Hi Ken,
I appreciate your comments. Myself, I see “liberal,” “conservative,” and “progressive” as political terms that don’t correctly — at least, not entirely — characterize currents within religions.
The Baha’i “theory of religion” sees religion as a unified, evolving phenomenon that originates with God and develops partly in accordance with His will, partly under human influence. It provides for spiritual and social advancement of individuals and societies, but in part is constrained by humanity’s state in any given time and place. An analogy is to how a doctor treats patients of differing ages and states of health. The treatments given to a ten-year-old with a cold are not the same as those given to a seventy-year-old with cancer. Likewise, a religion revealed five thousand years ago would not be the same as one revealed one thousand years ago or today, because the needs and capacities of human beings are different in each age.
Because the Baha’i Faith originated in modern times — the mid-1800’s as opposed to one, two, or three thousand years ago — it brings with it teachings suited to an age moving toward global unity, including principles such as elimination of all forms of prejudice and equality of women and men. These principles may underlie certain modern progressive movements, but not all aspects of the religion are aligned with all aspects of those movements. Some Baha’i teachings may appear to the casual observer “liberal” or “progressive,” yet others look decidedly “conservative.” Yet for Baha’is, neither is true. These are teachings given by God through His Messenger for this age, Baha’u’llah, and we are obligated to live by them.
Most religions have mechanisms for adapting to circumstances. How well they do it may be debated. Regardless, Baha’u’llah has provided mechanisms to enable His religion to adapt to changing times until the coming of the next Messenger a thousand or more years hence. His framework of laws and principles are implemented through the consultative deliberations of the Universal House of Justice and National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, which take into account the Holy Writings, conditions pertaining in society, and the views of those affected by their decisions. Yes, some matters are fixed. These Institutions cannot change what Baha’u’llah specifically decreed. But there is a far more flexibility in this system than one might at first glance think.
Where subjects such as sexuality are concerned, I think it’s very much false that western religion has trouble with them. People often have trouble with them, but the teachings of religion are generally clear enough. Any honest appraisal of the fundamental teachings of the major world religions will reveal a recognition of the role sexual relations play in a good life. What religion denounces is not sexuality, but unfettered and unregulated expression of sexuality. There is a huge difference.
Put in Baha’i terms, we are spiritual beings temporarily manifested in this physical form. The body is not “what we are.” Our spiritual nature is. To become who we truly are, we must learn to subordinate body to spirit. This does not mean repression of physical impulses, however. Baha’is are not ascetics. Rather, it means learning self-control and respecting the limits God has set for us. Within those limits, there is no evil in enjoying the benefits of the physical world:
Know ye that by “the world” is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The “life to come,” on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful. ~Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, CXXVII
As I understand it, this teaching is common to most if not all major religions. The stories of the Buddha’s search for enlightenment that illustrate the “middle way” are perhaps among the most powerful examples, but the same idea is present in western religion. Properly understood, those religions do not see things as evil; rather, evil is found in such desires and behaviors as are contrary to God’s will but in which we nevertheless indulge.
