Something New

They were many reasons why I decided to join the Peace Corps, but many of those reasons fall under the umbrella concept of “something new.” I wanted a new experience. I looked forward to integrating into a new culture. I was excited to meet new people from all over the world. I joined to embark on a new adventure.

Before I get to the main point of this post, please allow me to digress for a moment. I have always been interested in learning about different religions. Though I am not particularly religious, I was always fascinated to learn about the religions of the world that I knew nothing about. During my freshman year of college, I wanted to learn more about Jewish identity in Europe over the past 1,000 years, so I took a class on the subject. Sophomore year when I felt my knowledge of the Islam as a religion and history was lacking, I took a class on Islamic Civilization that focused on the religion and some of the great Islamic Empires of our times. When many of my best friends and roommates in college were Hindu and Jain, I wanted to learn more about the religion and took a class on Hindu Traditions (unfortunately I could not find a class on Jainism). I sill regret that I was unable to take a class on Buddhism during my collegiate career.

I believe that I was attracted to the unknown; the idea of learning something new that I knew nothing about yet was so important to, in some cases, a billion people. This desire to experience something new has lead to me to learn more about other religions, join the Peace Corps, and, now, get to the main point of this blog post, the Baha’i Faith.

I had heard of the Baha’i Faith once when I was in college, but I did not know any Baha’is or know anything about the religion so I never thought of it. When I arrived in Tonga I learned that though Tonga is 99.9% Christian, there is small Baha’i community (Vava’u with a population somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 has only about 200 Baha’is). My interest was peaked, yet I still did not think about the religion as I had more pressing matters to attend to in terms of training and learning about the something new right in front of my face, Tonga.

When I arrived at my village and my school, I learned that my counterpart, Paea, was Baha’i and after talking to him about his faith I wanted to learn more. The next week I was in town I looked up the Baha’i faith on the trusted news source, Wikipedia, and mentioned offhandedly to the Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (Sean) who has been living in Tonga for the past two years that I was interested in learning more about the Baha’i Faith. In a small world scenario, he ran into an American Baha’i couple who has lived in Tonga for 34 years!, and a few days later they invited both Sean and I too dinner last Saturday at their house in Neiafu.

Before jumping into what happened next, I think it is important to explain the basic principles of the Baha’i faith, as I assume that many of my readers are as unaware about the religion as I was. I do want to preface this, however, by saying that I am by no means an expert and all of this information I have derived from wikipedia, talking with the couple, and reading the pamphlet on the Faith they gave me. I believe, for the most part, that the information below is accurate.

The Baha’i Faith was founded in 1844 by the Persian nobleman, Baha’u’llah. Baha’is believe there is only one G-d and that he has revealed his teachings to humanity through a series of divine Messengers who have each founded a great religion. The Messengers include, among others, Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. These Messengers have “cultivated the spiritual, intellectual, and moral capacities of the human race,” as was needed at the time of their arrival, and the knowledge that humanity needs for the modern age was revealed by Baha’u’llah who is the latest of these divine Messengers.

Baha’u’llah taught that all of the world’s religions represent one changeless, eternal faith, and because of this teaching Baha’is are extremely tolerant of other religions. They believe in the spiritual unity of mankind, and view the world’s great holy books, such as the Torah, Qur’an, the Gospel, the Hindu Vedas, and the Buddhist and Zoroastrian scriptures as “humanity’s record of God’s revealed Word,” and thus consider them holy as well.

Baha’u’llah also taught that humanity is one race, destined to live in peace and harmony. This incredibly tolerance, denouncement of prejudice of all kind, and desire for equality among the sexes has lead the Baha’i faith to become the second most widespread independent world religion, after Christianity, with 5 million Baha’is living in 218 countries in every continent in the world.

The essential social principles of the Baha’i Faith include the elimination of all forms of prejudice, the establishment of full equality between the sexes, recognition of the essential oneness of the world’s great religions, elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth, provision of universal education, recognition of the harmony of science and religion, the pursuit of a sustainable balance between nature and technology, and the establishment of a world federal system based on collective security.

Some interesting facts include:

1.     There is no clergy in the Baha’i Faith. Member gets together to discuss the teachings of Baha’u’llah in “study circles,” and honor G-d as they see fit.

2.     Proselytizing and missionary work is forbidden. However, due to their view of humanity’s oneness, Baha’is are encouraged to live in other countries. While they cannot act as missionaries, they have a responsibility to help people of all religions, and do so through such diverse programs as clean water projects and children’s education. This commitment to development has lead to Baha’is crossing paths with pcvs all over the world.

3.     Baha’is are extremely supportive of the UN, and they view the UN as helping humanity fulfill its destiny of living as one race, in peace and harmony. The Baha’i faith has attended many UN conventions and is affiliated with many of the agencies of the UN.

4.     There is no tension between science and religion. Baha’is believe that “religion offers answers to those questions of morals, human purpose, and our relationship to G-d that science cannot approach…[but] any religion that ignores the modern scientific truths runs the risk of descending into fanaticism.” Thus Baha’is believe that human society can only move forward by recognizing the “harmonious and complementary nature” of religion and science.

5.     There are no sects; there is only one Baha’i Faith.

6.     Their headquarters and holy sites are located in Haifa, Israel.

7.     Founded in Iran, Baha’is in Iran have been persecuted by the Muslim orthodoxy of the country to this day.

I apologize for this post being so long. Unfortunately it can be quite wordy when explaining the basic principles of a religion, but I promise the finish line is near.

As I mentioned before, Sean and I attended dinner at the home of the American Baha’i couple, who have lived in Tonga for 34 years. They are incredible people, who cannot be nicer. They regaled us with tales of their 5-month trip around the world – through New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Israel, and the United States – while serving us delicious enchiladas, rice, coleslaw, and home made brownies for desert. They genuinely wanted to know more about myself and my story, and explained to me the basic principles of the Baha’i Faith and how they came to be Baha’is after being born Christians.

The next day they invited me to attend their “study circle,” which is what they call their prayer groups, on Sunday night. I was happy to say yes and it was an interesting experience. At the study circle, was myself, the couple, two Tongans, a Samoan whom I know as he works at the café where I am current uploading this post, and the beautiful 8 months old daughter of the Samoan man and his Tongan wife. In the circle, each person is handed a worksheet and pen. On the pieces of paper are the teachings of Baha’u’llah, with questions and comments that the circle is meant to discuss and explore their thoughts and feelings. Everyone is a teacher and a student. One person helps facilitate the discussion, but no one, including myself, is allowed to be silent and all views are respected and explored. It felt more like attending class than going to Temple or Church, but it was a truly fascinating learning experience that I hope to enjoy again.

Again, I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to give the Baha’i Faith the justice it deserves. Like many religions, it is a beautiful religion that is unique in its acknowledgement of how similar (one as Baha’is would call it) all of the world’s religions truly are. What is written above is only a brief summary of the principles and history of the Baha’i Faith. Some of these principles I agree with and some I disagree with, but it is a fascinating religion that I am glad to learn about, and only hope to explore more in the future.

As the title of this posts suggest, learning something new is never boring and always valuable. Happy holidays!