Baha'is to elect Universal House of Justice

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nema
by nema
25-Apr-2008
 

A global election process that began with people in 100,000 cities and villages around the world will culminate on 29 April when delegates gather here to elect the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith.

Representatives of some 170 nations will cast ballots for the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, which has its seat at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa. The election is held every five years.

Baha'i elections are distinctive in that there are no nominations, no campaigning, and no discussion about which individuals should be elected.

The delegates to the International Baha'i Convention - members of all the Baha'i national governing bodies around the world - vote by secret ballot for the nine people they believe best suited for membership on the supreme institution of their Faith.

The Baha'i writings state that voters should try to choose people "of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience."

For Baha'is, the Universal House of Justice is the highest religious authority. It guides the worldwide Baha'i community in its development and in its response to changing world conditions, provides for Baha'i pilgrimage, holds in trust and maintains the Baha'i holy places, and administers international Baha'i funds.

Any male age 21 and over is eligible for election to the Universal House of Justice. Both women and men serve on all other Baha'i institutions-international, continental, national and local.

The election process began well over a year ago when Baha'is in some 100,000 localities around the world began meeting in district conventions to elect delegates to their own national conventions. At those gatherings, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of each country is elected.

The members of those national councils gather as electors at the global level for the International Baha'i Convention, to be held from 29 April to 2 May in Haifa.

About 1,200 delegates are expected to attend the convention. Those unable to attend send ballots by mail.

The establishment of the institution of the Universal House of Justice was called for by Baha'u'llah Himself, the founder of the Baha'i Faith.

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more from nema
 
Tahirih

This is my opinion,not the rest of bahais....

by Tahirih on Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:14 AM PDT

We are already accused of being British agents!!! Do you think it is a good idea?Or US, don't you think we will be accused of  being CIA agent?

The fact that we have our holly shrines and administrative body there ,has nothing to do with Isreal or our association with anybody.We can not take part in any political groups or movements,because we have our own set of Ideas for the advancement of the world.

Besides we have national, and local spiritual assemblies in every part of the world. So it is not only in Isreal. Any small city  has it, just look into the phone book in your city.

Connecting us to Isreal only is the false advertisement of clergy and miss guided people. We are everywhere ,so is our administrative bodies.

You know we can discuss this till end of the time ,but , the sun of reality will shine when we all look at things through our own eyes without prejudice.

Sometimes when we listen to our opponents, we are not really listening, but trying to formulize our reply to the person! The truth will appear when we really listen  and investigate the truth by ourselves.

Respectfully,

tahirih 


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Did I anywhere mention

by Realist (not verified) on Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:04 AM PDT

Did I anywhere mention Iran?

So your only choices are Israel or Iran? Why not the US? Or UK? or any of the other western nations that have complete freedom of religion.

The sooner the Bahai Faith disassociates itself from the Israeli government, the better.


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Tahirih

Realist do you have any suggestion as .....

by Tahirih on Mon Apr 28, 2008 06:15 PM PDT

which country would be suitable to move to ?

How about Iran , make sense, the craddle of our faith ,where Bahaullah was born.

And I am sure they will let us live in peace. They may even help us in the process of our election.I do not know why we did not think about it before? May be we have not looked at it in the REALISTIC way!!! Just look at one example of their help ;

www.monasdream.com 

Respectfully,

Tahirih

 

 


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My suggestion? Move out

by Realist (not verified) on Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:17 AM PDT

At least move out all your administrative organizations out of Israel -- that is if you have any objections to the policies of the Israeli government.

The resting place of Bahaullah need not be moved as I am sure that of all people Jews respect other religions.

That will certainly demonstrate the status of the Bahai faith as a peace promoting and peace loving religion.


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Tahirih

Realist;

by Tahirih on Sun Apr 27, 2008 04:45 PM PDT

 I have to reply to your comment about the location of our administrative body.Bahaullah arrived in haifa on August 31/1868, and Isreal was stablished in 1948. So what are we suppose to do ?

