From: Denise Godsey
Date: Nov 9, 1994, 5:08:21 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Lets post the different way we all found Baha'u'llah.
-- 

Denise Godsey
a008...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

----

From: Glen Little
Date: Nov 10, 1994, 4:38:51 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

In <1994Nov8.2...@cs.cornell.edu>, a008...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us (Denise Godsey) writes:
>Lets post the different way we all found Baha'u'llah.
>--

A very quick review of my path...

Raised an evangelical Christian and strongly committed to it, I realized
in my last years of university that the Christianity I knew was not in total
accord to what I was reading in the New Testament - especially concerning the
purpose and mission of Jesus and his relation to the Jews.

This led me to a fresh study of Judaism, then on to the B'nai Noach (Children
of Noah) movement. If it weren't for the Baha'i Faith, I'd probably be a part
of that today!

My interest in Noah led me to study the Qu'ran to learn more about him. After
reading the Qu'ran, I came to acknowledge that Mohommed was a Prophet from
God. However, I could not see myself aligned with a movement (Islam) that was
so far evolved/removed from the Qu'ran. I continued to study all
Islam-Christian debates I could find, and decided that Islam usually won!

I then found an introductory book about the Baha'i Faith by Gloria Faiz (sp?)
and read it through. I then scoured public libraries for Baha'i books, and
within a few weeks wrote in my journal that it was 95% likely that I would
become a Baha'i.

I spent the next year and a half discussing with other Christians what I
saw wrong in Christianity and right in the Baha'i Faith. I faced, and continue
to face, opposition from my firmly Christian relatives (ministers and
missionaries, even a missionary to Moslems in Africa) and wife. After a number
of requested delays in making a decision, I finally did become a Baha'i in
September 1994.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glen Little // gli...@bcsc02.gov.bc.ca // Vancouver, BC Canada
*** I speak only for myself! ***
No longer "fishers of men" but "quickeners of mankind".

----

From: w.sc...@genie.geis.com
Date: Nov 11, 1994, 4:14:46 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Denise,

Good idea. I love reading about how people became Baha'is.

As a child, my parents didn't send me to church, except for a brief stint
at a Unitarian Sunday School. I took myself off to a nearby Advent
Christian Church at about eight years old, because I was fascinated by
Jesus and religion in general. All they ever talked about at this church,
just about, was the Second Coming. I really learned the Bible there and was
a devoted Christian. I went to church camp every summer and would
re-dedicate myself to Christ. But I was also interested in science (at
school I was a member of the Science Club), and much of what they church
taught didn't make sense from a scientific standpoint. Plus, they kept
saying Jesus was going to return ANY DAY now, but He never did (this was
about 35 years ago). When I was 13, I decided to really learn all I could
about my church's teachings and I'd make a decision at the end of a year as
to whether to stay with it or not. I went to Sunday School just about every
Sunday and church services, too. I did all my lessons, prayed, and read my
Bible. At the end of a year, to the Sunday, I left and never went back. I
was an agnostic.

At San Francisco State in October of 1963, I was a music major. There was
a girl named Susie in my music theory class who was looking into the
Faith. One day I saw a Baha'i prayer book on top of her books and asked if
I could look at it. She let me, and I saw prayers for mankind and dismissed
it as some peace group (I was pretty conservative in those days). I asked a
couple of questions about it but let it drop.

But always after that when students would have discussions about what
religion they'd be if they were going to be anything, I'd always say I'd be
a Unitarian, a Jew (the religion of my father), or a Baha'i. And everyone
would say, "Yeah! Baha'i!" as if they knew all about it, which they
didn't. :)

By January of 1964, Susie had become a Baha'i and invited me to a
fireside. I didn't want to go because it was a religious meeting, but I
asked her to tell me about it anyway. We went to the cafeteria and she ran
down a list of the Baha'i principles. I thanked her, we parted, and that
was that. Except all day long it ate at me what she had said, and I knew I
had to know more. So that night, I screwed up my courage and called her. In
those days, people never wanted to discuss their religion, and I was afraid
she wouldn't want to either. We chatted about school and I couldn't get the
words out I really wanted to say. Finally, she said she had to go now, and
I managed to get out that I really wanted to know more about Baha'i. She
said, "Oh well then!" I was relieved that she would even talk to me about
it.

So this time she started with Krishna (Whom I had never heard of) and
proceeded to tell me about how God had sent each new Messenger, how each
had brought a Holy Book, a new religion, and a new civilization. I started
to get very excited. As she got to Muhammad and was explaining about Him,
she mentioned something about "the Prophet for our time." I demanded,
"Who's the Prophet for our time?!" She calmly said she was getting to that
and proceeded to explain about the Bab and Baha'u'llah, where they came
from, when, what they did, etc. As soon as I heard Baha'u'llah's name, I
knew He was the truth, don't ask me why.

My brother interrupted since he had to use the phone and house rules said I
had to get off. Susie didn't seem to mind, it had taken her nine months of
study to become a Baha'i, but I was upset. I felt this was the most
important thing I'd ever heard. She assured me we'd talk again, and we hung
up. I went running up the stairs to my mother's room and yelled, "Mom!
There's a new Prophet! And His name is Bahalala!" She groaned. :)

It took me a week to convince Susie that I was serious about believing all
this. I would tell her I was a Baha'i and she'd say, "No you aren't, you
have to read books!" so I'd say, "Fine, get me some." She would and I'd be
up all night reading. Finally, I did convince her and she didn't have a
card for me to sign! So I had to wait until the fireside she'd invited me
to in the first place, which by this time I did very much want to attend,
and I signed it there. I was so thrilled as all these loving people came up
to me and gave me hugs. There were people of all colors, types, ages, etc.
It was just wonderful.

That was over 30 years ago now, and some of my most memorable life
experiences have been in connection with my Faith. Pilgrimage to the Holy
Land (I was the first of my family of Jews to go there), the dedication of
the Baha'i temple in New Delhi, India, and playing in the orchestra at the
Baha'i World Congress in New York in 1992 had to be one of the high points
of my entire life. Many people I have shared the Faith with have become
Baha'is, too many to count now. But of course, there will never be too
many!

Love and peace, Wendy---{-@

----

From: w.sc...@genie.geis.com
Date: Nov 11, 1994, 4:20:32 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Glen,

What a fascinating history you have! You've only been a Baha'i for two
months then. :) Welcome to the community! It seems to me that you will find
a way to make friends for the Faith among your family. The writings do
provide what we need in order to cement human relations with people who
aren't Baha'is. "Prefer other religionists to yourself," for instance
(easier said than done!), said 'Abdu'l-Baha. I'm sure you've probably heard
lots of advice, but probably if you just look within yourself for your own
answers, I'm sure God will place them in your heart.

As your Christian family and friends see that becoming a Baha'i hasn't made
you weird or caused you to go off and do anything crazy, they'll have to
acknowledge that it's not a bad thing. My mother even did this after I'd
been a Baha'i for 25 years. :) Hopefully, it won't take your family so long
to see it.


Love and peace, Wendy---{-@
W.Sc...@GEnie.GEIS.com

----

From: C_REYE...@upr1.upr.clu.edu
Date: Nov 11, 1994, 4:47:32 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

That' a good idea. Here goes the way i found Him:

When I was 17 years old, in Cuba, I was taking an english course at
night school with a cuban teacher of english.

Once, during the class, there was a discussion on religion, every
body assumed she was catholic, but she quickly pointed out she was not,
mentioned she was a Baha'i and wrote down the names of the central figures on
the blackboard, and said, they were impoortant, that we should remember them.
After class, out of curiosity, I asked for a book. That was the beginning
of my spiritual journey. I am now 56 years old.
********************************************************************************
Prof. Cesar Reyes Internet: C_R...@rumac.upr.clu.edu
Chemistry Dept. Bitenet : C_REYES%ru...@upr1.upr.clu.edu
University of Puerto Rico
Mayaguez Campus

----

From: Kelly G. Willis the First
Date: Nov 12, 1994, 2:24:35 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

I am most likely a Baha'i because of this newsgroup. I was (or rather
still am) a devout Christian who encountered the Faith in college with
a friend of mine. I never did inquire into his religion since I was
quite happy in my own. However, as I went to graduate school, I stopped
going to Church on a regular basis. For some reason, I no longer had
the will to get up on a Sunday morning to attend services. Thoughts of
other religions came into mind as my absence increased, and I started
considering what was the "perfect" religion. The answer was easy, Baha'i,
since it adequately explained the existence of every religion (that I
knew of).

