justice, the international governing body and Head of the Baha'i Faith described the Gathering (also known as the BMG) this way:

"the Gathering...addresses itself to a special situation faced by a minority that has suffered severe social and spiritual afflictions imposed upon it by the majority. The program of the Black Men's Gatherings is unique and exemplary as an avenue for transcending the legacy of anguish, frustration and social pathology that is peculiar to black men in the United states; it urges them towards a fullness of life within the spirit and principles of the Bahá'í Revelation."

Participants in the this year's Gathering spent a week together in prayer, study and consultation. They sought to better understand how they could contribute to the material and spiritual advancement of people of African descent and the building of a divine civilization embracing the entire human race.

Prayer is the beating heart of the Gathering. At the Gathering, prayer, which Baha'u'llah described as a conversation with God, begins with the thunderous voice of African drumming. Participants then raise their voices in fervent supplication and glorification of God for hours at a time. It is prayer that breaks and mends the heart, that resurrects and recreates the soul, that frees and focuses the mind. The men sing, chant, shout and move together and become as the Baha'i Writings describe "one soul in many bodies".

Spiritually energized by prayer, participants then center their thoughts on studying guidance from the Universal House of Justice. This guidance is provided through letters that are addressed to the Baha'i community around the world throughout the year. In large and small groups, men of the Gathering study these letters word by word, assisting each other to grasp their implications. This year's study included letters describing the current stage in the advancement of Baha'i efforts to better the material and spiritual condition of humanity through community building at the grass roots. An additional series of letters focused specifically on issues of race and racism. Participants emerged from this process with renewed clarity and commitment to building communities that nurture the minds and hearts of children, channel the energies of junior youth, strengthen the devotional life, provide everyone opportunities to advance as equals on a common path of service and engage in social action and the prominent discourses of society.

In addition to prayer and study, there was ample opportunity for loving fellowship. Unconditional love is the distinguishing characteristic of Gathering. Black men from every walk of life spend a week together in an atmosphere free of masculine posturing, egotism, competition, or prejudices of class, nationality, or age. It may very well be that Dr. Roberts has created the safest place on earth to be a black male. Fellowship this year included stories of the last twenty-five years of the Gathering including several journeys throughout Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean to advance the community-building process.

The week ended with hundreds of people from the wider community joining at Green Acre for a multiracial devotional meeting and procession to the resting place of one of the most distinguished African American men in Baha'i history, Louis G. Gregory and his wife Louisa.

As I prepared to return home after a remarkable and historic week with my brothers, my heart continued to vibrate with a song that we sang again and again:

I know I've been changed
I know I've been changed
I know I've been changed
Baha'u'llah has changed
my name

What to a Felon is the Fourth of July?

2011-07-07T06:17:00.008-03:00

Article first published as What to a Felon is the Fourth of July? on Blogcritics.

One hundred and fifty-nine years ago, Frederick Douglass was invited to give a speech to commemorate the birth of what was then a very young nation. He challenged his listeners to consider the obvious hypocrisy of a nation founded on liberty, but built on the stolen labor of enslaved Africans with the question, "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?" Early in the speech he makes the point that this holiday does not embrace the lived experience of people like himself:

"I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine."

Reading the new book by scholar-prophet Michelle Alexander, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" got me wondering what Douglass would say today about the Fourth of July. In the book, Alexander advances a compelling thesis that the mass-incarceration of the black, the brown, and the red in America constitutes the latest version of an ever-mutating system of racialized social control, perpetuating a racial caste system; the new Jim Crow.

I suspect that Douglass would say what he said over a century and a half ago:

"Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them."

I think he would challenge us to ponder the paradox of a nation founded on liberty, but which condemns men and women to civic death and internal exile on a daily basis once they are labeled "felons". I think he would ask us to consider the question, "What to a Felon is the Fourth of July?" What does this holiday mean for those who cannot vote, cannot work, cannot find a place to live, cannot access public assistance? What does this holiday mean for the families whose loved ones cycle in and out prison year after year and who face eviction if they offer their husband, brother, uncle a place to sleep? What does it mean for communities devastated by a misguided and cynical "drug war" with a near insatiable appetite for the black, the brown and the red? A war that is more about preserving the power of politicians than public safety.

