Question Time

It's another beautiful day here in Victoria. The sky is uniformly overcast. The temperature is sitting just above 0. The wind is blowing at a gentle 20 k. And people are smiling on the street. Yeah. It's a beautiful day.

As there are no real pressing issues that come to mind, I think I'll take some questions from the audience today. I'm just in that kind of a mood.

Yes? You in the red sweater?

"You speak a lot about the importance of both praying and meditating. Can you say a bit more about why meditating is important? I'm not a big fan of it. I find that I just get bored trying to clear my mind."

Absolutely. Excellent question.

There are actually two different things within that question that I want to address. The first is what is meditation. You talk about trying to clear your mind, but that is only one school of meditation. There are many, and we often confuse the transcendental style, to name one, for all meditation. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we look at the concept of conversation with God, as described by 'Abdu'l-Baha, then we readily see that conversation must be two ways. This can be seen as prayer, the talking to God, and meditation, the listening. To be an effective listener, we have to be quiet, for one cannot talk and listen at the same time. So it may not be about trying to clear your mind as much as it is about trying to learn to listen more attentively.

The second question in there is why is that important. To best explain that, I'm going to use the five steps of prayer that are attributed to Shoghi Effendi in a pilgrim's note. He says the first step is to "pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of
contemplation for a few minutes." You will note that he does not list these as two separate steps, but as two parts of the same step. He goes on later in that same piece to say, "Many pray but do not remain for the last half of the first step."

If we spend time in prayer asking about something, or praying for something, then doesn't it just make sense to stick around for the answer?

Ok, next? You, in the back. Yes, you with the hat. Can you speak up?

"How would you defend the Baha'i Faith's stance towards homosexuality? You say that you are inclusive, and yet you are against homosexuals. How can you reconcile that?"

I'm so glad you asked that. First, though, I'm not in a position to defend anything. In order to defend, you have to perceive that you are under attack. Asking a cogent question is in no way an attack. At least, I don't see it that way. Besides, I think the defense of the Faith is best left up to the Institutions.

If you want to see the Baha'i "stance" on homosexuality, then there are a few different things you need to look at. I won't try to convince you that you have to agree, but I will say that the laws of the Baha'i Faith are only for Baha'is. We do not, and are not allowed to, impose them on those who do not accept Baha'u'llah as a Messenger of God.

That being said, people confuse the fact that homosexuality is not recognized as a legitimate action within the Baha'i community with the idea that we persecute homosexuals. Aside from a few Baha'is who have misunderstood what the Writings say, and are themselves, to say the least, homophobic, most of us have no problem with homosexuality. I mean, really. It's between two consenting adults who have come to their own decisions in their lives, right?

As Baha'is, we are actually encouraged to defend human rights whenever and wherever necessary. As I've said many times in the past, if someone is not a member of the Baha'i community, then I will defend their right to engage in a homosexual relationship, with full equality under the law. It is unjust that partners of many decades do not have the right to visit their invalid partner in hospital when they are dying. It is unjust that people who have remained faithful to each other for years are not allowed to do with their possessions as they please in their wills. I could go on with many other specifics, but it is enough to say that there are many basic rights that I believe we should all have access to, regardless of our sexual orientation, and I will defend these rights to the best of my ability, which isn't all that great, as this blog shows. But nevertheless, I will try.

And then there is the other side of that same coin. What if they are a Baha'i? Well then they have agreed to a covenant with Baha'u'llah. They have agreed to follow His laws and obey His institutions. At this point, it would be rather silly for them to say that they believe He is a Messenger of God, but that they know better in one area or another. They would be saying that they know better than God, which is, of course, absurd.

But please remember, if they don't believe that He is from God, than there isn't any issue. They are not bound by His laws. These laws are not a social contract by which all must live. They are agreed upon with conscious recognition on the part of the believer.

If someone has a set list of criteria by which they judge different Faiths, and the Baha'i Faith does not satisfy that list, then I would just tell them not to enroll as a member of the community. There's no problem. This is what free-will is all about.

If someone has this set list, and they go on to attack anyone who has a different list, or attack a Faith that doesn't agree with them, then I would contend that they have an issue. They are attempting to deny someone else their free-will.

Just the other day I had someone verbally attack me because I believed in God. They somehow thought that my belief in God was an affront to them, and went on to attack me for it. I really had no idea why, especially as I did not initiate the conversation. They went on to do me exactly what they were accusing other people of faith of doing to others. It was kind of sad and ironic at the same time.

So, once again (and I have to admit that I'm getting rather tired of repeating this), I will defend the social and human rights of homosexuals just as I will anyone else. Just because they are gay does not make them any less human.

Well, I thought I'd have time for one more question, but this post seems to be getting rather long. Maybe I'll do this again sometime soon, for there are a few other hands raised politely out there.