Reality explored

Recently I created a new website for philosophical reflections and poetry, www.realityexplored.com

Today I put up a blog post there, Sartre - theist in disguise?

Feedback welcome.

Simply human

Avid man makes out of the clay of him
temples where choirs sing ethereally
ascending away from gravity's grip
so giving dull matter glorious dreams
as wings composed from the breath of God.

Not born of sky we flap bogged in mud

willful children of nature needing more

held back and driven on by what we are
loving the world craving eternity
knowing more than we should and yet lacking
and bleeding to get what the angels know.

What point explains the volatile cosmos?
That benign mother nurturing our growth
abruptly venting cataclysmic force
dumping tsunamis of terror on towns
where random innocents drown and vanish
in vast impartial tides of global flux.

Each generation has its day to be
from nothingness came forth with eyes and ears
to see to hear to taste to touch to love
appears on earth and lasts its moment while
the turning of emergence and decay
creates us and decrees that we shall die.

What are we to the universe but ants
in evolution's unrelenting march
and yet each soul contains a world within
encompassing the eons of our past.
The reason for our singing is we breathe
and with that gift of God we start our flight.

JBD

Copenhagen Conference better than some say

In some quarters the recent Copenhagen Climate Change Conference is being called a debacle. This view is too harsh.

Yes, the conference failed to achieve a binding agreement at the end. But this was the kind of failure that is partly a success because the attempt was made in the face of great obstacles.

Consider the depth of the issues that are coming to a head because of the threat of climate catastrophe. They include the divide between the rich and poor nations, the still-bitter legacy of colonialism, conflict of rival political systems, confronting the obsolescence of state sovereignty, and the inertia of millions of voters who are more preoccupied with economic worries than ecological doom.

The conference delegates had to struggle to find agreement with these huge issues coming into play between them. Watching BBC news reports I was struck by the earnestness with which they approached the task.

This event may yet go down in history as a significant early occasion when world leaders and civil society, in great numbers, gathered to seriously address global problems globally.

At this stage though, everything depends on whether the momentum keeps going, or the will to act fades away. The figures that scientists are giving us these days on climate change are concentrating minds like never before. This is not a time to let patterns of the past determine the future.

Artist highlights plight of Baha'is of Iran

Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh of Auckland Baha'i community will be exhibiting his multimedia artwork on the Baha'i martyrs of Iran alongside two other national touring exhibitions.

The three concurrent exhibitions open on 14 December and go until 7 February.

The opening will be at the Whangarei Art Museum on 14 December. The exhibitions will be officially opened by prominent local Baha'i personality and tohunga whakairo Te Warihi Heteraka.

Shahriar's exhibition is well timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day on 10 December. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva has asked the public to celebrate and support Human Rights Day by advocating non-discrimination, organizing activities, raising awareness and reaching out to local communities on 10 December and throughout 2010.

More information can be found in press releases issued by the Whangarei Art Museum. Please follow these links:

Baha'i Martyrs press release

Ey! Iran press release

Following Curnow at Karekare

A poem inspired by Karekare beach. Allen Curnow, who was one of New Zealand's best renowned poets, had a holiday home (bach) at the Karekare settlement. My poem gets its start from a poem by Curnow. And it includes quotations from the "Long Healing Prayer" by Baha'u'llah.

Revolutions -- poem on the cycles of life

I've had a binge on revising some of the poems I wrote a few years ago. This is one of them.

Revolutions

Rejoice in the glorious world around
Hail its varying nights and days
Such is the power of life to astound

Giving its benefits which surround
Children learning, eyes ablaze
Who plunge in the glorious world around

Seasons turning renew the ground
Making us marvel each altering phase
Such is the power of life to astound

Elements gather and crumble down
Bodies decay but passion stays
Inspired by the glorious world around

As age obscures both sight and sound
The mind recalls in countless ways
That life contains a power to astound

And in the end we shall no doubt be found
Knowing what’s been twinkling in our gaze
A greater glorious world around
Such is the power of life to astound

Technorati Tags: poem

Poem on the Baha'i Fast

The annual period of fasting observed by Baha'is runs from March 2-20. Those who are fasting take no food or drink each day between sunrise and sunset. It is a period of reflection that brings about mental and spiritual renewal. The fast is not kept by children, the elderly, the ill, nor by pregnant or nursing mothers.

The land shows up at first in hazy lines
and shadows making shapes in charcoal grey
then ghostly things take colour, depth and form
till houses, hills and trees materialize
-- become a busy world beneath the sun.

That time has come for watchfulness at dawn
and patience through the burning hours till dusk
for on these days the tongue grows dry,
the stomach groans, and while the clock
ticks by, the brain goes slightly dull,
as long and loud the March cicadas fret.

And yet the atmosphere stirs
with some uncommon vibrant pulse
-- some rare sweet song invigorates
the normal air -- a mystic tune
interpolates between the beats
of torpid time -- and laggard hours
are livened by a melody Divine.

Released to fly, the mind resorts
to higher thoughts -- desire abates
and indescribably a change
unfolds -- that lifts the soul --
imparts perceptions suddenly
and throws up chance encounters too
with fellow-travellers seeking light.

The turning of the earth, these nineteen days
instructs our hearts -- in heaven's ways.


[The above is a revised version of a poem posted here this time last year.]


Technorati Tags: Baha'i, fast, spirituality

Grandfather status

Ezra Charles Usmani was born at 8.40 a.m. today to my own eldest child, Coralie. Mother and baby are well. In his few hours in the wider world, Ezra has so far gained a reputation for being a peaceful sort who has hardly raised his voice after the obligatory initial outburst, preferring to sleep rather than bewail his new situation. Soon enough, no doubt his demands will be heard.

Coralie's violin examination becomes a celebration

Coralie Usmani today gave an impressive violin performance that constituted the final exam for her Bachelor of Music degree. Coralie, my elder daughter, in the front row holding sheet music, is pictured with family members and friends who attended the performance.

Accompanied by pianist David Guerin, Coralie played:

Ross Edwards -- "White Cockatoo Spirit Dance" (this piece she played solo).

Grieg -- Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op.8. -- I, Allegro con brio -- II, Alegretto quasi Andantino -- III Allegro Molton Vivace.

Sarasate -- Romanza Andaluza (from Spanish Dances Op.22).

Frank Bridge -- I, Norse Legend -- II, Souvenir -- III Amaryllis.

The performance, wonderful to listen to, although for an "examination", had the feel of a celebration culminating years of hard work.

A Centre that can hold

(revised) (again) (and again)


Where now the Hub that holds the earth on course?
Where the Orb round which our orbit goes?
Where the Eye from whence all seeing flows?
Where the Flame that gives growth vital force?

Good counsel gushes forth from clever minds
Reason voids all ills or so they say
Man ventures to contrive synthetic day
And science thrives but yet the world unwinds

Life pines away for want of potent light
Desire for wisdom hammers in the breast
The heart aspires to launch a primal quest
Grows stronger in its surety of flight
Cuts loose the crippling bonds of earthly claims
At last avows an unseen Beauty reigns

Baha'u'llah: God-sent quickener of mankind

This article arises from a discussion that I have been having with Paul S. Pruett on his blog, "Pensees".

Paul,

Your most recent comment is very direct in raising the issue as to the Baha'i Faith being "the true religion" in the eyes of its followers. The implicit question is whether the Baha'is see their religion as the best or only path to salvation.

It must be admitted that one does not choose to be a follower of Baha'u'llah because of finding His teachings merely rather pleasant and congenial. Much more than this, in the eyes of His followers, Baha'u'llah is the defining Figure of a new age in the spiritual and social evolution of mankind, that began with His appearance in the nineteenth century. So yes, in such terms salvation today does depend ultimately on our turning towards Baha'u'llah. But His wisdom is of the unseen Kingdom far beyond mortal ken, and His salvation is of a breadth that encompasses everyone and affirms the salvation that the followers of all religions find in their own faiths. It deplores religious fanaticism and the anathematizing of others based on theological disagreements. It acknowledges the power for good that continues to be channelled through other religions. It upholds the absolute independance of God who saves (and judges) whom He will in accordance with a person's inner character rather than outward appearances.