I also think that as he did in his day, he would call out faith communities on their complicity in this injustice. Today he would demand to know where the mosques, temples, Baha'i Centers, and churches are in addressing what is among the most urgent civil rights issues of the early 21st century. Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith and a contemporary of Frederick Douglass put it this way:

"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?"

Michelle Alexander argues that nothing short of a massive social movement can dismantle the new Jim Crow. Just as they did during efforts to defeat earlier versions of racial caste in America, faith communities must contribute prophetic vision, prophetic voices, and what Ghandi referred to as "soul force" to this new struggle. I'll close with the words of Frederick Douglass, still poignant after all these years:

"THAT HOUR WILL, COME, to each, to all,
And from his prison-house, the thrall
Go forth.

Until that year, day, hour, arrive,
With head, and heart, and hand I’ll strive,
To break the rod, and rend the gyve,
The spoiler of his prey deprive-
So witness Heaven!
And never from my chosen post,
Whate’er the peril or the cost,
Be driven."

How Does It Feel to Be A Question?

2011-06-25T17:55:00.005-03:00

Image courtesy of the Washington Post.

Article first published as How Does It Feel to Be A Question? on Blogcritics.

I wrote recently that young Baha'is in Iran are denied the experience of graduating from college taken for granted by young Americans this time of year. For a young Baha'i in the United States, the denial was not a diploma, but a phone call.

An article recently published in the Washington Post told the story of a graduate from George Mason University. The graduate named Mahtab Mortezaei Farid did not receive a promised call from her father on her graduation day. At first she thought he had forgotten. She later learned he had been arrested and denied the opportunity to call. Her father Kamran Mortezaei Farid was rounded up with several other Baha'is for their involvement with the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education. The Baha'i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) was founded as a creative and wholly non-violent response to the Iranian regimes policy of denying higher education to Baha'is. This grim news transformed what should have been a celebration of achievement into a vigil for justice.

You may wonder why the Islamic Republic would spend its time arresting citizens for trying to educate young people. The reason is that if you are a Baha'i in Iran you are not a person; you are a "question". At least this is the language used in a document of the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council of Iran. According to this document "The government’s dealings with them [Baha'is] must be in such a way that their progress and development are blocked". Towards this end several recommendations are made including the following:

They can be enrolled in schools provided they have not identified themselves as Bahá’ís.
Preferably, they should be enrolled in schools which have a strong and imposing religious ideology.
They must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Bahá’ís.
Propaganda institutions (such as the Islamic Propaganda Organization) must establish an independent section to counter the propaganda and religious activities of the Bahá’ís.
A plan must be devised to confront and destroy their cultural roots outside the country.
Deny them employment if they identify themselves as Bahá’ís.
Deny them any position of influence, such as in the educational sector, etc.

I've often pondered the implications of viewing a whole population as a question rather than as people. It reminded me of W.E.B Du Bois' poignant discussion of a similar dynamic in his literary classic, The Souls of Black Folk:

"Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it...To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word. And yet, being a problem is a strange experience,--peculiar even for one who has never been anything else..."

I wonder if Baha'is in Iran encounter something similar with their neighbors. In this case, the unasked question is not "How does it feel to be a problem?" but "How does it feel to be a question?" Whether asked explicitly or not, as Du Bois suggests, being a "question" must be a strange experience even if you've "never been anything else". Mahtab's story in the Washington Post offers some indication of just how strange it might be.

Those who choose to see Iran's largest religious minority as a "question" would do well to ponder a question posed by the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah during his own forty years of imprisonment, torture and exile. During an interview with British Orientalist Edward Granville Browne, Baha'u'llah stated: "Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile...We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled -- what harm is there in this?"

Bloggin' Race Amity

2011-06-09T20:22:00.002-03:00

Baha'i Thought will be covering the National Conference on Race Amity this weekend in Boston. It looks to be an amazing conference and I look forward to sharing a thought or two about it. Watch for a post at the end of the weekend. As always, I'm looking forward to meeting any readers who might be at the conference. Feel free to come up and say hello! If you're not already familiar with the conference you can read more about it here.

