Olympianismos
Welcome to Olympianismos!

Join the forum, it's quick and easy

Olympianismos
Welcome to Olympianismos!
Olympianismos
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

Progressive Revelation(Baha'i)

Go down

Progressive Revelation(Baha'i) Empty Progressive Revelation(Baha'i)

Post  TheSeekingDisciple Tue May 19, 2015 11:27 pm

As many of you know, I talk to a lot of Baha'is and have learned a bit about their religion. I never really understood how they could claim to be the newest religion in the world and yet ignore religions that came after. It was not until I realized that they had this concept of Progressive Revelation. The idea is that every 1000 years or so, a new infallible prophet is needed to create a religion that is relevant to the era. What was acceptable long ago, is not acceptable now. They don't proselytize per se, but they feel that their religion is the most relevant to this era. The intention of this is to say that all other religious founders are valid and that every religion is linked by a chain of prophets and that all religions are one.

My problem with this idea is that it can easily be breeding grounds for chauvinism and ethnocentrism. It assumes that all religions are the same or work from the same paradigm which is not case. Not every faith operates from this paradigm of appearance of infallible prophets. Also, there is a bit of an oxymoron here since it suggests relative morality.  

The organization fails to consider that not every religion sees their founders as infallible prophets like they do. For example: Krishna is not a prophet, but a god and not every Hindu believes that he literally came down to earth to teach people. Even those that do believe in literal incarnation are sure that they will stay Hindu when Kalki appears. Also, the Kali Yuga still has a few thousand years to go. The same could be said of Buddha. It's also a bit of a moot point to say that Krishna and Buddha are manifestations of God when there are Buddhists and Hindus out there who see everything as a manifestation of God.

I feel that creeds like First Nations/AmerIndian/Native American Spirituality, Hermeticism, traditional faiths, some sects of Sufism, Qabalah, Taoism, Stoicism, Neoplatonism, Dharmic faiths etc. are more relevant to the modern era even if they are older. Many of them make use of virtues rather than specific commands for moral codes and many of their followers tend to be more open and discerning.

I also feel that the Baha'i faith has already become irrelevant to the modern era by promoting ideas like infallible leadership and hetero-sexism. Seeing some people as infallible can create a breeding ground for fanaticism and close-mindedness. While they're not as extreme as the Christians or Muslims when it comes to LGTBQ+ people, they still hold a lot of disapprove of them. Moreover, women are also not allowed to be a part of the main governing body called the Universal House of Justice.

Progressive Revelation only works if one sees their religious founders as infallible.  

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
TheSeekingDisciple
TheSeekingDisciple
Full Member
Full Member

Posts : 50
Join date : 2014-05-06
Age : 32
Location : Canada

Back to top Go down

Back to top


 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum