Bahá’í wins Olympic Triple Jump Gold

Athlete Nelson Evora - a member of the Bahá’í Faith - has won an Olympic Gold Medal in the men’s triple jump.24 year old Mr Evora jumped 17.67 metres, adding the Olympic title to his world crown and giving Portugal its first Olympic gold medal in 12 years.Born in Cote D’Ivoire where his parents had gone to live from Cape Verde, Mr Evora relocated to Portugal when he was five. The family moved into an apartment that happened to be on the floor above his future coach, trainer and mentor, Joao Ganco, a member of the Portuguese Bahá’í community.Mr Evora became a Portuguese citizen in 2002 after previously competing for the Cape Verde Islands.“I can’t yet believe that I won this competition,” said Mr Evora. “It was so fast. It was a dream for me. I will be persistent in my efforts and achieve better results in the future. I believe I can do that.” news from the UK Bahá’í community

Importance of Religion - Bahai point of view

And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that religion is a mighty bulwark. If the edifice of religion shakes and totters, commotion and chaos will ensue and the order of things will be utterly upset, for in the world of mankind there are two safeguards that protect man from wrongdoing. One is the law which punishes the criminal; but the law prevents only the manifest crime and not the concealed sin; whereas the ideal safeguard, namely, the religion of God, prevents both the manifest and the concealed crime, trains man, educates morals, compels the adoption of virtues and is the all-inclusive power which guarantees the felicity of the world of mankind. But by religion is meant that which is ascertained by investigation and not that which is based on mere imitation, the foundation of Divine Religions and not human imitations.

('Abdu'l-Baha's)

Everyone Thinks Of Changing The World, But No One Thinks Of changing Himself.

(LEO TOLSTOY)

Perseverance

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock,

the stream always wins…

not through strength but by perseverance.

H. Jackson Brown

Christ appeared when the Israelitish nation had fallen...

As to Christ: He was a single, unique and lowly individual Who appeared at a time when the Israelitish nation had fallen from the heights of its glory to the lowest condition of bondage and contempt, subject to the tyranny of the Roman Empire, living under a yoke of humiliation, ignorant and negligent of God. The historical records of the Holy Books confirm these statements. Christ -- this single and unique Personage -- appeared amongst these despised and degraded people, reflecting a divine power and the potency of the Holy Spirit. He unified the various peoples and nations of the world, brought them together in fellowship and agreement and gathered them beneath the overshadowing protection of one Word. His prestige and mention were not confined to the children of Israel alone, who were at that time a limited race and people, but His spiritual power had also permeated and united great influential nations who had been warlike and hostile, such as the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Syrians and Assyrians. He dispelled their hostility, healed their hatred, made them a united people, and by His Word created the utmost love amongst them so that they advanced immeasurably in the degrees of education and human perfection, thereby attaining a never-ending glory.

Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

Iranian Baha'is and Israel - Cry for Justice

BAHA'IS REJECT ALLEGATIONS OF SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITY IN IRAN NEW YORK, 3 August 2008 (BWNS) -- The Baha'i International Communitycategorically rejects statements by an Iranian prosecutor that seven Baha'isdetained in Tehran have "confessed" to operating an"illegal" organization with ties to Israel and other countries. "We deny in the strongest possible terms the suggestion that Baha'is in Iran have engaged in any subversive activity," said Bani Dugal,principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the UnitedNations.

"The Baha'i community is not involved in political affairs.Their only 'crime' is the practice of their religion."

Ms. Dugal said..."Suggestions of collusion with the state of Israel are categorically falseand misleading. The Iranian authorities are playing on the fact that theBaha'i world administrative center is located in northern Israel," she said."The Iranian government completely ignores the well-known historical factthat the Baha'i Faith was centered in Iran until 1853 when the authoritiesthere banished the Baha'i prophet-founder, who was forced into exile andeventually imprisoned in Acre on the Mediterranean coast under the OttomanTurkish regime. That area happens to be in what is now Israel."

Ms. Dugal said "The Baha'is, have nothing tohide and try to answer truthfully whenever they are interrogated.

Baha'is and their purer essence of tolerance

A beautiful article by Mr. Balint who is a writer and editorialist....

"....It is difficult to imagine a purer strain of religious intolerance than the fanaticism that pervades Iran's leadership class. It is just as difficult to conjure a purer essence of tolerance than that which distinguishes the Bahais, who recognize Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad as divine messengers; who preach pluralism, equality between the sexes, universal education and the harmonization of secular and religious knowledge; and who stress the oneness of humanity, to the point of explicitly encouraging interracial marriage.
Intolerance hates tolerance most of all. At the very moment Unesco has chosen to recognize what it calls the "outstanding universal value" of the Carmel shrines and what they stand for, the mullahs are moved to persecute these believers who emerged from the very heart of Islam -- and who represent a future that fanatical Islam has so disastrously chosen to reject."