If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men. Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. Show love to all; 'Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man'. Take courage! God never forsakes His children who strive and work and pray! Let your hearts be filled with the strenuous desire that tranquillity and harmony may encircle all this warring world. So will success crown your efforts, and with the universal brotherhood will come the Kingdom of God in peace and goodwill. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)

I HEART MY CHILD

2011-06-07T05:52:00.002-03:00

This photo of my son Douglass Ali makes me so happy I just had to share it.

Not Free to Learn

2011-06-04T12:14:00.009-03:00

Article first published as Not Free to Learn on Blogcritics.

This time of year in America is the graduation season. Thousands of young people march to the sounds of Pomp and Circumstance and receive their diplomas. It is a time of celebrating achievement and looking forward to the future. It is a time of caps and gowns, proud parents and parties. For some it is the beginning of their first post-grad job, for others the beginning of graduate education. What these graduates, their families and the faculty who taught them may find difficult to imagine, is that this moment could be denied because of their religious beliefs.

For young Baha'is in Iran, this is exactly what they experience year after year. It is not enough that because you are a Baha'i you face arbitrary detention or imprisonment for trumped up charges. It is not enough that you may be fired from your job. It is not enough that may have your home or business fire-bombed. It is not enough that your final resting place may be desecrated and your very bones pulverized by bulldozers. No, in Iran you have to be denied an education as well.

It has long been the policy of the Islamic Republic to deny Baha'is access to higher education. In response to this state-sanctioned religious bullying, the Baha'i community of Iran took the future of its young people into its own hands. In a creative and wholly non-violent approach the community organized the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE). On May 21st, the BIHE became the latest target of the government's decades long pogrom against largest religious minority. 30 homes were raided and 16 people arrested, one of whom has since been released.

Denying Baha'is access to higher education is a clear violation of international law and covenants to which Iran is a signatory. For example under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, "everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion." Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes "the right of everyone to education," and that, "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity."

In addition to being a violation of international law, this wrong-headed policy is a waste of human capacity and intellect that could benefit the nation. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1892), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 addressed a treatise later titled The Secret of Divine Civilization to the political and religious leaders of his day in Iran. Among the many comments he made in this treatise, the following bears directly on the issue of education:

"The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It is inconceivable that any nation should achieve prosperity and success unless this paramount, this fundamental concern is carried forward. The principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples is ignorance."

If you think that young Baha'is in Iran deserve the freedom to learn I urge you to contact your representative(s) and Senators and encourage them to co-sponsor House Resolution 134 and Senate Resolution 80. These resolutions call on the government of Iran to stop its persecution of the Baha'is. I particularly call on educators who appreciate the power of higher education to lend their voices to this effort. No student should be denied the opportunity to experience this power and no educator should face arrest for providing that experience.

Left Behind

2011-05-26T06:59:00.003-03:00

Article first published as Left Behind: For Many, World Ended in 2008 on Blogcritics.

You may have breathed a sigh of relief this weekend when the world did not come to an end as predicted by the so-called "Doomsday Prophet". This was the good news. The bad news is that apparently Mr. Doomsday has revised his numbers to say that the world will actually end in October.

I agree with him that his dates where a bit off this weekend. The problem however is not that his prediction was too early but that it was way too late. The world actually ended in 2008. Remember that little financial meltdown we had back then? For many Americans, that was when their world ended. In this case I'm referring to what some psychologists describe as a person's "assumptive world", their mental map of how the world is supposed to work. Traumatic experiences often turn a person's assumptive world upside down and inside out. This is exactly what has happened to those "left behind" by the Great Recession.

Their world before the financial crisis was one where if you worked hard you got to keep your job and if you lost it, you could easily find another one. Where you could assume that you could send your child to college and if that child got a degree, he or she would find work. Where foreclosures, homelessness, and hunger were things that only happened to other people. Where no one was "too big to fail" and no one was too small to succeed. Where people who destroyed their companies would not be rewarded with bailouts and bonuses of biblical proportions while everyday folks lie awake at night wondering how to pay their bills. For the left behind, that world is over. They are left to face an economic Armageddon while the architects of this disaster have been lifted to a financial heaven paid for by their victims.

