doberman pizza. a baha'i (bahai, bahá'í) blog.

oh wow. guess what! The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois—whose design was the creation of Canadian Baha’i architect Louis Bourgeois, and whose ground was first broken by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá himself—is now officially one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois. Those of you who voted in the contest know how close the race was—time to rejoice (and check out the awesome video)!

Update: Read the news at the US Baha’i website.

photo courtesy of wallyg (cc).

I didn’t get the chance to post about this earlier, but I figured it would only be fair to post something, particularly as a follow-up to last fall’s post about the Dawson College shooting. I join other Baha’is in America and worldwide in assuring the friends and family of the victims of my heartfelt prayers in this dark and tragic time.

Let it be said that I haven’t watched, heard, or read the last words of the Virginia Tech shooter, diffused throughout the media after the fact (in an action that neighbour James Howden called “the ultimate sell-out” where “…mass murder and mass media join hands and celebrate the power of rage and heartbreak”). I don’t really plan to. Acting out an emotional, mental and spiritual sickness is still acting out, whether it happens in Blacksburg or Montreal, in Columbine or in Taber, Alberta. Oddly enough, in the media fallout from the Virginia Tech massacre, I discovered that one of North America’s first school shootings happened at St. Pius X High School in Ottawa in 1975—weird (although still not surprising) to know that such things have happened so close to home.

Why do we rush to blame someone else when things go horribly wrong? In the case of a school shooting like this one, emotions run high and blame shifts from target to target in rapid succession—the perpetrator, his parents, the educational system that brought him up, the laws of the land, the government, the church, God—et cetera. I confess to being a victim of such blame-gaming myself; it’s like a ritual we’re all trapped in, and it never goes anywhere. You just know that despite all the blaming, despite all the public displays of anger and grief, despite tougher gun laws and stricter regulations, there’ll be another shooting next year. Because that’s where we’re at now—that’s what we’re trapped in.

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I came across this movie by chance after discovering the lolworthy Masses Are Waiting video put together by “some Baha’is in Budapest” (hearsay?) Anyway, I was going to click to the next video… until I noticed who the girl in the green shirt was. Look closely.

Remind you of someone you know? lol. get your ruhi book today. just ask T.

Update: As of December 2007, there’s a sequel!

While Baha’is have been using the newly purchased and renovated Baha’i Centre on Macarthur Street for several months now, this past Wednesday marked the official opening and public dedication of the Centre. A crowd of about 60 people, including Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien, Ottawa-Vanier MP Mauril Bélanger, various city councillors, heads of local religious communities as well as business owners, attended the celebration yesterday afternoon. I was invited to sing as part of a quartet from the Ottawa Regional Baha’i Choir. It was an amazing and very positive afternoon! A news story about the opening ran in today’s edition of the Ottawa Citizen:

After a small, but determined religious community in Ottawa raised enough money to buy a former restaurant and renovate it, the Ottawa Baha’i Centre opened its doors yesterday.

Baha’i rules don’t allow members to raise funds outside the faith, and that means the 1,000 members from the Ottawa area raised $700,000 through their own donations.

[...] The new centre, which took 16 months to transform, has a library and bookstore and it will be a meeting place for feasts, or for events with guest speakers. The library and bookstore will be open to the general public, Mr. Smith said.

Mayor Larry O’Brien was among the 60 people who turned up for the event. Mr. O’Brien cut the ribbon and offered an inspirational message about faith groups and how much they contribute to the city.

MP Mauril Belanger was also on hand to welcome the Baha’is to his riding. The Baha’i choir sang a few songs, and Niels Hansen-Trip, a member of the spiritual assembly, spoke.

“The event was well-received and a lot of people talked about the amount of spirit at the occasion,” said Mr. Smith.

Louis Brunet, who took the photo included above, took a slew of photos throughout the entire event, and has already posted them on his photoblog: elbi.smugmug.com. Go check them out and share in the occasion (and see the quartet in action!)

Update: martinsquest.com featured this story as well; check out his link to the Baha’i Centre renovation pictures. Also, check out Vafa’s Baha’i Centre renovation slideshow (which, coincidentally, played on a continuous loop at the opening ceremony).

I’ve become addicted to this song lately, so I thought I’d share it with everyone. It’s a traditional tune called Ieva’s Polka, performed by Finnish quartet Loituma. It’s also the source of the infamous leekspin fad. If you find yourself getting addicted too, try checking out the Loituma Remixes Collection.

you may have seen this lovely little World Religion Day stamp being forwarded back and forth across the Internet lately, and shouted to yourself, “Forsooth! A Canadian stamp about World Religion Day? A stamp with a quote from the Bahá’í Writings on it? Happy day!” Well, at first I did that too, until I realized I couldn’t actually find any press release or news item that could confirm whether or not said stamp had been released by Canada Post.

