What exactly is the foundation of the religion? I can easily obtain that information in any of the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, Buddhism and most religions around the world. I know there are spiritual faiths that are more open. Hinduism in even like that. But there is a still a basis of beliefs that dignify the faith. The Baha'i faith seems to take every single thing on earth, put it into a blender and serve it out saying ''This is our religion.'' How is that a religion? It sounds like a history lesson of human history. How can they say Native American things are apart of their religion if the guy who created it didn't even know about that at the time?
Mark - That is my point though. It does contradict itself. It is like even their members every day learn more about what the religion incorporates. That isn't a religion. It is just saying ''I will believe everything and and everything once I get to know about it.''
Eddie - You're not making a good argument for why it is a religion though.
Susan - Just explain to me the basic structure and balance of the Baha'i religion in a general brief sentence or paragraph. In the same context you would Christianity, Islam, Judaism or Islam.
Mixing everything is their religion. Remember religion is just a word referring to a doctrine of belief as opposed to a faith in what is true. Its a man made religion - system of doctrines and jigsawed beliefs - despite the fact that the core material it is based on strongly contradicts itself IE there is little harmony between the biblical New Testament and the Koran etc.
Can a golden delicious apple really be an apple if it's not red?
You seem to think that a "foundation" that is easily obtained is the main requirement for something to be a religion. I don't know where you would have gotten that idea.
You have been misinformed about the Bahai religion. Like Christianity and Islam, it begins with the man (Baha'u'llah) who claims to have a revelation from God, it has its own unique scriptures, religious laws, religious practices (prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, daily scripture study) and a religious community with its own peculiar structure (no priests, elected executive, appointed counselors).
Whoever told you it was a mixture of religions, was talking through a hole in their hat. It is a tolerant religion, but a religion with its own unique character, not a blender product.
Information on the Bahai Faith is not hard to find. Wikipedia has a large number of accurate articles, start with the core article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith
and follow the links to articles on Bahai history, Bahai communities in different countries, etc..
The BBC religions page is also good:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/bahai/
and the Bahais themselves have an information site at:
http://www.bahai.org/
Apparently you haven't investigated the Baha'i Faith very closely. Synthetic religions are invariably born i pluralistic societies. The Baha'i Faith, on the other hand, was born in Iran, a country that was 95% Shi'ite. Although Baha'is believe that all religions come from God, this is not unique to them. Islam also taught that "there is no people to whom a Prophet has not been sent." This belief alone does not make us a mixture of various religions. Basically the Baha'i Faith has the same relationship to Islam that Christianity has to Judaism.
To answer your question in brief -( which, of course will lead to many other questions, no doubt ) ;
In it's simplest terms, were you to remove Jesus from the equation, you would have no Christianity. Were you to remove Mohammed you would have no Islam, were you to remove Abraham and Moses and the Patriarchs you would have no Judiasm. If you were to remove Baha'u'llah you would have no Baha'i Faith. These are all religions. In exactly the same way as they all reminded,taught and espoused and repeated the eternal and common spiritual truths for mankind so their religions stand today.
It is quite clear that anyone who asserts that the Baha'i Faith is just a blend of good things does not understand the bases of any of the religions mentioned above - more particularly their own. Investigation will reveal the answer to your question and many more. Without that I see nothing more than ignorance being passed off as informed comment. Sorry. Try some independent investigation for the answer. It will come to you very quickly.
The Baha'i Faith is an independent world religion the purpose of which is to unite humanity in one universal cause and one common faith. Baha'is are followers of Baha'u'llah ("the Glory of God" 1817-1892) Whom Baha'is believe to be the Promised One of all ages and religions. There is only one God Who cannot be encompassed by the human mind, but Who created us out of love and reveals to us His Will through a series of Manifestations of God. His covenant with us is that He will provide this guidance and our response is to recognize the Manifestation to follow Him. Thus there is also only one faith of God, progressively revealed by these Manifestations according to the needs of humanity at each particular stage of its development. because we are all created by Ti's one true God, humanity is one and prejudices of race, nationality, religion, class and gender should be abandoned. The Baha'i Faith's scriptures are the revealed writings of Baha'u'llah, of His forerunner the Bab ("the Gate" 1819-1850), and of 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921). The guidance in these scriptures are normative for Baha'is. The Bible and Qur'an are also recognized revealed scriptures from earlier stages of the "Faith of God." Baha'is endeavor to observe the golden rule (which is at the heart of all religions), engage in daily obligatory prayer, fast once a year during the month of loftiness, live moral lives, defend human rights and justice for all people, and seek international governance structures that can ensure international peace.
Your question shows a mistaken notion that the Baha'i Faith is asyncretism or mixing up of other religions. It is not. It is the newest dispensation of God's eternal Faith, with spiritual teachings that are linked to the essential spiritual teachings of all dispensations, along with specific social teachings for this time, and various observances and holy days of its own.
If you are a Christian, do you not learn every day more about what is in the Bible and Christian practice? If you do not, and you already know "everything" about your faith, where is your room to grow in faith and understanding of the message of Jesus Christ? Read the letters of Paul and you will realize how much Christians were learning in the early centuries. Jewish authorities thought the Christians were just confused Jews who had been duped by a false messiah. It all seemed incomprehensible to them. I suggest your read an introductory work such as Hatcher and Martin's "THe Baha'i Faith, the Emerging Global Religion."
Here is your one word answer--Unity. Now here is the long answer--All religions in the world up until now have been about spiritual growth. Hinduism is about knowing there is a Creator and the world is an illusion. Abraham is about "there is only one God." Moses is about "He is the Lawgiver". Buddhism is about "living in the world with compassion, and repeating the lesson of Hinduism--the world is illusion." Zoroaster is about duality--light and dark, life and death, early psychology. Jesus is about Love and Sacrifice and the first universal religion--God is Love. Mohammed is about submission and obedience to God in your daily life. Baha'i is about our obligation to learn about all of these people who came first, and to reconcile our differences so that we can live in harmony--with the earth, with each other, and possibly with the universe--but that God is ever the Unknowable Creator, the One Who is unapproachable, yet is so close that we can speak to Him in our own hearts and in the heart of every person who shares the planet with us. Where is the contradiction? Show me!!!
How exactly is the Baha'i fath a religion?
