Wendi’s Wanders

Every time I turn to my right, I hear the voice of the lamentation of them that are dear to Thee, whom the infidels have made captives for having believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and for having set their faces towards the horizon of Thy grace and of Thy loving-kindness. And when I turn to my left, I hear the clamour of the wicked doers who have disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs, and persistently striven to put out the light of Thy lamp which sheddeth the radiance of Thine own Self over all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. Bahai teachings

We are used to seeing billboards along the sides of highways advertising everything from restaurants just around the bend to new TV programmes to political candidates. But sometimes they provide something just a little different.

If you are out and about in central London this weekend, you may well see a mobile billboard travelling the streets and visiting familiar landmarks. Sponsored by United4Iran, a non-partisan global network of Iranian and non-Iranian human rights activists working to promote fundamental human and civil rights in Iran, the billboard highlights the plight of the seven Baha’i leaders who are now in their third year of unjust imprisonment in Tehran. Their crime is to be Baha’is, nothing more. You can read about their imprisonment here.

Their trial is set to continue today, 12 June.

The London initiative is just one of a number of activities being held around the world on 12 June to highlight the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, as well as other injustices perpetrated there. About 70 cities are hosting activities and similar billboards to the one in London will be travelling around World Cup host city Johannesburg and Los Angeles.

Thirty-nine years ago today I married an Iranian, whose family had left Iran at the height of the persecutions against the Baha’is in the mid-1950s. Persecution, torture, human rights violations, injustice, arbitrary arrests, executions, unlawful imprisonments have been features of Iran for almost the whole of this time.

Why would a country wish this to be its legacy?

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, human rights, united4 Iran, Global Day of Action in Support of Human Rights in Iran

They that are just and fair-minded in their judgement occupy a sublime station and hold an exalted rank. The light of piety and uprightness shineth resplendent from these souls. We earnestly hope that the peoples and countries of the world may not be deprived of the splendours of these two luminaries. Baha’u'llah, Bahai writings

The seven Baha’is who have been in Evin prison in Tehran since spring 2008 today appeared in court for a second time. At the first hearing, in January, they were formally charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country and corruption on earth. Both hearings were held in camera, so we do not have many details. It appears that the proceedings today were procedural. The Baha’is –Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr Afif Naeimi, Mr Saeid Rezaie, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, Mr Behrouz Tavakkoli and Mr Vahid Tizfahm – have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In light of the long persecution of the Baha’is in Iran, pre-dating the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 by more than a hundred years, the worldwide Baha’i community is convinced that the Baha’is have been charged solely because of their religious beliefs.

We who are judges and magistrates hold justice as the highest of standard of civilization. The principles of the independence of the judiciary, the primacy of the rule of law — which was formulated in Islamic jurisprudence before the twelfth century — fairness, equality, due process, impartiality, trustworthiness, openness and consistency are at the heart of every judicial system worthy of the name. We align ourselves to these principles — without them our own integrity is compromised.

Those of you who are hearing the case of the Baha’is in Iran have a unique opportunity to demonstrate that you too align yourself with these principles. As all trustworthy judges do, you will want to listen to both sides. You will not be persuaded by rhetoric — you will want to ascertain the facts. You will need more than allegations — you will need robust evidence. You will be suspicious of concocted `evidence’. You will consult not only your books but your conscience. You will not allow yourself to be manipulated by vested interests. You will look beyond the prejudices that drive lesser men and hear with your own ears and see with your own eyes. You will recognize that these Baha’is have served the people of Iran, your citizens, and have always had their best interests, and yours, at heart.

