www.bahai.org(1817-1892), es considerado por los bahá'ís como el más reciente en la cadena de Mensajeros de Dios que se extiende mucho más allá de lo que recuerda la historia y que incluye a Abraham, Moisés, Buda, Zoroastro, Cristo y Mahoma.
La idea central del mensaje de Bahá'u'lláh es que la humanidad es una sola raza y que ha llegado el día de su unificación en una sociedad global. Bahá'u'lláh dijo que Dios ha puesto en marcha fuerzas históricas que estan derribando barreras tradicionales de raza, clase, credo y nación y que con el tiempo crearán una civilización universal. El principal desafío al que se enfrentan los pueblos de la tierra es el de aceptar el hecho de su unidad y de ayudar a los procesos de unificación.
Uno de los propósitos de la Fe Bahá'í es ayudar a hacer posible esta respuesta. Una comunidad mundial de unos cinco millones de Bahá'ís, representativos de la mayoría de las naciones, razas y culturas de la tierra, trabaja para llevar las enseñanzas de Bahá'u'lláh a la práctica. Su experiencia será una fuente de estimulo para todos los que comparten su visión de la humanidad como una familia global y de la tierra como un solo hogar.Bahá'u'lláh enseñó que hay un solo Dios cuyas revelaciones sucesivas de Su voluntad a la humanidad han constituido la principal fuerza civilizadora de la historia. Los agentes de este proceso han sido los Mensajeros Divinos, a quienes los hombres ven básicamente como fundadores de sistemas religiosos distintos, pero cuyo propósito común ha sido el de conducir a la raza humana a la madurez espiritual y moral.
Actualmente la humanidad está llegando a su madurez. Esto es lo que hace posible la unificación de la familia humana y la construcción de una sociedad pacífica global. Entre los principios que promueve la Fe Bahá'í como vitales para alcanzar esta meta figuran:
El principio de la unidad de la humanidad es la base fundamental de todas las enseñanzas de la Fe bahá'í. Bahá'u'lláh, el fundador y profeta de la Fe bahá’í, enseñó que la humanidad, tras una adolescencia larga y turbulenta, por fin está alcanzando una etapa de madurez en la que finalmente se podrá conseguir la unidad en una sociedad global y justa.
Por lo tanto, con el fin de establecer la unidad de la humanidad, la Fe bahá’í formula leyes de moralidad y comportamiento personales, como también leyes y principios sociales.
Los bahá'ís creen que:
Los bahá'ís practican:
Los principios sociales incluyen:
La Casa de Adoración Bahá'í para Centroamérica se encuentra en la Ciudad de Panamá.
La Casa de Adoración Bahá'í para Sudamérica actualmente está bajo construcción en las cercanías de Santiago, Chile.
También existen dos emisoras de radio bahá'í, una en la región Guaymí de Panamá y la otra en Otavalo, Ecuador. Ambas sirven poblaciónes mayormente indígenas en sus lenguas autóctonas.
Para mayor información, favor visite los sitios web de los bahá'ís en los siguientes países:
As in the world's other religions, the Bahá'í concept of life after death is deeply integrated into teachings about the nature of the soul and the purpose of this earthly life.
Bahá'u'lláh confirmed the existence of a separate, rational soul for every human. In this life, He said, the soul is related to the physical body. It provides the underlying animation for the body and is our real self.
Although undetectable by physical instruments, the soul shows itself through the qualities of character that we associate with each person. The soul is the focal point for love and compassion, for faith and courage, and for other such "human" qualities that cannot be explained solely by
thinking of a human being as an animal or as a sophisticated organic machine.
The soul does not die; it endures everlastingly. When the human body dies, the soul is freed from ties with the physical body and the surrounding physical world and begins its progress through the spiritual world. Bahá'ís understand the spiritual world to be a timeless and placeless extension of our own universe--and not some physically remote or removed place.
The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Bahá'í view of earthly existence. Just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development, the physical world provides the matrix for the development of the individual soul. Accordingly, Bahá'ís view life as a sort of workshop, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life.
