Iranian Baha'is have been denied the opportunity to participate in post secondary education...

For well over a quarter of a century, Iranian Baha'is have been denied the opportunity to participate in post secondary education. To this day, the Iranian government covertly manages to discriminate against Baha'is, despite the fact that the United Nations, academic departments and human rights organizations around the world continue to place pressure on the State to desist from asking applicants about their religious affiliation.
Roughly 800 of 1000 Baha'is who wrote entrance exams in 2007 have been given notice that their files were "incomplete."
The Iranian government continues to systematically label many qualified Baha'i applications as "incomplete" and thus they are unable to register and attend university. This "incomplete" designation is but one more tactic in a long list of human rights violations in which the Iranian government denies higher educational access to its largest religious minority; a minority whose only crime is their fundamental belief in the oneness of humanity, the equality of men and women and the elimination of all forms of prejudice.
From a moral perspective, denying higher education based on religious discrimination is fundamentally wrong......................BENJAMIN KELLY

Six Baha'i leaders arrested in Iran

NEW YORK — Six Bahá’í leaders in Iran were arrested and taken to the notorious Evin prison yesterday in a sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Bahá’í leaders were summarily rounded up and killed.

“We protest in the strongest terms the arrests of our fellow Bahá'ís in Iran,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations. “Their only crime is their practice of the Bahá’í Faith.”

“Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Bahá’í governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals,” she said.

On 21 August 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Iran were abducted and disappeared without a trace. It is certain that they were killed.

A number of members of local Bahá’í governing councils, known as local Spiritual Assemblies, were also arrested and executed in the early 1980s, before an international outcry forced the government to slow its execution of Bahá’ís. Since 1979, more than 200 Bahá’ís have been killed or executed in Iran, although none have been executed since 1998.

The informal national-level coordinating group, known as the Friends, was established with the knowledge of the government to help cope with the diverse needs of Iran’s 300,000-member Baháí community, which is the country’s largest religious minority.

God in Baha'i Faith and in Islam

"Both Islam and the Baha'i Faith are agreed on their descriptions of Allah including that there is only one God - Allah;

Islam:
There is no God but He: that is the witness of Allah, Hiss angles, and those endued with knowledge....There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, Then fear Me (and Me alone). (16:51)


Baha'i:
Beware, beware, lest thou be led to join partners with the Lord, thy God. He is, and hath from everlasting been, one and alone, without peer or equal, eternal in the past, eternal in the future, detached from all things, ever-abiding, unchangeable, and self-subsisting. He hath assigned no associate unto Himself in His Kingdom, no counsellor to counsel Him, none to compare unto Him, none to rival His glory. To this every atom of the universe beareth witness, and beyond it the inmates of the realms on high, they that occupy the most exalted seats, and whose names are remembered before the Throne of Glory. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 192)"
From Islam and the Baha'i Faith by M. Momen

Therapeutic Touch

Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices an intentionally directed process of energy exchange during which the practitioner uses the hands as a focus to facilitate the healing process. Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N. (Professor Emerita of New York University) and her mentor Dora Kunz developed Therapeutic Touch in the early 1970's. It is now practiced by thousands of health care professionals and lay people in 75 countries throughout the world. Numerous colleges and universities teach it in their graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. Therapeutic Touch is a scientifically based practice, including at least 15 doctoral dissertations, post doctoral studies and innumerable masters theses. TT was one of the recipients of research grants awarded to alternative therapies by the U.S. National Institute of Health. Research and experience have shown its effectiveness in:

• promotion of relaxation and reduction of anxiety


• changing the patient's perception of pain


• facilitating the body's natural restorative processes


• Therapeutic Touch is a natural human potential and is a skill that requires sensitivity and intentionality.

Eman has learnt Therapeutic Touch and enjoys doing it

Human Beings

“People are different, and so are their cultures.

People live in different ways, And civilizations also differ.

People speak in a variety of languages.

People are guided by different religions.

People are born different colors,

And many traditions influence their lives With varying colors and shades.

People dress differentlyAnd adapt to their environment in different ways.

People express themselves differently.

Music, literature, and art reflect different styles as well.

But despite these differences, All people have one single common attribute:

They are all human beings –Nothing more, nothing less.”

Sherine Ebadi

2003 Nobel Prize Winner

كيف أبحرت سفينة نوح بهذا العدد من ملايين الكائنات الحية؟

نقلا عن ميدل إست أونلين

اصطحب نوح وأسرته زوجا على الاقل من جميع أنواع الطيور والحيوانات بالاضافة إلى طعام

يكفي الجميع في رحلة استمرت عدة أشهر..... وأبعاد السفينة الخشبية كما وردت بالذراع في سفر التكوين تشير إلى أن طولها كان يبلغ 140 مترا وعرضها 23 مترا وارتفاعها 13.5 متر مما يعني أن اجمالي مساحة السطح يقل عن عشرة آلاف متر مربع. وقال دراجوس روتا الخبير في الرابطة الدولية لملاك ناقلات النفط المستقلين "سعة الشحنة لسفينة مثل هذه مبهر بالنسبة لذلك الزمن وقد تصل إلى 30 الف طن...."