We, your judicial colleagues, are willing you to treat your judicial position with respect and to discharge your responsibilities with honour. Your personal integrity and reputation, and the integrity of your judicial system and its reputation, are at stake. No doubt, when you apply the principles we all hold so dear, you will find the Baha’is before you innocent.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Bahá’u'lláh, Iran, Islamic Republic, persecution of the Baha’is, trial of Baha’is, judiciary, judges, magistrates

Singapore and Sarawak

. . . whenever thou findest an opportunity thou dost travel and visit the believers, disseminating the fragrances of God . . . Bahai writings

`Abdu’l-Baha, the son of the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, said that the Baha’i `teachers must continually travel to all parts of the continent, nay, rather, to all parts of the world’. To fulfil this request, Moojan and I left the UK on 19 November to visit Baha’i communities in Asia and the Pacific.

Travel these days is really no more arduous than getting on a bus, although there are the inevitable hold-ups going through security checks at the airport. The main delay, however, was on the train from Sandy to Kings Cross!

A 12-hour flight took us from cold and wet England to hot and wet Singapore. Here we stayed with our friend Phyllis Ghim Lian Chew, her husband Yeo Yew Hock and their daughter Peta. Phyllis, a lecturer in linguistics, is the author of The Chinese Religion and the Baha’i Faith (George Ronald)  and, more recently, Emergent Lingua Francas and World Orders (Routledge).

They had arranged for us to speak at the new Baha’i Centre in Singapore the evening that we arrived, so, somewhat jetlagged after a 17 hour journey from home, we found ourselves sharing Baha’i ideas and news with 50+ new friends and a couple of Baha’is we had met elsewhere (a not unusual experience).

Singapore was only a stopover on our way to Sarawak, where we arrived on Saturday 21st. We were met by the amazing `Dr John’ (Fozdar), Knight of Baha’u'llah for Brunei, son of the famous Shirin Fozdar, father our own European Counsellor Shirin Fozdar Foroudi, and husband of the truly delightful Grete Fozdar. Their kind and generous hospitality to us has been overwhelming. Every day they have taken us to meet the Baha’is in Kuching and far out of the city into the jungle. Read about the Sarawak Baha’is here.

We attended 19 Day Feasts on successive nights in different parts of the Kuching, where two or more communities came together at each so we could meet as many Baha’is as possible. The Baha’is of this area are mostly Iban (who used to be called Sea Dayak)  and what beautiful, warm people they are. We were also guests at the commemoration of the 84th birthday of Sai Baba.

The highlights of our journey so far have been our visits to the Baha’i communities in Kampong Mujat and Kampong Selampit, villages of the Bidayuh (Land Dayak) people.

Kampong Mujat is well-known to travellers for its historic longhouse but what is well less well known is that most of the people living in it are Baha’is - first, second and third generation.

We walked up through the village to the imposing Baha’i Centre, built by the Baha’is themselves on a hill at the top of the village.

The Baha’is in Kampong Mujat greeted us with traditional gongs and welcome dances

The gongs are ancient and a sign of a community’s wealth. Each village or area has its own tunes and dances and the dancers wear their own particular dress. In Kampong Mujat the young men wore bells on their ankles; in Kampong Selampit the girls had bells on the hems of their dresses.

At each village we spoke to the Baha’is about the connection between the growth processes of the Baha’i communities, the Ruhi institute programmes which Baha’is all over the world are undertaking and our overall task of helping to build a new civilization - reminding ourselves that the Baha’i communities we are establishing are ones based on vibrant, learning, engaged spiritual people who are values and principle based and that the skills and habits we are learning — consultation, participation, meeting people in their own homes, educating children and young people, sharing spiritual ideas and practical service - are the very ones the new civilization needs.

At Kampong Mujat the Baha’is hosted a delicious lunch of rice, fish, vegetables and fruit, as well as chicken stew. The fruit included the durian which has a flavour and smell not to be missed (our air tickets from Singapore to Kuching had stamped on them in red `No durians allowed on this flight’, which may give you some idea of the strength of their odour). But most people find them delicious and I thought they were OK in small doses. Mostly we ate rambutans and another forest fruit that tasted like very sweet grapefruit to me.