That was when I saw this newsgroup. Something in me compelled me to walk
over to the library and check out "All Things Made New". I read through
it and finally understood what the Faith is, where I knew not before.
Not long thereafter, I posted my first article to this newsgroup. Several
people responded (and I still have their letters), including a member of
the local community. After about six months of Firesides, reading, trips
to the Temple in Wilmette, I declared. That was just over a year ago.

That is my brief history of the Universe. Okay, bye.
-- 
Kelly G. Willis \ E-mail: f...@mace.cc.purdue.edu | ----- | \\\
Department of Chemistry \________________________________| ) ( --O-- \/\
Purdue University / "Here's to better living... / \ | /\/
West Lafayette, Indiana / through chemistry!" (_____) ///

----

From: mcnallfg@@uunet.uu.net
Date: Nov 12, 1994, 2:26:52 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

In 1971, six months after being in the U.S. I met four Baha'is at a
doughnut shop whom I served coffee and donuts. They were a diverse group.
I was asked where I was from and whether I was a Moslem. I replied "my
mother says so, but I believe all the religions are essentially same and
one". "That's what we believe!!" they exclaimed. I asked what is your
religion, presuming they were of the christian faith. They told me that
they were Baha'is and invited me to a meeting. It was a week before New
Year and I left my husband to have his party and off I went with my 10
month old little girl to a winter school in Washington N.C. with a young
Baha'i called Calvin Pritchard. I met large group of the Baha'is for the
first time. I was in tears, because of the wonderful spirit I felt there.
An old African American gentleman playing the blues, a long bearded young
jewish man called "dancing bear" dancing to the music. There were also
people from the Middle East who got my curiosity. Of course, I presumed
again that they were Moslems. Anyway, after six months of teaching the
Faith to everywhere I wen (( including at work to the customers, and did
not even get fired) I decided to accept the Faith and signed my card on
June 10, 1972 at a meeting where Nat Rutstein was giving a talk to the Army
of Light people In Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A. Thank God!!

----

From: nb55...@mars.senecac.on.ca
Date: Nov 12, 1994, 2:29:01 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

It is a very interesting idea to talk about how we found the
truth. Actually my search starts from my grandfather. He was living in the
city of Kermanshah when he found out about the Bahai Faith. His family were
all Muslim and not fond of Bahai religion, and believe me in Iran people
are not as free as here to choose whatever religeon as they think is
right. Most of people are Muslim and you should be Muslim too!!?? Anyway
when he told his relatives and friends everybody left him and they avoid
him as much as they could. Then when he lost his job too, the whole family
(my father was about 7 at that time) left Kermanshah and went to Mashad to
start a new life with new friends, in other words they escaped from all the
relatives. By the way my grandmother was Muslim but didn't reject him. Then
in Mashad they started a very nice life around the Bahai friends,(you know
sometimes a friend could get much closer and kinder to you than your
brother!!) Then my father grew up in the same environment and went to Bahai
schools and he accepted the Bahai Faith and also my aunts and
uncles. Then my father married my mother whom is a Bahai too. We were
raised in the same situation and accepted the Baha'u'llah and I am so happy
that my grandfather opened the way for all of us and fight the problems to
give us the chance to grow up as a Bahai. God bless his soal.

Peace,
SHIVA SHAMSIPOUR
"MA...@BCS550D35.SENECAC.ON.CA"

----

From: C.Ha...@mirinz.org.nz
Date: Nov 12, 1994, 2:35:42 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Friends

Earlier this year Forum magazine, the Baha'i publication produced by
Allison and Steve Marshall here in New Zealand, presented the story of how
I became a Baha'i in a rather different form than I have attempted to do
here.

Perhaps to set the scene for my story I should present a thumbnail sketch
and then leave the verse to tell my tale:

I was born in the north of England when the Nazi bombing runs plastered
that part of the country with impunity. I arrived in the middle of an air
raid and, soon after birth, was moved to the safety of an air raid shelter.
My mother was too ill after the birth to be moved so I was separated from
her for 8-10 days until conditions above ground had become more settled.

Now I'll leave these verses to tell the story of how I found Baha'u'llah.

Agony and Ecstasy
=================

Born before my time into a world at war,
a world of violent, unprecedented hate,
a world of evil hell driven to exterminate
a race doomed to wander the globe
to the edges of eternity, seekers of succour
from the holocaustic flame of human misery.

The light of reason lies shrouded deep beneath
an ever growing mountain of despairing death,
a mountain built of idle and vain promises of
a foolish empire to surpass all past
echoes of grandiose human folly, a folly
that now shrieks to the stars in empty words.

Baiting, hating and trading in human fear
until the last vestige of an oppressed civilisation
rise up to hurl the oppressor from our hearts.
Little by little meagre sanity returns until
the dogs of war cringe in deepening shadow
of a sickened world begging the repair of peace.

As the clouds of war recede and reason prevails,
shattered families assemble their scattered shards to
bury grief along with tragic memories and
start rebuilding their plans and hopes under
an opening umbrella of peaceful prosperity
that could, if we would but see, enchant our destiny.

Alas, my native land has lost too much in war
to sustain a sickly son and watch his spirit grow.
By ship to this antipodean paradise go we,
to start a better life for my tiny family.
The promise of wide open space is there
along with loving people and heart warming care.

My health improves in this clean and beauteous spot,
I learn to sing and give it all I've got.
I sing to God with dulcet tones each day
my gift for Him my schooling in song does pay.
We boys love this spirit gift we share,
our love of God with song is all we care.

When I am ten I'm raped by three young men
who change my view of a world I'll never see again.
The agony of dwelling pain now fills my day,
no more the happy child content in play.
A being filled with blackness and disgust
no more the spirit child with loving trust.

The terror of abuse will stay behind
until I find a way to protect my mind.
One year later I'm kicked to the ground
and lie unconscious waiting to be found.
When at last in hospital I awake
I hide the violence, as with my rape.

Oh for a blank and empty mind,
yet bleak abandonment is all I find.
I know that life is mine to live
and the violence that I know I will forgive.
One day perhaps the world will know
how to dispel my fears and help my spirit grow.

As the years rolled by with buried pain
I never considered what I could gain
if I emptied my heart to a loving soul
that would hasten my efforts to a child dreamt goal.
I spend more time in the mountains fair
learning how to mask my awful despair.

How the years did fly with my forgotten past,
until I learnt to love my world at last.
I married and fathered a girl and boy,
each child brought me wondrous joy.
When my marriage crashed I lost all hope
of casting off my oppressive yoke.

When I was fifty I was allowed at last
to drain my spirit of it's bleak past,
to a kindred soul who had covered the ground
from the pain of rape to the life she'd found.
Once more the spirit moved in me
and showed me how I longed to be.

Three times I tried to end it here
to escape my re-found pain in another sphere.
A victim no longer I became instead,
a survivor now of long past dread.
My loving Creator I recognised once more,
with tearful prayer I sought His door.

In time I joined a Baha'i community
and offered prayer at every opportunity.
My love for Him has found a way
to lift my heart where once it dwelt in clay.
Oh how my spirit soars so very high,
with a love for God that draws me neigh.

>From the black pit of agony and despair
my spirit in ecstasy does now repair,
as syllables of prayer to Him ascend
for guidance on how this world to mend.
I think in awe of what I've found,
a way to ensure I can never drown!

==============================================

There is so much that cannot be said in these few lines. There is so much
depth to the love I have for my Faith and how Baha'u'llah brought me to it
that I am unable to express. I have no regrets for my past but take great
comfort in the view that my past was the door to my present, and, I hope,
my future.

Allah'u'Abha!
Cedric
-----------------------------------------------------------
Meat Industry Research Institute of New Zealand (Inc)
PO Box 617, Hamilton, New Zealand
Phone +64 7 855-6159 Fax +64 7 855-3833
===========================================================
The views expressed here are those of the individual and
not necessarily the views of Corporate MIRINZ.

Cedric Hagyard: C.Ha...@Mirinz.Org.Nz
-----------------------------------------------------------

----

From: pinger
Date: Nov 14, 1994, 8:10:39 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

The stories that I have been reading on this thread all seem to
have one thing in common: the writer doesn't agree with certain biblical
principles. What exactly are these principles/doctrines/dogmas? I
am a recent convert to the LDS church and I've been very curious about
the Baha'i faith. Could anybody list the principles in mainstream
Christianity/Islam that he/she have problems with? I'm just curious
and I do not intend to bash yall.