The Baha'i teachings also deeply revere individual freedom of conscience. In matters of faith, everyone must have unrestricted freedom to decide with their own minds and hearts as to what they believe.

"Convictions and ideas are within the scope of the comprehension of the King of kings, not of kings; and soul and conscience are between the fingers of control of the Lord of hearts, not of His servants."

('Abdu'l-Baha)

The summons issued by Baha'u'llah with Divine authority is for the world in the fullness of time to become united in one common faith, and it was His mission to establish that faith, which has a Covenant, laws and institutions that comprise "the Ark of eternal salvation" for the peoples of the earth. Spiritually, then, the quintessence of faith in this day is to believe in Baha'u'llah and to live accordingly. On the other hand, this does not imply a binary choice between declaring one's faith in Baha'u'llah or facing the fires of eternal damnation. In this sense, there is no thin but impervious line of separation that can be stated in some simple formula, between those who are acceptable and not acceptable in God's sight. Rather, there is a range of responses to Him, and even the smallest of positive responses does not go unnoticed and unrewarded.

"To 'get to heaven' as you say is dependent on two things -- faith in the Manifestation of God in His Day, in other words in this Age in Baha'u'llah; and good deeds, in other words living to the best of our ability a noble life and doing unto others as we would be done by. But we must always remember that our existence and everything we have or ever will have is dependent upon the Mercy of God and His Bounty, and therefore He can accept into His heaven, which is really nearness to Him, even the lowliest if He pleases. We always have the hope of receiving His Mercy if we reach out for it."

(Shoghi Effendi)

"Concerning your question whether a soul can receive knowledge of the Truth in the world beyond. Such a knowledge is surely possible, and is but a sign of the loving Mercy of the Almighty. We can, through our prayers, help every soul to gradually attain this high station, even if it has failed to reach it in this world. The progress of the soul does not come to an end with death. It rather starts along a new line. Baha'u'llah teaches that great far- reaching possibilities await the soul in the other world. Spiritual progress in that realm is infinite, and no man, while on this earth, can visualize its full power and extent."

(Shoghi Effendi)

You wrote at an earlier stage in the discussion:

"I am asking the question that a lost soul might ask —- one who does not know the demands of your God but knows enough about himself to realize he is in need of something. I am asking the question, 'What must he do to be saved?'"

The question asked by this lost soul brings to mind these words of Baha'u'llah:

"What 'oppression' is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it? For opinions have sorely differed, and the ways unto the attainment of God have multiplied."

Baha'u'llah offers liberation to the soul who is oppressed by this confused state of affairs, through the guidance that He gives as the Manifestation of God for this age. This pure and authentic guidance cuts like a bright light through the gloom of conflicting "opinions" and "ways unto the attainment of God" that have "multiplied" through the idle speculations and fruitless philosophies dreamed up by fallible human beings.

Throughout past ages, God has always given guidance to mankind through His Prophets:

"Moreover He hath in every age and cycle, in conformity with His transcendent wisdom, sent forth a divine Messenger to revive the dispirited and despondent souls with the living waters of His utterance, One Who is indeed the Expounder, the true Interpreter, inasmuch as man is unable to comprehend that which hath streamed forth from the Pen of Glory and is recorded in His heavenly Books."

(Baha'u'llah)

You suggested that if the Manifestations of God are all bringers of the Divine message, it seems to be a contradictory message, or ineffectual, since it does not sink in and has to be repeated.

God constantly repeats His message, not because of any inadequacy on the part of the chosen Messengers, but because (1) human beings, often "unable to comprehend that which hath streamed forth from the Pen of Glory", tend to misinterpret the Divine Message, so corrections are needed and (2) God releases, as time goes by, an increasing measure of Divine knowledge, which brings ever nearer the establishment of His Kingdom on earth.

In our own age, God has not been silent; He has not abandoned His creatures. More than this, we live in a momentous age when Divine grace has been poured out more copiously than ever before.

"The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, mankind hath strayed from its path and shut out itself from its glory."

(Baha'u'llah)

The world is in turmoil because God is bringing about a great transformation in its affairs. Baha'u'llah is the herald of that transformation. The severe difficulties the world faces arise from its having paid little heed to Baha'u'llah. Hell exists, even on earth, wherever the Word of God is shut out. Paradise draws near, where His Word is heard and obeyed.

You are right then, in a sense, when you observe that for a Baha'i, "... the bottom line for salvation is that you believe that Baha'i is the true religion and you must see everything through its lens and practice its doctrines." However, you are also right in another sense when you suggest alternatively that "the Baha'i[s] are ... very liberal in their theology". The "liberal" aspect in Baha'i theology arises from belief that all religions together essentially comprise a single religion and all mankind are under the guidance and protection of one God. The Baha'is do not consider themselves inherently more enlightened as individuals than the followers of other religions, nor do we disregard the spiritual insights offered by others, nor assume that our neighbours of different faiths are destined upon their deaths for the fires of hell. Yet our very "liberalism" rests on the authority of Baha'u'llah, so it is a liberalism in vision, attitudes, and world-view, and not with regard to fundamental principles. The Manifestation of God is in our eyes infallible. We are staunch in upholding this rather unfashionable idea.

The Baha'i teachings do not overlook the differences between religions, but rather explain the reasons for such differences, correct errors that have been introduced by theologians over the course of centuries, and provide keys that resolve apparent contradictions. An example of reconciling contradictions concerns the difference that you allude to between the Muslim and Christian beliefs about Jesus' crucifixion. An authoritative statement of the Baha'i position on this is as follows: "The crucifixion as recounted in the New Testament is correct. The meaning of the Qur'anic version is that the spirit of Christ was not Crucified. There is no conflict between the two."

Contradictions often appear when things are understood on the wrong level. For example, among the Jews there was a widespread expectation that the Messiah would be a king. When He appeared amongst them as a man of humble background, those who thought this way, mocked Him. A crown of thorns was placed upon His head, which in spiritual terms was a crown of glory.

The resolution to the misunderstanding current amongst the people of those times is that Christ's kingdom was not of this world.

A great many of the misunderstandings in religion arise from a literal interpretation of statements that are intended symbolically and spiritually.

Obviously your other point about differences between Christian and Islamic beliefs on salvation raises a much more complex subject. You wrote: "Christianity teaches that you don't earn salvation; you depend upon the atonement of Jesus, who is God incarnate. Islam seems to teach that your good works (such as adhering to the 5 Pillars) must outweigh your bad."

Let's explore these apparent polarities of "faith" and "works". Asking whether salvation is attained through faith or by good deeds is a bit like asking whether light is comprised of waves or particles. The answer is, "both". And depending which aspect you focus on, you might be misled into thinking it is either one or the other.

The concept of "salvation" refers to being saved from the condition of alienation from God that is suffered by man in his "natural", unredeemed, state. In this state we are under the control of the biological urges of our bodily nature, and of various egotistical self-seeking drives. This condition is the opposite of Godliness. All the attributes of goodness, all the virtues, are from God. To be lacking in virtue, then, is to be far from God. To become virtuous is to become nearer to God. Nearness is likeness. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (Jesus)

"O thou who art attracted to the Kingdom of God! Every soul seeketh an object and cherisheth a desire, and day and night striveth to attain his aim. One craveth riches, another thirsteth for glory and still another yearneth for fame, for art, for prosperity and the like. Yet finally all are doomed to loss and disappointment. One and all they leave behind them all that is theirs and empty-handed hasten to the realm beyond, and all their labours shall be in vain. To dust they shall all return, denuded, depressed, disheartened and in utter despair.