The longhouse at Mujat is probably over a hundred years old and seems to be about 100 metres long, with many homes and common rooms all attached. It poured with rain while we sat on the bamboo walkway and we never felt a drop. All the people in these pictures are Baha’is.

The village of Kampong Selampit is divided by a river, crossed by a ferry. We walked up through this village of about a thousand people to the Baha’i Centre, again at the top of the village on a hill. About 600 people in this village are Baha’is and again we were greeted with the gongs and dances of this village.

The Baha’i Centre was full, as the Baha’is were also commemorating the Day of the Covenant, which began this evening. There were so many beautiful children present, we couldn’t resist having a picture of them.

The evening concluded with a meal at a Baha’i-owned restaurant on the other side of the river - this time it had Chinese influences, with delicious fish from their own fish pools - and the ever-present durian, this time fried with onion and anchovies. I denied myself the pleasure this time!

Our translator for all this was Maria Peter, a Kuching Baha’i who works withe women, providing training in literacy and women’s advancement. She is a talented, warm and generous Iban woman who has travelled all over the area and knows everyone - they love her too!

Today we also had another very special privilege. We were invited by Kamal Fozdar to visit the new, nine-sided, Sarawak Parliament building.

As the owner of the construction company that built it, Kamal was able to take us into every room on every one of its nine floor, including the main chamber, the dining area and the rest area for members of Parliament. The art deco main entrance has a distinctive flavour of the Baha’i House of Worship in New Delhi, which Kamal also worked on,

while the debating chamber has traditional themes woven together - with 9 pointed stars as the main, which also appears on the Sarawak flag.

The views from the ninth floor at the top of the building are stunning.

Tomorrow we go to Kampong Triboh.

Technorati Tags: Bahai, Baha’i, travel, Singapore, Sarawak, longhouses, Day of the Covenant, Iban, Bidayuh, durians

`. . . ye walk on My earth complacent and self-satisfied, heedless that My earth is weary of you and everything within it shunneth you.’ Bahai writings

The climate has changed. It wasn’t all that long ago that politicians and the media and many of us were wondering whether the predictions about the future could be right. Was there scientific evidence? Wasn’t it just part of a natural cycle? Were we responsible? The political climate was not to accept responsibility, to carry on carrying on, to continue to act in exactly the same way we had always acted.

The climate has changed. Now government after government is trying to figure out how to reduce its carbon emissions, how to adapt to inevitable changes in rainfall, in sea levels, in agricultural production.

The climate has changed. The way we deal with this, as individuals, as communities, as governments, as humanity, will a very large extent, determine the sort of civilization we will live in for many generations.

Engaging in the human discourse on climate change is the responsibility of us all. The Baha’is are calling on world leaders to take climate change seriously, to consider not only the obvious effects
on the physical environment but also the effects on the social environment, on people and the way we live on our planet and in our communities. Here is the statement recently released by the Baha’i International Community and signed by many non-governmental organisations:

Moral and Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change:
Appeal to the World’s Leaders

Drafted by the Bahá’í International Community and signed by many organizations in the lead up to the High Level Event on climate change organized by the United Nations Secretary Genera Ban Ki-moon in September 2009

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, leaders of the world’s religions and other members of civil society urge the governments of the world to participate in the UN High Level Event on Climate Change through representatives at the highest level and unequivocally call on them to:

-  Consider deeply the ethical and moral questions at the root of the climate change crisis - questions of justice and equity that will determine the survival of cultures, ecosystems, and present as well as future generations;

- Recognize that the quest for climate justice is not a competition for limited resources but part of an unfolding process towards greater degrees of unity among nations as they endeavour to build a sustainable, just and peaceful civilization;

- Distinguish their contributions to this High-Level Event by demonstrating trust, justice, solidarity and a vision of prosperity for the most vulnerable populations;

- Demonstrate courage and moral leadership as they articulate the vision and secure the foundations for a comprehensive and legally binding agreement during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the 5th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in December 2009; and

- Ensure that commitments in all arenas of the climate change challenge are guided by ethical and moral considerations so as to inspire the trust and confidence of individuals, communities and institutions to effect the changes needed to build a sustainable civilization.

