Why we believe? An interesting youtube

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Peh-UvZqPkE

عن حرية الاعتقاد ......... فى مصر

الحرية الدينية أو حرية المعتقد أحد أهم حقوق الإنسان الأساسية التى أقرها الإعلان العالمى لحقوق الإنسان فى المادة 18 (كل شخص له الحق فى حرية التفكير والضمير والدين ويشمل هذا الحق حرية تغيير ديانته أو عقيدته وحرية الإعراب عنهما بالتعليم والممارسة وإقامة الشعائر ومراعاتها سواء أكان ذلك سرا أم مع الجماعة)

حرية الاعتقاد لها وجوه خمسة لا تكتمل إلا بها مجتمعة، الأول هو حق اعتناق أى دين أو مذهب سماوى أو أرضى أو عدم الاعتقاد أساسا بأى عقائد والثانى حق إقامة شعائر هذا الاعتقاد بما قد يلزمه من بناء دور عبادة والثالث حق الدعوة إلى هذا الاعتقاد والتبشير به والرابع حق الترك والتغيير لهذا الاعتقاد والخامس كفالة الدولة لأى مواطن أيا كان اعتقاده الدينى وعدم انتقاص أى من حقوقه بسبب اعتقاده الدينى.

ليس من حق أى دولة أن تمنح تصاريح الممارسات الدينية لطوائف دينية دون أخرى مهما كان الدين الرسمى للدولة لأن فى هذا انتقاصا لحقوق المواطنة وتمييزا على أساس الدين، أما قصر حقوق الاعتقاد وتوابعها على الأديان السماوية فقط فلا أصل له فى مواثيق حقوق الإنسان ولا حتى فى الدين الذى قرر قاعدة «لا إكراه فى الدين» كقاعدة شرعية وعقلية كلية لا يجوز القول بما يضادها أو يصادمها كلياً أو جزئياً، ابتداءً أو إبقاءً، أى لدخول الدين أو البقاء عليه......

مصطفى النجارhttp://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/2310006

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. UN

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a18

كل مصرى هو كل المصريين!

الإسلام متسامح، والذين يحتكرون الحديث باسمه متعصبون غير متسامحين، فإذا صدقنا هؤلاء أو تركناهم يكتبون الدستور كما يشاؤون فكيف نتعامل مع البهائيين فى مصر؟ وكيف يتعامل الإيرانيون مع المجوس فى إيران؟ وكيف يتعامل السوريون واللبنانيون مع العلويين والدروز فى سوريا ولبنان؟ وإذا كانت الوحدة العربية مطلباً من مطالبنا كما جاء فى الدستور كيف نعيش مع أصحاب هذه الديانات والمذاهب فى كيان سياسى واحد؟ ألاّ يكون الدستور بهذه المواد المختلفة مليئاً بالتناقضات؟ وما الذى نعرفه عن البهائيين، أو بلأحرى ما الذى نأخذه عليهم؟ لقد نظرت فى بعض الموسوعات العربية فوجدت أن البهائية مذهب دينى أسسه رجل يسمى بهاء الله متأثراً بالشيعة- والصوفية وبمذاهب أخرى، وفيه أن الله يعرف نفسه للإنسان بواسطة الأنبياء الذين يظهرون على مر العصور والأجيال، إبراهيم، وموسى، وداوود، وعيسى، ومحمد، والباب، وبهاء الله، والبهائيون يعتقدون إذن بوحدة الأديان وبتربية تقوى فى الإنسان ما هو مشترك بين البشر، وبالسلام فى الأرض، وبالمساواة بين الرجل والمرأة، وبضرورة العمل من أجل الوصول للغة عالمية ويؤكدون على بساطة العيش وتقديم العون للمعذبين. بأى منطق إذن نتجاهل أصحاب هذه العقيدة ونتعصب ضدهم ونحرمهم من حقوقهم الطبيعية وحقوقهم الدستورية؟ التى كانوا يتمتعون بها قبل أن يصبح الدين تجارة؟ والكثيرون لا يعرفون أن البهائية دخلت مصر فى أواسط القرن التاسع عشر، وأنها كانت حتى ستينيات القرن الماضى عقيدة معترفاً بها، وأن البهائيين لهم معبد فى القاهرة يمارسون فيه شعائرهم، وأن الدولة كانت ترسل إليهم من يشاركهم الاحتفال بأعيادهم الدينية لكن المتاجرين بالدين قرروا أن يخرجوا البهائية من قائمة الديانات المسموح باعتناقها فى مصر. إن الذى يحرم البهائى من حقه يحرم كل المصريين من حقوقهم لأن كل مصرى هو كل المصريين!

The Day When The People Changed !

What Kind About You?

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation teaches workshops to inspire kids to be kind and become problem solvers. Here you can learn the basics of their K-3rd grade and 4th grade and Up workshops.
http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/additional-classroom-materials

2013 Kindness Challenge Winner

Hannah Brencher, who started The World Needs More Love Letters, demonstrates how a simple act of kindness can turn life around for the giver and receiver.

