Responsibility of the Wealthy

Bahai Writings• • 8 Comments
Teachings

O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from the face of the poor that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and suffer him to recount the tale of the woes with which God’s inscrutable Decree hath caused him to be afflicted. By the righteousness of God! Whilst ye consort with him, the Concourse on high will be looking upon you, will be interceding for you, will be extolling your names and glorifying your action. Blessed are the learned that pride not themselves on their attainments; and well is it with the righteous that mock not the sinful, but rather conceal their misdeeds, so that their own shortcomings may remain veiled to men’s eyes.

Baha’u’llah (Gleanings From the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp 314-315)

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The writings of Baha’u’llah, the Báb, and Abdu’l-Baha form the sacred scriptures of the Baha’i Faith. Shoghi Effendi, as appointed Guardian and interpreter, expounded the meaning of the scriptures. Since 1963, the Universal...Read more
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8 Comments

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  • Shahram Moosavi
    May 21, 2013
    Most of the questions asked here are answered in books such as Some Answered Questions, the Secret of Divine Civilization, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, the Most Holy Book, and the Book of Certitude. There are many more but these should do. The best think to do is go to the source, study it and whatever you come up with is your conclusion and is respected. If however you like to expand on it it is best to get with Bahá'ís in your local area and discuss them in much more detail there. We can do ...it here but is much harder. :-)
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  • Chinni
    Feb 25, 2013
    As Baha'i teachings push for Faith to be able to stand up to reaosn and for religion and science to be in harmony, as the truth is one, what is the current Baha'i take on evolution. Certainly under the context of that Baha'i teaching, the age of the Earth and the general cosmology of the universe would be accepted as they are observable fact, but as Macro-evolution still remains theoretical (though throught rigorous observation has still held up) do Baha'i believe that all life on earth evolved via natural process or is there more of an inclination to a ...higher power's intervention?
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    • Cassie
      Feb 23, 2013
      Hello Christian,Thanks for offering to aneswr some questions about Baha'i. Let me start by saying that I share many of the stated goals of your religion. The Elimination of all forms of prejudice (though I would, unlike Baha'i, include prejudice based on sexual orientation), world peace, compulsory education, and a universal auxiliary language are all great aims. I also like the focus on community and service to humanity.My biggest issue with the religion (which will lead to my question) is that it is a revealed religion. The primary disadvantage of revelation is that it relies on ...one central authority figure as the source of truth. Such an inherent trust in authority in Baha'i can lead to authoritarianism and mindless dogma. This leads me to ask two questions:1. What, if any, safeguards are present in the religious doctrine to prevent a decay of the religion into dogma?2. Why must God's truth be revealed via one individual (who then becomes the authority figure) every few thousand years? In other words, why does God not reveal truth to every individual to the extent that that individual can understand it?I just thought of a third question. I ask this out of curiosity. Since Baha'i teaches progressive revelation, what is Baha'i's take on new religions such as Scientology?
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  • Sahab Mahboubi
    Nov 20, 2012
    When we come across someone who's homeless, most of us look down upon them. We’re thinking "get a job", "leave me alone" or simply we ignore them. What is fascinating to me about this quote, He's asking us to listen with our heart their pain and anguish. There is something very powerful and beautiful when someone is sincerely listening.
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    • Pancho
      Feb 25, 2013
      Be a Jew/Christian/Muslim and you read your scriptures/book/recitations and don't trust any once word but draw your own coisnuclons and you will be better of then joining this sect. If you think you need a new faith made up in 1800 to unite people then you need think twice because after a while the bahai faith will just split up in groups again. What people need is to know about each others religion and talk about it. May God guides us all and forgive us.
    • Pradeep
      Feb 24, 2013
      While I tend to agree that age doesn't have much to do with validity, mouse's stetmaent has the underpinnings of a good question, one which exists for all religions. Not trying to put words into anyones mouth, just to ask something that that line of thought leads me to.Why did god wait as long as he did to make himself clear? Why all the beating around the bush with other narrow religions before all of a sudden making things explicit through his messenger? What does that mean for the people who came before, who had no chance ...to hear this clear version of his message?
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