Posted by Vincent (211.22.33.6) on May 06, 2002 at 17:27:05:

In Reply to: Re: But we CAN resist! posted by Bret on May 04, 2002 at 04:53:32:

True, Baha'is avoid politics in the sense of elected public office and political parties, but not in the sense of lobbying for policies which accord with their faith's mores. ("Propagation of Universal Peace" anybody?) So you are not really apolitical, just quiet. While there do exist conservative ideas within the religion as well, these are usually prescribed for individuals rather than society as a whole. Your propaganda--literature for distribution--is in favor of multiculturalism, not against homosexuality or abortion or what have you.

National sovereignty means that a nation has the right to withdraw from any larger body, be it the United Nations or the European Union, and determine its own course. You favor a world in which nations can't do this, in which there is a global governmental level which has final authority. Even if the system is very devolved, it is still one-worldism and therefore hateful to those who support their national states. I want to be governed by my own people, not by bureaucrats from the Congo, or what have you. Baha'i propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding, we are not one people--God forbid that we should ever become one.

You give me plenty of assurances that a future Baha'i world will not resemble Communism, but all this is just talk. Of course it is highly unlikely that Baha'is will ever have enough members to take over even one country, let alone all of them, but I see nothing to distinguish your religion from other human institutions which, given power, evolve in similar directions. You are not really guided by God, you are just a bunch of people with their individual interests, making common cause with each other in the name of some dead Iranian guy who was doing the same thing.

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