Li Chen

----

From: Mark.Richa...@um.cc.umich.edu
Date: Nov 14, 1994, 8:20:39 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Allah-u-Abha!
--
Remember always that you are reading my thoughts through bits and bytes
flying at a phosphorescent CRT over the emerging electronic web of
global consciousness called the internet. And remember that love, when
it is pure and strong, as in a love for another or love for Him, is ineffable,
that it is almost uncommunicable even when two humans are face to face and
have the full measure of facial expression, tone of voice, scent and sound
with which to impart the Glad-Tidings of a Revelation so potent that I
will not, nay I refuse to attempt its description. And know, on this eve
of the Anniversary of the Birth of Husayn Ali of Nur, Jinab-i-Baha,
Baha'u'llah, that I seek to transmit, through these keys of solidified
semi-organic petroleum by-product, over these wires and light cable forged
to foster the exchange of knowledge packets and information segments a
love that has cost thousands of heads to fall on the sands of time in their
sacrifice for It, Truth, Justice, Peace, All-Good-Things. How can I tell
the story of how I became a Baha'i? How does the seed survive to become the
tree? How does the fire jump from the match to the candle, from soul to soul
on it ceaseless search for hearts--lost hearts, found hearts, melancholy and
proud, rich and poor, black, white, Nepalese hearts? I ask you, how does the
Earth turn so carefully and majestically so as reveal itself to the bright
and playful Sun? And how has this Herald-Martyr, this Gate of Gates and
His companion at arms, Baha, and His Companions of the Ark and of the Arc
and of the Source--
--
I signed my card on June 29, 1988. We're all Baha'is. Inshallah.
--
Mark Knox
mark...@um.cc.umich.edu

----

From: Denise Godsey
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 2:01:34 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

While going door-to-door in a trailer park in Riveria Beach, Florida
selling Christmas gifts, I knocked on a door and a woman answered. I
suggested she buy something "they make great Christmas gifts" she said
that she didn't celebrate Christmas! I asked "why not, are you Jewish?"
She said no. I asked "are you Jehovah Witness?" She said no. I asked
"what are you?" She said Baha'i. I asked, whats that?
I don't remember what she answered. Being born and raised Catholic, I
did not understand ANYTHING she told me, we just did not connect! But I
was still trying very hard to understand. She finally gave me a book
called "Thief in the Night". I went home, read about half of it and went
back and told her "I believe this" so she said "sign this card. I did.
I figured she and I were the only people on earth (besides William Sears)
who knew that Christ had returned! After almost 5 years and lots of
tests, a Baha'i in Arizona gave me a prayer book. Then I started to study
ONLY the writings from Baha'u'llah, I knew Who He was!
I have lost all contact with the woman who gave me the book, her name is
Dawn `somebody'. I consider Mr. Sears my `Spiritual Father'. I told him
so, and continue to `stay in touch' with him.
Happy & Joyful, Denise
-- 

Denise Godsey
a008...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

----

From: Norbert Kroeger
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 2:04:03 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

a008...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us schrieb unter 'How we found the Baha'i Faith'
am 08.11.94 um 22:08:

> Lets post the different way we all found Baha'u'llah.

Hi Denise,

here's my story of becoming a Bahai.

Since about 1976 I was searching on somewhat spiritual truth. I started
reading the Bible just for myself and was astonished about the storys of
Israel and God. I became convinced, that there is a God. Then I opened my
mind for Buddhism, espicially Zen-Buddhism, later because of practising
Taijiquan I changed my interest to Daoism.

Summer 1983 I met at the 'Kieler Woche' (an international meeting of
sailors from all over the world in the north of Germany each year in June
for a period of 10 days) a group of some young american people from the
U.S.A. Maybe some of them are now online, reading my story. They had there
a table with some posters with Bahai principles on it. As soon as I became
aware that they are English speaking people I wanted to try my English on
them and we started to talk about the faith. The next few days we stayed
in contact and met several times. The group then started off journeying
europe.

This first contact I continued with the Bahai-friends living in Kiel and I
also started to read the writings. In spring 1984 the fruit had ripened: I
felt that I *had* to make a decision - becoming Bahai and growing
spiritual or not to declare and becoming a numb and silly being
(spiritually). Thankfully I decided becoming Bahai.

Since I knew, that there are each year in April the elections of the Local
Spiritual Assembly I postponed my declaration after the election because I
didn't want to become member of the LSA at once - since there were just
about 10 Bahais in the community that time. But as fate is going, two
months later one friend went to Hamburg and we had to reelect and of
course happened, what I thought I could avoid. From this I learnt that
there is no way to escape the will of Baha'u'llah.


Sorry for my English - if some sentences sound/read funny it's because I'm
used to read but not to write English.
Gruss Norbert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norbert Krvger, D|velsbeker Weg 16, 24105 Kiel; (0431/332710) no...@kbbs.org

----

From: Godfrey Nix
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 2:16:14 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

In article <1994Nov8.2...@cs.cornell.edu>
a008...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us "Denise Godsey" writes:

>
> Lets post the different way we all found Baha'u'llah.
> --
>

Hi there from England.

This Bahai met the Faith at University in Sheffield, England back in 1970,
but the seeds had been planted long before then! Whilst at a Methodist
Sunday School he along with the others had to learn one year, for a test
John 10, verses 1 to 26 from the New Testament. A year or so later in
school one week (in England an act of religious worship is compulsory in
state-run schools ) there were short talks by the science teachers on how
science and religion were complimentary, not in conflict. One was a
Quaker (Society of Friends) one a Methodist, one a Baptist and one a member
of the Salvation Army.

Aynhow, on going to University this student of engineering joined the
Methodist Students' society, and one year they had a series of people
from the other religions talk on their beliefs. Well, you can imagine
the awakening of his interest when this student heard the Bahai speaker
talk of the one entering by the Gate (John 10), and the principle of
the harmony between science and religion! He went to the speaker after
the meeting and was introduced to the local Bahais. He attended some
Bahai meetings and read many books. The one that interested him the most
was 'Thief in the night' by William Sears - and with all the resources
of the university library checked out every claim and quotation!
A year after his first meeting with the Bahais, on the 9th of Ridvan he
declared his belief in Baha'u'llah.

-- 
Godfrey Nix

----

From: Eman Isadiar
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 1:45:07 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Friends, I'm a believer of Persian but non-Baha'i ancestry. I have
lived most of my life abroad, and remember feeling somewhat ashamed as a
teenager of being an 'Iranian' and a 'Muslim' (although my knowledge of
Islam was very limited). At any rate, one seemingly ordinary night when
I'd just turned 19, I was out with my friends (most of whom were classical
musicians like myself) wandering through Golden Gate Park acting like most
silly 19-year-olds when we came across a restaurant with a piano inside,
and someone who sounded like a novice playing it. It seemed rather odd
since it was well after midnight and very few places were open. We went
inside to listen, and at my friends' request, I agreed to play. To make a
long story short, the person at the piano happened to be a young Persian
man a few years older than myself who expressed interest in taking piano
lessons from me. We met again two weeks later, and he has been my best
friend ever since. He was quite tactful in his teaching, and got me
interested in religious literature in general with no emphasis on any one
faith. He kept saying he had something very important to share with me in
return for mygift of music. Six months of sparse piano lessons went by,
and I was going through the entire spiritual evolution of the archetypal
man studying the religions of the past all the way through Islam, which I
learned to appreciate for the first time. Then, he told me that he was a
Baha'i and gave me a copy of "Baha'u'llah and the New Era" by Dr.
Esselmont. The intoxicating combination of long nights spent reading the
Writings with the sound of distant foghorns and the music of Sergei
Rachmaninoff (which I was just discovering at the time) made me fall
deeply and passionately in love with the Faith. Shortly after my
declaration, I had the privilege of a brief visit to Haifa and Bahji,
which now truly seems like a dream. After almost six years, my parents
have gained tremendous respect for my beliefs, and frequently express
gratitutde that the Baha'i Faith somehow kept their only son 'out of
trouble.' Little do they know!! Warmest regards. Eman Isadiar
rach...@mercury.sfsu.edu

**************************************************************
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|"Life without music would be a mistake." Friedrich Nietzsche|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
**************************************************************

----

From: hc_e...@daffy.millersv.edu
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 1:49:00 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

How I became a Bahai:

I married a Bahai, and so for 15 years I had learned all about the Bahai
principles, which were self-evidently true to me. My main obstacle in
accepting the faith was that I didn't believe in God. I was an agnostic, and so
couldn't bring myself to accept any religion. Coming from a Jewish background,
though I was raised without religion, I was extremely antagonistic to
Christianity because of the persecution of Jews over the centuries and the
anti-semitism I have seen in this country (USA).

