Baha'i News Stories

Posted 5:32 PM by Gordon Mullan
Is This Normal?
By Max Lucado

September 11, 2001. Four thousand gathered for midday prayer in a downtown cathedral. A New York City church filled and emptied six times that Tuesday.

The owner of a Manhattan tennis shoe store threw open his doors and gave running shoes to those fleeing the towers. People stood in lines to give blood, in hospitals to treat the sick, in sanctuaries to pray for the wounded.

America was different this week.

We wept for people we did not know. We sent money to families we've never seen. Talk-show hosts read scriptures, journalists printed prayers. Our focus shifted from fashion hemlines and box scores to orphans and widows and the future of the world.

We were different this week.

Republicans stood next to Democrats, Catholics prayed with Jews. Skin color was covered by the ash of burning towers.

This is a different country than it was a week ago. We're not as self-centered as we were. We're not as self-reliant as we were. Hands are out. Knees are bent. This is not normal.

And I have to ask the question, do we want to go back to normal? Are we being given a glimpse of a new way of life? Are we, as a nation, being reminded that the enemy is not each other and the power is not in ourselves and the future is not in our bank accounts? Unselfish prayerfulness is the way God intended for us to live all along.

Maybe this, in his eyes, is the way we are called to live our entire lives. And perhaps the best response to this tragedy is to refuse to go back to normal. Perhaps the best response is to follow the example of Tom Burnett. He was a passenger on Flight 93. Minutes before the plane crashed in the fields of Pennsylvania he reached his wife by cell phone. "We're all going to die," he told her, "but there are three of us who are going to do something about it."

We can do something about it as well. We can resolve to care more. We can resolve to pray more. And we can resolve that, with God being our helper, we'll never go back to normal again.

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Posted 9:37 AM by Gordon Mullan
First graduate in Baha’i Studies at Townshend International School

Eva Sigurdardottir from Iceland has been the first students to take Baha’i Studies as one of her Exit Exam subjects at Townshend International School, Hluboka, Czech Republic.

In June 2002, she passed with honours obtaining the highest possible grade in this as well as four other subjects. Students in the Czech Republic choose four or, if the wish, five subjects for their Exit Exams. In each of these, they have to be prepared for 25 different topics. On examination day, they pick one of these subjects, give a 10 min oral presentation and answer additional questions for 5 min. Eva’s presentation in Baha’i Studies was on Baha’u’llah’s Tablets to the Kings and Rulers - History, Content, Effects. The other 24 topics she could have picked ranged from the Station of the Bab to Baha’i Philosophy on Nature and Baha’i Ideas about the Future World Order.

Townshend International School is a private secondary school, accredited by the Czech Ministry of Education. About 60% of its students are Baha’is, all of whom have to take Baha’i Studies 2 hours per week. In its 10th year of existence, the school has won an excellent repute in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. Having moved to a new campus last year, it is now in a phase of quick growth, planning to increase its students’ numbers from currently 130 to 330 in 2006.

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Posted 9:31 AM by Gordon Mullan
Friends, You may watch a slide show of the photos I took at the festival of
the Arts in New York City, June 26 - July 1, 2002. A festival of the arts
sponsored by Global Music to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Baha’i
World Congress. It was fantastic! For the slide show please click on the
following link: http://cafeannick.com/ - Enjoy! Annick

“Cafe Annick promoting arts from around the world”

Annick Elziere
http://www.CafeAnnick.com
10 Van Buren Place
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
USA

Phone: 609-656-9014
Cell: 609-915-8799

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Posted 9:19 AM by Gordon Mullan
Thanks to Russell Attwood for forwarding this. It’s a very interesting and personal view from of the Bahá'í faith and the persecution of Bahá'ís from an Iranian non-Bahá'í.

http://www.iranian.com/JahanshahJavid/2002/July/Bahai/index.html

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Posted 4:54 PM by Gordon Mullan
A wonderful example of how a simple service can mean so much:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_2071000/2071929.stm

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Posted 4:52 PM by Gordon Mullan
Another demonstration of how technology can break down social barriers:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2044000/2044802.stm

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Posted 4:50 PM by Gordon Mullan
Great to see the performing arts being used to bring two cultures together:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_2052000/2052096.stm

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Posted 1:42 PM by Gordon Mullan
Angry Young Men
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/angry_young_men.stm

A rather sad report, but I picked up on some of the quotes in it as they reinforce the need for Bahá'í ideals.

1. The need for education
Abu Bashir, the President of the Bangladesh Porishad, said that there is a significant level of disillusionment among young people in the city. "They are demoralised," he said. "The quality of education is extremely poor. As a result, they leave school without any formal qualifications. Many young people can't get a job, they lose their motivation. Everything starts from education."

2. The need for integration
"We're segregated really," added Ali. "Whites live in a white area, Asians live in Asian areas and the main roots are housing problems and school problems. We don't have links with the white youth. This is why there's fear."

3. The need to "consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship"
Habib said that his community wanted others to have a greater understanding of Asian cultures and values. "They should ask why a man wears a turban, why he has a beard, why a woman is dressed with her face covered. We can give them answers."

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Posted 4:57 PM by Gordon Mullan
"respect" Initiative

Here is the website for the Initiative, launched by the Prince of Wales on 29th April 2002.

http://www.timebank.org.uk/respect/

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Posted 2:40 PM by Gordon Mullan
Poverty is the real pollution
An interesting slant on the recent GEO-3 report from Unep (see below).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2002000/2002699.stm

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