Question:
In regards to the Baha'i faith?
Misfit_101
2010-02-09 22:38:41 UTC
What exactly are the Baha'i beliefs on homosexuality?
Seven answers:
Badi Joojai
2010-02-11 02:41:32 UTC
[Note: Although all the existing evidence is anecdotal and so inconclusive, it should be noted that Ruhi Afnan, Shoghi Effendi's first cousin, made similar allegations about Shoghi Effendi's sexuality, as did Fayzullah Sobhi. The late US NSA archivist, Jackson Armstrong-Ingram, also confirmed the existence of longstanding rumors about Shoghi Effendi's homosexuality.]



Michael Zargarov (ex-Bahai)



August 22nd, 2009.



Greetings all.



About 20 years ago I was introduced to Mildred Mottahedeh at a conference in Arizona. Hand of the Cause Bill Sears introduced us because he knew I yearned to teach the faith in Eastern Europe, and he knew that Mildred had a particular interest there too. Later in 1990, at her suggestion, I pioneered to Prague, Czechoslovakia. I was there 18 months, and traveled from Prague to Russia, and to Alma Ata, Kazakhstan in order to visit with and help teach among long-out-of-contact believers. Still later, at various times, I was hosted for dinner at Mildred's sumptuous apartment overlooking the United Nations complex in NYC. Once in late 1992 I took Mildred to a concert of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Lincoln Center. On the way we stopped at a drugstore. When she came back to the car, Mildred showed me a gold locket which held hair from Baha'u'llah. She told me that Shoghi had given it to her when she WITNESSED his marriage to Ruhiyyih. Mildred and her husband bought a limousine for Shoghi to use, which he later loaned to Ben Gurion when "Israel" was established.



Mildred Mottahedeh had known May Maxwell since the 1920s. They were close confidants and best friends. Before Violeta Nakhjavani took over as "companion" to Ruhiyyih, Mildred held that honor.



Mildred and I were very close. She ASKED me if I "struggled with being gay". When I admitted that I did, she revealed to me that Ruhiyyih had intimated to her that Shoghi was homosexual himself, and hated himself because he "fell so short of what was expected of him as a member of Baha'u'llah' s family". Ruhiyyih told Mildred that their marriage had been arranged to "help" Shoghi "straighten himself out". (It is purely MY conjecture that Ruhiyyih was Lesbian. I just saw such a Bull-Dyke everytime I saw her, and her relationship with Violeta seemed obvious.) Mildred told me that she had revealed that long-held secret because she hoped it would one day help other gay baha'is to realize that they were not struggling alone; indeed that the "Center of the faith" had struggled against the same "affliction" . Mildred made me swear NEVER to reveal what I knew until AFTER her death. I kept the promise.



- Wahid Azal
Ryan H
2010-02-10 04:39:04 UTC
This is from the official Baha'i website of the USA (link below):



"[Q]: What is the Baha'i attitude toward homosexuality?

[A]: Baha'i law limits permissible sexual relations to those between a man and a woman in marriage. Believers are expected to abstain from sex outside matrimony. Baha'is do not, however, attempt to impose their moral standards on those who have not accepted the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. To regard homosexuals with prejudice would be contrary to the spirit of the Baha'i teachings."



To me the key phrase is "To regard homosexuals with prejudice would be contrary to the spirit of the Baha'i teachings." In other words, though Baha'is do not condone homosexual acts, it is the act itself that's considered impermissible - not the person(s). It is not contradictory to love a person while still disagreeing with their actions and decisions.



