home / writing /misc /
5 BILLION WAYS TO GOD
The noonday sun reflects from every facet of the white structure which dominates the landscape. The unfurled outer layers shimmer in the heat, their wierd angles alien to the rolling lawns. The Bahai are here with a message for the people of the Earth.
It's been a difficult journey though. The Bahai Faith is a religon that was founded in 1844. A youth in Persia had a vision following which he renamed himself the Gate and started preaching that religon is progressive, everyone must find there own way to the truth and all religons are equally valid. He was clearly insane and, being completely peaceful, was of course heavily persecuted.
The movement took hold however. Today there are 0.7 million Bahais spread across the globe, making them the seventh largest religon (although after the first few there's a real big drop off). They believe in freedom, equality and compulsory education, would abolish extremes of poverty and wealth, elect their leaders (democratic religon?) and think all work should be exalted to the level of worship. Rumours that most of Cambridge University is secretly Bahai are completely unfounded however. They have completely missed out on all the smiting-of-the-infidel bits which make other religons such good fun.
I wish them luck in converting the world. They'll need it (either that or god on their side) since evangelising goes against Bahai principles. I myself could never join such a bunch of bloody do-gooders. The one we met didn't even have the saving sin of being self righteous. He was serious and softly spoken, but with the intensity of a true believer. In spite of this, everything he said sounded eminently reasonable, but I remain an honest god fearing athiest (who has more reason to fear god than an athiest?). That's alright with the Bahai; maybe it's just my way to the truth.
The various Bahai temples are all different, but all have 9 sides, their holy number. People of all religons are welcome to pray there, as long as a Bahai service isn't in progress. The Indian temple is probably the most beautiful, built in the shape of an opening Lotus flower. Petal shaped water pools keep it automatically air conditioned. The inside, all silent walls curving upwards, bare apart from a few choice Bahai quotations, is as good a place for meditation as you'll find. The noonday sun reflects from every facet of the white structure, which dominates the landscape. The unfurled outer layers shimmer in the heat, their wierd angles alien against the rolling lawns. The locals know exactly what to make of it all though: postcards.
Alison Gale & Danny Boy
The Bahai Faith have a website at www.bcca.org
© Daniel Winterstein 1998-2008
This is a personal
site. For Daniel's
business activities,
please see:
Winterwell.