Unity, Not Syncretism: The Baha’i Perspective

My online correspondent, Jesse, was convinced that the Baha’i Faith is an example of syncretism, defined by the Oxford Dictionary this way:

• syncretism: n.  an attempted union or reconciliation of diverse or opposite tenets or practices, esp. in philosophy or religion. 

The Baha’i Faith, no less than other world religions, fails to fit this definition on several counts, the first being that the spiritual teachings of the existing revealed religions are so similar. There is a foundational unity in the main spiritual tenets of all Faiths, and little in their social systems that could be termed “opposite.” 

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In fact, the progressive revelation of the Faith of God is not a new idea — it is referenced in Holy Books going back millennia. Baha’u’llah, though, has articulated it succinctly and repeatedly and made it a primary pillar of the Baha’i Faith:

Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive Revelations … I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been entrusted with a divinely revealed Book and been commissioned to unravel the mysteries of a mighty Tablet.

Like many people today, my friend Jesse also had issues with the way religion is used to prop up or justify some of the worst qualities of humankind — judgementalism, selfishness, lust for power, and the deep desire to be part of the “in crowd,” which requires the existence of an “out crowd” and made possible one of the most egregious sins of humankind, bigotry. He also felt that religion encouraged people to feel that their beliefs, rather than how they behaved, were what God was most concerned with.

I pointed out that the principles enunciated by the various divine teachers God has sent to guide us do not support those unfortunate aspects of religion. Rather, the spiritual principles brought by the original prophets and messengers of God stress the need for knowledge, volition, and action. This knowledge begins with deceptively simple principles that can be very hard to follow and that challenge our desire for instant gratification, rock-solid certainty, and easy decision-making. 

So yes, humans can be lazy and judgmental. We want salvation (or enlightenment or whatever one chooses to call it) to be as easy as “believe this and you shall live.” I’ve encountered many religious people who are certain that if they only believe this doctrine or observe that ritual or say this many prayers, they’re “saved.” Believing something or saying you believe something is far less work than actually behaving as if you believed it.

One of my most profound takeaways from studying the Bible as I attempted to disprove the Baha’i Faith, was that Christ did not say “believe this and you will live”. He said “do this and you will live” in reference to one of the most difficult things to do — that is, to render loving service even to those we feel we have every reason to despise. 

Here’s the context from the Gospel of Luke 10:25-28:

And behold, a certain lawyer [expert in religious law] stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 

He [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

And he [Jesus] said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

Christ then told one of the most famous and impactful parables of his entire ministry — the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I go into the significance of this passage in other essays on this site, so here I’ll just provide a thumbnail sketch of the story: A Jew dying alongside the road is ignored by two Jewish priests for reasons of ritual purity, then saved by a Samaritan — a member of a group reviled by Jews who are, in turn, disdained by the Samaritans. Each group believes they are the Chosen People of God; they share a Holy Book and trace their beliefs back to Moses. The Samaritan sets aside millennia of religious dogma to save the life of the Jew.

Christ’s one-liner at the end of the story? “Go and do likewise.” 

Despite this obvious call that we take the knowledge of God and the will to do His will and put it into action — specifically in service to others — many of us imagine that observing a ritual or professing belief in a particular doctrine allows us to apply a simple yardstick to our own salvation and the salvation of others. We want to be sure we are okay with God, and having a simple litmus test (do you believe X) seems easier than having to make rational, spiritual decisions minute by minute and day by day based on one’s knowledge of the principles of faith. 

RELATED: Is Religion Revealed or Compiled?

One of Baha’u’llah’s most concise exhortations on this subject, from a book entitled Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, says:

O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself. Humility exalteth man to the heaven of glory and power, whilst pride abaseth him to the depths of wretchedness and degradation.

Is a Christian or Muslim or Baha’i someone who says they are that, or someone who genuinely strives to live by the principles of Christ or Muhammad or Baha’u’llah? This is a functional definition — and it is a definition assigned by these great teachers themselves. 

What this means to me is that a person who says, “I’m an agnostic or atheist,” yet interacts with the world in a loving, kind-hearted, just and rational way, may be more Christian, Muslim or Baha’i than someone who professes faith, but belies it in word and deed.

Muhammad put it this way in the Qur’an’s Surah 107:

Hast thou observed him who belieth religion?

That is he who repelleth the orphan, and urgeth not the feeding of the needy.

Ah, woe unto worshippers who are heedless of their prayer;

Who would be seen (at worship) yet refuse small kindnesses!