Are there any differences between the Unitarian Baha'i faith and the traditional Baha'i faith other than Unitarian Baha'is openly accept people who are gay and lesbian? If there are any other differences what are they? Also, how would you convert to the Baha'i faith or the Unitarian Baha'i faith?
Bahais actually do not accept homosexuality in there statement of faith.
You should read this.He was a Bahai until he left the faith due to alto of things he didn't know about.
http://www.bahai-faith.com/
I just got a good thought that maybe you would like the Unitarian Universalist church! =)
They accept gay and lesbians and even fight for gay rights. They believe we are all one family on planet earth.
I just went to <HTTP://www.bahai-faith.com/> and half skimmed, half read it. I intend to read it and maybe even at some point take the time to fully scan it. The comment, ?They believe we are all one family on planet earth.? makes it sound as though that is something the Baha?i?s do not accept or believe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Also, I read Eric Stetson?s reasons for becoming a Baha?i and then leaving it. In my view he was at best a very weak one, and still very weak in what he is now. After spending my first seven years being raised as a Southern Baptist, I spent about ten years as an Agnostic, studying everything on religion I could find. I am the only one I know who literally went through the alphabet from A to Z, studying each one in turn. It was not until I turned the last page of the last book and closed it that I was comfortable saying I was an Atheist and would forever be. But I was wrong. The older sister of my best friend in high school became a Baha?i. That led me to focus full attention on the Baha?i Faith. It took me about a decade and a half more before I fully embraced the Baha?i Faith. In my view I was a much stronger, much more staunch Atheist than any if have yet to this day met or considered. I will not compare myself to any other Baha?i, but I am at least as strong a Baha?i as I was an Atheist.
In my view, and again I do not know a great deal about Unitarian Baha'i, but in my estimation the Unitarian Baha'i group would not be much different than a group of people with some shared beliefs forming a club. Nothing wrong with that if that is what you wish to do. I think were there one near me I would very likely go on a fairly regular basis. But no matter what they may call themselves, there is only one Baha?i Faith and only one completely and fully 100% Baha?i administrative body, and that is the one that has followed directly from Baha?u?llah.
What's the difference between Baha'i and Buddhism? Working on it, but I may not be done for a few hours yet.
First let's examine the issue of homosexuality in view of all the major world religions. None accept such a sexual orientation as 'normal' or acceptable. For that matter neither did the Greeks of Plato's time, despite what some late 20Th Century writers would have us believe. Now please bear with me: in all instances the issue is this - human beings are seen as having a 'sentential' nature, i.e., a nature that is bound toward an ultimate fulfillment. ANY deviation from this, no matter if it is homosexuality, 'obsessive' heterosexuality, alcohol addiction, etc., etc., is seen as thwarting that sentential nature.
This is true of the Baha'i Faith also. Homosexuals are not condemned. As a matter of fact Baha'is are forbidden to ever be judge mental in this regard. Nor do Baha'is believe - that I have ever heard or seen and I've been a Baha'i for over 30 years, that homosexuals can be 'cured' in the same way that some Christian preachers insist.
I personally know at least a dozen or more Baha'is - friends - that are gay or lesbian. They recognize that their sexual orientation is something they have to try to come to grips with. They believe in Baha'u'llah and see their orientation not as something evil - but as another test. We all have tests. We all face issues.
In the end the goal is the same. To grow closer to God. To manifest more deeply and more radiantly God's attributes of love, mercy, kindness, justice, etc.
We live in a society that is incredibly "ME" oriented. It is often referred to as the Man-to-Object sexology in philosophy. In such a culture the individual is the center of the universe. All things are to serve the individual. Anything that deprives me of whatever wishes I have is then seen as evil or wrong.
Baha'i do not recognize this extreme inclination. While praising the individual in amazing language, the ego - which is primarily what I am referring to above is recognized as the source of most of the misery in people's lives. It drives them to think and act selfishly. It is concerned only with it's desires. This Baha'i reject.
Indeed a Baha'i entire life is focused on stripping from themselves all limiting elements found in what is referred to as our lower nature: the animal part of us.
At the same time Baha'is do NOT reject the sexual impulse. To the contrary it is seen as a wonderful, beautiful thing - an actual physical mirror of spiritual love when focused and channeled correctly.
