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Next Phase - Bridges of Faith Initiative

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:33:25 +0100

For those of you who, if you couldn't make it, or if you never knew it was happening; a second Bridges of Faith, interfaith gatherong, is happening this month in Abbotsford. See below for date, location, and registration information.

Dear participants of the 2011 Bridges of Faith Conference,

Abbotsford Community services would like to invite you to the next phase of our Bridges of Faith initiative. The upcoming event with be on January 25th, 2012 from 5:30-9 pm. This event will provide opportunities for participants to come together, engage in experiential learning, and deepen their understanding and respect for the diverse religious traditions in our community.

The event will feature interactive presentations from several different faith communities on the topic of light, as well as dialogue circles, networking opportunities and refreshments. All are welcome to attend the Bridges of Faith event (On a first come, first serve basis. Pre-registration is required by January 20th 2012).

For more information please see the attached document or feel free to contact me with any question.

To register please complete the attached form and return to 2420 Montrose Avenue Abbotsford BC, V2S 3S9 or fax to 604-859-6334 or submit the following information via email to Danielle.Nazarewich@AbbotsfordCommunityServices.com:

Name:
Faith Group:
Organization (if applicable):
Community of Residence:
Phone Number:
E-mail Address:
Name and ages of children attending between the ages of 3 and 10:
How did you hear about the Bridges of Faith Event?

*Note: By registering via email, you are agreeing to the following Bridges of Faith participation agreement,
The Bridges of Faith event is an opportunity for diverse people to gain a better understanding of others in their community. All participants are expected to respect the diversity of race, ethnicity, class, gender, family status, sexual orientation, religion, mental and physical ability, age or political beliefs of other participants and speakers attending the Bridges of Faith event. Participants are asked to refrain from making negative statements regarding one’s identity as well as refrain from converting people of different faiths. If a participant breaks this agreement they may be asked to leave the conference.

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from many of you.

Sincerely,

Danielle Nazarewich

Community Development Worker
Diversity Education and Resource Services
Abbotsford Community Services
Phone: (604) 859-7681 ext. 270
Fax: (604) 859-6334
Danielle.Nazarewich@AbbotsfordCommunityServices.com

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s journey across America

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:35:40 +0100

Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, called on America to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership in establishing the oneness of humanity.

In 1912, He traveled from coast to coast across America after a lifetime of imprisonment and persecution in the Middle East.

He gave a powerful vision of America’s spiritual destiny — to lead the way in establishing the oneness of humanity. He set out the spiritual requisites for attaining this destiny, including:

unity among the races
equality between women and men
a balance of material and spiritual progress

You can follow his journey, listen to readings of his talks, read newspaper articles and more at the following link:

http://centenary.bahai.us/abdul-baha-in-america

Iran 's Outcast Religion (reposted from the Wall Street Journal)

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:56:35 +0100

Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians have rights under the constitution. Not Bahais.

By FIRUZ KAZEMZADEH

In some 40 years as a university professor, I have been privileged to teach students who went on to serve their people as senators, ambassadors, prominent scholars and even U.S. president. None of this would have been possible had I lived in my family's homeland of Iran. As a member of the Bahai faith, I would have been barred from teaching freely—and I might even have been imprisoned, as seven Bahai educators now are.

While many Iranian citizens are targets of repression by the current regime, the treatment of Bahais, the country's largest non-Muslim religious community, is a special case. Unlike Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, who have certain limited rights under the Islamic Constitution, Bahais were declared unprotected infidels immediately following the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Bahais have faced persecution in Iran since their religion was founded more than a century and a half ago, but it was never as systematic as in the last 30 years. Since the Islamic Revolution, more than 200 Bahai leaders have been put to death. The regime has outlawed Bahai institutions, confiscated their properties, desecrated their cemeteries, demolished their holy places. Bahais are subject to constant state-sanctioned pressure to recant their faith.

To stamp out that faith, Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei approved the so-called Golpaygani memorandum in 1991. Photo copies describing plans to slowly strangle Iran's Bahai community were made public by the United Nations in 1992. One measure was to deny Bahais entry to universities, thereby impoverishing them intellectually and economically.

Bahais had already begun educating their youth, founding what became known as the Bahai Institute for Higher Education in 1987. In Tehran and beyond, Bahai professors—unemployable elsewhere because of their membership in what the mullahs called "the deviant sect"—taught languages, biological sciences, civil engineering, literature and even music. Classes were held in private homes, labs were set up in garages, and the Internet eventually provided access to resources abroad.

The institute avoided teaching about the Bahai faith or other religions, thus avoiding the possible accusation of proselytizing. It operated quietly but not secretly: No enterprise of such size—with thousands of students and hundreds of faculty—could be secret. No law prohibited instruction in languages, sciences, accounting and the like, so the institute didn't violate the letter or spirit of any law.