Finally, I happened to read a non-Bahai book called Religion and the Modern
Mind by W.T. Stace, a Princeton philosophy professor. It put forth in clear
and convincing arguments the case for God for people who have a modern,
scientific world view. Once I could see the possibility of God, and could
internalize the belief that God exists, accepting the Faith was simple enough.

Since everyone else in my family (my wife and 4 children) are all Bahais, this
decision has enhanced all of our lives. Acknowledging the validity of all the
world's religions has also given me some peace of mind. I don't feel the
animosity to Christianity I once did. I enjoy being part of the Bahai
community, and playing a small part in furthering God's cause.

Howard Ellis

----

From: Dean Martineau
Date: Nov 15, 1994, 1:53:58 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

My father was raised Catholic, and vowed his children would not undergo
what he underwent. so I went to Lutheran Sunday School. when I was
around thirteen and totally indifferent to what I was learning there, my
parents decided not to require me to attend any longer, figuring I would
find my own path.
At age 22, in 1974, I attended my one and only Esperanto Congress. there
I roomed with a Baha'i. He told me about the Faith, and I attempted to
argue with him, since that was what I did with any religion that crossed
my path, but I couldn't find anything to argue about. My life's
circumstances didn't allow me to check it out for about a year, though I
occasionally listened to a weekly radio program we were fortunate enough
to have in the area. Finally, I called the Baha'i phone in September and
embraced the Faith on Pearl Harbor Day. The Faith touched my mind and my
heart. It turned me from a total pesimistpessimist into an optomistoptimist,
and gave me the courage to do things (live abroad, for instance) that I would
not have otherwise done. Dean Martineau
dea...@eskimo.com

----

From: S. Indiogine
Date: Nov 16, 1994, 3:32:20 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

OK, here they are ....

The following problems are the main ones that were bugging me. In NO
case these should be intended as official Baha'i or representative of
the Baha'i Faith.

1. physical resurrection of the believers in the future

2. contradictions in the Bible (which disappear accepting the Baha'i
interpretation of the Bible)

3. authenticity of the sayings of Jesus

4. in the Churches the teachings of Jesus are of secondary importance at the
best, neglected in most cases. It seems that the Baha'is are more
concerned with the teachings of Jesus than the Christians themselves.

5. lack of unity, conflicts on any topic in the Bible or Christianity.
Examples:

A. Is Christmas on the December 25 (Catholics and Protestants) or
January 7 (Orthodox). Same problems with the dates of Easter and Pentecost.

B. Who is the successor of Jesus, if there was any? How should the
church be organized (episcopalian, monarchic, presbiterian, pastoral,
elective positions or appointed position, etc.)

C. Salvation (works and/or grace, once saved always saved or not)
D. Baptism (sprinkling/immersion, adults/children, for the death or not)
E. Sacraments (2 or 7, how, why, effect)
F. End times (personal coming or not, pre-millennial, post, mid,
tribulation ?)
G. Rest on Sunday or Saturday
H. Divorce yes or no
I. Birth control yes or no
J. Creationism versus evolution
K. the apocrypha/deuterocanonics are part of the Bible yes/no
L. Alcohol yes or no

6. the oldest complete version of the NT (Sinaiticus) contains parts that
are not present in todays versions.

7. The original Christianity (Nazarene/Hebrew) has disappeared with its
Writings.

8. Women have to obey men (Catholics and conservative Protestants, Orthodox)

9. The other World Religions are ignored at best, and usually despised
and misrepresented.

10. Lack of an holistic approach to the world problems (environmental
degradation, poverty, disease, war, oppression). Jesus will take care of it
when he comes ....

11. Contradictory teachings on immortality (resurrection, survival of
soul, both?)

Let me know what you think about it.

Bye,

Eric Indiogine (sind...@nmsu.edu), Las Cruces, New Mexico

"My first counsel is this: Posses a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that
thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting"
* Baha'u'llah *

----

From: Iain Murray
Date: Nov 16, 1994, 3:53:20 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

I first heard the word "Baha'i" as well as the word
"Zoroastarian"(sp?) from an agnostic friend of mine who'd done some
searching. We were in grade nine, I think, and when the teacher asked if anyone
knew of other religions besides Christianity, most people mumbled Judaism,
Islam, but he startled everyone, including the teacher, when he called
out "Zoroastarianism".
He never told me much about the Baha'i Faith or any of the other
religions he'd read about for he wasn't about to preach a religion he
didn't believe in, but he did tell me enough about the Baha'i Faith to
pique my interest. However, I knew of no avenue to follow to the Faith
and was quite contented with the Anglicans at the time, so continued as
such. However, I knew enough about other religions to know that they were
not wrong and most of my friends and I agreed that all religions were
equal but this was not what was taught at my church. Every time I heard
someone preach that Christianity was the only way to heaven and that
others were being foolish, I tightened up. I could not let myself believe
that all those other religions were wrong. However, I continued to sing
in the choir. Just because certain people had certain views didn't mean
they were correct and I could still be a Christian and hold non-popular
Christian views. However, the biggest problem was that I spent a few
years debating whether Jesus was God or not. My gut feeling was that he
was not and trying to convince myself that he was suceeded for shorter
and shorter amounts of time. I was finally a "Christian" who believed
Jesus had been a man who'd shared an extremely close relationship with
God, that of a prophet or, as prophets were called in many ancient
writings, a Son of God, among the founders of the other great world
religions. I existed with this nearly Baha'i belief for quite some time.
In grade twelve, I was looking for something in the first volume of
the Canadian Encyclopedia for a project. My glance fell upon the word
"Baha'i" as I flipped through the pages and I, upon finding it, read and
re-read it, amazed at what I was reading and how closely it represented
my beliefs. I vowed that if this religion was in reality as it was
described on this printed page, I would become Baha'i. However, I did not
know who to contact and left it yet again(I did try the agnostic friend
who first uttered the word to me, but he'd forgotten his original source)
for two years.
It was a Monday night last year in May or June and I was thinking about
a particularly disturbing sermon preached at my church by a visiting
preacher and I finally realized that the beliefs of this church just did
not parallel my own, and that I was not happy any longer calling myself a
Christian, so I went again to the only book I knew of that could tell me
about the Baha'i Faith, the Canadian Encyclopedia. I curled up on my bed
and read the article, wondering if I ever would find someone who could
tell me more about the Baha'i Faith. I went to sleep that night, without
doing my homework, thinking about the Baha'i Faith.
The next day, at university I had just run down a staircase and
ran past a poster board I'd passed a thousand times before, and which I
periodically stopped to read. I had no intention of stopping today; I was
in a hurry. The time was Tuesday, 10am. I caught a word on one of the
posters as I was passing and stopped myself short a pace or two beyond. I
backed up and read "Baha'i Campus Club...Meetings, Tuesday 2pm, S3058"

It was as if God had set this up to happen perfectly, for I had
no class at that hour, but it did not cross my mind at the appropriate
hour and I was talking with friends instead. I missed the meeting for two
or three weeks and finally called the number which was on the poster.
When I got a person and not an answering machine, I expressed desire to
know more about the Baha'i Faith as I was interested in becoming a
Baha'i. Needless to say, this delighted the recipient of the call. I
asked if I could come over some time to pick up some books or pamphlets
or whatever they had (I assumed this was an office which I was calling, and
had no idea what to expect). The person of the other end responded
"Sure!" and asked when I could come over. Not wanting to delay any
longer, I replied "Now is good" and after some mental preparation of
questions I wanted answered, I took off for the address given me.
I was confused for a while, as to what the place was - there were
two adult males, an adult female, and three children at the house/office.
I discovered that the second male and one of the children were visiting
relatives and that this was a house and not an office. They answered my
questions with responses I'd never even dreamed of before. "Peace is
inevitable";"All religions are part of the one, continuous faith of God".
I tried to sign my card that night, but they advised me to wait,
reiterated that it was not a decision to be taken lightly.