The 'Unitarian' Baha'is as you refer to them total a few dozen. They are people, who, God bless them, have found the tenants of the Faith to be in conflict with what THEY want the Faith to be FOR them. The unity of the Baha'i Faith is incredibly strong. After a time, when such people find they cannot convince others to see matters their way - that the Baha'i Faith should be like THIS because I THINK it would be better - they leave. Almost ALL people who do this are - not surprisingly, Americans.
If accepting homosexuality is used as a measuring stick for whether you would become a Baha'i I would strongly urge you to NOT become a Baha'i. Indeed, if any soul truly is looking to begin on a spiritual journey one doesn't tell God how things are to be. One doesn't tell the Creator of all Existence, "I'll make my way to You if you'll just sign off on some of my key points here..."
I wish all the best for you in your spiritual journey. If you have any questions feel free to email me.
One may run through the alphabet of religion from A to Z, but if one merely applies a fundamentalist, literalism approach throughout, one is simply trying to put new wine into old wine skins: ones preconceptions will determine ones responses.
The notion that there is only one Bah??? Faith and only one completely and fully 100% Bah??? administrative body that has followed directly from Bah??u?Lelah is a hegemonic discourse that Unitarian Bah??is have only recently begun to challenge. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which is the supreme law of the United States. The Unitarian Universalist Association is a non-profit organization that represents the interests of more than one thousand Unitarian Universalist (UUA) congregations across the United States. There are Unitarian Jews, Unitarian Christians, Unitarian Muslims, Unitarian Sikhs, Unitarian Hindus, Unitarian Buddhists, and now there are Unitarian Bah???s, all with their own fellowships. Yes, there truly is only one Bah??? Faith, just as there is only one Jewish religion, one Christian faith, one Sanatana dharma; but there are different expressions of the same faith. Unitarian Bah???s have a very different interpretation of Bah??? history other than the "official" one offered by the Bah??? International Community, and it is from this perspective that we call ourselves Bah???s. Whether or not this is recognized by the Bah??? International Community is about as relevant as whether the Orthodox Rabbinical Council recognizes the Jewishness of non-Orthodox Jews.
For more information about the differences between the Unitarian Bah??? Faith and the mainstream Bah??? Faith please see:
http://unitarianbahai.org/differences.html
"We find community in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) ... the Unitarian Bahai Fellowship welcomes openly gay and lesbian people."
Gays and lesbians who wish to self-identify as Bah??? without living in the closet or allowing, accepting, condoning, or enabling toxic, abusive, disrespectful, non-honoring attitudes and behaviors to continue now have at least one truly viable alternative to choose from (the Unitarian Bah??? Fellowship), should they wish to do so. The choice is entirely theirs to make. Those who knowingly choose to join a religious organization or faith community which teaches that the only acceptable form of sexual expression is within heterosexual marriage bear the full responsibility for their choice.
It isn't that God asks homosexuals to refrain from "indulging their impulses"; it is humans who claim to speak on God's behalf who ask this of homosexuals. If it's a spiritual test for anyone it's for those who knowingly choose to accept fallible human interpretations of religious texts as general moral principles in order to claim that their institutionalized discrimination is condoned by God (as in "we don't discriminate against anyone, because we don't see it that way, even if most sane people would"). The theological "point of departure" of the Unitarian Bah??? Fellowship (i.e., members of Unitarian congregations who also identify as Bah???) is completely different from that of the normative Bah??? International Community based in Haifa.
Exclusion does not equal love, but one has to bear in mind that the individuals and organizations who practice exclusion NEVER see it that way; indeed, they see their exclusionary practices as a form of love, even as the highest form of divine love, i.e., "God gives the really difficult tests to the people he favors." This is just religious crazy-making; the gay and lesbian movement is the civil-rights movement of our time, and the call for respect and equal inclusion for all is clear, but some faith communities have chosen to park somewhere else: history will remember them accordingly.
If religion were a numbers game, we'd all be Catholic or Muslim. The appeal of the Unitarian Bah??? Fellowship will be not to those who are already members of the Bah??? International Community, but to those who seek a spiritual home where deep respect and mutual understanding guide our life and choices. In just six months of existence we continue to grow and attract individuals of all ages because we offer a diverse range of perspectives on what it means to be a Bah??? within the Unitarian tradition. We?re still a very young community, but people are committed to making it work?and we?re not going away.
No conversion is required: just acceptance of common principles around specific issues.
Unitarian Baha'i Faith?
