Door-to-Door Teaching

Ah yes, "door-to-door" teaching. That ubiquitous term that seems to raise hackles everywhere.

Oh, sorry. Let me explain. "Mike" raised a wonderful point in a comment on a recent article and asked about "door-to-door" teaching. He first asked if the National Spiritual Assembly encouraged "Baha'is to do 'door to door' teaching within the last few years?" Then he asked the very thoughtful question: "Isn't that a form of aggressive teaching, similar to what we see from Jehovas Witnesses and Mormons?"

Thank you, Mike. I'm so glad you raised this point that is such a stickling point for so many of us. (And no, this isn't nit-picking.) I have to admit, I struggled with this exact question for so long, and finally came to my own understanding of it, that I often forget that it's still a question for others. That's why I really value your input, dear Reader. (That includes you, Mike.)

To answer your question about whether or not the National Spiritual Assembly encouraged us to go door-to-door, I guess that depends on where you live. I presume you live in the United States, so I'm not really sure what they recommended, or not. I live in Canada, and we've had our own National Assembly for a number of years now. What I can take heart in, and say for all the Baha'is in the world, is what the Universal House of Justice acknowledged in their Ridvan Message of 2010, that "calling upon the residents of a home without prior notice" is acceptable, if it is done with tact and wisdom.

In other words, and this is only my own opinion and nothing official, we need to be aware of the stigma that is associated with what is commonly called "door-to-door" teaching, avoid it, and yet still be open to meeting new people. From here, I could go on a tangent (I know, it's hard to believe, but I really could) and talk about how our society is not exactly what I would call healthy, and that perhaps, just perhaps, we should re-think about some of the things that meet with a sense of disapproval in our culture (such as talking about religion, to name one), but I won't.

Instead, I'm going to actually address what I think is a great point you made, namely the question of "aggressive teaching".

But first, let me point our that I, too, had a lot of questions when this whole issue came up. I was not comfortable knocking on the doors of people I didn't know. I was, in fact, extremely uncomfortable doing it. When I was first asked to do this for the Baha'i Faith, during an expansion phase a few years ago, I had to seriously think about it, and try to figure out why I was uncomfortable. I realized that the reason was that I was actually concerned about what others would think. When I sat down and really considered it, it was clear that knocking on someone's door to talk with them was not rude in the least. The fine line between disturbing the people and encouraging them was all up to my own behaviour and attitude.

This is the point at which I drew on my own personal experience, which I have alluded to over the past few days. How did I feel when strangers knocked on my door? How did I react when they wanted to talk to me? It depended mostly on what I was doing at the time. If I was busy, say writing or eating dinner, then I really didn't want to be disturbed. If I was reading, and could easily put the book down and get back to it later, then I was glad to talk with them.

Once my own schedule was taken into account, then I looked at them. How were they approaching it? Were they interested in talking to me? Or were they only interested in a body in a door? Did I make a difference to them? If not, then I often had no interest in talking with them. But if they were interested in learning who I was and offering ideas or solutions that were relevant to me, then I was very happy to talk with them. I even enjoyed it.

It reminds me so much of that quote from Baha'u'llah: "The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration." Remember, I'm a firm believer that if something works on the macro-level, it also works on the micro-level. When we are teaching an individual, we, too, need to be like that physician. We need to recognize what disease we are dealing with, and then prescribe the appropriate cure.

'Abdu'l-Baha, when He was in London, said, "To teach by words requires the skill of a wise physician. He does not offer help to those who do not want treatment. Do not press help on those who do not need your help."

There is a great sense of courtesy in this. First, we need to treat every individual as themselves, and not as part of some faceless thing that we call "humanity", which, really, refers to nobody.

Second, we need to listen to them. We need to be aware of their interests and their concerns. Then, and only then, can we show them what the Faith can offer them. Of course, we also then end up seeing what they can offer the Faith.



In the end, I think it all comes down a simple rule that I like to follow for myself: If it makes me uncomfortable, I ask myself "Why?" But if it is just downright rude, I don't do it.