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Palmdale,
CA, December 28, 2002-The Baha'i communities of Antelope Valley,
along with the Baha'is around the world, have concluded a four-month
long commemeration of the 150th Anniversary of the beginnings
of the Baha'i Faith.
This
sacred period of suffering, sacrifice and spiritual renewal
began in August of 1852. It was during this period that Baha'u'llah
(Glory of God), the founder of the Baha'i Faith, was unjustly
imprisoned for four months in an underground prison in Tehran
known as the Black Pit. It was there, through a vision, that
He first received the revelation that He was the Promised One
of all religions.
About
the prison, Baha'u'llah, Himself, says, "We were all huddled
together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks
fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was
laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which
we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray
of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon
or to warm its icy-coldness." "though the galling
weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but
little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I
felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My
breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon
the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of
My body would, as a result, be set afire."
This
was the setting in which Baha'u'llah received the Call of
God, heard from every side: "Verily, We shall render
Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not
for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid,
for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures
of the earth - men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through
Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as
have recognized Him."
Following
His release from the Black Pit, Baha'u'llah was exiled to
Baghdad. Dismayed by their inability to curb Baha'u'llah’s
continuing influence and growing Faith, Persian religious
and government leaders convinced the officials of the Ottoman
Empire to banish Baha'u'llah to Adrianople, Constantinople,
and finally, to the horrendous prison city of Akka in the
Holy Land where he died in 1892. Baha'u'llah suffered forty
years of torture, imprisonment and exile.
Despite
imprisonment and exile, Baha'u'llah continued to teach that
there is one God whose successive revelations of His will
to humanity have been the chief civilizing force in history.
The agents of this process have been the Divine Messengers
whom people have seen chiefly as the founders of separate
religious systems but whose common purpose has been to bring
the human race to spiritual and moral maturity.
Baha'u'llah taught that humanity is one single race and that
the day has come for its unification in one global society.
God, Baha'u'llah said, has set in motion historical forces
that are breaking down traditional barriers of race, class,
creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a
universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the
peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness
and to assist the processes of unification.
Baha'u'llah
taught that each human being is "a mine rich in gems"
unknown even to the owner, let alone to others, and inexhaustible
in its wealth. The purpose of life is to develop these capacities
both for one's own life and for the service of humanity. Life
in this world, as Baha'u'llah presents it, is like the life
of a child in the womb of its mother: the moral, intellectual,
and spiritual powers which a human being develops here, with
the help of God, will be the "limbs" and "organs"
needed for the soul's progress in the worlds beyond this earthly
one.
Today
the Baha'i Faith is the second most widespread of the world's
independent religions, established in 235 countries and territories
throughout the world. Baha'is come from over 2,100 ethnic,
racial, and tribal groups and number some 5 million worldwide.
Baha'is believe in:
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the abandonment of all forms of prejudice
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assurance
to women of full equality of opportunity with men
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recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truth
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the
elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth
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the
realization of universal education
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the
responsibility of each person to independently search for
truth
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the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations
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recognition
that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit
of scientific knowledge
Illinois Representative Mark Steven Kirk addressed the U.S.
Congress in October with these words, "On the 150th anniversary
of Baha'u'llah's imprisonment and the founding of the Baha'i
Faith, we salute along with the American Baha'i community the
ideals of universal brotherhood, peace, cooperation, and understanding
espoused by Baha'u'llah. These are Baha'i values, they are American
values, and they are universal values."
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