Will that pre-recession world ever return? Or might something different, perhaps even better arise from the ashes those American dream that have turned into nightmares? One way of understanding all end-times narratives is that an old world must be destroyed so that a new one can be born. In biblical terms, that new world is one in which God's Will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Might the spiritual, psychological, and material trauma of the Great Recession hold within it the seeds of an American Spring? 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 put it this way:

"In winter come the storms, and the great winds blow, but then will follow spring in all its beauty, adorning hill and plain with perfumed plants and red anemones, fair to see. Then will the birds trill out upon the branches their songs of joy, and sermonize in lilting tones from the pulpits of the trees. Erelong shall ye bear witness that the lights are streaming forth, the banners of the realm above are waving, the sweet scents of the All-Merciful are wafted abroad, the hosts of the Kingdom are marching down, the angels of heaven are rushing forward, and the Holy Spirit is breathing upon all those regions."

New Blogs on the Block: First Edition

2011-05-26T06:27:00.003-03:00

As you may know, the mission of Baha'i Thought is promote the creation of a new civilization through new media. One strategy for doing this is encouraging the proliferation of Baha'i blogging throughout the blogosphere. To this end, Baha'i Thought will be drawing attention to new Baha'i blogs as they emerge for readers to check out. If you are a Baha'i who is getting into the blogging game let me know! Here is one that I've recently heard about:

In the Midst of the Plan offers philosophical reflections. This is definitely one to keep your eyes on.

I will also be bringing back the popular monthly round-up of Baha'i blogging called "Hot Bloggin" starting in June. It provides a chance to highlight some of what I consider the best posts that I've read during that month.

7, 734 Days of Injustice

2011-05-17T18:24:00.003-03:00

As a follow-up to my last post about supporting the freedom of the seven Baha'i leaders imprisoned in Iran, I hasten to inform readers about a campaign lead by United4Iran. Here's the 411 from their website:

On Saturday (May 14, 2011), six of Iran’s seven Baha’i Leaders – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – will begin their fourth year in prison. The seventh member of the group – Mahvash Sabet – was arrested three months earlier than her former colleagues, on March 5, 2008. As the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran complete their third year in jail, protest their imprisonment between May 14-22, 2011 by participating in the below action.

Make a poster indicating the number of days of imprisonment the 7 will have suffered by 14 May 2011 (7,734 days). You can also download a poster below.
Take a picture or video holding this poster.
E-mail the photo to share@united4iran.org to be compiled.
Contact your local media with information about your protest and the photos.
Share the press coverage by sending links to share@united4iran.org.

DOWNLOAD POSTER AS PDF

What Harm is There in This?

2011-05-14T11:20:00.007-03:00

Article first published as What Harm is There in This? on Blogcritics.

They could be your neighbors. A psychologist, a factory owner, an industrialist, an agricultural engineer, a school principle, a social worker, and an optometrist. What do they have in common? Each is commemorating the grim anniversary of three years of imprisonment and torture. Their crime you ask? What the Islamic Republic of Iran will tell you is that their crimes are “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic republic” and “corruption on earth”. The real reason is that in Iran being a Baha'i is a crime.

On Thursday, May 12th, Capitol Hill hosted an event to raise awareness of the plight of these innocent souls who have been unjustly sentenced to twenty years in prison purely for their religious beliefs. Senator Mark Kirk (R. Illinois) emphasized during this event the importance of committing their names to memory. Their names are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naemi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Ms. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm.

This remarkable and inspiring event featured public officials, artists, family members and representatives of the Baha'is of the United States, united in a single goal: to shine a light on the darkness of relentless persecution of Iran's largest religious minority. In particular, the evening was dedicated to the seven imprison Baha'i leaders of the Iranian Baha'i community known as the Yaran-i-Iran (Friends of Iran).

Senator Kirk reminded us of the power of supporting those striving for freedom during the Soviet era through telling their stories. Ken Bowers, Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, called on the Iranian regime to respect freedom of conscience for all its people. Representative Michael Grimm (R. New York) praised the steadfastness of the Yaran in the face of oppression. Kathleen M. Fitzpatrick, Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor compared the Baha'is of Iran to the "miner's canary", an indication of the human rights climate in Iran generally.