"But, praised be the Lord, thou art engaged in that which secureth for thee a gain that shall eternally endure; and that is naught but thine attraction to the Kingdom of God, thy faith, and thy knowledge, the enlightenment of thine heart, and thine earnest endeavour to promote the Divine Teachings.

"Verily this gift is imperishable and this wealth is a treasure from on high!"

('Abdu'l-Baha)

"For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: 'He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.'"

(Baha'u'llah)

How do we draw nearer to God, acquiring "Divine" qualities and virtues? This is impossible without faith. So faith is the first step, and steadfastness in faith is required throughout the journey. For it is a journey, not a one-time event. To be "born again" into the light of belief is to embark on a new stage; it is not the end of the road.

As the Qur'an says, "Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, 'We believe,' and that they will not be tested?" Jesus' parable of the sower makes the same point. Not all the seed that is cast on the soil of the human heart by the Word of God germinates; and not all that germinates grows long enough to become a shrub; and not all that grows into a shrub survives to become a tree. Along the way, when tested by the heat of the sun or by harsh winds, faith can wither and die. What keeps it alive to the end? Well, action is required, such as prayer, study of the Word and reflection upon it, fellowship with other believers, and service to humanity. Always, faith and action are intertwined.

"Let the flame of the love of God burn brightly within your radiant hearts. Feed it with the oil of Divine guidance, and protect it within the shelter of your constancy. Guard it within the globe of trust and detachment from all else but God, so that the evil whisperings of the ungodly may not extinguish its light."

(Baha'u'llah)

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints..."

(St. Paul)

Islam emphasises practicing the five pillars for the same reason that Christians say grace before meals, attend Church on Sundays, give to charity, recite creeds and confessions of faith in their worship services, and endeavour to treat others with love and compassion. These acts give structure to the life of faith, individually and collectively, and keep faith alive.

So far as I understand, the doctrine that faith and action are closely intertwined is taught by Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, various branches of Protestantism, and by Islam, as well as the Baha'i Faith. If there are differences to be identified on the theology of faith and works, the differences within Christianity are probably greater than any differences there may be between, say, Catholic, Islamic, and Baha'i views. Therefore, the core ideas behind the doctrines of salvation do not markedly distinguish Christianity from Islam or the Baha'i Faith.

If the journey of faith is perilous, how can we pursue it with confidence? The key to this is that faith denotes trust in God. So long as we trust in Him, we shall remain safe. Trustworthiness itself is of God, so God can be trusted. "In Him let the trusting trust." (Baha'u'llah)

The misfortunes of life can undermine our faith if we let this happen, for we might begin to say, "I trusted God, but He let me down".

"Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs, and recognized that 'He shall not be asked of His doings.' Such a recognition hath been made by God the ornament of every belief, and its very foundation. Upon it must depend the acceptance of every goodly deed."

(Baha'u'llah)

The phrase, "He shall not be asked of His doings" has many implications, one of which is that we should welcome the misfortunes of life as gifts from God in disguise. This attitude preserves faith. As St. Paul said, "For them who believe, all things work together for good."

It is our response to God's grace, revealed through His Prophets and Messengers, that saves us, in the Baha'i view.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

(St. Paul)


"We are cognizant of thy righteous deeds, though they shall avail thee nothing; for the whole object of such righteousness is but recognition of God, thy Lord, and undoubted faith in the Words revealed by Him."

(The Bab)


"It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the Realm of Immortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs."

(Baha'u'llah)

What does it mean, to "truly believe in God and in His signs"?

Although Moses did not fail in the Mission entrusted to Him by God, the followers of the religion of Moses, in the majority, rejected Christ when He appeared. The people of that day held to the outward form of the teachings of Moses but were unaware of their true meaning. They looked and looked, but did not see.

Jesus said to them pointedly that if they were true followers of Moses, they would have accepted Him. But only a mere handful did in fact recognize that He was "the Light of the world". The appearance of Jesus, then, was a "Day of Judgement" for the followers of Moses. This is why Jesus said that He brought a sword, that divided brother against brother. Not that he advocated violence, but some accepted Him, and others rejected Him, so His word was like a sword that cut cleanly down the middle, sometimes separating believer from unbeliever within a single family.

"Nothing whatsoever shall, in this Day, be accepted from you, though ye continue to worship and prostrate yourselves before God throughout the eternity of His dominion. For all things are dependent upon His Will, and the worth of all acts is conditioned upon His acceptance and pleasure. The whole universe is but a handful of clay in His grasp. Unless one recognize God and love Him, his cry shall not be heard by God in this Day. This is of the essence of His Faith, did ye but know it."

(Baha'u'llah)

Again, Baha'u'llah warns that pious acts of worship are of no benefit: "Unless one recognize God and love Him".

By "recognize God", Baha'u'llah means, recognize the Manifestation of God for this Day, this being Himself.

The Message of Baha'u'llah, then, is a profoundly challenging message. The appearance of Baha'u'llah is again, a Day of Judgement. More than this, it is the supreme Day of Judgement, the Day foretold in the prophecies of all religions. For the Announcement that God makes through Baha'u'llah marks the end of night and the dawn of the age of light, a light that will steadily rise to its zenith, when the Kingdom of God shall be established on earth. This is the age for the gathering together of all mankind under the shelter of God's Holy law. Indeed, the teachings of Baha'u'llah are the holy city, the new Jerusalem, come down from heaven, foreseen by the author of the Book of Revelation.

The duty of the Baha'is, then, is this:

"Wherefore, O ye beloved of God, offer up thanks that ye have, in the day of the dawning, turned your faces unto the Light of the World and beheld its splendours. Ye have received a share of the light of truth, ye have enjoyed a portion of those blessings that endure forever; and therefore, as a returning of thanks for this bounty, rest ye not for a moment, sit ye not silent, carry to men's ears the glad tidings of the Kingdom, spread far and wide the Word of God."

('Abdu'l-Baha)

The message of Baha'u'llah although a challenging message is also the only real basis for the hope of peace and reconciliation amongst the peoples of the world. We, the human race, have been slow to accept Him and are paying a heavy price for it in bloodshed and chaos that could have been avoided if His message had been heeded by more people sooner. The Baha'i message contains its stern admonishments, but as I mentioned before, it does not ultimately make the sharp distinctions between believer and non-believer that tended to be made in past dispensations. There are many degrees of response to the Message, and to the degree that people respond positively to it, to that degree God's mercies surround us. The worst response, of course, is that of the active opponents who defame Baha'u'llah and persecute His followers, even to the extent of imprisoning them and killing them on account of their belief. A grave responsibility rests upon their heads.

The teachings of the Baha'i Faith are circulating in the body politic and leavening the life of the world, even where they are not identified with their Source.

The Message of Baha'u'llah is that this is the day for the unification of mankind. Those who work for peace and reconciliation are therefore acting in obedience to the Divine command. For this reason, they are not merely "treating the symptom". The very act of working for the unity of mankind attracts divine blessings, for this is what God wants. He wants His creatures to be united and for war to cease.

God's mercy encompasses the whole of mankind. His justice calls to account all mankind.

"I swear by Thy might, O my God! Wert Thou to regard Thy servants according to their deserts in Thy days, they would assuredly merit naught except Thy chastisement and torment. Thou art, however, the One Who is of great bounteousness, Whose grace is immense. Look not down upon them, O my God, with the glance of Thy justice, but rather with the eyes of Thy tender compassions and mercies. Do, then, with them according to what beseemeth Thy generosity and bountiful favor. Potent art Thou to do whatsoever may please Thee. Incomparable art Thou. No God is there beside Thee, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, the Ruler of this world and of the world to come. Thou art the God of Bounty, the Ever-Forgiving, the Great Giver, the Most Generous."