وقال بيورن كلاوزين مدير مؤسسة خبراء شحن الماشية الدنمركية (كورال لاين ايه اس) ان الابقار الكبيرة تحتاج على الأقل إلى مترين مربعين لكل منها حين تحتجز في حظائر تتسع الواحدة منها لستة حيوانات. وأضاف "بالنسبة للحيوانات مثل النمور لست خبيرا لكنني أقول انك اذا كنت ستبحر فستحتاج إلى أربعة أمتار مربعة لكل نمر." فماذا عن الحيوانات الكبيرة الاخرى مثل الكنغر ووحيد القرن.. بالتأكيد كانت السفينة ستمتليء على الفور بالحمار الوحشي والبطريق والنسر والباندا والظبي كلها تحتاج إلى درجات حرارة وغذاء ومواطن تختلف اختلافا كبيرا عن بعضها بعضا

هل هناك تفسير أخر لقصة نوح؟ كيف يمكن أن تغمر المياه سطح الأرض وتغطي الجبال؟ أين ذهبت هذه المياه؟ نريد تعليقك إيها

القارء العزيز

Einstein said

The true value of a human being

is determined primarily

by the measure and the sense

in which he has attained

to liberation

from the self.

كلنا فى الأصل بشر ....

We cried when we read this story

We received the following story by email from a dear friend;


At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child'

Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ' We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball .. the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

We believe that we all can make a difference.....

The National Day of Prayer

Mona Heern tells her story of faith and persecution as a Bahai child in Iran at the Utah Valley National Day of Prayer Commemoration on Thursday, May 1, 2008.

Friday, 02 May 2008
City united by desire to believe

By Janice Peterson / DAILY HERALD

People of all faiths gathered Thursday night to pray and learn about one another's faiths in the Provo Tabernacle for Utah Valley's National Day of Prayer celebration. The keynote speaker for the night was Mona Heern, who spoke of her experiences with religious intolerance in Iran.
"My family experienced a lot of persecution there, and it still continues," she said.
Heern grew up in the largest minority faith in Iran, Baha'i. The Baha'i were among the first people to be attacked in the 1979 revolution, and Heern was forced to leave school at the age of 8 because of her religion. The Baha'i were no longer allowed to attend school, teach school, hold positions of power or work in certain jobs. Instead, Heern said she attended secret underground schools taught by Baha'i teachers who were no longer allowed to work.
Heern said her father went to work one day and never came back. For seven months, the family searched from prison to prison to find him, and were only given visitation rights after 10 months. Even then, Baha'i families visiting their loved ones were forced to arrive at the prison once a month at 7 a.m. and wait until 4 p.m. for 10 minutes of visitation. One day, the family waited for hours to visit her father, and when it was their turn Heern's mother presented the visitation card to the guard.

"This man looked at the card and he just started laughing and laughing," Heern explained, saying she could never forget his laugh. "Why didn't they tell you?" he asked. "We killed him a month ago." After her father's death, Heern's mother sold all her jewelry to escape the country, fearing for the safety of her children. The family was smuggled into Pakistan in the middle of the night and spent years as refugees before moving on to Germany.
Despite all the struggles her family went through, Heern said she wanted to make the point that there are good people everywhere, including good people of other faiths who helped her family along the way.
Heern is now a teacher in Salt Lake City, and she said her students often ask if she wants to return home. Heern tells them that she could not be who she is if she were to return.
"I know, in this country, not a lot of people want to become teachers, but I remember sitting in Iran thinking, 'I want to be a teacher,' " she said.
Heern concluded with a Baha'i prayer for humanity and unity. She said she believes the message is important because there are many people in the world who do not have religious freedom, but it is time for different faiths to unite.
The world is becoming a global village, and people cannot close their eyes to other cultures anymore, she said. Heern said she believes her message is especially important to residents in Utah Valley, because many do not know who the Baha'i are or about much of the religious persecution in the world.
"To me, the root of prejudice is ignorance," she said.
The theme of the night was "From Tolerance to Love," which Chaplain Linda P. Walton of Utah Valley State College, chairwoman of the event, said implies that there must be more than just tolerance for other religions.
Walton said the National Day of Prayer is a time for all religions to come together in prayer, but she believes it is also a celebration of the Bill of Rights. Walton read the First Amendment to the audience, which includes freedom of religion, and copies of the Bill of Rights were handed out to attendees.
"We need to celebrate that we have the right to do religion or not to do religion," she said.
Walton said the day is one for citizens to be reminded of their freedoms and pray for those who provide it, such as government leaders and those in uniform.
The celebration included scripture readings from books of several faiths, music by the One Voice Children's Choir and the Utah Valley Handbell Choir, and prayers for the military and religious freedom.
Connie Giblon of Tooele said she attended the event because her daughter was in the handbell choir, but she believes the celebration is important for people of different faiths.
"Whatever religion you are, that's a time to come together and have our purpose be the same," she said.
Giblon said she thinks it is important for people of all faiths to get together and the day of prayer is important for a country that was founded on the basis of religious freedom.
The National Day of Prayer is a time for people to remember the problems in the world and pray for all people, she said.