Among the most moving moments of the evening however involved stories of unconditional love demonstrated by the Yaran during their captivity. Actress Eva LaRue of CSI Miami spoke of the experience of American journalist Ms. Roxana Saberi who shared a cell with Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi and Ms. Mahvash Sabet. When Ms. Saberi began a hunger strike to protest her detention these two Baha'i women sought to distract her from her hunger through funny stories. Iraj Kamalabadi, brother of Fariba Kamalabadi told the story of a fearsome fellow inmate who was so transformed by Fariba's love that she placed her own slippers in a puddle of filth so that Fariba would not have to walk through it. This is what the Iranian regime regards as corrupting the earth?

The Iranian government would do well to ponder questions posed by the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah during his own forty years of imprisonment, torture and exile. During an interview with British Orientalist Edward Granville Browne, Baha'u'llah stated: "Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile...We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled -- what harm is there in this?"

If you think that there is no harm in believing things like this. If you think that the Baha'is of Iran and their fellow Iranians deserve freedom of conscience. If you think that enough is enough, then I urge you to contact your representative(s) and Senators and encourage them to co-sponsor House Resolution 134 and Senate Resolution 80. These resolutions call on the government of Iran to stop its persecution of the Baha'is.

Baha'i Thought Celebrates 1000+ Facebook Fans

2011-05-10T20:00:00.002-03:00

Hey y'all. Just wanted to celebrate another Baha'i Thought milestone. As of today its Facebook page has crossed the 1000 "Fans" mark. Couldn't have done it without you all.

Beyond Post-racialism

2011-05-07T09:34:00.006-03:00

Article first published as Beyond Post-Racialism on Blogcritics.

I recently watched a video of Ruha Benjamin, a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Boston University. In this video, Professor Benjamin is being interviewed about so-called "post-racialism". She frames post-racialism as a kind of story that Americans are telling themselves about where we are with race and identifies a liberal and a radical version of this story. The liberal story is one of transcending race, while the radical story is of class distinctions eclipsing race as the primary point of social conflict.

Listening to Professor Benjamin reminded me of a question that I've been thinking about for a long time now. The whole post-racialism debate tends to focus on either arguing that we have achieved a post-racial society or that we have not yet achieved a post-racial society. What I rarely hear asked is whether or not a post-racial society is in fact a desirable society at all. Is that the ultimate goal of our centuries long struggle with race and racism?

It depends on how post-racialism is defined. One way of defining it is abandoning race as a standard for judgment of our fellow human beings. If this is how you define post-racialism, as a Baha'i I can support that wholeheartedly. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 put it this way:

"The spirit and intelligence of man is essential, and that is the manifestation of divine virtues, the merciful bestowals of God, the eternal life and baptism through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, be it known that color or race is of no importance...The standard of divine measure and judgment is his intelligence and spirit."

This kind of post-racialism has institutional and structural implications to the degree that it is translated into policies and practices that eliminate overt racial discrimination or unintentional racial inequities. However, there is a different form of post-racialism that is focused on a kind of radical assimilationism. This kind of post-racialism views racial, ethnic or cultural differences as inherently problematic and a threat to national unity which can only exist if the dominant (White) culture remains dominant. For example, people who hold this view tend to react negatively to expressions of racial or ethnic pride on the part of people of color. In fact, such expressions are often described as "racist" themselves.

This form of post-racialism, what Omi and Winant might refer to as a "racial project" is not something I can support as a Baha'i. It represents a misdiagnosis of the problem. What we have come to understand as racial differences are not the problem; racism is the problem. 'Abdu'l-Baha has suggested an alternative way of viewing racial differences: "This variety in forms and colorings which is manifest in all the kingdoms is according to creative wisdom and has a divine purpose.''

An alternative vision of America is one in which we are all striving to understand the "creative wisdom" and "divine purpose" of this "variety of forms and colorings". Such a society would be less "post-racial" than "multiracial". Demographic trends tell us that "multiracialism" is and will be the social reality of America. Our challenge is to make it a spiritual and moral reality in our personal lives and social policy.