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-videos/6810-2013-kindness-challenge-winner

10 Reasons Not to Hit Your Child

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior/spanking/10-reasons-not-hit-your-child

 The evidence against spanking is overwhelming. Hundreds of studies all come to the same conclusions:
1. The more physical punishment a child receives, the more aggressive he or she will become.
2. The more children are spanked, the more likely they will be abusive toward their own children.
3. Spanking plants seeds for later violent behavior.
4.Spanking doesn't work.  

Our Prayer with All Egyptians

Prayer revealed by the Báb, usually referred to as the "Remover of Difficulties"

"Is there any remover of difficulties save God, Praised be God, He is God, all are His servants and all abide by His bidding"

هل مِن مفرّج ٍ غیرُالله، قل سبحان الله، هوالله، کلّ ٌ عباد ٌ له و کلّ ٌ بامره قائمون

http://www.shidantolouiwallace.com/music.html

Good Movie for the Family

We just watched "Akeela and the Bee" 2006
Very inspiring for both children and parent.

Akeelah: You know that feeling where everything feels right? Where you don't have to worry about tomorrow or yesterday, where you feel safe and know you're doing the best you can? There's a word for that, it's called love. L-O-V-E. 

Question of Faith

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Peh-UvZqPkE

Please watch this short video, then try to answer the simple questions

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/Peh-UvZqPkE

This is interesting!....must watch. 

Interfaith at Newtown School

Reading from Baha'i holy scriptures at Interfaith Service at Newtown...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BWFQ03VKWYM

"...lament not, O Mother and Father, and be not grieved; I am not of the lost, nor have I been obliterated and destroyed. I have shaken off the mortal form and have raised my banner in this spiritual world. Following this separation is everlasting companionship. Thou shalt find me in the heaven of the Lord, immersed in an ocean of light.'" from Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha,

A BAHA’I LITMUS TEST FOR EGYPT

http://www.aucegypt.edu/GAPP/CairoReview/Pages/articleDetails.aspx?aid=230

Dwight Bashir

August 22, 2012

Myth #1: Baha’is are a Zionist entity and, therefore, not entitled to any rights.  Last month, Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said Baha’is are of “Zionist origin” and, thus, should not be protected under the constitution to practice their faith publicly.  What “origin” has to do with constitutional protections for any of Egypt’s citizens is anyone’s guess. Leaving this point aside, the particular accusation is baseless.  It is leveled solely because the Baha’i world headquarters is in Haifa, Israel.  This, however, was clearly not the preference of Baha’i leaders at the time.  The faith’s founder, Baha’u’llah, was imprisoned and exiled throughout the region during Ottoman rule in the 1800s: from Iran and Iraq to Turkey and Palestine. Baha’u’llah died while under house arrest in 1892 in Acre, Palestine.  It was his family and followers who established the administrative center of the faith there, more than a half century before 1948, the year the state of Israel was born.  Moreover, based on the logic of his position, Ghozlan would be forced to call every resident of Palestine or Israel a Zionist.  Clearly, that’s not what he meant, but this demonstrates the absurdity of his claim about the Baha’is.  Of the nearly six million Baha’is in the world today, fewer than 1,000 reside in what is now Israel.  They serve as temporary volunteers at the Baha’i World Center and eventually return to their home countries after a short period. 

Myth #2: Baha’is are a threat to national security.  Like Myth #1, this dubious claim hinges on the location of the Baha’i world headquarters in Israel.  This claim is made most frequently by conservative clerics such as Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, a prominent Salafi leader who reportedly once said that Islam forbids playing or watching soccer.  In February, he stated that Baha’is are a security threat, claimed that Baha’is deserve no rights in a new constitution, and asserted that Baha’is should be tried for treason. Such irresponsible statements promote the further demonization of Baha’is in society and pour fuel on the fire of extremist attacks on Baha’is. 

Myth #3: Baha’is are apostates from Islam and, therefore, should be eliminated by the state.  Al-Shahat, and others like him cite Al-Azhar’s fatwas declaring Baha’is as apostates.  This accusation is based on numerous fatwas issued by the Islamic Research Academy at Al-Azhar University over the years, most recently reiterated in 2003.  The gist of the argument is a theological one, that Baha’is claim divine revelation after the Prophet Muhammad, which makes them apostates from Islam because, in their view, Muhammad was the last of the Prophets from God.

However, religion experts explain that the Baha’i faith emerged out of Islam similar to the way Christianity sprang from Judaism and is separate and distinct.  In fact, in 1925, Egypt became the first predominantly Muslim state to recognize the Baha’i faith as an independent religion after an Egyptian court ruled that the faith indeed was separate from Islam, and consequently, Baha’is could not be deemed heretics or apostates.  This ruling led to greater emancipation for the Egyptian Baha’is in the decades thereafter, and they were legally recognized in the 1930s until the 1960 ban.  Since then, conservative clerics and political leaders alike have used Al-Azhar’sfatwas and Nasser’s ban to justify discrimination, vilification, and incitement.

Could Science and Religion be in Harmony? Yes

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=149948191
What a great achievement for our scientists....NASA's Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars 

Among other principles of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings was the harmony of science and religion. Religion must stand the analysis of reason. It must agree with scientific fact and proof so that science will sanction religion and religion fortify science. Both are indissolubly welded and joined in reality. 

Please go to the link below for more Scientific discussions...

http://www.commongroundgroup.net/science-religion/science-and-religion-writings-by-william-hatcher/the-unity-of-science-and-religion/