- We call on the gathered leaders to summon the same spirit and sense of urgency that led to the creation of the United Nations, to forge a climate change agreement worthy of the trust of humankind.

29 July 2009

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’i International Community, blog action day, climate change, NHS Bedfordshire

The readjustment of the social economic is of the greatest importance inasmuch as it insures the stability of the world of humanity; and until it is effected, happiness and prosperity are impossible. Bahai writings

I have just returned from the EBBF’s excellent conference in the Netherlands, entitled `Window of Opportunity’. I was pleased to be elected the new Secretary General, with Mahmud Samandari the new chairman and George Starcher the treasurer. Daniel Truran was appointed Director General. The Governing Board issued an important statement to coincide with the meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh. Here it is (and here we are writing it - Arthur Dahl, me, Mahmud Samandari):

On the Occasion of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh
An Ethical Perspective on the Economic Recovery

A Statement Issued by EBBF (The European Baha’i Business Forum)

Nijmegen, The Netherlands

28 September 2009

EBBF (www.ebbf.org) the European Baha’i Business Forum, an international NGO representing businesspeople across 70 countries and dedicated to inspiring responsible business practices has issued an ethical perspective on the economic recovery:

The unprecedented crisis that shook the world a year ago was a clarion call to review the values and the structures on which the world system and its economy are based. Twelve months later have we made a significant progress towards

• adopting measures to reduce extremes of wealth and poverty?

• closing the gap between the least developed countries and the advanced economies before it becomes an abyss?

• assuring that the poorest of the world be the main beneficiaries of the recovery measures that have cost taxpayers the world over more than US$ 10 trillion?

• tackling the climate issue in a way that a large majority of humankind does not continue to pay the consequences of the consumption excesses of a few?

• using position and office, be it public service, corporate management or NGO leadership, to render service to humanity rather than for personal benefit and enrichment?

If we have not at least set in motion the processes that will lead us in a different direction, no measure of recovery in the stock market or in consumption will save us from an even more devastating crisis in the future, a crisis that would affect us more seriously considering the resources already used to face the last one. Just because the fever is down, we do not stop treating the underlying illness.

The present system, including the measures that have been taken during the previous months, is based on past experience. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, we can be certain that using old remedies will certainly lead to another - graver - crisis.

There is still a window of opportunity to act - and much more needs to be done.

World leaders, whether political, corporate or of civil society, must have the courage to undertake deep-seated and far-reaching changes. Legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole. Humanity should not be made to suffer for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine. The economy has globalized but we are still bound by 19th-century mental constructs of nationalism and sovereignty.

A favourable sign in this context has been the process of widening the circle of leaders of government debating an expanding agenda of economic and related issues at their periodic summits. We humbly invite them to consider that their national interests would be best served if they took the interest of the whole planet into consideration. They must be bold and reach a consensus on measures that would improve the world economic system and then invite all the other nations to participate.

`All need to give up their narrow self interest when the future of humanity is at stake. If no one moves there can be no change or progress. We call upon the leaders to exercise the vision, courage and trust that are required to respond to the expectations of the world’s people who are looking for a new, just and prosperous world,’ said the EBBF Governing Board.

Technorati Tags: Bahai, Baha’i, European Baha’i Business Forum, EBBF, G20, financial crisis

We beseech God - exalted be His glory - to grant awareness and insight to the men of wisdom as well as to those who hold in their grasp the reins of  power in Persia, that they may be able to distinguish the right way from the crooked and devious path and may clearly discern the well-wisher from the ill-wisher with a true and genuine sense of discrimination. Baha’i text

Baha’is see the whole world as their home, as Baha’u'llah said: `The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.’ However, certain parts of the world are, for Baha’is, particularly holy or blessed.