So I called up Canada Post trying to confirm the existence of an official World Religion Day stamp, and they said they don’t know of any such design for a commemorative stamp, nor is there such a design in the works. A look at the 2007 Commemorative Stamp Lineup confirms this fact—unfortunately, while the above is a very nice design, it’s not a real stamp. Yet. Maybe, if there’s enough encouragement from philatelists and their ilk, Canada Post could be convinced to eventually issue a stamp along this theme?

At any rate—feel free to oooh and ahhh at this excellent (anonymous?) stamp design for now, and if you’re friends with the local postmaster, perhaps you could slip him or her a little suggestion for next year…

Learn more about Baha’i stamps (also check out the forum).

Happy Ridván to you wonderful people. We had a glorious celebration here in Ottawa, including performances from the Ottawa Regional Bahá’í Choir, and a solo on The Garden of Ridván from yours truly. Afterwards, a crowd of many people made their way over to Pej Central for a celebratory barbecue. I took the opportunity to ask Sam to explain to us the significance of Ridván:

If you really want to know, look up a lengthier explanation of Ridván (check Wikipedia’s article too).

Update! Ridván photos are up now (mostly from the barbecue so far)!

Related News:
Baha’is celebrate ‘King of Festivals’ (BWNS)
Les bahá’ís fêtent Ridván (bahai.fr)

Here’s how to ROFL. Thanks to Shin~Shin (via Youtube).

Honestly, I’ve never paid very much attention to these volumes before (I’m not a big reader… sue me) but for some reason, this year’s edition caught my eye and I’m actually intrigued by its content. According to the Baha’i World News Service, the 288-page volume “covers events throughout the world, digests major communications and statements from Baha’i institutions, provides up-to-date facts, figures and information, and showcases some of the exciting advances in the field of social and economic development”. It also includes, for the first time ever, a directory of major Baha’i websites (maybe that’s what piqued my interest). The article is accompanied by a short video interview that should give you a good intro.

I have lots of memories of growing up Baha’i—there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t understand back then that seems a lot clearer now (naturally, I suppose). For example, my mother was on the Spiritual Assembly in the town where we lived, so I remember going with Mom to meetings now and then, hanging around in a separate room playing with toys while the adults discussed boring and serious things in the living room. Who knows? They were probably talking about the same kinds of things I did while pioneering and serving on Spiritual Assemblies in the province of Quebec, some 15 years later—correspondence, administrative procedure, the healthy growth and progress of the Baha’i community, planning for upcoming Holy Days and the 19-day Feast.

I always loved attending the 19-day Feast (well, most of the time, I suppose—everyone has their off days too). Back then, our local Baha’i community was fairly small, so Feast was always held in people’s houses, allowing different families to offer hospitality each time. And it was always so beautiful! Pleasant, restful music playing as the friends entered, prayer books in small piles on a coffee table, candles lit and softly flickering throughout. Everything was so big back then, so grand and amazing. High-topped dressers filled with books like God Passes By and Lights of Guidance, with curios and mementoes, and here and there you’d see an engraving with the ringstone symbol on it, or, up on the highest shelf, you’d see a beautifully framed reproduction of the Greatest Name of God. You’d see art from many cultures along the walls, and you’d smell perfume in the air—perhaps rose or jasmine. And then, when it was time to eat, you’d get up and walk (don’t run!) to the table at the back where the hosts would lay out platters of persian rice with tahdig (or “tahdeeg” or whatever), kookoo sabzi, adas polo, baghali polo, chicken drumsticks, and so on. I can smell it all now just writing about it. (On a side note, I’m somewhat glad the Fast is over.) Listening to prayers, either chanted in lilting tones or spoken softly, has left me with fond memories and a great love of Persian chanting. Sometimes I would recite prayers too, along with the other children. Sometimes, I fell asleep (hey, it got late, and the chanting sometimes sounds like a bedtime song).

We’ve learned a lot about the place of children in the community since I was young. “Our children need to be nurtured spiritually and to be integrated into the life of the Cause,” the Universal House of Justice wrote in its message to the Bahá’í world on Ridván, 157 B.E. (April 2000).