As someone has already mentioned, gay people are allowed to join the Faith but once joined, are expected to follow its laws. Also, I think it's extremely important to point out that the Baha'i Faith as an institution does not take a political position on the current issues of gay rights in the US.
?
2016-10-16 11:34:23 UTC
Baha'u'llah reported that miracles at the instantaneous are not evidence that someone is from God. the guy witnessing them may settle for them as evidence, yet in a lengthy time period commence to doubt that they extremely witnessed what they concept they witnessed. between the evidences of evidence is the ability of a Manifestation of God to regulate the satanic characteristics of a individual to heavenly attributes: personality change. yet another information is the Revelation itself. What different reason in the back of the outpouring of expertise and expertise can account for the Revelation? Over one hundred books contained when it comes to Baha'u'llah, and this from a guy who had received truly the conventional preparation as a baby of reading and writing. this isn't glaring to someone till he has surveyed the written Revelation. Baha'u'llah had no get acceptable of entry to to libraries as a prisoner. Baha'u'llah persisted 40 years of imprisonment, banishment from his position of foundation and torture because of His teachings and movements in merchandising a clean Revelation. it really is information that He replaced into not in contact in fabric issues and that He replaced into not an imposter. truly someone who's truly confident that He has been chosen by God for a Divine project might want to post with such circumstances for the finest 40 years of His existence. contained in the right, someone ought to make investments your attempt and time to be confident of the reality of Baha'u'llah. the actual undeniable actuality that there now exists about 6 million Baha'is contained in the worldwide from each united states and 1000's of cultural and non secular backgrounds is information that Baha'u'llah's objective for mankind is getting into being. i imagine that what you seem for in searching for the reality is information that something is authentic. The more suitable information you stumble on, the more suitable likely that you'll settle for all of it as evidence. ---Bruno
Nonagon
2010-02-10 10:40:15 UTC
It depends on how you choose to identify Bahá’í beliefs: if you believe that the Bahá’í International Community of Haifa and ‘Akká (as it is known in Israel) headed by the Universal House of Justice on Mount Carmel constitutes the only valid form of the Bahá’í Faith and that this cannot under any circumstances be challenged or changed, and if you also interpret the Bahá’í Covenant (as do most mainstream Baha'is) as unswerving obedience and total submission to the Baha'i ecclesiastical authorities (the Universal House of Justice) then one must choose a life of chastity or pursue a life of affectional fulfillment outside of the normative Bahá’í community, which recognizes heterosexual marriage as the sole context for sexual activity (note that same-sex civil marriage is now legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and Nepal, with many other countries ready to adopt it).



If however this is not what you choose to believe then there are other options available for you to choose from: Both the Tarbíyat Bahá’í Community and the Unitarian Bahá’í Fellowship welcome gay men and lesbians (both singles and couples) as members; these faith communities do not attempt to micromanage the lives of gays and lesbians through "counseling," "sanctioning" (disenrolling) or otherwise silencing them. See for example:



http://unitarianbahai.org/



"We find community in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) ... the Unitarian Bahai Fellowship welcomes openly gay and lesbian people."



No excuses, rationalizations, justifications, explanations, qualifications, rebuttals, quibbles, or spiritual window dressing: they openly accept single and partnered gay men and lesbians. That's it, period.



In the words of former Catholic and well-known actress Anne Hathaway: "The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out. Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?"



All *accredited* American medical and psychological institutions agree there's no medical, psychological, or social reason to believe that sexual conduct between persons of the same sex is immoral or unhealthy. That includes the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers to name only a few. Only religious dogmatists think it immoral.



It would be wrong to assume that Bahá’u’lláh (the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith) failed to mention homosexuality due to his ignorance of such matters. In his Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book), Bahá’u’lláh explicitly forbade pederasty, but Shoghí Effendí, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, is presumed to have interpreted this (in a letter written on his behalf [not all of which letters were as carefully scrutinized as one is often told they were]) to imply a general prohibition on all forms of homosexual activity. He did not, however, wish Bahá’ís to treat the words written by his secretaries as possessed of the same authority as his own letters: they are authoritative for the person to whom they are addressed in the situation in question, but they were not intended to establish general principles universally applicable to particular situations.



Gays and lesbians who wish to self-identify as Bahá’í without living in the closet or allowing, accepting, condoning, or enabling toxic, abusive, disrespectful, non-honoring attitudes and behaviors to continue now have at least one truly viable alternative to choose from (the Unitarian Bahá’í Fellowship), should they wish to do so. The choice is entirely theirs to make. Those who knowingly choose to join a religious organization or faith community which teaches that the only acceptable form of sexual expression is within heterosexual marriage bear the full responsibility for their choice.
oldemystic
2010-02-09 23:00:39 UTC
Bahai' is probably the most tolerant of religions. Their various teachings do not condone homosexuality nor such things as pre-marital or promiscuous sex, but they have a strict code of not condemning individual decision-making in regard to personal matters. Gay people can join Bahai.
anonymous
2010-02-09 22:43:56 UTC
they love person but not practice of homosexuality, they believe that you can be GAY BUT NOT PRACTICE
anonymous
2010-02-09 22:42:01 UTC
bahai



is a cult



not a religion


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...