One of them is the Iran, still another is Baghdad and yet another is the Holy Land. Today these places are political enemies but for Baha’is they are the holiest places on earth.

Many people know that the founder of the baha’i Faith, Baha’u'llah, came from Iran. They probably also know that the Baha’is there have been persecuted throughout their whole history. Indeed, Baha’u'llah Himself, as a follower of the Bab and a leader of the Babi community, was tortured and imprisoned and eventually exiled by the Iranian government.

Forced to leave His homeland, Baha’u'llah went to Baghdad, which was then a city in the Ottoman Empire. Here He proclaimed His mission to humanity in 1863. Thus Baghdad also became holy for His followers.

After ten years in Baghdad, and at the instigation of the Iranian government, Baha’u'llah was further banished across the Ottoman lands until He was sent to the prison-city on the western edge of their empire. It was here that Baha’u'llah died, still a prisoner of the Ottomans, in 1892. It was here that He was buried and here that His followers built a shrine around His resting place. This part of the Ottoman Empire thus also became holy for Baha’is, as it was for Muslims and Christians and Jews.

More than half a century later, the state of Israel was created out of the very territory where Baha’u'llah’s shrine, Christian shrines and Muslim holy places were located.

Strange, then, that one of the allegations against the seven Baha’i leaders - the Yaran (Friends) - still imprisoned in Iran is that they are spies for Israel, on the grounds that the Baha’i shrines are there. Yes, they certainly are in Israel - because the Iranians colluded to send Baha’u'llah there.

Today the seven Baha’i prisoners were supposed to go on trial. A request that the trial be deferred because their legal advisors - whom they have not met - were themselves in prison or out of the country was, at the eleventh hour, granted. The trial is now set for 18 October.

The whole situation is so frustrating for Baha’is. Not just the detention of seven innocent people, not just the repeated postponement of their trial, but the whole situation. Baha’is find it so difficult to explain to the Iranian authorities and to some of the Iranian people that they have just got the wrong end of the stick. Baha’is do not hate Iran, they do not wish to see it fail. They love the country and its people, they wish to see it prosper and develop. They wish that its leadership be just, that all its people be free. Baha’is everywhere pray for Iran’s well-being, freedom and peace.

Actually, that is the same prayer Baha’is pray for the whole world.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’u'llah, Iran, Israel, Baghdad, trial of Baha’is in Iran, Yaran, human rights

O Son of Man! Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou wouldst find no rest save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face. Bahai writings

I was driving with Moojan from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Wilmette, Illinois, on 20 July 1969, trying to arrive there before the astronauts landed on the moon. We had car trouble on the way and I had to use a coat hanger to keep the exhaust in place as we drove through Nebraska.

I had not been to my family’s home in Wilmette, as they have only recently moved there, and had no idea where the street they lived on might be. There was no such thing as a SatNav and the map we had showed Wilmette as a suburb of Chicago but no streets. Once in the Chicago area, I just pointed the car towards Wilmette and, having arrived there, looked for the dome of the Baha’i House of Worship above trees, as I knew the street to be nearby. Just before 3:00 in the afternoon I pulled into the parking lot next to the House of Worship, my car roaring as the silencer (muffler, for those in the US) had completely gone. A car was just leaving the car park as I drove in, so I asked the driver where Greenleaf was — and got directions from Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem!

We quickly drove the two blocks and ran into the house just in time to sit with my family to watch the historic moon landing at 3:17 Chicago time.

We were thrilled by the words of  Neil Armstrong as he set his foot on the moon’s surface: `That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ - they seemed to capture the very spirit of the changes and advances that were happening in the world. For me, it was particularly poignant to watch with my grandmother, the first Baha’i in our family, who was born in Norway in 1896 and had come to the US on a ship in 1902.

But it was Buzz Aldrin who, unwittingly, echoed Baha’u'llah’s truth-statement of more than a century before - `Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou wouldst find no rest save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face - when, in the first broadcast from the moon, he requested us to be show humility and gratitude to our creator: `I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.’