(Baha'u'llah)

I accept then, what Martin Luther said about Jesus being the way to salvation:

"Man may forever do as he will, he can never enter heaven unless God takes the first step with his Word, which offers him divine grace and enlightens his heart so as to get upon the right way. This right way, however, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever desires to seek another way, as the great multitudes venture to do by means of their own works, has already missed the right way..."

The authority of Jesus in this context needs to be understood spiritually. Particularly in His own Day and until the coming of Muhammad, Jesus was the representative of God on earth, "the Light of the World". To reject Jesus was to shut out the light. To accept Him was to enter the presence of God. Further, the reality of Jesus is eternal and has never died, and His light continues to shine, still mediating salvation today.

The Manifestations of God are all One and the same in their identity as the Word of God. The inner reality of their being is the Holy Spirit. To believe in Jesus is to believe in Baha'u'llah.

Baha'u'llah is indeed the return of Christ. This is something to ponder, without haste.

The mission of Christ was to save souls. The mission of Baha'u'llah is to save mankind as a whole.

"The Revelation associated with the Faith of Jesus Christ focused attention primarily on the redemption of the individual and the molding of his conduct, and stressed, as its central theme, the necessity of inculcating a high standard of morality and discipline into man, as the fundamental unit in human society. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find any reference to the unity of nations or the unification of mankind as a whole. When Jesus spoke to those around Him, He addressed them primarily as individuals rather than as component parts of one universal, indivisible entity. The whole surface of the earth was as yet unexplored, and the organization of all its peoples and nations as one unit could, consequently, not be envisaged, how much less proclaimed or established. What other interpretation can be given to these words, addressed specifically by Bahá'u'lláh to the followers of the Gospel, in which the fundamental distinction between the Mission of Jesus Christ, concerning primarily the individual, and His own Message, directed more particularly to mankind as a whole, has been definitely established: 'Verily, He [Jesus] said: "Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." In this day, however, We say: 'Come ye after Me, that We may make you to become the quickeners of mankind.'""

(Shoghi Effendi)

The seeking soul who accepts Baha'u'llah finds light upon light and a great amount of work to be done in service to the Kingdom of God, conferring joy, both in this world and in the next.

Whirlwind

This poem is a response to Angela Shortt's "Unbidden like surise".

Whirlwind

As if a cosmic whirlwind passes by
The stars careen across a churning sky

Primeval constellations fly apart
Propelled in gyres no instrument can chart

This storm must blow and nothing block its course
The gods themselves shall not resist its force

Not Hera nor Apollo stand their ground
When age-old bonds of hate have been unbound

Yet harpies, howling, grieve to see the fall
Of hallowed ways that keep the world in thrall

The woeful clamour of their carping jive
Invokes a day when naught but death may thrive

Such dire drones would send me to despair

Were they alone to wail upon the air

Were not a greater Voice to call the dance

That moves all life at springtime's brisk advance

Ramadan poems

American poet Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore has been posting a series of poems reflecting on the Ramadan Fast. He is a master wordsmith. I can well identify with his poetry of the Fast, for it captures the experience of fasting superbly well. It resonates with my experience of the Baha'i Fast (which comes round every year in March).

As Moore writes of Ramadan:

each year it makes its visit, and year after
year it builds up to be a
sweet thing,

-- Quoted from "The Inevitable" from Ramadan Sonnets

A creature adapted for wonder

"Religion functions at the boundary where the knowable faces the unknown and the unknowable," says Bruce Deverell, in this "guest" contribution. This post is written in response to Dan Rhoads' post on his Migrations blog, Religion and Ethnocentrism: Is Religion Adaptive?

Religion and Ethnocentrism
Is Religion Adaptive?

Mechanisms by which religion
may have positively impacted
adaptive fitness

How might they have occurred?

A response

Dan, I hope you don't mind me joining in the discussion. Our son John Bryden shared your blog site with me. I have been a bit slow to respond. My brain has not adapted to sending well thought out arguments in quick time on the internet which blogging seems to require.

I am conscious of dealing with someone from a different tribe!

My response is based on my experience of living and working in the Pacific Islands for most of our working lives (as a Protestantminister). Recently I have renewed my involvement in interfaith dialogue and have visited a Moslem Mosque and attended the combined annual meeting of the Council of Christians and Jews and the Council of Christians and Moslems in Auckland with a woman from each faith talking about preparing food for special celebrations. This involvement will keep me in touch with the religious side of the discussion.

I am also drawing on the five books that I have been reading in thepast year or two including my introduction to the book Pacific Rituals: Living or Dying (details below). I do not normally read widely on asubject but select a book which may reflect original thinking in aparticular area and stay with that over a period of time. These five books provide me with different perspectives that may be more or less pertinent to the issues you raise.

But first I try to identify clarify my understanding of religion and religious experience in a series of assertions about religion and religious experience that I have called 'thesis' statements. This is followed by some definitions of religion. (It is not clear to me from your first article what your understanding of religion is).

Religion and Religious Experience

WONDER

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity,
but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance,
renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.

Dag Hammarskjold, former General Secretary of the United Nations, in Markings p64

Theses

Human beings have always lived in a known world surrounded by the unknown. “Scientific knowledge is like an island in an ocean of the unknown” (statement by a bioethicist in a BBC interview).

Religion functions at the boundary where the knowable faces the unknown and the unknowable. The boundary changes with the increase of knowledge but a boundary remains. The boundary can also be thought of as a horizon. (Rosenberg)

The response of awe, fear, wonder, dread in the face of events and experiences which transcend normal knowledge, explanation and understanding is at the very heart of human experience that may be called religious. This experience is not confined to 'religious' people.

Human communities have special places, people, times, events... which are believed to be sacred (tapu) and filled with a special kind of holy power (mana). These sacred places,objects, times, words...must not be lightly played around with as they seem to have a fundamental function of giving order and meaning to society over a period of time.

Rituals are the means by which these events and experiences are symbolised, remembered and relived from generation to generation and recognised as sacred. Rituals are a focal point for understanding religions. (Pacific Rituals)

Humans are conscious beings with the ability not only to know but to know that they know (the capacity for conscious reflection), and to know that they are known. This capacity gives humans knowledge of their world involving recognising, reflecting, remembering , imagining, naming, symbolising, ritualising...

From the beginning of history humans sought to name in a personal way these difficult to understand and explain events and experiences which impinge on their daily lives. Such events seem to reveal some kind of intervening living presence and intention. Human beings want to give names to these experiences that are personal, whether they be regarded as spirits, gods, some kind of supreme being or simply forces of nature.

When religious people or scientists lose the sense of wonder they begin to find it hard to adapt – they die (Hammarskjold above).

Some Definitions of Religion

Some definitions of religion from the The Oxford Shorter Dictionary in historical order:

• religion (Latin): an obligation (as of an oath), a bond between man and the gods, reverence for the gods;
  

1. A state of life bound by monastic vows; the religious life
2. Action or conduct indicating a belief in, reverence for, and desire to please, a divine ruling power; the exercise or practice or rites or observances implying this.
3. A particular system of faith and worship.
4. Recognition on the part of man of some higher unseen power as having control of his destiny, as being entitle to obedience, reverences, and worship; the general mental and moral attitude resulting from this relief, with reference to its effect upon the individual or the community; personal or general acceptance of this feelings a standard of spiritual and practical life.

A tribe is a territorial social organisation of people descended from a common ancestor. Territorial boundaries protect the tribe but they are also places where interaction takes place with others. Since they are often places of uncertainty and dispute they are often regarded as taboo areas.

