Baha'i Faith

Schmidt (and everyone else),

I found this messageboard starting from the Why I Hate People forum. Loved your posts there, and went through a reading of this board and the Antimodernist one, and others sites of yours. I absolutely share your antimodernist and antifeminist thought. As I grew up in a religion (the Baha'i faith) and subsequently felt the need to rebel to it and simply follow my own path, which was key to my self development, I first cringed at the idea that religion is the answer for the creation of a new culture. But it is starting to make sense.

I didn't see you mentioning the Baha'i Faith anywhere. Have you ever heard of this newer religion of iranian origin? You should read about it.

All the Baha'i Faith is trying to do is to create a new world, quite literally a new world order, based on the Baha'i thought. This could be both a good or a bad thing to me, it's up to you to read about it and see if you think it's a good idea.

Over the internet, you'll find an ornamented presentation of this religion. I am an insider, albeit I don't call myself a Baha'i for now, I grew up in it and I know its inner workings. A lot of what is presented is just marketing, so you might get a few ideas that are not quite the truth about it and I might tell you how it is instead. It's a religion. It has a hierarchy. I has few if any rituals. It believes in God and "messengers", just like Islam. It comes from Islam but it's not Islam. Indeed it claims religion is one and is being "progressively revealed". Thus the Baha'i Faith is Islam CONTINUED. Islam would be Christianity evolved.

Baha'is package their ideas and try to sell them to simple uneducated people in underdeveloped countries - if you read about the "Ruhi Institute", it's that. It's a mission. I don't know how ethical it is to brainwash people into a religion.

I have abandoned this faith years ago and I never thought I would go back there. In facts, my experience with the bahai faith, and knowledge of other religious communities, simply make me think that religion IS NOT the answer, and that society and the "new culture" should be laic. I don't really understand why religion would be strongly necessary. Religions are systems made up by humans, pure fantasy and imagination - unless you want to believe in divine revelation through prophets, which is what religions suggest. It is ok, and actually needed that humans make up systems, but that has to do with the organization of society, not philosophical TRUTH. With religions, you force people to buy some very questionable dogmas to unite and lead them. In capitalistic culture, people are basically all following the religion of money, on which everybody agrees because you starve and die if you don't follow it. This proves you don't need some questionable abstract ideas to unite people. I agree politics is not the path to reform as it's corrupted by modern culture, and that mankind should be more spiritual-oriented and money shouldn't be the actual religion. Still, I don't want mankind to be following lies or crazy concepts. I want it to be based on laic ideas, basically on reason, as suggested by the Georgia Guidestones.

I am thus not convinced that religion is the answer, and I really HOPE it isn't. I hate the world governement idea under the baha'i faith. It's oppressive, it imposes people to believe in those principles. It's definitely not good. It's as bad as an atheist dictatorship.

I am though ready to question everything and intruigued by the idea. Since you Schmidt (is it Franklin?) think religion is the answer but haven't mentioned the baha'i faith ones, I really think you should take a look to it and please if you have any questions about that parallel reality ask me, as I know the workings of the community (baha'is are around 5 million all over the world) and I can spare you some time and research. It is impossible to know how it actually works without joining them and spending a few months or years doing baha'i activities. I did that since birth to early adulthood, and found it too oppressive to individuality to be something to pursue. Really just another form of oppression, as much as modern culture. Also the baha'is as for now are very corrupted by modern culture since their intellectual level is low and rebellious spirit even lower. Religions today are complementary to modern culture, not really against. A religion wouldn't necessarely substitute the core values of the culture. What is needed is a new culture period, based on a new paradigm and a new set of values. It will be an ideology, but it doesn't have to be a religion. It shouldn't have the texture of a religion. Is the New Age movement doing much good? A new religion would end up in that category. It's just a new religion. What is needed is a culture, that then will be the host of religions. Are we sure cultures are children of religion and not viceversa?

The Baha'i Faith was born precisely with that intent: to substitute world culture and become the culture of the world. Globally. It's the first "global" religion, so it claims. Have a look if you never heard of it. It is a serious religion like Islam and Christianity, only newer and less known, and there's no reason to not put it into a list of possible religions just because it has fewer members. One could argue the baha'i faith has already failed and always will, but this doesn't take away from its eventual conceptual merits.

I agree that a new culture is needed.  But culture is the product of religion.  I really like Machiavelli's commentary on the first two kings of Rome, Romulus and Numa.  Romulus founded Rome as a society, but Numa instituted the Roman religion.  In Machiavelli's view, this made Numa more important.

Modern Western religions have a serious problem in that they focus on beliefs rather than values.  This applies to Christianity, Islam, and I would guess also Baha'i.  But Eastern religions and Judaism do not focus on beliefs.  And modern culture also doesn't really focus on beliefs.  This is why modern western religions can be complementary to modern culture, but other religions cannot.  Most Eastern religions simply die when faced with modern culture.  Orthodox Judaism is a religion that effectively resists modern culture.

I don't know much about Baha'i.  I personally can't fit well in a religion that demands belief in the supernatural.  I also prefer religions that are tribal and don't demand the unity of humanity.  But the most important part of a religion is its moral rules.  I particularly like the Ten Commandments.  Does Baha'i follow the Ten Commandments?  If not, is there some list of more rules they follow?

What don't you like about religions in general?  What was oppressive about Baha'i?  Can you imagine a religion that you could support, and what would it look like?