Over 200 people attended the Human Rights Day program at the Baha'i National Center in Germany on 6 December 2009. The building is near the European Baha’i House of Worship.
Love Your Enemies from Kristen Miller on Vimeo.
O Lord, grant us to love Thee: grant that we may love those that love Thee; grant that we may do the deeds that win Thy love.
(Islam: Muhhamad)
(Baha’i Faith: Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha, Page 24)
(Islam: Hadith of Baihaqi)
The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo!, he between whom and you there was enmity shall become as though he were a bosom friend!
(Islam: Koran 41.34)
Better [is] a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
(Judaism: Proverbs 17.9)
Conquer anger by love. Conquer evil by good. Conquer the stingy by giving. Conquer the liar by truth.
(Buddhism: Dhammapada 223)
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I [am] the LORD.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Strategies to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people could be more effective if they tapped into the power of religious belief and practice.
That is the finding of researchers who studied the knowledge and attitudes of young people in relation to HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior.
The study, sponsored by UNICEF and conducted by the Varqa Foundation here, found that young people who knew and followed the teaching of their religion were much less likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse than those who did not, by a rate of 18 percent to 45 percent respectively.
"Prevention strategies for the spread of HIV/AIDS should harness religious belief and practice, especially in societies such as Guyana where religious affiliation remains strong," wrote the study's authors in an article published in the March 2007 issue of the International Journal of STD and AIDS.
Guyana has the third highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, which is the second-most afflicted region in the world.
"Many specialists working in international development are somewhat uncomfortable with faith-based efforts at personal and community transformation -- such as to prevent HIV-AIDS," said Brian O'Toole, the lead author in the study, in an interview.
"But this study suggests that in a country like Guyana, where many people have strong faith-based beliefs, it might be possible to draw on spiritual inspiration to address some of the problems facing society," said Dr. O'Toole, who is also director of the Varqa Foundation, which is a Baha'i-inspired social and economic development agency based in Guyana.
Other authors included Roy McConkey, a professor in the health promotion group at the Institute of Nursing Research at the University of Ulster; Karen Casson, also of the University of Ulster; Debbie Goetz-Goldberg, a researcher with Health for Humanity, another Baha'i-inspired agency; and Arash Yazdani, a youth volunteer.
More than 2,000 people aged 12-20 were surveyed for the study. They completed anonymous, self-reporting questionnaires about sexual behavior, their understanding of HIV/AIDs and the way it spreads, and attitudes towards issues like virginity and condom use.
Ninety-five percent of respondents were aware that HIV could be contracted from sexual contact with someone who was HIV positive. However, less than a third (29.5 percent) were able to state up to three other ways that HIV could spread and only 37 percent were able to name three ways of self-protection.
The survey also found that in Guyana, nearly 25 percent of young people aged 12-14 were sexually active, a percentage that rose to more than 33 percent for those 15 and older. Nearly half of the males over the age of 15 were sexually active, according to the survey.
Respondents were asked if they were aware of their religion's teaching on sexual matters and whether they followed it. Just over 35 percent of the young people said they did, with another 22 percent knowing the teaching but not following it.
The authors also concluded that peer education should be another element in any strategy of HIV/AIDS prevention.
"The content and delivery of educational inputs must be capable of being adapted to local contexts preferably by persons who are very familiar with those situations," wrote the authors. "In this respect, peer education would appear to offer some promise."
Dr. O'Toole noted that the study was carried out by a network of young people who themselves had been inspired by a faith-based, peer-education leadership training program known as Youth Can Move the World (YCMTW), also sponsored by the Varqa Foundation.
"Usually in this type of survey you get a couple of hundred responses," said Dr. O'Toole. "We were able to get several thousand because of the network of young people established by the Youth Can Move the World project."
Founded by Varqa in 1997, the YCMTW program has used peer education methods to train more than 7,000 Guyanese young people in strategies to prevent alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, HIV/AIDS, and domestic violence.
Among other things, the program uses inspirational passages from the holy writings of the major religions in Guyana to help young people draw on their spiritual heritage in an effort to prevent risky behavior. In Guyana, about 50 percent of the population is Christian, 35 percent is Hindu, 10 percent is Muslim. The remaining five percent of the people belong to other religions, including the Baha'i Faith.