I signed my card on July 17, 1993 after a number of visits to the homes
of local Baha'is as well as attending the Campus Club meetings. I cannot
express the anticipation I felt in those few weeks between my first "interview"
of a Baha'i and the day I signed my card to officially become Baha'i and my
happiness once I officially became Baha'i.
I can now go to my old church and not be insulted by their
beliefs nor feel embarrassed for the beliefs of the church. I have
continued to sing in their choir, and now feel much, much closer to Jesus
and his message than I ever felt as a Christian, for Baha'u'llah and
Jesus are one and the same.

Thanks for listening,

Iain Murray | "The well-being of mankind, its peace and
ia...@plato.ucs.mun.ca | security are unattainable unless and until
ia...@ganymede.cs.mun.ca | its unity is firmly established."
- Baha'u'llah

----

From: Bruce Limber
Date: Nov 16, 1994, 3:55:51 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

> The stories that I have been reading on this thread all seem to
> have one thing in common: the writer doesn't agree with certain biblical
> principles. What exactly are these principles/doctrines/dogmas?

I think in general your statement above is misleading: we _do_ accept the
Bible and its principles.

What we _don't_ accept is certain Christian doctrines and interpretations
(which Christians often _call_ Biblical).

We have no quarrel whatever with Christianity as Christ taught it in the
Bible.

Regards!

----

From: Don R. Calkins
Date: Nov 16, 1994, 3:58:20 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Li Chen wrote:

b> Could anybody list the principles in mainstream Christianity/Islam
b> that he/she have problems with?

I came to believe in late H.S. that the interpretations given to the Bible
were very materialistic; particularly those dealing with the return of
Christ, and life after death. The return of Christ was supposedly the most
important spiritual event that would ever happen to mankind, and yet
everything was being interpreted in physical terms. That did not make sense
to me. Also the claim that only 144,000 of the most devout followers of
Christ would go to heaven out of the millions that had lived on earth. If
God were truly a just and merciful God, how could this be? Was God really
saying to the Jews 'You haven't accepted the Christ, therefore you can go to
hell?'

Over a period of 6 months, I read everything in print by Baha'u'llah,
Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi. When I finished the letters of Shoghi
Effendi collected in the volume 'The World Order of Baha'u'llah', I was
convinced that if Baha'u'llah was not who He claimed to be, then neither was
Christ.

Don C


He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not - The Cloud of Unknowing

----

From: Sere...@aol.com
Date: Nov 17, 1994, 3:08:51 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Just wanted to say that it took 4 years of investigating the Faith and having
firesides in my home and attending other firesides before I decided that this
was the Truth I was seeking, but as a last minute clutch on my Catholic
upbringing, I read Thief in the Night and that was when I knew I was a Baha'i
all along.


Karen La Clair
Sere...@aol.com

----

From: deb alrutz
Date: Nov 17, 1994, 9:57:16 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

well... i had grown up going to sunday school in a methodist church &
just felt it wasn't right for me. during junior high & high school i
began studying some eastern philosophies/religions in search of something
that would fill this emptiness.
in 1981 i met this guy at work... as we got to be friends, he mentioned
this religion i had never heard of. interestingly enough, this man who
has taught the faith to many was very tongue tied with me. so he gave
me 'Baha'u'llah and the New Era' to read which i devoured.
then i went through a phase of self-doubt -- am i interested in the faith
because of this man or because it is right for me. you see, a lot of what
i had already decided i believed in are our tenets (equality, harmony of
science & religion, one god...)
so then we stopped dating & i soon realized the faith was for me that in
my heart i was already a Baha'i. i was living in milwaukee at the time &
called the number in the phone book. a couple days later i hadn't gotten
any response so on april 20, 1982 i got in my car & drove to wilmette &
declared at the house of worship! that was one of the better impulsive
things i've ever done!

with love
deb

----

From: Bernal Schooley
Date: Nov 17, 1994, 10:03:30 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Allah'u'abha,

My story starts back when I was 16, and I had just begun a serious
individual look into the Bible. What caught my attention the most within
Christianity was the promise of Christs return. I spent about six months
studying every book I could find on the topic and spoke with many Christians
in my church and at neighboring churches. Spending 4 and 5 hours a day
studying the Bible and praying for guidance was typical for me at that time.
My family did not join me in my search at that point. I had been raised as
a non-church going Christian, with strong leanings toward mystical and new
age philosophies. I reached a climax in my studies at about six months.
What happened then was that my mother had run across a reference to
the Baha'i House of Worship and we decided to take a sunday drive over to
Wilmette, Illinois to see it. The thing that struck me most was that I had
never heard of it before! I had seen references to and read about a great
many religions as had my mother, but nothing about the Baha'i Faith! It was
really astonishing to me and still is. Before we had left I picked up a
copy of "Thief in the night" by William Sears. Once I had found it I was
completely enraptured by it and read it VERY carefully. I had spent the
previous six months studying exactly what this book proposed to answer.
I should mention that I had not been sold on the Faith yet. It sounded
good, but I was not going to be converted without some serious study. So
that's what I did.

The next month was spent cross referencing my own materials I had
collected regarding the "return" and compared them to what was in the
book, "Thief in the night". There was not a single quote by William
Sears that I did not double check with several different translations
of the Bible. Even so I still spent the next weeks amazed by what I
was reading. During that time I attended a couple of firesides in the
home of some Baha'is who lived in a nearby town. A day or so before I
declared, I was walking home from school reading "Theif in the night"
as I passed between two Johovah's Witnesses. I stopped and turned
around as they looked back at me and we all smiled (for different reasons).
I began by asking them about their understandings of the "return" of Jesus
and they explained some of the prophesies they use to explain their view
of His return. I corrected each one by explaining what the real meaning
was and why the explanation I was using made more sense than their own.
Needless to say they were not to interested to continue our little exercise,
so we said goodbye. I went home completely convinced that my prayers over
the previous months had been answered in a way that was beyond anything
I could have imagined. At the next fireside I declared.

My story didn't quite end there though. During that last month my mother
had been reading ALL of the writings of Baha'u'llah and had herself decided
to declare at the same fireside that I did. My father and sister, having
read a few things that my mother and I had shown them, declared a month
later.


--Bernal Schooley <ber...@industry.net>
Pittsburgh, PA

----

From: Cary E. Reinstein
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 4:09:28 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

My post, as an example on this thread, never implied anything of the
kind. I wasn't even aware of Biblical principles until I became a
Baha'i. My family did not raise me to believe in God so I was really
free to seek the truth for myself. Once I found Baha'u'llah and the
Baha'i faith, I found Christ as well exactly as Bruce Limber states
here. Had I not become a Baha'i I'd have never known that Christ was
also from God.

Cary

----

From: Lucien Randazzese
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 4:10:36 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Denise has started what must certainly be one of the most wonderful
threads of this forum. We owe her great thanks for the suggestion.

Please continue with the stories of Baha'u'llah ...

Lucien R.


Excerpts from netnews.soc.religion.bahai: 8-Nov-94 How we found the
Baha'i Faith by Denise Godsey@bcfreenet.

----

From: Roger Neyman
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 4:17:52 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

How I found the Baha'i Faith (The short version):

I was born into a mildly Christian (Episcopalian) family and, by our
standards, I took my faith pretty seriously until about 17 years old,
at which time I set out to explore (sometimes at some depth) a wide
variety of religions and philosophies and practices. Mostly, all
these teachings stayed in my head, not reaching my heart, and it
showed up in my life as personal trouble.

After years of trying to do it (live) every other way I decided to
turn to God. At the time it was in the context of a local self-help
(12-Step) organization and lots of psychological counseling. I had a
pretty liberal view of theology and a pretty dim view of religion,
based on the results I chose to see around me. I usually cast
religion, when I adressed the question at all, as an attempt to
interpret, channel and, ultimately control (subvert, exploit)
genuine (individual) religious (spiritual) experience, energy and
creativity.

As a result, my strong sentiments and ideas about God and what He
wanted me to do were pretty ideosyncratic. I disdained what I viewed
as liberal, synchretistic new-age attempts to artifically assert
unities between disparate traditions, but felt inclined to think
that the unity was there to be discovered and reborn in a new form,
and so I remained mostly tolerantly quiet. I was especially
interested in efforts to reconcile science and religion. My pet
peeve was "Creation Science". I searched out and found books of all
sorts that supported my gut feeling that religion and science could
be harmonized.