Perspectives from Books I have been Reading

In this my first response I list the five books I have been reading with a brief indication of their subject matter and a hint of potential relevance to your statement that “a more rigorous explanation of the mechanisms by which religion may have positively impacted adaptive fitness. How might that have occurred?”

Then I provide a summary of Barbour's understanding of where the theory of evolution is at now. I have also included the part of my introductory essay in Pacific Rituals which focusses on continuity and change.

In each of these books I am struggling with material that is beyond me. I am like a blind man touching different parts of the elephant and trying to make sense of it all with my limited faculties!

Pacific Rituals:Living or Dying is an edited collection of essays written by undergraduate theological students at the Pacific Theological College, Suva, Fiji. The students attempted to describe traditional rituals, most still being practised, from different their island cultures. My introductory essay raises the question implied in the title as to how rituals can and do adapt to the modern world and how they can contribute to that adaptation or stifle it. (see below for an extract)

Barbour's Nature, Human Nature, and God has provided me with the opportunity to catch a glimpse of how Darwin's theory of biological evolution is itself evolving. This raises questions about how the present thinking about the theory of evolution in biology affects our thinking about how religions evolve and how they change and adapt.

Rosenberg's Abraham: the First Biographical History has given me a whole new perspective on understanding the roots of Abram's story in the Sumerian culture. Rosenberg argues that the Sumerians were clear about the boundary between the known and the unknown and as they “pushed back the boundary of the unknowable” they “allowed religion its own realm”.

Rosenberg's careful study gives an imaginative account of how Abram's family migrated from the declining civilisation of Sumer towards a more or less unknown land and future. What were the essential elements of the Sumerian culture that they took with them? How did they respond to the gods of the new land? How did they adapt the world view of the Sumerians as they arrived in the land of promise?

Rosenberg's careful and imaginative study of the changing contexts of the writing of the different strands of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Torah, show a process of adaptation to changing events and circumstances. In particular his study of how the name of Yahweh evolved in the story portrayed in the first written strand of the Torah (The “J” or Yahwist document) provides a fascinating picture of how the naming of this somewhat elusive and unpredictable presence named Yahweh evolved in the story of Abram/Abraham. This continued in the long process of writing the Hebrew Scriptures through critical events over many centuries.

This, as well as other recent Old Testament scholarship, makes the study of the Hebrew Scriptures an important case study of the question “do religions adapt and if so how?” What about other world religions?

The French atheistic antiphilosopher Bardiou in his book Saint Paul: The Foundations of Universalism sees St Paul as a the “militant figure” who “is a poet-thinker of the event”. The book provides an extremely important way of thinking in terms of the universal. Perhaps the focus on events and the crucial role of how the original thinker with poetic imagination can be a deciding factor as to whether the religious response may positively impact adaptive fitness.

Paul Davies' The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life? puts everything in the big picture of the evolving universe. He writes: “For life to evolve, and then to evolve into conscious beings like ourselves, certain conditions have to be satisfied”. These include: a good supply of the various elements needed to make biomass, this life encouraging setting has to remain benign for a long time, the universe must be sufficiently old and cool to permit complex chemistry, it has to be orderly enough to permit untrammelled formation of galaxies and stars, there has to be the right sorts of forces acting between particles of matter to make stable atoms, complex molecules, planets and stars. If almost any of the basic features of the universe , from the properties of atoms to the distribution of galaxies, were different, life would probably be impossible....The universe seems just right for life in many intriguing ways....”. Religions too have long periods of equilibrium which may make it difficult to adapt to change when relative equilibrium is punctuated by unexpected events.

Evolution

The theory of evolution has been evolving. Barbour has written many important books on the relation of science and religion. I have been trying to grasp hold of what this means by wrestling with Ian Barbour's book Nature, Human Nature, and God. In chapter 2 he gives an account of where the theory of evolution is at now.

The following is my summary of the key points.See Barbour pp12-14

Darwin's theory

In Darwin's day, Newtonian mechanics was looked on as the form of science that other sciences should emulate. The Newtonian viewpoint was atomistic, deterministic, and reductionist. It was believed that the behaviour of all systems is determined by a few simple laws governing the behaviour of their smallest components. Change was thought to be the result of external forces, such as gravity acting on bodies that are themselves essentially passive. Darwin agreed with the philosophers of science who held that Newtonian physics represented the ideal for all sciences, and his theory of evolution shared many of its assumptions (Barbour p11).

Expansion of Darwinism

Some biologists postulate that:

• selection occurs at many levels:
• evolution has long periods of relatively little change indispersed with bursts of rapid speciation (punctuated equilibrium);
• natural selection has many different causes;
• internal drives drives and novel actions of organisms can initiate evolutionary changes;the autonomy of biology from physics.

Beyond Darwinism

Future understanding of evolution may be enhanced by recent work on chaos and complexity, evolution as a product of self-organisation as well as chance, new advances in embryology and developmental biology, how developmental patterns are constrained by hierarchical organisation and the possibility of a paradigm shift from Darwinism to something beyond Darwin's theory.

Self organisation, indeterminacy, top-down causality and communication of information need to be taken into account in evolutionary theory.

How does the present thinking about the theory of evolution in biology affect your thinking about how religions evolve and how they change and adapt?

Rituals: Continuity and Change

This excerpt from my introduction to Pacific Rituals: Living or Dying focusses on the issues of continuity and change. It puts the issue of religious change into a community rather than an individualist context.

In oral societies particularly, continuity is preserved by a special emphasis on conservation of forms, symbols, formulaic expressions and ritual structures, and a resistance to change. "All sacred things must be kept in their place" (Levi-Strauss 1970:10). Rituals keep sacred things in place. Nevertheless living rituals are changeable. They can adapt to situation, circumstance, people and a changing world. So while rituals conserve the traditions, the values, the central symbols of a people, they can also be sources of creativity and change. They are not unthinking human activities — or need not be so.

Susanne Langer (1976) puts forward the thesis that all human symbolising activity may rightly be called thinking. In this light the complex symbolical activity of rituals reflects intelligent corporate human behaviour. And intelligence can be seen as the adaptation of the inward sense of meaning, identity and understanding to the realities of the external world. Since rituals are human activities they contain within them the possibility and promise of adaptation and change. They can be changed, and they can also be sources of change.

Devilish or Divine

Rituals have a special way of making possible and nurturing creativity in human culture and society, and facilitating its expression. This is perhaps because on the one hand the ritual puts people in touch with hidden and unconscious sources of their being both as individuals and as a community,and on the other because they provide a symbol system with which to explore and express the unspeakable. So words, music and movements of a Fijian meke, or ritual dance can be dreamed up for a special occasion or event and enable people to make sense of the new by using the forms of the old. Or a Samoan orator working with the traditional structure and language forms of the formal orator's speech can creatively transcend the formal structure, and express what has not been expressed before in a way that leads people to a new level of perception and understanding that enables them to embrace the new in a memorable way. A living ritual conserves what is potentially creative.

Not all change, however, is creatively good. There is something very ambiguous about human ritual behaviour. It is difficult to talk about this dimension without using religious terminology. Rituals can be devilish or divine. They can be seen as human creations which are the gifts of the gods. But they can also be recognised as being captured by diabolical forces which distort, confuse, destroy. The word symbol comes from the Greek word symbolos meaning to throw or cast together. Symbols bring many things together in a single complex whole. They create a sense of wholeness. The word diabolical however comes from the Greek word diabolos, meaning to throw apart, to scatter. The diabolical scatters, causing fragmentation, disorder, chaos. It is a strange contradiction that symbols can become diabolical. And what is true of symbols is also true of rituals.