Durch den vierjährigen Besuch der Internationalen Bahá’í Schule Townshend, wo ich die
Bahá’í Religion kennen gelernt habe und durch den täglichen Kontakt mit anderen Bahá’í aus verschiedenen Ländern der Welt (und wo ich mich an meinem 19 jährigen Geburtstag als Bahá’í erklärt habe), ist mir bewusst geworden, dass alle Menschen zwar verschieden in ihren Eigenschaften sind, aber alle von demselben Gott stammen. Nur weil jemand eine andere Sprache spricht, eine andere Hautfarbe oder eine andere Religion hat, macht es ihn nicht schlechter oder besser als andere. Daher finde ich das Konzept “Vaterland” auch unsinnig oder falsch. Wieso sollte ich die Mitglieder eines Landes mehr lieben als die anderer Länder?
Selbst Albert Einstein hat schon gesagt ‘Nichts wird Kriege abschaffen, wenn nicht die Menschen selbst den Kriegsdienst verweigern”. Es muss also eine völlig andere Geisteshaltung in den Menschen existieren, damit Weltfrieden herrscht und mein Beitrag zu diesem Weltfrieden ist, dass ich den Dienst mit der Waffe verweigere.
In meinem Leben möchte ich einen konstruktiven Beitrag zum Wohlergehen der Menschen leisten. Als Bahá’í bin ich verpflichtet, ein Jahr meines Lebens in den Dienst der Gesellschaft zu stellen, daher habe ich mich für 12 Monate bei Peoples Theater in Offenbach verpflichtet. Das ist eine Organisation, die mittels Theatervorführungen durch darstellende Tänze soziale Probleme (z.B. Drogen, Gewalt und Vorurteile) vor Augen führt und versucht die Gesellschaft davor zu warnen und zu erziehen, dass Probleme auch anders gelöst werden können, durch respektvolle Auseinandersetzung mit der Meinung anderer, durch Beratung und nicht durch Gewalt.
Obwohl ich nie in Deutschland gelebt habe, habe ich dennoch eine enge Beziehung zu diesem Land. (Hier wurde mein Vater geboren, hier leben meine Grosseltern, ich selbst habe Deutschland durch viele Besuche in meiner Kindheit kennen gelernt.) Ich finde es positiv, dass die Menschen hier Frieden wollen und nicht an kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen interessiert sind. Nach meiner Zeit bei Peoples Theater möchte ich ein Studium in Deutschland anfangen, wahrscheinlich im ökologischen Bereich.
Ich bedanke mich für die Zeit, die Sie sich genommen haben um meine Ausführungen zu lesen und ich hoffe, dass meine vielseitigen Gründe verständlich, schlüssig und auch in Ihren Augen ausreichend sind, um mich als Kriegsdienstverweigerer anzuerkennen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
''The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced it will put seven Baha’i leaders (right) on trial. The deputy prosecutor in Tehran stated on February 11 that the seven were charged with “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”
The Baha’i leaders have been in Evin Prison in Tehran since Spring 2008.
Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate, is their lawyer. She has not been allowed to meet with them or to review their files.
Iran also continues to deny basic human rights to millions of its other citizens … students, women, journalists, bloggers, and other religious minorities, Christians, Jews, and Sufis.
For the largest religious minority in Iran - the Baha’is - the situation in Iran has turned dangerous with these trumped-up charges against leaders of the Baha’i Faith and increased persecution of the rest of the 300,000 Baha’is throughout Iran - solely because of their religion. ''
''But the Light of Truth is not easily extinguished. The very water that is poured on this fire to put out its flame turns into oil, and the fire burns with more intensity. Nothing can be done to stop Bahá’u’lláh’s growing influence. The farther the authorities banished Him, the greater the number of people who were attracted to His Teachings and recognized His Power and Majesty. In spite of constant persecution''
go to sleep with at night and wake up with
tary cells, to interrogation rooms, to