For years I tried to put into practice (fumbling often) the principle
that our human role was "to pray only for knowledge of God's will for
us and for the power to carry that out" (Quotation from 12-Step
literature.) I could see the power of God working, in my life and in
the life of others around me. I also came to value service to others
as a force for the good in my life, and as an attempt to breath a
little life into the fading coals of hope in the world.

Only gradually did it dawn on me that by not participating in a
religious community I was missing out on something essential, that I
*needed* a community to keep me consistent, to hold me accountable
to a standard and with whom to share the results of years of study
in a variety of religious traditions. I also realized that
ongoing fellowship had a value of it's own.

I began, literally, to search for a community to join. I resigned
myself to abandon the search for the "right" religion, to give up on
creating my own unique approach if necessary. I thought it
relatively less important what doctrines and theology the community
espoused, compared to what their practices were.

I was very attracted to Siddha Yoga, Zen Buddhism, and Vedanta, but
ultimately found the references to re-incarnation too alien to
strike a deep chord within me. I began visiting various Jewish and
Christian services. Again and again I returned to worship with the
Native American Indian Unity Church.

When I found out that the wife of a close friend was a Baha'i I
immediately innundated her with requests for meeting locations,
books, answers to questions. I had heard of the Faith in college
and read one pamphlet, but had not run accross it in the twenty
years since. Only now do I begin to appreciate how pleased she must
have been by my focused interest.

Within a year I declared. To my surprise, I found I was already in
agreement with almost all of the principles of the Faith, and could
see that it wasn't just a liberal smorgasbord of borrowed ideas, but
a genuine, consistent faith in its own right. Moreover it was better
by far than my version of the model of what would hold those ideas
together that I had been building in my head.

In short, when I found the Faith, I had been busy trying to invent
it! Thank God and Baha'u'llah I didn't have to! (I promise you, we're
all better off :-)

On the way to declaring I stumbled over a few issues, of course, and
my declaration was delayed by the turmoil created in me by my
mother's death. But since declaring I have no regrets.

In the 13 months since I publically declared my faith in
Baha'u'llah, my life has been enriched in ways I couldn't imagine
before. I met my wife that night! I have been to Haifa for the
nine-day pilgrimage and was moved to tears almost every day! I
believe that now the true meaning of service to others is being
revealed to me. I am very, very grateful for the Baha'i Faith.

For those of you who've read this far, thanks!

Baha'i Greetings to one and all.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Roger Neyman - ney...@cmd.com - ney...@eisner.decus.org - ney...@cerf.net |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The more we know the more we know there's so much more that we don't know. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

----

From: Juli...@aol.com
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 12:10:00 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

I am new to this group and have really enjoyed reading people's descriptions
of how they found the Baha'i Faith. My story dates from the late 1960's into
the early 1970's. I was brought up as a Presbyterian but was becoming more
and more critical of what I was hearing at church. Even as a little girl I
remember coming home crying from Sunday school because I was told that all of
the people who lived before the coming of Christ had not had an opportunity
to recognize Him and were denied salvation. I was so concerned about all of
those interesting and wonderful people who lived in ancient times and the
fact that they were all doomed seemed so unfair to me!
This concern expanded as I learned more and more about the various cultures
and religions of the world. I read about the Native American peoples, about
Hinduism and Buddhism and about Islam and it seemed like a very strange
interpretation to me to state that these people were all going to hell.
One day in the dormitory at the University of Michigan I remember
hearing that there was a religion which believed in the validity and the
essential oneness of religions. That was the first time I heard the name
"Baha'i". I even saw an advertisement for a Baha'i meeting in the campus
newspaper but was too shy to attend.
By the late 1960's I was involved in the peace movement and had had a
chance to live in Europe during the tumultuous year 1967-8. I had always
been on a spiritual search during this time period. My search took me on a
study of the world's great art and I ended up in graduate school studying for
a degree in art history. During this time I felt very drawn to courses about
the fall of the roman empire and the beginning of christian art. What
brought about such a great change in artistic styles so that within a few
generations the Greco-roman style which had been entrenched for almost a
thousand years was suddenly replaced by a new kind of art which stressed
spiritual themes? i came to the conclusion that it could only have been the
power of the words of Jesus which created a whole new paradigm for humanity.
It was this new way of thinking which changed the art.
The following semester I took a course in 19th century art and was
astonished to notice that a similar change had taken place once again. The
beginning of the 19th century was dominated by an art style called the
Neo-Classical which actually took as its model the format of Greek and Roman
art and stressed themes involved with this realm of existence--the material
world.
By the end of the 19th century, however, there had been a rapid and
almost complete change. Artists rejected the earlier style and replaced it
with paintings which explored a number of themes of the life of the spirit
and of the inner emotions. Like the early Christian artists they did not
model their creations after the world they saw around them but after the
world of the imagination and the spirit. Paintings like those of Georges
Seurat's La Grand Jatte exploded form into a thousand tiny dots of color,
just as the early Christian mosaics made images out of tiny pieces of glass.
Fascinated by the parallels between these two periods I suddenly
speculated that perhaps another great teacher like Jesus had come into the
world and that the great change in art of the l9th century reflected the
introduction of yet another new paradigm which would change our thoughts and
views forever. Sitting there in the library I suddenly knew absolutely that
it was true and that another extraordinary figure like Christ had come into
the world and that this figure must have come during the l9th century. And
with the same certainty I just knew that if this was true someone would tell
me.
One week later my mother called to say that she had some important
news to tell me. She had heard of a wonderful new faith called Baha'i
through one of the students in her Humanities class. He had told her about
the Baha'i Faith because he was struck by a lecture she had given about how
literature had gone through an amazing change in the 19th century and after
the period of about 1843-5 it was clear that many poets and writers were
working in a completely new style. She then gave the assignment for students
to think about what might have happened during those years which would have
brought about such changes.
To stop a long story from being any longer my mother and I both
became Baha'is in 1970 and have been blessed with extraordinary experiences
as members of this world community. Just this summer to celebrate 24 years of
being Baha'is we drove 7,500 miles around the U.S. doing travel teaching and
visiting wonderful Baha'is in communities everywhere. To see the light of
Baha'u'llah in the faces of these wonderful souls is to again confirm my
first realization that the world has been transformed by the creative power
of a new Manifestation of God.

Julie Badiee

----

From: tr...@uwspmail.uwsp.edu
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 12:21:44 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Okay, guess I'll throw in here too. I was raised Christian (First
Christian Church - a rather liberal offshoot of the Church of Christ) and
went to Sunday School, was baptised, etc. But I also remember being
confused about many things even early on. I was never really sure who
Christ was, e.g. The concept of the Holy Trinity bothered me. And, while
my church did not practice it, the strangest belief of all was the use of
infant baptism - how could a newborn baby have sin?

Anyway, when I got older and went to college I became less and less
serious about practicing any religion. Among other things that happened
was that I bought a copy of the Koran at the U. bookstore and read about a
third of it. I remember thinking "this reads just like the Bible. Whats
the problem here? Why are Moslems and Christians at war?" My preacher
really didn't have any answer to that and I became what I later described
as an agnostic Christian - someone raised as a Christian, who believed
that God existed, but who wasn't sure who Christ was other than a man.

Things stayed like this until 1975 when I had two daughters, age 4 and
almost 2, and I asked myself, "How am I going to raise these children?
What do I want them to believe in?" My wife was largely in the same place
I was - raised Christian, but not actually practicing. So I set out to
find my own beliefs. I went to a couple of the local churches but didn't
find anything new or different there; talked to the Mormons, even read
Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine & Covenants, but in the end decided they
didn't have anything new to offer me. Then I saw an ad in the paper for a
Baha'i Fireside. I asked my wife what that was. She had actually been to
the Temple in Wilmette, Illinois as part of a confirmation class trip, but
Baha'i didn't really sink in because she gave me a typically wrong answer
that made Baha'i sound like Unitarian. But I was on a quest so I thought
what the heck and called the number.

It turned out that the ad was placed by a young couple, Sue and Steve
Christianson - and if anybody reading this has their current address I
would really appreciate it. They were students at the University and I
was a fairly new faculty member. When I asked about a Fireside they
calmly set one up for me then freaked when they got off the phone. What
were they going to do with me? They called in the "big guns" and called a
friend in another town to do the Fireside.