Susanne Langer uses the words (1953:46) "semblance" and "illusion" to indicate the transparent nature of humanly created art forms. The symbolic forms used in different kinds of art are humanly created semblances or illusions which enable the unspeakable inner experience of different kinds of reality to be known, expressed, talked about, and analysed. So rituals too are humanly created illusions which are at the same time the gifts of the gods. Their reality is not in what they are, but in what they point to, what they represent, what they convey to us, what they put us in touch with. And what they put us in touch with is not the tangible but the intangible, not the seeable but the unseeable, not the experience of the ordinary but the experience of transcendence in and through the ordinary and the physical. For example through the illusions of gesture and dance the sense of power and presence is conveyed and through music, time takes on the dimension of the eternal. Architecture creates an illusion of cultic or cultured space and drama gives an illusion of action directed towards the future out of the past (Langer 1953, Collins 1983:98ff). Through the combination of these created illusions in ritual the transcendent is experienced in indefinable but real ways, and life itself takes on a new dimension.

Since they have this character of humanly created illusions however, rituals may also delude. When the illusion is treated as the reality there is idolatry. So rituals may lead to a deeper and truer perception of reality, but they may also lead people to live in an imaginary world out of touch with reality. They may hold people in a past which can no longer exist and prevent them from facing the realities of the present. They may make a certain kind of order possible that contains the seeds of chaos and destruction; They may project an illusory hope for the future which cannot be fulfilled. They may give an illusion of power that may lead to delusions of grandeur and to paranoia. They may let loose hidden powers which can disrupt, distort and destroy. To play around with rituals and misuse them can be dangerous. But to find in them the sacred source of that which is creative of life, wholeness, healing, is to discover a transformative power in society which enables people to live into the future out of the present through the presence of the remembered past.

Some Final Comments

My background and reading has put the issues you raise into a different and broader context. I realise that I have not responded directly to many of the issues you have raised in your first article – particularly the issue of ethnocentrism in religion. That will have to wait!

But in the light of your comment that 'the capacity for religion can be described as arising from a “loose confederacy of separate modules in the human brain”' I would like to know more about what that means. What kinds of changes take place in the brains for example of birds and humans as they adapt or fail to adapt to new situations?

Bruce

References

• Barbour, Ian. 2002. Nature, Human Nature and God. Augsburg: Fortress Press
• Bardiou, Alain. 2003. Saint Paul: The Foundations of Universalism. Translated by Ray Brassier. Stanford: Stanford University Press
• Davies, Paul. 2006. The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life? London: Allen Lane
• Deverell, Gweneth & Bruce John (eds). 1986: Pacific Rituals: Living or Dying. Suva. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.
• Rosenberg, David. 2006. Abraham: The First Historical Biography. New York: Basic Books.

Secular thinker envisaged universal religion

Recent posts on this blog have been discussing the idea that religion evolves. An interesting sidelight of the subject appears in Jack Mclean's blog.

Jack notes that Eric Fromm wrote on the development of a new universalistic religion in his 1955 book, The Sane Society. It seems Fromm may have been influenced by a Baha'i he was corresponding with. Fromm is quoted thus:

The most important feature of such a religion will be its universalistic character, corresponding to the unification of mankind which is taking place in this epoch; it would embrace the humanistic teachings common to all the great religions of the East and of the West; its doctrines would not contradict the rational insight of mankind today, and its emphasis would be on the practice of life, rather than on doctrinal beliefs.

See:

Pilgrim's Notes: Eric Fromm and the Bahá'í Faith

technorati tags:religion, evolution, Marxism, universal religion, Eric Fromm, psychologist, science and religion, secular faith, globalisation, Bahai, Baha'i

Humanity's pilgrimage towards unity

One of the strong objections raised by non-believers towards religion is that it is a "tribalistic" force which is having dangerously divisive effects in the present age of the global village. This objection is worthy of deep consideration by religious believers, given that there is ample evidence in the news every day of religion playing a major part in creating civil and international conflict. Taking into account this terrible and tragic reality of the present world scene, does religion have a future?

My sparring-partner in a fruitful dialogue on whether religion has outlived its usefulness, Dan, puts it this way:

While nationalistic faiths (i.e., those that strongly define "in-group" and "out-group"; see "Tribalism" section of my Religion and Ethnocentrism essay) are probably very adaptive in warring societies, they have decidedly less utility in peaceful societies. Yet, nationalistic faiths (e.g., Christianity and Islam) appear to dominate Western, Near Eastern and Middle Eastern societies still, despite a crowded world with increasingly dangerous (nuclear) weapons in which we would do better to cooperate in.

The above paragraph was part of Dan's response to my assertion that the Muslim pilgrimage is an example of the unifying power of religion, showing that such religious institutions have historically worked to break down barriers of ethnicity and geography. To read the whole exchange, see the post, Pilgrimages and Migrations, on Dan's blog.

Dan's view that religion has become a largely reactionary and disunifying force, reflects an opinion that is obviously popular in humanist / rationalist circles. For instance, in a recent article, "Beyond the New Atheism", published by "The Humanist Online", the writer, Carl Coon, states:

I see a general theory emerging that explains religion in Darwinian terms, as one of the principal features of human culture that has bound groups together throughout the history and prehistory of our species. According to this theory, religion's forms have varied but the common denominator has been to help ensure that the individual cooperates with other members of the group. God emerges as a device that makes it easier for most individuals to understand how they should behave, and offers rewards and punishments to make them conform. In other words, God is a fiction of the human mind that survives because of its efficacy in inducing behavior that adds to the survivability of the group. It does this in part by reinforcing the "us versus them" mentality.

The problem with this evolutionary device is that when problems get global there's no longer room for a "them." We're all in it together and need universal binders, not just ones that thrive on setting select groups of people apart.

Already, in the nineteenth century, the fact that humankind had reached a new stage in its development, a stage when ancient prejudices would have to be put aside for the sake of our very survival, was vigorously proclaimed by Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), and subsequently by His appointed successor, His son 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921). Baha'u'llah's call for world unity continues to be championed by the global Baha'i community, which He founded, down to the present day. Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha were well aware of the divisiveness of traditional religion that Dan and Carl Coon have pointed out. The need for obliterating inherited boundaries of "them and us" was explicitly addressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha:

In every dispensation, there hath been the commandment of fellowship and love, but it was a commandment limited to the community of those in mutual agreement, not to the dissident foe. In this wondrous age, however, praised be God, the commandments of God are not delimited, not restricted to any one group of people, rather have all the friends been commanded to show forth fellowship and love, consideration and generosity and loving-kindness to every community on earth. Now must the lovers of God arise to carry out these instructions of His: let them be kindly fathers to the children of the human race, and compassionate brothers to the youth, and self-denying offspring to those bent with years. The meaning of this is that ye must show forth tenderness and love to every human being, even to your enemies, and welcome them all with unalloyed friendship, good cheer, and loving-kindness.

('Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 20)

Again, 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote, in a letter to the Sixth International Congress of Free and Progressive Christians and Other Religious Liberals, held in Paris, 1913:

Religion, which was meant to be sweet honey, is changed into bitter poison. Religion, the function of which was to illumine humanity, has become the factor of obscuration and gloom. Religion, which was to confer the consciousness of everlasting life, has become the fiendish instrument of death. As long as these superstitions are in the hands and these nets of dissimulation and hypocrisy in the fingers, religion will be the most harmful agency on this planet. These superannuated traditions, which are inherited unto the present day, must be abandoned, and thus free from past superstitions we must investigate the original intention. The basis on which they have fabricated the superstructures will be seen to be one, and that one, absolute reality; and as reality is indivisible, complete unity and amity will be instituted and the true religion of God will become unveiled in all its beauty and sublimity in the assemblage of the world.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 161)

It is hard to imagine the most eloquent of atheists expressing a more effective critique of misguided religion, than this religious leader!

In words that are even more pressingly relevant today than they were then, in the nineteenth century, Baha'u'llah wrote:

The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race... Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity.... Our hope is that the world's religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth.

