Living & Arts

Bahá'í teachings, though mostly beneficial, also partly narcissistic

In print | April 17, 2008

According to Bahá‘í.org, in 1852, a Persian nobleman named Husayn-`Ali "received a vision of God’s will for humanity" while in Tehran’s most notorious dungeon. In this way, the Bahá‘í Faith began. Adherents to Bahá’í see Bahá’u’lláh (meaning “The Glory of God” in Arabic, what Bahá’ís now call Husayn-`Ali) as the most recent messenger of God, the latest in a long line that includes “Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad.”

When Bahá’u’lláh got out of prison (he was incarcerated for his vocal support of the Bábism, a short-lived religious movement) he wrote of his experience with God. Over the next 40 years, he produced “thousands of books, tablets and letters that form the core of the sacred scripture of Bahá’í Faith,” in which he “outlined a framework for the reconstruction of human society at all levels: spiritual, moral, economic, political and philosophical.”

Swarthmore College has only one Bahá‘í, May Maani ’10, and so it does not support its own group. Instead, May participates in the Tri-Co Bahá’í group as Haverford and Bryn Mawr are home to more Bahá‘ís. May explained that the Bahá’í Faith stands against proselytizing, believing instead that everyone should search for the truth independently. Even though she was born into a Bahá‘í family, May told me that her parents encouraged her to explore other religions. Bahá’í is not hereditary; each adherent chooses to become one. Standing firmly against proselytizing myself, I very much appreciate this aspect of the religion. I also take to the Bahá’í belief in the equality and unity of all human beings.

One of the hallmarks of Bahá‘í is “unity of religion,” the belief, according to Bahá’í.org, that “there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage in the evolution of the whole. All of the great religious founders have come from God, and that all of the religious systems established by them are part of a single divine plan directed by God.” And, according to Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í is the most recent manifestation of this divine plan.

In an introductory pamphlet to the Bahá‘í Faith, Candice LaCrosse of Haverford elaborated on the idea of unity of religion, saying, "Bahá’u’lláh also explains that all the religions teach the same truth. The only difference is that each has appeared in a different time in history in order to help people to be educated according to the needs of that time."

While I can see where this historical view of the unity of religion makes some sense, I find it hard to stomach. I understand some of the logic as it applies to the Jewish-Christian-Muslim strain of religions: they all believe in the same God, and one has evolved from the other. However, if each religion appears according to the needs of the time, then why did Judaism survive after the onset of Christianity, and Christianity after that of Islam? Now that Bahá‘í is the most evolved religion, shouldn’t everyone see the other religions as vestigial and join in with the Bahá’ís?

I find the unity of religion belief faulty when looking at the geographical breakup of religions over time. Christianity started expanding outside of Europe only in the last 500 years, about 1,000 years after the development of Islam, the supposedly next evolutionary step of world religion. Buddhism, an even earlier religion, didn’t reach the West in any substantial manner until the 20th century. If religions aren’t spreading before the next upgraded version arrives, then how are people united under this thread of religious evolution?

Finally, isn’t the unity of religion belief just a touch narcissistic? Here is a person who, in 1852, freshly released from the “Black Pit” dungeon, declared himself not only to be the messenger of God, but on top of that, proclaimed that all world religions for the last 5,500 years have led to him and those who follow his teachings are participating in the most advanced of world religions.

Even though I take issue with the unity of religion belief, I think that a lot of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, many of which I unfortunately did not have room to discuss in this column, are ones from which humanity could benefit.

Julian is a junior. You can reach him at jchende1@swarthmore.edu.