When I showed up for the Fireside it was in the lower half of a student
housing duplex and I wondered what kind of cult I was getting into here.
Luckily I went through with it. They showed a filmstrip of the Baha'i
Holy places in and around Haifa, and that was very reassuring to me -
these were big, solid structures so this could not be just a fly-by-night
cult. I liked what I heard and they gave me a copy of "Baha'u'llah and
the New Era" by Esselmont. This book hit me like a ton of bricks. Over
the next 6 weeks I read everything I could get my hands on from the U.
library and kept pestering them for Firesides.

On October 20 they agreed to do a fireside for me even though they were
just getting back from being out of town that day (I think they were at
the Green Lake conference). At the time I did not recognize the
significance of that date (Anniversary of the Birth of the Bab). I
badgered them into admitting there were only 3 Baha'is in Stevens Point,
something they had been avoiding saying explicitly. And I said "I came
over here tonight to make that 4." I'll never forget the shock followed
by joy on their faces.

To this day, the one thing I cannot understand is how *anybody* can read
the words of Baha'u'llah and not instantly recognize they are from God.
But thats how I came to the Faith.

Tom Rowe Internet: tr...@uwspmail.uwsp.edu
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
He is a true Baha'i who strives, by day and by
night, to progress and advance along the path
of human endeavor.
Abdu'l-Baha
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

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From: Norbert Kroeger
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 11:20:13 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

pi...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu wrote under 'Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith'
on 14.11.94 at 13:10:

Hi Li Chen!

> The stories that I have been reading on this thread all seem to
> have one thing in common: the writer doesn't agree with certain
> biblical principles.

From my own way of becoming Bahai it wasn't certain biblical princples but
some points of the dogmatism, which the christian church (in my
surroundings Protestant) again and again tells the people to believe:

1. Christianity is the one and only way to truth
2. All other religions are from the devil and their followers are evil
3. Men and even just born childs are sinners (heritage of the sin from
Adam and Eva)
4. Additional to 3. that human beings are likely to be bad ones than good
ones.

My heart told me, that these dogmas couldn't be true. Finding Baha'u'llah
I learnt, that

1. All religions tell the truth from the one God, they just have somewhat
different point of views because of the different stage of human evolution
when these religions came to mankind
2. Since all religions bring the truth, there is nothing more to fear from
a devil or any similar dangerous creature which threatens mankind. I don't
nead to have fear any more.
3. Human beings can do bad things and can become a sinner, when he turns
away from the light of God, but he is not a sinner from the time of his
birth into this world on.
4. Baha'u'llah tells us in the Book of Certitude of the potential of man
-- that his inner being ist the light of God. This is a positive sight of
the human reality. See also the message of the Universal House of Justice:
Promise of universal Peace.

> I am a recent convert to the LDS church
> and I've been very curious about the Baha'i faith.

What is the LDS church? [The Church of Latter Day Saints, also known as
the Mormon Church -mod] I'm not living in the USA.

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From: Greg Woods
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 11:25:42 PM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Friends,
I've always been somewhat reluctant to share the story of how I found
the Faith because I thought it was strange. Maybe now I'll have my
suspicions confirmed!
It was on the evening of July 8, 1973. I was working my regular summer
job as a lifeguard at a lake in Ohio. As I was walking along the beach I
was suddenly overcome with a feeling of anxiety - for no apparent reason.
I found it very unsettling, especially when it persisted for days without
relief. It was as if a thick veil had been removed from my eyes, I could
see my life (and where it was going) clearly, and I knew there was
something missing. After a week or so of this very uncomfortable state I
began praying - a lot. I had been raised Catholic but I was inactive at
the time and probably would have been considered an agnostic. Agnosticism
was no longer an option.
I started to actively investigate religion as if my life depended upon it.
I visited priests, I attended Christian meetings, I read about various
religious beliefs hoping that something would "click" and I would get out
of the persistent state of anxiety. Finally, after about a month of
fruitless search, I quit my job and decided to visit my closest friend
from college in the hope that she would be able to help. She was the only
one I felt comfortable talking to at the time. I thought I was going crazy.
Soon after arriving at her home we went for a drive around town. I
explained my "problem" and hoped she would be able to help. She tried,
but she probably thought that I WAS crazy. While driving slowly through a
pretty part of town I noticed a beautiful white building illuminated by
lights (it was after dark). My friend lived in Wilmette, Illinois, and I don't
have to tell you what building I was looking at. I immediatly asked what it
was and she replied "Oh, that's just the Baha'i Temple". When she
started to explain what she knew about the Faith something finally "clicked".
I insisted that we visit the House of Worship as soon as it opened the
next morning. When I entered the building I felt better than I had in a
long time.
I spent several months investigating the Faith, but I knew I had found
what I needed as soon as I set foot in the House of Worship. After
declaring my belief in Baha'u'llah, I finally shared the entire
experience with my Catholic parents. They were convinced that I was
_indeed_ crazy!
-- 
"The source of all learning is the knowledge of God" -Baha'u'llah

Greg
unit...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

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From: j.r...@rechten.vu.nl
Date: Nov 18, 1994, 4:20:57 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear people who read this newsgroup.

Whoever brought up this topic, I like it a lot. It is so inspiring to hear
all these stories. At least it is if you are a Bahai. If not, it might not be
so inspiring....

I feel very happy lately. Why, I do not know, nor do I care. It may be
because after years of being in darkness (while being a Bahai), I can feel
more and more and more and more Gods love. I can see it everywhere in life,
see His beauty and His guidance. And all of this time the following images
come to mind:

We are all God's creatures. He is like the artist, and we are the products of
His creativity. In all of His creation He laid aspects of Himself. So
everything bears His aspects and His names (like creator, all-knowing,
compassionate friend, merciful, bounteous, all-loving, judge, all-wise,
beautiful, loving father (or loving mother) etc, etc). There are many
different birds, many different fishes, many different mammals, many
different plants, many different minerals. Many different human beings as
well. Why? Because God wants us to know Him. That is why He sends over and
over His Messengers. That is why He created creation. That is why we are all
so different, as He is too great to be reflected by one creature only. We are
like His songs, and He is the Composer.

This thought thrills me more and more! In all of us humans He has laid a
spark of His spirit. We are all the rays of His sun. Don't get me wrong, God
is not His creation, just as a painter or sculpturer is not the painting or
the sculpture. But we are all His spirit expressed in different forms, in
different talents, in different ways of being.

And that is the reason why I became a Bahai.It seemed natural. I was raised
Roman-Catholic, and I loved and still love Christ. I used to tell Christ all
my troubles. He was my friend. And He still is. After I learned that
Baha'u'llah said that fundamentally all religion is one and coming from the
same source, and that all Manifestations or Messengers of God are like
brothers, I never could look upon it as otherwise. Although it took me some
time to get used to the Person and the Name of Baha'u'llah. I still kept
praying to Christ, but I was sure that neither of them would mind. They are
one in essence, and live all in the same house, spiritually speaking, so the
message would get to the right person anyway.

I was ten when two of my sisters and a brother became Baha'is. They are all
not registered Bahais now. I don't know why, although I have a notion, but I
know that deep inside they still recognize Baha'u'llah as the Manifestion of
God for this day.
Anyway, they took me to several Bahai meetings. I did not at all know what it
was all about, but I liked the people and I had the blessing to be present
during the meditative part of these meetings, where prayers would be read. I
think that has had an enormous influence on me becoming a Bahai much later in
life.
When I was 16, I investigated several world religions. It was as if something
was calling me. I liked them all, but I did not at all like the
organisations. It seemed so far removed from what their Founders had said. I
kept thinking that there must be something more according to the Source. I
kept dreaming of a group of people who really were ablaze with the spirit of
religion. I still did not know anything about the Bahais, except that it was
a religious group of people. Then a friend of my brother, who was the only
Bahai left in our family, took me to the celebration of the birthday of the
Bab, one of the central figures of this faith. There I met others, which a
few days later just by chance I happened to meet again, and went to drink tea
with her. She also had the Bahai local library, so I started to read, and
read and read. My mind was confused and did not understand it at all, but my
heart did not bother and said to me I just should follow this road. Who can
resist the heart? So at 17 I registered as a Bahai. Many years followed in
which the mind was still rebelling, and lots of confusion arose in me. But
keeping my eyes focussed on God, asking continually for His guidance and
asking Him to assure my mind as well that Baha'u'llah was Who He said He was
gave me peace at last. My mind is a bit (!) stubborn, so it took me nine
years get totally, heart AND mind, convinced.