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 168)

In a talk given in New York in 1912, envisioning a transformation of society in the future, 'Abdul-Baha said:

The thoughts of man shall take such upward flight that former accomplishments shall appear as the play of children, for the ideas and beliefs of the past and the prejudices regarding race and religion have ever lowered and been destructive to human evolution. [emphasis added]

('Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 125)

The Baha'i teachings agree with evolutionary scientists studying religion, that it is indeed a phenomenon which is closely linked with the evolution of civilization, albeit the Baha'i perspective differs significantly from the strictly materialist concept proposed by Carl Coon, quoted above. The late Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, wrote:

The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh, the followers of His Faith firmly believe, is that Religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the non-essential aspects of their doctrines and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society. [Emphasis added.]

(Shoghi Effendi, "Summary Statement to the Special UN Committee on Palestine", 1947)

Shoghi Effendi also wrote:

Just as the organic evolution of mankind has been slow and gradual, and involved successively the unification of the family, the tribe, the city-state, and the nation, so has the light vouchsafed by the Revelation of God, at various stages in the evolution of religion, and reflected in the successive Dispensations of the past, been slow and progressive. Indeed the measure of Divine Revelation, in every age, has been adapted to, and commensurate with, the degree of social progress achieved in that age by a constantly evolving humanity. [emphases added]

(Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 118)

It is in seeing religion as an evolving phenomenon that we can see that it has a future. Religion is not locked-in to what it was in the past.

Reflecting on the historical processes that took place when the "great religions" were born and grew, we see that particularly in their early stages, they dramatically pushed forward ahead of their times. For instance, the transformations wrought in the societies of the Middle East and Asia where Islam spread in its golden age, and the powerful social effects of practices like the hajj (pilgrimage), indicate that Islam was an overwhelmingly progressive force relative to the conditions of that age. But an organism that was once vigorous can weaken over time. We should not suppose that the creative essence of religion can be found in such forms of it as have deteriorated until merely the outward shell is left, and from which the animating spirit has departed. Such religion exists where practices established in the past continue of their own momentum, even while their original purpose has been forgotten. Institutions can die. Rituals can lose their meaning. This is not a blanket criticism of any or all religions. There are a great many followers of all the religions for whom religion continues to have a dynamic and outward-looking influence on their lives. Their belief is manifested in a myriad forms of service to humankind, and such individuals are leaders in working for charity, justice, and peace. Many a global network is made up of religious believers; even, in some cases, composed of followers of different religions banded together for some common cause of human betterment.

To my mind, the most powerful example of the renewal of the religious spirit in our own age is the birth and growth of the Baha'i Faith. The very fact that some 150 years ago Baha'u'llah drew attention to all the major issues besetting us now, including religious conflict, shows that religion and religious insight can still forge ahead of the times. Baha'u'llah called upon His followers:

Gird up the loins of your endeavor, O people of Baha, that haply the tumult of religious dissension and strife that agitateth the peoples of the earth may be stilled, that every trace of it may be completely obliterated. For the love of God, and them that serve Him, arise to aid this sublime and momentous Revelation. Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13)

Not only did Baha'u'llah create a body of teachings, he also established an organised worldwide community that now carries on the work that He started. It has spread to every country of the world and comprises members representing innumerable ethnic groups of every social class. The unity of this community in all its diversity gives practical expression to Baha'u'llah's vision.

Religion -- described by Baha'u'llahas "the Hand of Divine power" -- sees deep into reality and far into the future. It can accomplish results far surpassing those devised by any secular philosophy or programme.

No scheme which the calculations of the highest statesmanship may yet devise; no doctrine which the most distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to advance; no principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the future of a distracted world can be built. ... Not even, I venture to assert, would the very act of devising the machinery required for the political and economic unification of the world -- a principle that has been increasingly advocated in recent times -- provide in itself the antidote against the poison that is steadily undermining the vigor of organized peoples and nations. What else, might we not confidently affirm, but the unreserved acceptance of the Divine Program enunciated, with such simplicity and force ... by Bahá'u'lláh, embodying in its essentials God's divinely appointed scheme for the unification of mankind in this age... is eventually capable of withstanding the forces of internal disintegration which, if unchecked, must needs continue to eat into the vitals of a despairing society.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 33)

I realise that "God's divinely appointed scheme for the unification of mankind" is a challenging concept to the secular mind. The word "religion" suggests images of rituals performed in temples and scholastic debates between theologians. In this guise, religion seems to be a human construct; something invented by priests, and increasingly irrelevant. But its Divine origin, its emergence out of the same unfathomable realm of pure Being that gives rise to matter and life, is clearly evident in the lives of the Founders of the great religions, including Baha'u'llah. The very appearance of these remarkable individuals at intervals throughout history is an astonishing thing. The originating genius of religion comes from Them. Theirs is an insight that is not of this world. Baha'is call them "Manifestations of God".

Briefly, the supreme Manifestations of God are aware of the reality of the mysteries of beings. Therefore, They establish laws which are suitable and adapted to the state of the world of man, for religion is the essential connection which proceeds from the realities of things. The Manifestation -- that is, the Holy Lawgiver -- unless He is aware of the realities of beings, will not comprehend the essential connection which proceeds from the realities of things, and He will certainly not be able to establish a religion conformable to the facts and suited to the conditions. The Prophets of God, the supreme Manifestations, are like skilled physicians, and the contingent world is like the body of man: the divine laws are the remedy and treatment. Consequently, the doctor must be aware of, and know, all the members and parts, as well as the constitution and state of the patient, so that he can prescribe a medicine which will be beneficial against the violent poison of the disease. In reality the doctor deduces from the disease itself the treatment which is suited to the patient, for he diagnoses the malady, and afterward prescribes the remedy for the illness. Until the malady be discovered, how can the remedy and treatment be prescribed? The doctor then must have a thorough knowledge of the constitution, members, organs and state of the patient, and be acquainted with all diseases and all remedies, in order to prescribe a fitting medicine.

Religion, then, is the necessary connection which emanates from the reality of things; and as the supreme Manifestations of God are aware of the mysteries of beings, therefore, They understand this essential connection, and by this knowledge establish the Law of God.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 158)

If religion can demonstrate the ability to meet the needs of our age, will we doubt that it has a future? If God continues to speak us through His Messengers, shall we doubt that He exists?

[This article has been edited since it was first posted earlier today.]

technorati tags:religion, atheism, bahai, Baha'i, Baha'u'llah, civilization, society, humanism, new atheism, evolution, evolution of religion, pilgrimage, history, science, faith, belief, God

Unravelling "The God Delusion"

I read Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" some time ago and I've had it in mind to write a post commenting on this book. But meanwhile, a brilliant review of it has appeared in"One Country", a newsletter of the Baha'i International Community, and anything I might have written seems redundant.

Steven Phelps, the reviewer, starts off with an outline of the complaints that Dawkins' has about religion, and grants that these complaints are warranted to some degree. Phelps then proceeds to state:

When set against traditional religious understandings of God, Dr. Dawkins’ arguments are quite powerful. But against the Bahá’í understanding of God and nature, the contradictions that he identifies between science and religion simply dissolve.

In the course of explaining this point, he makes these interesting comments:

A number of passages in the Bahá’í writings suggest that God’s action and the laws of nature are folded together — and that the natural laws that, say, guide evolution, are merely an extension of God’s will. “Nature is the expression of God’s will in and through the contingent world,” writes Bahá’u’lláh, explaining that “all the atoms of the earth have celebrated Thy praise,” and yet are “under one law from which they will never depart.”

In this vein, distinct categories of natural and supernatural action blend togetherallowing Bahá’ís to view the physical world in both sacred and secular terms. God’s action in the world looks more like physics than magic.