The institute's success frustrated the government. In spite of constant harassment, it achieved academic standards equal to or higher than those of state universities and was frequently recognized by foreign universities that admitted its students into masters and doctoral programs.

In 1996 and 1998, the regime raided homes where classes were held and confiscated equipment. In the second attack, agents of the Ministry of Information arrested 36 faculty and declared the institute closed. The regime demanded that the 36 sign a pledge not to cooperate with the institute. Not one complied.

The regime's latest assault began on May 22 with raids on 39 homes. Months later, widespread arrests and interrogations of faculty, staff and students continue.

This month, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced seven Bahai faculty members to a combined 30 years behind bars. Meanwhile, a senior lawyer of theirs, Abdolfattah Soltani, remains incarcerated under suspicious circumstances.

Such repression is extreme but not isolated—Iran's regime targets other minorities as well as women, intellectuals and others. This makes many Iranians feel solidarity with their Bahai fellow citizens.

In an eloquent open letter to the Bahai community in 2009, 243 academics, writers, artists and human rights activists proclaimed, "As Iranian human beings we are ashamed for what has been perpetrated upon the Bahais in the last century and a half in Iran." That year, demonstrators on the streets of Tehran shouted slogans supporting religious minorities, including Bahais. Even Grand Ayatollah Montazeri—once an enemy of the Bahais—issued a fatwa to the effect that Bahais have every right accorded to Iranian citizens.

The rights of Iran's Bahais cannot be separated from the human rights of the general population. That journalists, artists and activists languish in jails; that students are excluded from universities based on their religion; that seven Bahai leaders have been condemned to prison for 20 years and seven Bahai educators now face a similar fate; that all Bahais are virtual outlaws in their native land—it's all part of a single assault on human dignity. One hopes the rest of the world won't close its eyes.

Mr. Kazemzadeh is professor emeritus of history at Yale and a former commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576528761693875134.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

Joining with our Christian Friends

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:51:56 +0100

Sunday October 23 was both a happy and a sad occasion when the Bahá'í community of Abbotsford joined in worship at Gladwin Heights United Church.The event was HAPPY because there was singing, prayers and fellowship, but SAD because it was time to say goodbye to Rev. Dorothy Jeffery. The Bahá'í community has been appreciative of Rev. Jeffery over the last few years for her dedicated work in the interfaith community. We wish Dorothy all the best with her new congregation.

Spiritual Hope: The antidote to material greed?

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 05:06:44 +0100

OH SON OF MAN! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more. (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #52)

About 30 souls were in attendance at the devotional gathering on October 15 to ponder the remedy for the seemingly widening gap between the rich and the poor around the world. After a number of readings and some time for prayers, Harold Rosen provided some additional points that got people thinking about the real remedy for the world's ills. Harold pointed out that he used to think if we solved issues of poverty; if we ended wars; or if we made sure that everyone had enough to eat, then the people of the world would live in unity. Converse to that thought he came to understand that the Bahá'í Faith is based on the knowledge that the only way the world will solve any of these problems will be to create unity first - not the other way around. To create this unity we have to understand that the people of the world are all one family (sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and cousins). In turn we will make sure that everybody in the family is taken care of, and that if one member of the family is in dire straights that it will effect the rest of the family negatively.

Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants...Thou dost wish for gold, and I desire thy freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #55 & 56)

University students in Abbotsford speak out

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:13:34 +0100

On Wednesday October 5, 2011 Baha´'í students at the University of the Fraser Valley staffed a display and talked to other students about the rights of people everywhere to have access to education. They highlighted the plight of Bahá'í university students in Iran who have not only been banned from attending public universities there, but have been arrested and imprisoned for creating and attending one that was created for them.

To raise awareness the students showed videos of people speaking out about the situation, asked students to sign postcards that would be sent to the equivalent of the minister of education in Iran, and took "mug shots" of students with a sign that said "If education is a crime. I am guilty as charged." Response was enormous with signatures on 200 postcards and great interest in the videos of actor Rainn Wilson and Nobel prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta.

Link here to see the mug shots: http://www.facebook.com/ConspiracytoEducate

Bahá'ís enjoy participation in AbbyFest

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:54:49 +0100

AbbyFest, Abbotsford's own multicultural festival is a great time for the Bahá'ís to help celebrate the wonderful cultural diversity that is the essence of Abbotsford. For 2011 members of the community designed 4 colourful displays about the communities four core activities: Children's classes, youth and jr. youth empowerment, devotions, and study circles. This years central location in the AgRec complex allowed for a lot of room to talk to participants as they came and went and still provided plenty of space for the wonderful art of face-painting.