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Tuesday, May 26, 2009


Our biography of Baha'ullah details the life of a man who would become the founder for of the Bahai. By the end of chapter 4 we see that there is a group known as the Bahais. Write about what you see as the elements that go into founding a new religion.. Is it a sudden change or a long process? What is the relationship with past religions? What is the importance of a founder? 



     The Bahai did not come into existence over night. In fact, for Bahai to become a recognized religion the founder and recognized leader; Baha'ullah went through several exiles such as Baghdad to Istanbul, from Istanbul to Edirne and then from Edirne to Egypt. (89) Thats just one example in the very beginning that occurred standing up for his beliefs and finding a place in which others accepted this new beliefs as well. Even his followers who never did anything wrong against the ottoman empire chose to follow their leader through to all the different places he was ordered to go. Imagine leaving everything you've ever known to follow a single man because of his beliefs. Some of this reminded me of "Happy Feet" and how the dancing penguin was sent away because he danced instead of sang. At first the way a new stream of thought or religion starts is the rebellion from another but then, usually slowly what was once rebellion starts to have followers giving these beliefs a higher platform in our societies. As in Happy Feet and our last discussion in class thats how new religions are formed and Bahai is no exception. Every sort of social movement has a leader or an instigator. Having a founder or leader for religion is crucial and is always the case (with the knowledge i have of religions). 

1 comment:

  1. Indeed and the theme of this opposition in the face of the Founder is a major theme of the religion - see it's main theological work, the Book of Certitude. It speaks to this issue time and again, and stretches the application in the past and future. In this way it is not a world of many religions, it is a world of one religious process that is made aware to humanity in each phase but we forget the past too often, or hold to the past too often. So it is we must re-discover and witness the same stainless virtues we saw the "first" time.

    Indeed we must unthink what is normal and come to understand things for ourselves - "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the (heaven)."

    But it seems you are all studying religions as a group and have some kind of biography to start with. Which biography is this? There are several published, and a couple are available for free - see God Passes By for example. There is also Dawn Breakers plus several other biographies like Robe of Light.

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