Why does the world need a new religion?

Dr. Chris Gilbert

guest columnist

With more than 6 million adherents worldwide, the Baha’i faith is an independent world religion founded on the principles of the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Religion and Oneness of mankind.

While these are lofty in tone, in practice, Baha’is respect all the past prophets or manifestations of God and believe religion comes from the same source — one God who sends these messengers in a progression, designed masterfully to help our social and spiritual growth as individuals and as a society.

This is perhaps the most unique spiritual truth followers of the Baha’i faith understand. Rather than looking at religion as based on one divine teacher who appeared to one people at one time in history, Baha’is recognize a progress of these holy figures.

Each one brings teachings that remind us of the central themes common to all the great religions and provides humanity with new rules of the age designed to push society to new, spiritual limits.

In essence, all the great religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, the Jewish faith, Christianity, Muslimism and the Baha’i faith, are based on these progressive manifestations of God who appear at different points in time. Our spiritual and material advances throughout history have been sparked across different ages by the progression of these great teachers.

The lastest messenger, Baha’u’llah (in Persian, the “Glory of God”), fulfilled the prophecies of all great faiths that another teacher would return in this age.

Baha’u’llah was born in what is now Iran and forsook his nobleman background to declare a mission of global peace and unity to the world in 1863. Imagine the shock of such a message brought to mankind during the same period the Civil War was raging — world unity as a goal for all religions and all mankind!

For being so heretical, Baha’u’llah was bitterly opposed and imprisoned for more than 40 years. During this long exile, he committed his revelations and prayers to writing and authored letters to all the great rulers of the modernizing world.

But why does the world need a new religion?

One of the major sources of disunity in the world is the divisions among and between the great faiths of our world. The conflicts in which the United States is engaged in the Middle East have their roots in religious disunity. The messages of love and unity inside all the original teachings of these faiths have become lost in internal and external struggles for power, material resources and identity.

The Baha’i revelation, the newest faith in this long chain, is meant as renewal and as new spiritual energy.

This new covenant advocates the equality of men and women, the elimination of all prejudice, the creation of global education systems, the need for a universal language so we can all communicate, the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty and the protection through unity of cultural and ethnic diversity.

These issues, now so vital to our world, were prophesied in a time and place where they were considered revolutionary. But is there anything in this list we don’t want to see come to pass?

The Baha’i faith encourages an individual’s search for truth and spirituality and promotes the harmony of science and religion.

What does this mean to our daily lives?

Baha’u’llah said, “Unless and until unity is firmly established upon the Earth, there shall never be peace.”

Baha’is see this as the primary mission of all religions. To become unified under one faith for one great purpose — world peace.

Divisions and a sense of powerlessness are at the heart of our current social, economic, political and spiritual ills. Baha’is focus their lives on creating and supporting community, locally and globally. They understand that inclusiveness practiced by all faiths, by all peoples and in all nations is the only answer for healing divisions and eliminating unjust disparities.

Toward that end, there are many spiritual paths to one God, and the Baha’i faith offers the latest education for the journey.

There are remarkable elements of this faith that daily herald a new view and spiritual purpose for our planet. The Baha’i faith has no clergy and advocates no ritual. We meet regularly every 19 days for a feast of prayer and community.

The Baha’i community is built through consultation rather than traditional models of leadership. Spiritual assemblies made up of nine annually elected community members serve administratively at the local, regional, national and international levels to assist the affairs of the faith. Only members of the faith can contribute economically to it, and only those older than 15 are allowed to formally and individually declare as Baha’is.

This new faith is a wonderful resource available to all and inclusive of all.

For a more comprehensive look, visit www.bahai.org or contact On Faith columnist Dr. Chris Gilbert at 253-858-4992 or by e-mail at ckgilbert9@netsape.net.