"I think it's a good thing. I think there's too much emphasis on taking prayer out of people's lives."

مابو 3 يوم حرية الصحافة

اليوم العالمي لحرية الصحافة أصبح حدثا هاما جدا في جميع الدول العالم الديمقراطية

يوم حرية الصحافة يذكر المواطنين والحكومات بأن حق حرية التعبير وتبادل

المعلومات مكفول بموجب المادة 19 من الإعلان الدولي للحقوق الإنسانية

يتفضل حضرة بهاء اللله في 1874 في صفات محرري الصحف:

وَقَدْ انْكَشَفَتِ الْيَوْمَ أَسْرَارُ الأَرْضِ أَمَامَ الأَبْصَارِ وَفِي الْحَقِيقَةِ إِنَّ الصُّحُفَ السَّيَّارَةَ مِرْآةُ الْعَالَمِ. تُظْهِرُ أَعْمَالَ الأَحْزَابِ الْمُخْتَلِفَةِ، وَتُرِي أَفْعَالَهُمْ وَتُسْمِعُهَا فِي آنٍ وَاحِدٍ فَهِيَ مِرْآةٌ ذَاتُ سَمْعٍ وَبَصَرٍ وَلِسَانٍ وَهِيَ ظُهُورٌ عَجِيبٌ وَأَمْرٌ عَظِيمٌ. وَلَكِنْ يَنْبَغِي لِمُحَرِّرِهَا أَنْ يَكُونَ مُقَدَّسَاً عَنْ أَغْرَاضِ النَّفْسِ وَالْهَوَى وَمُزَيَّنَاً بِطِرَازِ الْعَدْلِ وَالإِنْصَافِ وَيَتَحَرَّى الأُمُورَ بِقَدْرٍ مَقْدُورٍ حَتَّى يَطَّلِعَ عَلَى حَقَائِقِهَا ثُمَّ يَنْشُرُهَا.

Where Is the Love? by Todd Steinbergby

Writen in brief from an article wrote by Todd Steinbergny....

In America, we can worship who we want to worship, how we want to worship, and we don't have to pay taxes for the privilege. We don't have to get our religious doctrines approved by a state board or get permission to host a holy day in our respective communities. This is not the case in many countries, where the belief in a religion other than the state-approved ones can cost you your life or liberty.One example that lovers of liberty are most likely not aware of is the persecution that members of the Baha'i Faith face in Middle Eastern countries, but particularly in Iran and Egypt. Egypt, however, gives the worldwide Baha'i community hope because a particular court case has been pending that if ruled in the Baha'is' favor would give de facto recognition of the religion in Egypt. Being the cultural and academic center of Islam, a ruling like that would positively reverberate throughout the Islamic world, giving new hope for Baha'is throughout the Middle East, but especially in Iran the birthplace of the Baha'i Faith.............People are paying attention to the current Egyptian court case since so far the lower courts have upheld the Baha'i plea for official recognition. A similar case was struck down in 2006 by the country's highest court, so this year's case is tantamount to Round 2. The details of the case are as follows: like many other Middle Eastern countries, Egypt recognizes only three religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Your religion must be marked on all official documents. You cannot leave the field blank, nor can you mark it as "other." Though Baha'is are committed to following the laws of the land in which they live, the one religious law that Baha'is will not break due to government decree or compulsion is to deny their faith. So Baha'is voluntarily choose to be personae non gratae rather than to indelibly mark their official documents with a religious orientation other than their own.Consequently, the life of an Egyptian Baha'i means a life without access to schooling, healthcare, and gainful employment. Egyptian Baha'i children cannot even officially be born since birth certificates too must be marked with a religious preference! This is the price Baha'is pay for the simple desire to acknowledge their religion.For now, Baha'is outside of Egypt and other sympathetic voices can only indirectly influence the officials in Egypt through human rights organizations and diplomatic pressure. In Iran, this method has been marginally successful in reducing the severity of persecution, but every time a victory is won, a new crisis begins.............. Love is the secret of God's holy Dispensation ... the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness ... that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle ... Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.

................... Why are the schools, the healthcare system, the right to work, and most importantly, one's own religious identity, controlled by government fiat in the first place? Instead, I say let the free market decide whether or not it should discriminate against Baha'is. Would an employer turn down a qualified candidate just because he's not an adherent of one of the three major religions? Would a teacher close the doors on a couple's children because their parents marked "Baha'i" on their birth certificates? Would a doctor, upon encountering a Baha'i dying of a curable disease, kick him out on the street because he's a member of the wrong religion?Sadly, even in a free society, people are allowed to discriminate in this manner, but I wager that the majority would see through the nonsense of religious discrimination and take the initiative to employ, heal, and educate their fellow Egyptians, regardless of their religious orientation. But ending institutionalized bigotry would have a much greater effect, whether its done in Egypt or any country. As it is, laws that allow the state to discriminate one group from another sends the tacit message to the populace that some groups are more equal than others. By absconding the laws that either discriminate or venerate a particular group, we may actually live in a world where love has a chance.