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Late jazz trumpeter, king of bebop and Baha’i Dizzy Gillespie drops some knowledge on the Baha’i Faith with friends Seals & Crofts, and proceeds to rock the stage with them at the 1972 Baha’i Carribean Conference. See the video on Youtube.

after a few months or so trying to tweak the heck out of them, my flickr photosets are now online and ready for you to flip through. huzzah! share and enjoy.

my mom tells me they got a phone call recently from a woman who told her that she and my dad had won a cruise to the Bahamas. oh, jolly good! telephone spam. now, she knows better than to trust such people—she’s streetwise enough to know that prize pitches like that are utter bunkum. when she was told she had to supply her credit card number in order to “confirm” the prize, she flipped out and started ranting (ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration) at the scammer, chiding her for trying to fleece unsuspecting citizens—but no matter, the dubious caller continued on with a prewritten sales pitch without letting up. Finally, my mom had enough and hung up on her. Unbeknownst to them both, my dad was on the other house line, listening quietly. Since the line hadn’t gone dead, the scammer continued on with her spiel, for at least a few minutes. When she stopped talking, she paused to hear nothing but dead air. The following brief exchange ensued:

Scammer: (to herself) Oh… I think she’s gone.

Dad: I think she hung up.

Scammer: Yeah, I guess— (realizing that someone else was on the line) hey wait, who are you?!

Dad: I’m the Lord.

(dead silence)

*click*

I’m proud of my dad. :)

Read up on phone scams on Wikipedia, or check out PhoneBusters to see how you can protect yourself.

my employer, the Conference Board of Canada, regularly produces and disseminates research about governance and corporate social responsibility, topics I find myself more and more interested in. It takes cojones and a strong moral/ethical compass to uphold high standards in decision-making and action-taking; that’s why it’s so hard, and why the Enrons and Worldcoms (and Norbourgs) of the world seem to keep appearing in the news these days. That goes for political governance too—Canada’s federal government is still reeling from the effects of the sponsorship scandal, a multi-million-dollar affair which destroyed public trust in government.

Correlating, one of my favourite Baha’i blogs, recently tied in the ideas of trust and governance into the Universal House of Justice’s recent letter on Baha’i elections, which urges Baha’is the world over to spend some time deepening their understanding of the Baha’i electoral process. Baha’i elections are part of a unique form of governance that excludes all forms of partisanship or electioneering, and elevates the duty of each voter to a sacred act which must be fulfilled with the utmost care, research, and prayerfulness. From the Universal House of Justice’s letter: “One of the signs of the breakdown of society in all parts of the world is the erosion of trust and collaboration between the individual and the institutions of governance”—which illustrates the importance of each of us learning more about how to uphold high standards during Baha’i elections and decision-making.

After reading the article, you may want to read up on Baha’i Administration and the Universal House of Justice (including, for those curious souls, its constitution).

Here’s a very interesting quote from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, taken from a talk he gave on the equality of men and women. It’s rather appropriate given what day it is today. To all those who’ve been celebrating the Christian Holy Week, here’s wishing you a glorious day on this Easter Monday.

After the martyrdom of Christ, to Whom be glory, the disciples were greatly disturbed and disheartened. Even Peter had denied Christ and tried to shun Him. It was a woman, Mary Magdalene, who confirmed the wavering disciples in their faith, saying, “Was it the body of Christ or the reality of Christ that ye have seen crucified? Surely it was His body. His reality is everlasting and eternal; it hath neither beginning nor ending. Therefore, why are ye perplexed and discouraged? Christ always spoke of His being crucified.” Mary Magdalene was a mere villager, a peasant woman; yet she became the means of consolation and confirmation to the disciples of Christ.

His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Baha
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 282

When will enough be enough? That’s what this latest news regarding the Baha’is of Iran makes me wonder. Iran seems quite intent on destroying its Baha’i community, while offering to the international community cowardly denials of wrongdoing; will it take a Holocaust for the world to sit up and take notice? The latest reports of persecution against the Baha’is of Iran, brought to light by the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations included reports of the widespread harassment and abuse of Baha’i schoolchildren by their teachers and school administrators (thanks to Barney Leith for the link). Many cases of harassment reported so far have been targeted at girls. Harassment has ranged from insult and ridicule, to pressure to convert to Islam, to beatings and physical abuse.

As someone who serves (however humbly) as a Baha’i children’s class teacher, it seems to me to be particularly shameful and reprehensible that the very people who are tasked with the responsibility to nurture, educate and provide for the material and spiritual development of a new generation of children, choose instead to subvert their trust, exploit their weakness, and effectively stunt the growth of those who depend on them to help them “grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty”.