Loving greetings,

janine van rooij
j.r...@rechten.vu.nl
amsterdam, NL

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From: Don R. Calkins
Date: Nov 19, 1994, 3:50:38 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

b> However, this interaction is far deeper, complex and subtle than
b> what is considered to be astrology nowadays.

there is also a 'pilgrim note' from Shoghi Effendi that Baha'i scholars of
the future would find astrology's significance. [a "pilgrim's note" is an
someone's recollection of Shoghi Effendi's words; it is not a verified
statement. -mod]

I studied astrology quite a bit for many years, with particular emphasis on
following those doing research. I found that very few, perhaps a few dozen,
people were doing quality research and that they studies showed no, or very
little, statistical correlation between the popular interpretation of
astrological factors and observed phenomenon. Their studies also indicate
that the predictive value of a particular factor varies according to a bell
curve.

There are also some problems with the 'philosophy' of popular astrology. As
with popular psychology and sociology, popular astrology tends to be very
simplistic in its interpretations. It also tends to deprecate individual
free will.

I believe it is appropriate for some Baha'i scholars to begin integrating
astrological research into their studies. I believe that at this time, the
average person can no more understand the significance of astrology than they
can understand the significance of chaos theory. As one writer has said,
in order to become a competant medical astologer, one must first graduate
from medical school. I would suggest that we concentrate right now on
graduating from medical school.

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From: gpoirier
Date: Nov 21, 1994, 2:20:28 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Tom, in the course of your story you mentioned Sue and Steve Christiansen
and asked if anyone knew their current address. You can write to any
American Baha'i, including pioneers to foreign countries, by writing to
them like this:

Steve Christiansen
c/o US Baha'i National Center
Office of Membership and Records
Wilmette Illinois 60091.

They will not release the address to you, but will forward the mail for
you. This service was mentioned in The American Baha'i a year or two ago.
Brent

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From: Michael Curtotti
Date: Nov 22, 1994, 12:24:26 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Li Chen,

I think your question about what a Baha'i finds wrong with other
religions (e.g. Christianity and Islam) is an interesting one because it
touches deep questions about the nature of the Baha'i Faith and the
choice Baha'is make when they become Baha'is.

Firstly I would like to say that I think that the Baha'i Faith does not
(repeat not) teach that there is anything wrong with other religions.
Indeed the Baha'i teachings regard all religions as coming from the one
same God: Baha'u'llah writes: "There can be no doubt whatever that the
peoples of the world derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source
and are the subjects of one God." (Gleanings from the Writings of
Baha'u'llah, p 217)

Indeed Baha'u'llah specifically refers to the truth and beauty of both
Christianity and Islam: e.g. (speaking of Christ) "He it is who
purified the world. Blessed is the man who with a face beaming with
light, hath turned towards Him." (Gleanings, p 86), (speaking of
Muhammad) "Blessing and peace be upon Him ... Whose raiment have shed
fragrence upon all mankind - who came to protect men from that which
would harm them in the world below. ...May blessings rest also upon His
kindred and His companion through whom thestandard of the unity of God
and His singleness was uplifted and the banners of celestial triumph were
unfurled. Through them the religion of God was firmly established among
HIs creatures ..."(Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pp 162-163)

On a personal level of course I felt there was something better in the
Baha'i teachings that should draw me to them. When I became a Baha'i I
did not reject other religions. Indeed the Baha'i teachings require me
to believe also in the teachings of Christ and Muhammad, as messengers or
manifestations of God. Since becoming a Baha'i I have come closer to
both Christ and Muhammad. It was only after Baha'u'llah showed me the
beauty of Christ's teachings that I bothered to read the Gospels
carefully and try to understand them.

The Baha'i Faith teaches that no religions is complete in itself, that
all religions are part of one great system given to mankind by God and
that each contains a portion of the truth. The Baha'i Faith itself will
in time be replaced when God sends another messenger to renew religion.
So rather than finding anything wrong with other religions being a Baha'i
has allowed me to find are more complete expression of the truth they
contain. For instance Baha'u'llah only lived just over a hundred years
ago, his teachings speak directly to this time. By contrast Christ and
Muhammad spoke to generations now long gone and it is very difficult
indeed to have a good understanding of their teachings from so far away
in time. One of the most special things for me about the Baha'i Faith is
that it teaches the unity of humanity: both as a principle for religious
and social conduct and as a prophecy of humanity's destiny.

A metaphor often used to explain the relationship between the different
religions is that they are like the different Chapters of one book. We
do not reject the previous Chapter of a book when we come to the next
chapter which explains the books theme more fully and starts us thinking
in new directions. In the same way I do not as a Baha'i reject any other
religion.

Warmest regards,

Michael Curtotti

Canberra, Australia.

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From: A.D. Scott
Date: Nov 22, 1994, 12:26:26 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

Dear Friends, Allah'u'Abha !

What a wonderful thread this is ! Thankyou for starting and participating in
it ! :)

So you want to know how I found the Faith ? Well, cut a long story short,
all I can really say is it was God's will and it found me ...

My background and my family were (and still are) 'social Christians', the
kind who are all too pleased to hob-nob with the vicar but dont normally go
near a church. Both my sister and I went to Sunday School as children, but
we never felt particularly comfortable there. Obviously something was
missing, but I didnt know what it was. By the time I went to university, I
had completely rebelled against what I saw as the empty-headed suicidal
'faith' element (the kind that says 'believe just because it is
impossible'). I thought faith was something you kept in one side of your
head while living your life in a separate compartment in the other. But I
still preferred the teachings to be found in the Bible (such as the 'Golden
Rule' ie do to others as you would have done to yourself etc) to the vacuum
of pure materialism. You might say I was a 'moral atheist'. After a year of
slow decay, the Faith found me. My head wanted to keep right on going, but
my feet were having none of it. There were no 'mystical experiences',
however it was still involuntary. The first time I saw some Baha'i
literature I remember thinking 'hey, thats what I already believe !'. It was
about this time that I started taking seriously what was happening to my
life. Shortly after that, on attending my first 19 day feast (little did I
know this was a 'unity feast' specially arranged by the host community, and
that they then had to arrange a 19 day feast for themselves !), the thing
that struck me most was the overpowering sense of warmth and unity, so
totally unlike anything you might find in a church. I felt as though these
people would really be prepared to die for each other. I also decided to
visit the UK's national suboffice to find more about this Faith. They were
more than a little surprised to be having to cater for a seeker ! Little did
I know this was an administrative office only.

The most difficult thing for me at this time was this whole 'God business',
eg existance of God, the afterlife, prayer etc. Coming from this background,
there was a tremendous barrier to believing there was anything to this 'faith'
thing. Two people, not from the local community, who really helped most in
this test were Don Rogers, of the International Teaching Centre, who
happened to be visiting Liverpool at the time, and a wonderful Friend from
Guyana, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. I had already started to
try to live the life (including prayer, which felt very strange, and the
Fast - the local Friends were most amazed at this seeker who insisted on
spending the whole Fast with them). What helped me most were the analogy
that the life and progression of the soul is analogous to the develoment of
the body - in this life we develop certain characteristics that we will need
in the next just as the unborn baby doesnt need limbs in the mother's womb -
that the existance of religions whose Founders could not normally have known
of Each Other but which said the same things is a proof of the existence of
God, and finally 'Abdu'l-Baha's statement that 'Faith is conscious
knowledge', not some leap in the dark. Finally, after 6 months, I was ready
to declare, but I kept my surprise until the 12th Day of Ridvan, 1989. The
first person who learned came from a background where teaching the Faith was
forbidden, so you can imagine how pleased she felt ! I dont think anyone who
was there will forget that year - there were two declarations ! Since then,
I have been privileged beyond my worth to serve on the National Youth Committee
here in the UK, and to have gone on a 9-day pilgrimage to the World Centre. The
best thing that has happened since then has been the bounty of serving the
*wonderful* youth community of Northern Ireland. God willing, I may visit
again :)

Yours in His service,

Andy
ph...@cc.keele.ac.uk

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From: Bruce Limber
Date: Nov 22, 1994, 12:30:28 AM
To: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: Re: How we found the Baha'i Faith

> I've always been somewhat reluctant to share the story of how I found
> the Faith because I thought it was strange.

Not to worry: I've never met a Baha'i who wasn't.

:-)