Belief Behind Bars

2011-05-06T08:08:00.003-03:00

Reposted from the magnificent Iran Press Watch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Contact: Ginous Alford | O: 202-833-8990 USBahaiMedia@usbnc.org

BELIEF BEHIND BARS: LAWMAKERS, PERFORMERS TO DRUM UP SUPPORT AT CAPITOL HILL RECEPTION FOR IRAN’S SEVEN IMPRISONED BAHA’I LEADERS

Remarks from special guests:
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk
U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Iraj Kamalabadi, brother of imprisoned Baha’i in Iran
CSI Miami star Eva LaRue

Musical performances:
Grammy-award winner KC Porter with Badi and Momo Loudiyi

When: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 5:30 p.m. EST
Where: 902 Hart Senate Office Building WATCH LIVE! www.livestream.com/senkirklivestream
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BahaiUS
Twitter: @BahaiUS

WASHINGTON—Concern in the U.S. government is growing as the incarceration of the seven members of the Iranian Baha’i community’s former acting leadership group moves into its fourth year. The five men continue to be held in Gohardasht Prison under close surveillance, while the two women were transferred early Tuesday morning to a warehouse-like detention center where more than 400 female prisoners share just two bathrooms.

Meanwhile, the Baha’is of the United States – in upholding their faith’s teachings of justice, unity and equality for which their co-religionists in Iran are persecuted – invite all supporters of human rights to a reception marking the third anniversary of the unlawful incarceration of the seven “Yaran-i-Iran” (Friends in Iran).

The reception aims to foster stronger ties of friendship between the people of the U.S. and Iran, through song and words of supports from special guests including: Grammy-award winning musician KC Porter; U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (IL); U.S. Representative Michael Grimm (NY); Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Kathleen Fitzpatrick; Iranian-American engineer Iraj Kamalabadi, brother of imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leader Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi; and CSI Miami star Eva LaRue.

Director of the U.S. Baha’i Office of External Affairs in Washington, Anthony Vance, will host the reception, the latest in a series of events on Capitol Hill to raise awareness among U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups about the continued persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.

“Our efforts to scrutinize and oppose human rights violations against the Baha’is of Iran and all the Iranian people will never cease or dissipate,” Vance said.

Iranian-American Iraj Kamalabadi, whose sister Fariba is one of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders, will make his third trip in three months to Washington on behalf of his younger sibling to deliver the closing remarks in the reception program.

“My sister has told me to tell the leaders of the world that if there is something that could be done, now is the time to do it,” he said.

Kamalabadi attended Senator Kirk’s May 4th press conference introducing legislation on human right in Iran.

“As Americans,” Sen. Kirk said in a press release following the introduction of his new bill, “we should speak directly to the people of Iran struggling for freedom and democracy and let them know we stand squarely by their side.”

Senator Kirk will open the program with remarks and the event will be webcast live on his LiveStream account. Following him in the program are Grimm, Fitzpatrick, LaRue and Kamalabadi, and a performance by Porter of a song he wrote for the imprisoned Baha’i leaders.

LaRue and Porter are Baha’i performance artists based in Southern California. As a woman and mother of a nine-year-old daughter, LaRue was moved by the courageous spirit of Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet, whose separation from their children is entering the fourth year and who continue to endure further deteriorating conditions of their incarceration.

On April 28, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report. (http://iran.bahai.us/files/2011/05/USCIRF-Annual-Report-2011.pdf) The report describes – beginning on page 78 – several cases of the “severe” persecution the Baha’i community in Iran faced from April 2010 to March 2011. Iran is one of 14 countries USCIRF recommends that the Secretary of State name “countries of particular concern” or CPCs.

In early March, Kirk introduced S.Res.80 condemning the Iranian government for its state-sponsored persecution of Iran’s 300,000 Baha’is and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. The bill (and H.Res.134 in the House) calls for sanctioning Iranian government officials and other individuals directly responsible for human rights violations in Iran, including against the Baha’i community. (http://iran.bahai.us/2011/03/02/s-res-80-h-res-134/)

—

See PDF format of this press release here: Media Advis 5-12-2011 Washington Reception Iran imprisoned Bahais

Download invitation from here: http://iran.bahai.us/2011/05/05/may-12-reception-invitation/

The Unanswered Calling

2011-05-01T11:56:00.005-03:00

Article first published as The Unanswered Calling on Blogcritics.