"The God Delusion" accurately identifies some pressing modern problems. One Country's review suggests solutions which, from a Baha'i perspective, are more viable than those that Richard Dawkins proposes.

technorati tags:God, delusion, review, atheism, religion, Richard, Dawkins, faith, reason

The power of pilgrimage

Anyone who may have been following my discussion with Dan, mentioned previously, might be interested to read my latest comment on his blog -- putting forward the Muslim pilgrimage as an example of the unifying power of religion.

technorati tags:religion, civilization, unity, pilgrimage, ethnocentrism

Religion a tribalistic force?

My discussion with biologist Dan Rhoads on his Migrations blog is continuing. Dan feels that religion is an ethnocentric force, rooted in humanity's tribal past. Supplementary to my comments on Dan's blog, here are some Baha'i quotations on the theme of religion's progressively unifying influence on civilization over the course of history.

Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 202)

Just as the organic evolution of mankind has been slow and gradual, and involved successively the unification of the family, the tribe, the city-state, and the nation, so has the light vouchsafed by the Revelation of God, at various stages in the evolution of religion, and reflected in the successive Dispensations of the past, been slow and progressive. Indeed the measure of Divine Revelation, in every age, has been adapted to, and commensurate with, the degree of social progress achieved in that age by a constantly evolving humanity.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 117)

In cycles gone by, though harmony was established, yet, owing to the absence of means, the unity of all mankind could not have been achieved. Continents remained widely divided, nay even among the peoples of one and the same continent association and interchange of thought were wellnigh impossible. Consequently intercourse, understanding and unity amongst all the peoples and kindreds of the earth were unattainable. In this day, however, means of communication have multiplied, and the five continents of the earth have virtually merged into one. And for everyone it is now easy to travel to any land, to associate and exchange views with its peoples, and to become familiar, through publications, with the conditions, the religious beliefs and the thoughts of all men. In like manner all the members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible, inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 31)

technorati tags:religion, evolution, tribalism, world, unity, globalisation

Response to "Religion and Ethnocentrism: Is Religion Adaptive"

Dan Rhoads kindly invited my comments on his new post, "Religion and Ethnocentrism: Is Religion Adaptive". My response to his stimulating essay is posted below. It also appears as a comment on Dan's Migrations blog.

Dan,

Thanks for letting me know, via my blog, of your post, and inviting my comments. I'm delighted you did that, taking it as a welcome and encouraging compliment.

The essay you've written after attending Allen MacNeill's class gives an impressively interesting and thoughtful survey of some of the issues arising from the scientific study of religion from an evolutionary biology perspective. Congratulations on the effort you put into it.

The increasing attention evidently being given to religion amongst evolutionary scientists and in other scientific fields is highly a positive development which must lead to gains in understanding of the nature of religion, a phenomenon that plays a central role in civilization and individual psychology. In particular, science is beginning to demonstrate that religion is in essence a single phenomenon, from the viewpoint of its role in human nature, albeit that numerous "religions" and "sects" provide an endless variety of examples of the phenomenon. When this realization takes hold more widely in society, it promises to alleviate the tribalism (as you call it), that bedevils adherence to religion in a globalising world. Such a realization is analogous to the realization resulting from scientific study that biologically there is no such thing as separate races amongst humanity, which dealt a death-blow to racist concepts and ideologies. It has been proven that biologically, regardless of superficial differences, mankind is one. It seems it will soon be demonstrated scientifically that in religious propensities, too, mankind is essentially one. One other contextual point I want to make is that although my perspective is that of a religious believer, I have the utmost respect for science, and consider that its clear findings should be readily accepted.

As your account shows, religion and the dynamics of social life have been closely intertwined from the earliest times down to the present. The story (history) of religion and the story of social evolution go hand in hand. Religious doctrines, practices and institutions have glued societies together. Religions have served to confer legitimacy on kings and rulers, provided a common language and symbolic models whereby the people as a whole could understand their place in belonging to their societies, and offered social occasions, such as collective worship services, where people formed a sense of solidarity with one another beyond groupings of family, occupation and class. As is often noted in this context, the word religion comes from a Latin word which literally means to tie, fasten, or bind. One of the primary functions of religion, then, is to bind people together. (Its other primary function is to strengthen the psycho-spiritual wholeness of the individual.)

It is pretty much a universal law that the survival of individual entities is best ensured by being part of a larger group. The cell can best survive as part of a body. The individual animal can best survive as part of a pack, flock, or troupe, etc. Survival for most human beings is nearly impossible if cut off from society. This factor drives the evolutionary process in the direction of larger and larger agglomerations of entities.

Describing religion as a feature of tribalism is correct insofar as it applies to the tribal stage of social evolution, but religion has also been central to the life of the larger groupings that emerged when tribes banded into city-states, nations and empires. The survival-value of religion is not limited to tribes, but arises from its unifying efficacy in societies of small scale or large. In fact, religion has often taken the lead in promoting larger groupings and wider loyalties. Christianity at its inception was a movement with a mission aimed at overcoming all forms of artificial barriers between people. As St. Paul wrote to his fellow-Christians, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This expressed a spiritual conception parallel to the multi-tribal material civilization of the Roman Empire. In the end it proved to be a more effective conception than the Roman pantheon, eventually winning an Emperor to its side, and a large proportion of the populace. When Islam appeared on the scene, it went even further in promoting wider loyalties. Muhammad's teachings were very explicit not only in upholding the ideal of all under Islam being "one in spirit", to use St. Paul's term, but also in laying out laws and social structures giving practical effect to this vision. A nation state is a society existing in a particular territory, that is able to maintain its unity while accommodating people of various ethnicities and religions. An archetypal model for such a society was Arabia under Muhammad. This is too big a subject to go into in detail, so I will have to be content with flagging it as an area for investigation.

I have reservations about the statement you made that: "Since the expansion of the Judeo-Christian model of monotheism, not much changed for a while, until notable a shift towards secularization." This statement appears to overlook the huge contribution of Islam to the developments that produced modern civilization. Unfortunately this contribution continues to be under-recognized in the West. Not long ago I read substantial a book by a French historian (whose name escapes me right now), that managed to survey the gamut of cultural developments in Europe since the Renaissance without once mentioning the debt that Europe owes to Islam. I submit that this Euro-centric blind spot of Western scholarship seriously undermines Western understanding of religion. Its no accident that the Renaissance began in Italy, a part of Europe in close contact with the Islamic world through trade and geographic proximity. What has this got to do with the present discussion? Islam fills in an important missing link in the story. Religion consistently has a progressive, boundary-expanding effect, but this fact is obscured when the progression of religion in the West is assumed to be Judaism, to Christianity, to Enlightenment humanism. I suggest that the impulses that lead to the Enlightenment came out of the Islamic world.

Regarding your conclusion, I'm 100% with you in applauding decency, science and the rule of law. Yet the historical experience of humankind that has given us these concepts was thoroughly imbued with religion. The concepts may be termed secular in the sense that they are not bound up with the doctrines of any religion in particular, and in general are subscribed to by any modern sensible person. On the other hand, they are "religious" concepts because they are in the domain of thought that religion has always dealt with, and are an outcome of historical movements that originated in religion. Increasingly it is being seen that humankind has a common religious heritage. The most far reaching proposals and plan of action for overcoming the boundaries of nationalism and all forms of prejudice and discrimination in the world today are those of the Baha'i religion. The core impulse of religion is not towards tribalism, but towards ever-greater unity.

Regrettably I haven't had time to adequately clarify/justify all of my statements above, but I hope that overall my response does not disappoint as initial feedback. I've been taking a break from blogging interactions because of OOS and the need to deal with various challenges. But I'm very glad that such a stimulating correspondent as yourself has prompted me out of hibernation. Thanks for your kind best wishes. My greetings too, for your health, wealth, and happiness!

technorati tags:religion, evolution, biology, society, civilization