Thursday, December 07, 2006

Reason #1

I mentioned that I would be posting about this a little while ago, and while side tracked, I recently read of another's spiritual journey which inspired me to continue to write about this… Why I am a Báhá'í.

This is why I quit drinking alcohol despite it not being disruptive to my life, (Phil and Tamara, no comment please, my family reads this!), and I thank the friends around me at that time for their support, again thanks P and T, love ya muchly!

I guess simply put, it all made sense. I am a scientist, (geek may be another word for this… ) so I like to be able to understand what I say I believe in. And while, as with any of God's religions, I don't believe that any man can fully understand all that there is to know about any religion, I understand to the best of my abilities, and it makes good sense. Pretty much all of the central themes within the Báhá'í Faith are centered on Unity.. As all religions are as well. What I see as different in the Báhá'í Faith, are the means and principles explicitly detailed to attain global unity. And not just through the "simple" and well established believing that everyone is equal (race and gender), but through other principles designed to take this belief, and apply it, or bring it about.

I know that this topic may not interest some (all) of you, but hey, my blog, my posts!! Also, there is no possible way for me to get out all that I would like to say in one post, so it'll be scattered between a few, non-consecutive posts. But it may give you an opportunity to know what goes in my head, and my reference points. Please leave comments if or whatever if you have arguments for or against what I say. But besides the principles themselves, the expounding texts are my own thoughts on the basic principles.

I guess, in keeping with my scientist bit, as a Báhá'í, I believe that true religion and true science will always agree. This sounds simple. But it's not. This little principle has important ramifications. Firstly, truth is truth. The Earth can't be the center of the universe in religion and rotate around the sun in science. Which one's true? The problem, as well all know, was a misinterpretation, or holding on to certain dogmas. This incident highlighted the fact that either the science was wrong, or that specific religious belief was wrong. Although we like to think of ourselves as modern, this could (and likely still does, Google "Flying Spaghetti Monster") happen, where science and religion disagree, while both insist upon their being right. What should happen, is that both religious and scientific scholars (?) should sit with open minds, and re-examine BOTH their experimental results, AND the scriptural interpretations to see if another explanation can be found to place everything in agreement. No blind acceptance… the results would obviously be tested as is any theory and subsequently proven right or wrong, until the correct theory is eventually put forth. Imagine the possible advancement of a society where religion and science worked together, hand-in-hand, free of ego. I'm a geek; that got me excited… This would not only further science, but religion as well. While religion could aid science, science could also help rid religion of ritual beliefs resulting from scriptural misinterpretations which no one will deny occur. A book I read by someone I can't remember (sorry) pointed out that no one can understand all the levels of meaning written in any religious scripture, so any form of interpretation is open to error. I really wish I could reference that… But I don't think that any religious leader would argue the infinite meaning found in the Bible (Old or New Testament), the Koran, of Báhá'í literature to name a few.

Even the simple precept of science and religious truths being the same has significant implications on society as a whole. This is one of the reasons I am a Báhá'í. There is a well-defined logic, consistency of purpose (unity) and it says science is good J.

Also, the Báhá'í Faith has many prophetic technological breakthroughs (from over 150 yrs ago) which are predicted for the future, and knowing what some of them are, and that the theory has recently been laid down for their eventual reality, has just been further confirmation for me that I should be a Báhá'í.



1 comment:

NanNan said...

I never bought into the idea that a person's relationship with their Creator should be dependent on which womb they conceived--- in fact children of Baha'is must confirm their belief upon reaching the age of maturity before registering as adult Baha'is. My attraction was also based on my love and devotion to Jesus-- I recognized His voice again!