I wrote recently that the soul of unemployment is not about money but about meaning. A magnificent on-line project called What's Your Calling reinforces this idea. The site provides personal stories of people's experience of their work as a calling, whether in spiritual or secular terms. The concept of calling, of one's work as a vocation, as an expression of one's values or perhaps one's very place in the universe is the beating heart of many people's workday. It may be one contributing factor to experiencing work as worship as described in the Baha'i teachings. 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921) head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 wrote:

"Yes: In the Bahá'í Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer."

It is significant that 'Abdu'l-Baha is not limiting work as worship to any particular kind of work but the spirit in which that work is carried out. But what happens to the soul who is unable to fulfill his or her calling due to chronic unemployment? What does it mean when one's calling cannot be answered due to an economy that appears to have no place for you?
The spiritual and existential implications may prove to be profound and should be part of the national discourse on our unemployment crisis. For example, The Economist recently pointed out that of all the big, rich Group of Seven economies, America has the lowest share of “prime age” males in work: just over 80% of those aged between 25 and 54 have a job.

People of faith have taken a lead in spiritualizing the budget debate in Washington with a campaign of prayer and fasting and some asking "What Would Jesus Cut?". There is urgent need for similar efforts to spiritualize the discourse about unemployment. The people need jobs now, not just for the economic benefits but the benefit of meaning and purpose in their lives. No soul's calling should go unanswered for lack of an opportunity to respond to it.

I HEART SUBSCRIBERS

2011-04-28T07:21:00.003-03:00

Baha'i Thought is celebrating another milestone having crossed the 300 mark for subscribers via Feedblitz. As I've said before, there a variety of measures of the success of this blog but I think that subscriptions are very significant. Visitors are great but a subscriber has made a commitment to receiving the content of this blog on a regular basis. You inspire me and God willing I will continue to earn that commitment from you! This has been the best year yet for Baha'i Thought and I thank you for choosing to share the journey with me.

With infinite gratitude,

Phillipe

Cornel West Speaks up for Baha'is

2011-04-23T15:45:00.003-03:00

No comments needed from this Baha'i. West said it all.

National Race Amity Conference

2011-04-23T15:06:00.003-03:00

I wanted to get the word out about an amazing conference that will be taking place in Boston June 9-12. It's the first National Race Amity Conference which is being organized by the National Center for Race Amity under the inspired leadership of Dr. William "Smitty" Smith. The 411 on the Conference is included below:

The overall vision of Race Amity 2011: Towards E Pluribus Unum is inspired by the first American Race Amity Convention held in Washington, D.C. in 1921. That daring, groundbreaking event was remarkable in both its moral clarity and the unlikely collaboration of its principals and supporters in a nation that was experiencing the aftershocks of the Red Summer of 1919. During that summer thousands of Americans were injured and killed in an outbreak of violence perpetrated by white mobs against black citizens in cities across the nation. Through its laws and general moral advocacy toward equity and access, our nation's level of racial justice has made quantum leaps since 1921. We still, however, face a myriad of challenges in the twenty- first century. These challenges must be overcome in pursuit of the true north of our collective moral compass as directed in our national motto, "E Pluribus Unum." Race Amity 2011: Towards E Pluribus Unum is a call to the nation's youth and adults in civic, governmental, religious, educational, entertainment and business communities to come together to share, inspire, and engage in planning and action toward achieving "E Pluribus Unum."

The National Race Amity Conference will be organized around ten Amity Sectors: arts, business, community service, education, entertainment, government agencies, information media, law, spirituality, and sports. Unlike large scale national conferences where “small” breakout sessions number 50 to 125 participants, each of the Amity Sectors will offer learning and sharing opportunities in group settings of twenty to thirty-five participants. Along two conference-wide keynote luncheons, each sector will offer an Amity Sector Keynote Gathering for up to 275 participants. These Sector Keynotes will feature presentations specifically related to each Amity Sector. Invited Presenter/Speakers include Attorney General Eric Holder, Charles Ogletree, Xernona Clayton, Badi Foster, Judge Dorothy W. Nelson, Edward James Olmos, Carole Simpson, Robert C. Henderson, Joy DeGruy, William E. Davis, Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Chief Doug White,Cherry Steinwender, Phyllis and Gene Unterschuetz, Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, Richard W. Thomas, Jesse Washington, Celest Headlee, Tod Ewing, and many others. Registration for the National Race Amity Conference can be found at www.raceamity.org.

