Is the Baha'i Faith a pluralistic religion?

[Starrfyre1969]

Hello All;

I was having a discussion with my eldest son the other morning and he made the assertion that the Baha'i Faith is a pluralistic religion. I had to ask him what pluralistic means in this instant, because I wasn't familiar with it. He told me, we talked about it some and at the time I agreed, in a general sense.

So, it got me to thinking, and I decided to look up the definition of pluralistic religions. The following is an e-mail I sent to my son on some of what I found. My question to the Baha'is (I hope y'all know I welcome your input, too, I'm just curious as to an "official" version, from the horses mouth, you might say.) is this; is the Baha'i Faith a pluralistic religion?

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I got this off of Wikipedia (yes, I know there are flaws inherent in Wikipedia, but I think this definition is sufficient to our conversation on religious pluralism:

Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of different religions, and is used in a number of related ways:

• As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values exist in other religions.
• As acceptance of the concept that two or more religions with mutually exclusive truth claims are equally valid. This posture often emphasizes religion's common aspects.
• Sometimes as a synonym for ecumenism, i.e., the promotion of some level of unity, co-operation, and improved understanding between different religions or different denominations within a single religion.
• As term for the condition of harmonious co-existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.

Bullet 1: I would agree with this statement, personally, and I believe it is an accurate representation of a Baha'i point of view

(This c&p comes from the same article:
Bahá'í views

Main article: Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
Bahá'u'lláh, founder of Bahá'í Faith, urged the elimination of religious intolerance. He taught that God is one, and has manifested himself to humanity through several historic messengers. Bahá'u'lláh taught that Bahá'ís must associate with peoples of all religions, showing the love of God in relations with them, whether this is reciprocated or not.
Bahá'í's refer to the concept of Progressive revelation, which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity. In this view, God's word is revealed through a series of messengers: Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and Bahá'u'lláh (the founder of the Bahá'í Faith) among them. In the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude), Bahá'u'lláh explains that messengers of God have a twofold station, one of divinity and one of an individual. According to Bahá'í writings, there will not be another messenger for many hundreds of years. There is also a respect for the religious traditions of the native peoples of the planet who may have little other than oral traditions as a record of their religious figures.)


Bullet 2: Well, with a few exceptions, the Baha'i view point is that all religions are valid (see the portion of the above quote concerning series of messengers), so, except for certain social social laws (such as eating pork for Jews and multiple wives for Muslims {I think that's a law}), there are no mutually exclusive religions. There can't be if you go by the idea of progressive revelation.


Bullet 3: Unity is a big by word in the Baha'i Faith, so there is no argument that I could see from a Baha'i point of view.


Bullet 4: Well, as you can see from the snippit, Baha'is embrace unity and harmonious co-existence between the differing religions/faiths, I'd say that this is an accurate statement from a Baha'i point of view.


So, I guess overall, your statement about the Baha'i Faith being pluralistic is relatively accurate.


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((Just for some clarification when I was 19 I gave my eldest son up for adoption and we are now in contact and reunion again. He was raised as a very fundamental Christian, so we have some very interesting conversations.))

 

[arthra]

I'm certainly not the "horses mouth" but I'll respond to your note..

To me "pluralism" could imply syncretism which is more of an artificial melding say of different religions..and I don't think that's how Baha'is see their Faith but it's true we are comfortable in a pluralistic world.

I think we Baha'is would say there is one religion of God and that at various times God sends revelations through His prophets and Messengers we call Manifestations of God. We believe the great religions have a common Source.

God is One .. Man (Humanity) is One and all the religions agree.. is from a well known song written by Molly King's daughter some years ago and it became an instant favorite!

 

[Sen McGlinn]

I think the definitions are good, and yes, the Bahai stance is in line with all 4 variants of religious pluralism.

Pluralism is not syncretism - not at all. Pluralism is believing that the fruit salad and icecream belong on the same table as the curried chicken. Syncritism is putting curry in your fruit salad, and chicken chunks in the icecream. Because the Bahai Faith teaches that each of its recognised religions is based on a recipe made by a master chef, syncretism is considered bad taste.

 

[iBrian]

I'm not sure the Baha'i faith could be described as Pluralistic - at the heart of the faith, the word of Baha'u'llah is seen as incontrovertible and unchallengeable, and that ideas from other religions are acceptable only where they fall within Baha'u'llah's teachings.

Using Sen McGlinn's nice analogy - indeed, the foods can share the table, but only if it is served according to the dictates of a single cook, Baha'u'llah, at the exclusion of all others.

Not intended to sound like a challenge, as much address the opening post.

 

[arthra]

Thanks for the post Brian..

I would say the principles of Baha'u'llah encourage living in a pluralistic world..

(and after all this time of being some years now on your Interfaith forum I don't really know how familiar you are with the Baha'i Writings or what exposure you've had to Baha'i communities)

but here are teachings that most all Baha'is are very familiar with:

In His Kitab-i-Aqdas, Baha'u'llah provides the normative standard for Baha'is in their relation to other religionists: "Consort (casharua) with all religions with amity and concord . . . " (Synopsis, p. 25).

"The second Taraz [ornament] is to consort (mu'casharat) with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship . . . " (TB, 34-5, see also p. 87).

"[T]he shunning of the followers of other religions" (TB, p. 94) is therefore forbidden.

Abdu'l-Baha says that "Conflict and contention are categorically forbidden in His Book" (Will and Testament).

He also recommends in one of his talks that all believers must visit their houses of worship:

"All must abandon prejudices and must even go to each other's churches and mosques, for, in all of these worshipping places, the Name of God is mentioned. . . All of the leaders must, likewise, go to each other's Churches and speak of the foundation and of the fundamental principles of the divine religions. In the utmost unity and harmony they must worship God, in the worshipping places of one another, and must abandon fanaticism" (qtd. in Esslemont, p. 120-1).

http://74.125.155.132/custom?q=cach...uralism.html+consort&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

I'd just like to add a few additional references here:

Many Baha'i communities have an annual World Religion Day where invitations are extended to other faith communities to give presentations and to socialize.. In the past several years my own community had a series at the local University that was very much appreciated by the Dept of Religion there.

Another activity that Baha'is in many communities share is involvement in an Inter-faith Council.. and these will vary dependent on the community. In my town the Interfaith Council is made up of Muslim, Baha'i, Conservative Jews, Christians of various denominations and now and then a HIndu or Sikh.

On the international level Baha'is send reps to the World Parliament of Religions whenever it is held..

- Art

 

[Netti-Netti]

Pluralism is not syncretism - not at all. Pluralism is believing that the fruit salad and icecream belong on the same table as the curried chicken. Syncritism is putting curry in your fruit salad, and chicken chunks in the icecream. Because the Bahai Faith teaches that each of its recognised religions is based on a recipe made by a master chef, syncretism is considered bad taste.

Nicely worded.

I would add that when people enact a ritual associated with a religion, they are in effect (1) agreeing that the ritual is valid and (2) affirming that the religion it came from is valid. This is why borrowing bits and pieces from other faith traditions is so problematic.

 

[arthra]

Thanks for your post..

There are very few "rituals" in the practise of the Baha'i Faith ..

All of the procedures we do have were revealed by Baha'u'llah Himself so we do observe Daily Obligatory Prayers and Fasting but not as something borrowed.

- Art