From the Baha’i World News Service article:

Baha’i students in primary and secondary schools throughout Iran are increasingly being harassed, vilified, and held up to abuse, according to recent reports from inside the country.

During a 30-day period from mid-January to mid-February, some 150 incidents of insults, mistreatment, and even physical violence by school authorities against Baha’i students were reported as occurring in at least 10 Iranian cities.

“These new reports that the most vulnerable members of the Iranian Baha’i community — children and junior youth — are being harassed, degraded, and, in at least one case, blindfolded and beaten, is an extremely disturbing development,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“The increasing number of such incidents suggests a serious and shameful escalation in the ongoing persecution of Iranian Baha’is,” said Ms. Dugal. “The fact that school-aged children are being targeted by those who should rightfully hold their trust — teachers and school administrators — only makes this latest trend even more ominous.”

I encourage you to read more, and to Digg the story.

N.B.: Vous trouverez une traduction française de cet article sur le site web des Baha’is de France: Les enfants bahá’ís harcelés à l’école en Iran

I recently found some very interesting photos of Haifa and the Baha’i Gardens on flickr. These aren’t your ordinary photos: they’re stereoscopic. Like one of those “Magic Eye” drawings, you just cross your eyes slightly in order to see a three-dimensional image. Click through each of these to see larger versions, courtesy of pinelife.

Bahai Gardens, Haifa (Terraces)

Bahai Gardens, Haifa (Shrine)

Haifa from the Carmel

Turning our eyes back to the situation of the Baha’is of Egypt: Ground-breaking Baha’i blog Baha’i Faith in Egypt is carrying a story from the Toronto Star which profiles an Egyptian Bahá’í blogger living in Canada, Samandary Hindawi. Hindawi maintains a mainly arabic-language blog (including some English posts) examining Egyptian media reports about the Baha’is and offering point-by-point refutations of the many accusations made towards Egyptian Baha’is. From the article:

When filling out a form for government identification, Egyptians are required to specify their religion. Hindawi said the Baha’is of Egypt have no problem with this, except that they are not allowed to state on the forms that they are Baha’i. Only Islam, Christianity and Judaism are recognized.

Baha’is in Iran also face discrimination, where denial of government identification cards has kept people from opening bank accounts, going to school or even accessing health care. Hindawi says similar problems are developing in Egypt as old identity cards expire and Baha’is are not able to replace them.

As well, he says, media outlets in the country have been unsympathetic, and even hostile, to the plight of the Baha’is, so Hindawi has begun to use his computer skills to do what he can from Toronto.

He has set up a blog to counter the accusations made against Baha’i in the country, regularly picking apart stories that appear in newspapers, magazines and television, where Baha’is are regularly accused of everything from immorality to spying.

“If you really want to hurt somebody in the Middle East, this is what you do—you smear them with treason and immorality,” he says as he attaches an Arabic language keyboard to his laptop computer.

As a Baha’i, he says, he can’t engage is a similar mud-slinging campaign against his faith’s critics, so instead offers counterpoints to the often skewed reporting in his native country. He keeps tabs on the reporting through a Baha’i friend in the U.S., who posts copies of stories own his own blog.

“I go specifically through the charges, one after another,” Hindawi says, describing how he counters the allegations made against Baha’i followers in the Egyptian press. “I correct the facts, historically, factually, systematically.”

Read the entire article at TheStar.com, or visit Samandary Hindawi’s blog, Truth Examiner.

Update: The Canadian Baha’i News Service mentions the Toronto Star article and many more in an overview of media impressions about the Egyptian crisis.

OK OK ok so I owe explanations to lots of people.

I was up late last night leaving mysterious notes saying that I had had “very good news” that night and that there were more clues on Facebook. Those who were Facebook-enabled saw this:

A stream of bemused congratulations trickled in throughout the morning and afternoon from unsuspecting friends—most of whom had no idea I was even in a relationship. As I spoke with them, of course, the truth was gradually revealed. For some, it was the name of my would-be fiancée (”April Foules”) that gave the joke away. Other conversations lasted longer, going into wedding details (wedding in Kenora next week, anyone?) and into varying levels of cruelty. One friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, earned my lifelong respect (and a place in my real wedding) for being ready to drop all of his (or her) exams and show up with a gigantic pink elephant in order to speak at the wedding.

So, to be exceedingly clear: I am not engaged, and if you think I am, then you got punk’d. April Fools!

I just hope nobody pwns me for sizdah-bedar.