The Baha'i Faith

I attended an informal lecture by Linette Ann Poyer. Professor Poyer has anthropologically studied the Baha’i Faith and became a member herself. The Baha’i Faith was founded a century and a half ago and is one of the world’s fastest growing religions. The Faith is the world’s youngest independent religion but has more than five million followers. It is extremely widespread, second only to Christianity. The Baha’i followers are extremely diverse and varied. More than 2,100 ethnic and tribal groups are represented in the Faith.

The essential message of the religion is unity. This is exemplified in the broad numbers, diversity, and regions of the worshippers. They believe that there is only one God and only one human race. The Baha’i’s hope is to unite all the people of the world into a peaceful and integrated global society. Social principles are of high concern with the Baha’is. They hope to achieve the complete abandonment of all forms of prejudice, assurance of women to full equality, relativity to religious truth, elimination of extreme poverty and wealth, universal education and the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations.

The Faith’s Founder was Baha’u’llah, a noble from Tehran, Persia. In the mid-nineteenth century, Baha’u’llah chose piety in order to speak a message of peace and unity. He claimed to be a new Messenger from God, a successor to Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad. Baha’is accept all of these men as divine messengers and view Baha’u’llah as the most recent of them. Baha’u’llah’s writings are considered scripture, however, the Baha’is also accept the scriptures of all religions. They are less concerned by individual details in favor of the underlying core teachings in the world’s scriptures. The Faith also has its own scriptures, holy books, prayer books, and practices. The followers are encouraged to pray and practice according to what is most effective for the individual. Some followers pray multiple times throughout the day and some pray only once. Individuals are encouraged to pursue investigation of the truth and personal growth.

The Faith has a unique system of global administration. Freely elected governing councils are active in nearly 10,000 localities. Women and members of different cultures are welcomed into the councils. The Baha’is are responsible for many Nongovernmental Organizations throughout the world but followers are forbidden to be a part of legal or political organization. They believe that work performed in the spirit of service is a form of worship. They also value high moral principles including trustworthiness, chastity and honesty. The Faith encourages the avoidance of excessive materialism, partisan politics, alcohol, drugs, and gambling.

Professor Poyer was studying the Baha’i and was struck by the message of the religion. As an anthropologist she accepted the relative neutrality of the religion and the message of unity. She further researched Baha’u’llah’s teachings and was forced to label him as having psychological illnesses or accepting his writings as true. She chose the later and has been an influential teacher of the message of the Baha’is ever since.