By the grace of God, Baha'i Thought will be in the da house at this conference providing Baha'i-informed analysis and commentary. I hope to see lots of readers there!

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention

2011-04-23T13:05:00.013-03:00

Article first published as Book Review: Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable on Blogcritics.

'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), Head of the Baha'i Faith from 1892-1921 wrote, "Truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of the world of humanity. Without truthfulness, progress and success in all of the worlds of God are impossible for a soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will also become realized." (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 459)

This "holy attribute" is as essential to the process of understanding historical figures as it is to the development of the personal soul. James. W. Loewen argued this point eloquently in his "Lies My Teacher Told Me". Loewen critiques the tendency toward "heroification" of historical figures. He describes "heroification" as "a degenerative process (much like calcification) that makes people over into heroes. Through this process, our educational media turn flesh-and-blood individuals into pious, perfect creatures without conflicts, pain, credibility, or 'human interest" (pg. 11).

The late Manning Marable's "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" provides a sterling example of a commitment to truth-telling about his subject. The book "makes it plain" as brother Malcolm would say. Marable acts as a kind of freedom fighter, in this case fighting to free Malcolm the man from Malcolm the myth. This includes myths propagated by Malcolm himself in his celebrated "Autobiography". For example, Marable argues that the "Autobiography" greatly exaggerates Malcolm's criminal history in order to emphasize the regenerative power attributed to the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

Marable takes the reader on a journey from the Garveyism of Malcolm's parents to the moment of Malcolm's murder with the concept of "reinvention" as an organizing theme. From Malcolm Little to Malcolm X, from Minister Malcolm to civil rights martyr, what emerges is the story of a man figuring out who he is and who he wants to become. Marable does a masterful job of describing the familial, social, cultural and politic contexts that influenced Malcolm's numerous reinventions as he worked and reworked his sense of self and public image. Malcolm's existential struggle is so palpable that the very pages of this book appear to perspire.

Malcolm's geographic journeys are presented as being just as significant as his spiritual one. In fact these two journeys in the book reinforce one another. Marable provides detailed information about Malcolm's travels throughout Africa and the Middle East and their impact on his process of reinvention. These sojourns in the lands of his physical and spiritual ancestors served to broaden his consciousness, globalize his struggle for the liberation of his people and provided a refuge from the encircling menace of his enemies.

Among the most implacable of these enemies proves ironically to be the Nation of Islam itself. Marable's description of Malcolm's troubled relationship with the Nation's leadership and his eventual split reads like a political thriller. A deepening atmosphere of dread wafts from the pages as the war of words escalates into outright violence and climaxes in a hail of bullets at the Audubon Ballroom.

Once the book reaches the point of Malcolm's assassination, Marable approaches the topic with a near "CSI-style" attention to reconstructing the events of that fateful day. He raises a variety of disturbing questions related to who really killed Malcolm X and the investigation that followed (or didn't).

However one ultimately answers those questions, at the end of the book I was left with a different one: "What if Malcolm had lived?" I can only imagine the wisdom and insight he might have brought to bear on some of the most challenging questions of the day. What would he say about American involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya? What role might he being playing in relations between the West and the Muslim World? What would he think about the so-called "Arab Spring"? What example might he provide of living as a Muslim in America? Thanks to his killers we will never know.

Another Milestone: Writing for Blogcritics

2011-04-10T21:57:00.003-03:00

I wanted to celebrate another milestone on Baha'i Thought's journey from the margins to the mainstream of public discourse on the internet. I've been welcomed as a contributor to the on-line magazine Blogcritics. From now on Baha'i Thought will include articles from Blogcritics that are republished here as well as original content found only on this blog. Thanks to everyone who has supported this endeavor over the past almost 7 years! You ain't seen nothin' yet.