Technorati Tags: Bahai, Baha’i, Baha’u'llah, moon landing, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, astronauts, Baha’i House of Worship

So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, when they enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease; for woman will be the obstacle and hindrance to it. This is true and without doubt. Bahai writings

We can tell that women still do not `participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world’ because we still do not have universal peace. However, compared to the status of women in 1912 when `Abdu’l-Baha made this statement to a women’s suffrage meeting in New York, we are advancing along this trajectory. Witness the number of women now in government, business, the law, the professions, in contrast to the number a hundred years ago - not enough, certainly, but many more. Witness also the growth in the organisations that work for the advancement of women. equality and justice.

Last evening I attended the 40th anniversary of the establishment the independent advisory body set up under the Wilson government as the interface between the British government and women and women’s organisations: the Women’s National Commission (WNC). Over 450 organisations in the UK are partners, organisations concerned inter alia with the advancement of women, women’s rights, the education of women and girls, the role of women in peace and security, mothers, women workers, women scientists, family planning, grandparents, widows, housing, health, justice, trafficking, violence against women, families, women in politics and gender and equality issues in general, as well as faith communities, cultural organisations, professional associations and trades unions. The role of the WNC is to ensure that the views of women are taken into account by the government and are heard in public debate. Although paid for by the government, the WNC comments independently on government policy and advises the government. And, in my experience, actually listens to the people and organisations it represents and includes them in forming its policies and recommendations.

I was invited as a co-founder of Advance, a Baha’i-inspired organisation (follow us on Twitter: advancewomennow). One of the aims of Advance is to introduce the principles and concepts found in the Baha’i writings into the discourse on gender and equality issues being conducted by the Women’s National Commission and its partners. The statement made by Prime Minister Harold Wilson at the launch of the WNC in 1969 resonate with the Baha’i teachings: `Women’s experiences, capabilities and sensibilities enable them to contribute something additional, valuable and possibly different, to thought and discussion on public issues.’

The 40th anniversary celebration was held on the terraces of the House of Lords, so was quite a prestigious event and I was really honoured to be invited. Most of the people there were commissioners or former commissioners of the WNC, statesmen, politicians, lawyers, social activists, educators - women who have `entered confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics’. They represented many cultures, backgrounds and religions, united in their dedication to making the world more equitable and just.

Chair Baroness Joyce Gould

outlined the evolution of the WNC and the issues it tackled, starting with a review of family law in the early 1970s, and moving on to equal pay legislation, tackling violence against women and female genital mutilation, issues concerning older women, and how to engage more women in public life. This last was of particular relevance to me, as it was through the efforts of the WNC that the government was persuaded to actively recruit more (and younger) women to positions such as non-executive director of health boards, one of which recruited me in 1990 (I am still serving on the successor board, NHS Bedfordshire).

Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman,

spoke of the progress made and work still to be done in all these areas, particularly in this time of financial difficulty, when the temptation to backtrack on issues such as childcare for working women, equal pay and support for families is great.

It wasn’t all serious, though. Comedian Jo Brand

made us laugh at ourselves (`Feminists range from women in high heels and lipstick to those in overalls and Doc Martens. I’m the first but I look like the second.’)

And among the hundred or so people there were Carwen Wynne Howells, Federation President of Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland; Jonathan Rees, Director-General of the Government Equalities Office; members of UNIFEM NC UK - and two other Baha’is, Lois Hainsworth MBE, veteran activist for women’s rights; and Mieko, co-founder, with Zarin Hainsworth-Fadaei and me, of Advance.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Women’s National Commission, human rights, women’s rights, gender issues, equality of women and men, Baroness Gould of Pottenewton, Harriet Harman, Jo Brand, Advance, Soroptimist International, Jonathan Rees, Lois Hainsworth, Mieko Bond

The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u'lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. Bahai writings

Today, 11 July, is Baha’i Rights day, when bloggers and tweeters offer a thought on the rights of  Baha’is. Organised by the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights http://www.bahairights.org/, it is an opportunity to communicate some of the human rights abuses that the Baha’i suffer in many parts of the world.