His resting place is there so our administrative body should be there.

Do you have any suggestions, as what to do ??

Tahirih


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Universal House of Justice in Haifa Israel -- what next?

by Realist (not verified) on Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:48 AM PDT

These are indeed strange times we are living in.

The old Iranian saying, "Ab ke sar bala bere, ghoorbaghe aboo ata mikhune" really sez it all.

I'll guess the Vatican will have a red-light district one of these days.


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Tahirih

Thank you Mehran

by Tahirih on Sat Apr 26, 2008 09:34 PM PDT

Thanks for the compliment about bahai faith. I thought the same thing when I was younger, thats why I became a bahai.

by the way I hope you meant Tahirih and Nema,since I am not posting under two names.

Hopefully Nema would acknowledge that  too.

I was At the gardens this past nawroz, they are out of this world, aren't they?

thanks again,and respectfully,

Tahirih


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To Tahirih/Nema

by Mehran (not verified) on Sat Apr 26, 2008 03:38 PM PDT

I don't follow any religion these days and that is a personal choice I made years ago but if I were to pick one today, it would definitely will be a Bahai faith. I think you folks have far better teaching than some of the mainstream religions out there.

by the way, I have been to Israel on business trips a few times and visited Bahai Gardens in Karmel. Really enjoyed the beauty of it. Good job keeping it up.


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Tahirih

Dear Souri:

by Tahirih on Sat Apr 26, 2008 02:33 PM PDT

There are lots of things about bahai faith that has been concealed from Iranians.From the inception of Bahai faith ,clergy in Iran has tried to cover it's truth from people,since Bahaullah our prophet,has anounced the end of need for clergy,so in our faith we do not have clergy.

Imagine the panic that they have felt and you can still see it in this day and age!!

We have been accused of many lies, and one of them is portraying our administration as secretive and associated with this or that country,therefore someone like Nema is trying to inform our beloved hamvatanan that the election is open and this this the date of it.

the concept of progressive revelation is true and very important part of our faith.through it we believe that all faiths are from the same source, and the differences between them is due to humanities maturity at the time of it's revelation,not the lack of knowledge of the manifestation.

Thanks for your encouraging words, my name is my syber name, and I have the honor of picking the name of this heroine of our land who is unfortunetly so ,missed from our history. Tahirih was the first woman in about 1860 , that took her hejab and announced the equality of men and women .She was the first woman to believe in the sayyed Bab, and she was killed by Naseredin shah's tugs, and her body was thrown to a well. She was a great poet and one of the greatest feminists of her time. The famous song of Hoshmand aqili saying " gar be oftadam nazar ...., is one of her poems which she wrote to the promissed one since she never met him in life just believed in him through a dream that she had.

just Google her and see who she was.her name means Paak.

respectfuly,

Tahirih


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Souri

Proggressive revelation

by Souri on Sat Apr 26, 2008 01:56 PM PDT

As I said before, I don't know all about Bahai faith, so I haven't heard  about this "progressive revelation"... If it is true and truly practiced, this is really great ! Tahirih, I liked your perception and your approach to the subject this time. Really, I congratulate you and other member of your community. Let's hope for a better future.  By the way, may I ask you : What Tahirih means ? Is that the same as Tahereh which come from the word "Pakizeh" in Persian

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Tahirih

One step at a time....

by Tahirih on Sat Apr 26, 2008 01:29 PM PDT

One of the Bahai faith's important beliefs is progressive revelation. It means taking one step at a time (in simple terms). If we look at the previous dispensations and Bahai faith , we see that status of women has slowly but surly moving up. In Islam women have half of a man's rights,so in Bahai faith there is full equality between women and men . The only place that Women have been exempt is membership of The universal house of justice.

well I am sure the next prophet will change that. To be able to have a permanent change it has to come from grass roots and also the procces has to fit all category of people. Women in many countries can not vote, Imagine that , so we have to go with a pace that would let the slow to catch up countries not to get too far behind.

