World Religion Day

7 January 2000 - ATLANTA, GA - The Baha'is of Metro Atlanta celebrate World Religion Day on Sunday, January 16th. The purpose is to foster understanding and communication between the followers of all religions. "The Messengers of God of each of the world's religions have spoken the same truth over the ages," said Al Viller of Duluth. "we should see light wherever it shines."

World Religion Day is observed on the third Sunday in January by Baha'is in the United States, and increasingly by people around the globe. Its purpose is to call attention to the harmony of spiritual principles and the oneness of the world's religions and to emphasize that world religion is the motivating force for world unity.

Baha'i scripture states, "religion should be the cause of love and agreement, a bond to unify all mankind for it is a message of peace and good-will to man from God. Religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein."

To illustrate the need for religious unity, World Religion Day was initiated in 1950 by the national governing body for the Baha'i Faith, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Baha'u'llah, Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, taught all true religion came from one source through successive messengers which have included Abraham, Moses, Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Muhammad and the Bab.

Since its beginnings in the United States, the celebration of World Religion Day has spread to many other countries. In 1985, the government of Sri Lanka issued a postage stamp in commemoration of the day.

The Baha'i Faith, the second most widely spread religion in the world after Christianity, has more than five million members world-wide of whom 133,000 reside in the United States.