I expect quite a few people will do this, so I thought I might take a different approach.  `Abdu’l-Baha says that `the moderate freedom which guarantees the welfare of the world of mankind and maintains and preserves the universal relationships, is found in its fullest power and extension in the teachings of Baha’u'llah’. So what does the Baha’i Faith say about human rights and what freedoms does it guarantee?

When He was travelling in America in 1912, `Abdu’l-Baha described the how much more effective, progressive and just a community was if its people were granted certain rights: `Under an autocratic government the opinions of men are not free, and development is stifled, whereas in democracy, because thought and speech are not restricted, the greatest progress is witnessed. It is likewise true in the world of religion. When freedom of conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech prevail — that is to say, when every man according to his own idealization may give expression to his beliefs — development and growth are inevitable.’

In my reading of the writings of Baha’u'llah, `Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi and the published talks of `Abdu’l-Baha I have come across many statements that describe the legal, equitable or moral entitlements of individuals within a society functioning according to the Bahá’í teachings. These are sometimes expressed as `freedoms’ and sometimes as `rights’. Many of these are the very entitlements that Baha’is - and others - are denied in their home countries today.

Freedoms (those that are more or less the same I have grouped together):

Freedom to worship God as one believes to be right
Freedom of belief
Freedom of choice of  religion

Freedom of conscience
Freedom of thought

Freedom of speech
Freedom of expression
Freedom to have and express one’s own opinion
Freedom to criticise
Freedom of the press

Freedom of investigation

Freedom from government oppression
Freedom of the person
Freedom from slavery and bondage
Freedom from oppression
Freedom from all forms of abuse

Freedom from fear
Freedom from want
Freedom to marry the person of one’s choice (for Baha’is, conditioned on the consent of the parents)
Freedom of movement
Freedom of the voter to vote for whom he chooses
Freedom to bequeath ones property as one wishes

Rights of the Individual

Right of the family to maintain itself under conditions favourable to body, mind and spirit.
Right to survive
Right to hold opinions and express these opinions appropriately
Right to information

Right to establish centres of worship

Right to a happy, comfortable life
Right to a social order
Right to be citizens in good standing
Right to be recognized as a person before the law
Right to privacy
Right to freedom from racial discrimination
Right to expect that those cultural conditions essential to one’s identity enjoy the protection of national and international law

Right to a living
Right of the workers to share in the profits of the enterprise
Right to dignity
Rights of minorities and fostering their interest

Right to development
Right of women to equality with men
Right to help others
Right basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care
Right to education (also, `daughters have a prior right to education over sons’)

Baha’is believe that `rights and responsibilities are inextricably linked’ thus for every `right’ there is a counterpart responsibility

Responsibilities of individuals

To recognize the essential oneness of the human race
To promote the human rights of others
To uphold the rights of others
To develop a personal commitment to building a broader sense of community
To promote the well-being, and respect for the rights, freedoms, identity and human dignity of others
To promote the rights of women and children
To obey the law
To educate children

Responsibilities of governments

To respect the rights and freedoms listed above and to find ways to foster their expression

To respect the rights of minorities, women, children and the disabled

To be fair in their judgement

To provide employment for everyone

These are a few of the freedoms, rights and responsibilities of individuals and their governments that are described in the Baha’i teachings.

Today the trial of the seven imprisoned Baha’is facing the death penalty in Tehran was due to start. We have just learned that it has been postponed. Whether there has been the usual kind of judicial delay or there has been a change of heart, whether this is yet one more ploy by an unscrupulous administration to achieve some undisclosed agenda or is an attempt to deflect international criticism has yet to be determined. Whatever today’s event, the rights of the Baha’is are still severely restricted so a focus on them in still very much required.

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