for sure we are moving forward but the process is so fair that they will catch up. may be not in our life time, but they will.

respectfuly,

Tahirih


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Souri

Nema

by Souri on Sat Apr 26, 2008 01:02 PM PDT

I don't accept your argument below :

"Bahai Faith places a higher station on woman than serving on Universal House of Justice’s seat and that is nurturing and nourishing the next generation of human being, for the motherhood role, an expectant mother may not be able to attend to the loving care of her child since role and responsibility of Universal House of Justice’s member is 24/7 with absolute love, devotion and dedication..."....... This is also what they say in Islam, as they want to hold women at home and out of the active roles in the  society. Then, how about a woman who choose not to marry, or is married but has no children ? I believe a human being (man or woman) has the right to choose what he/she thinks is right for them and they are capable to do. Why should a religion choose for "WHO must do WHAT" ? I am a mother of 2 and refuse to hear others teaching me or dictate me how I should raise my children or how I have to love them or what I have to do (or not to do) to conform to a "motherhood" doctrine. This is ridiculous. This is the hypocrisy I'm talking about and it doesn't belong only to  the "Bahai" Faith... All the religion are the same.. You know what I think : Nothing is sacred

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bahaissim=zionissim

by proud (not verified) on Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:38 PM PDT

created by british intelligence services


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No women???

by Anonymous22 (not verified) on Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:24 PM PDT

I thought total gender (and racial) equality was one of the two key tenants of the Bahai faith. Guess I was wrong.


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Tahirih

Anonymous Persian 222,tell me...

by Tahirih on Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:11 PM PDT

Do you follow any religion? if you do tell me the advantages that your religion provides for women .UNLESS you provide the readers with that knowledge ,you are not going to be credible!

One has to provide better alternatives before criticising  a religion.

As a bahai woman I can be elected to be the continental board councellor which it's function is  as important as the universal house of justice, does your religion , let women to vote in all countries on this planet!!!

Tahirih


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nema

There is a wisdom

by nema on Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:03 PM PDT

Dear anonymouspersian 222

Instead of accusing Bahai Faith based on your own arrogance you should research the Bahai Faith in its entirety to at least educate yourself since this faith is your cultural background too, if you are Persian.

Bahai Faith places a higher station on woman than serving on Universal House of Justice’s seat and that is nurturing and nourishing the next generation of human being, for the motherhood role, an expectant mother may not be able to attend to the loving care of her child since role and responsibility of Universal House of Justice’s member is 24/7 with absolute love, devotion and dedication. There is a wisdom in every law of Bahai Faith, it you look into it without prejudice I am sure you will appreciate its harmony and love for humanity.

Best wishes

 


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Bahai Faith Does Not Have Equal Rights For Woman

by AnonymousPersian222 (not verified) on Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:56 AM PDT

"Any male age 21 and over is eligible for election to the Universal House of Justice.'

In other words, no woman may ever serve or even run for election in the Universal House of Justice, the most important institution in the Bahai faith that has the last word on every doctrinal issue. So much for the "equality" and "universalism" of the Bahai faith.

How can a faith whose very tenets are allegedly grounded on "equality" hypocritically refuse to allow a female Bahai the right to participate the decision making process of the greater Bahai world body? Would a country where it is illegal for a woman to become President be called a country of equality?

On what rational grounds are woman denied this privilege anyway? Are they less intelligent than men? Less capable? What are the religious / doctrinal bases for banning female membership in the Universal House of Justice?


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Thanks for the info

by cyrus khan (not verified) on Sat Apr 26, 2008 07:10 AM PDT

Ill-wishers of the Baha'i Faith attribute all kinds of false practices to it. Among them is that Baha'is are secretive and present one image to the public and another to their own members. What you have posted is a clear and honest explanation of how the Faith operates. The Baha'i Faith is far from a closed elitist religion. It's pivotal aim is to bring together the entire family of humanity in peace and harmony. And to achieve this aim, absolute openness and honesty are indispensable.


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