Baha'i Temple in the United States[/caption]Editor - While the Western world celebrates the New Year on January 1, and much of Asia shortly afterward, in the Middle East the time of Naw-Ruz opens the door to celebrations at the beginning of spring; and a persecuted people, the Baha'is, continue to have hope for their brethren in Iran and throughout the world, just as President Barack Obama said yesterday in his address from the White House.
Baha'is are a minority group of religious folks, but constitute the second largest of the religions of Iran. While they are considered by Iranian Muslim clerics to be Islam heretics, they are considered by the nations of the world to be an independent religion. But many of them in Iran are suffering intense persecution, denied education and personal freedoms to the extent that the United Nations has many times warned the Iranian government of it violation of human rights.
Yesterday evening in the greater Portland area, Julia Rubenstein hosted the annual Naw-Ruz celebration at her home, with local Baha'is indulging in a feast of food to end their 19-day fast. Like other religious groups, such as Muslims and Catholics, the Baha'is believe that a fast helps to focus one's attention on the Creator and spiritual ideals as opposed to the material concerns.
One Baha'i observed at the celebration, "The fast gives me a time to think about my relationship to God, what is really important in life and what our true purpose is. " And what is that purpose, she was asked. "To help establish peace on this earth, to teach the principles of the oneness of humanity; and that we are really all brothers sharing this world."
It is this type of statement that is the antithesis of the Iranian government's practices, practices that foster nationalism and increase tensions, according to international experts. And it is this heavy-handed treatment of religious minorities who are trying to unite the East and West who are persecuted the most by the Iranian government. That persecution has been continuing for more than 150 years, since the Baha'i Faith was born in 1844 with the heralding of the new messenger of its Faith, Baha'u'llah, by the Bab, a title given to the one Baha'is consider to be a prophet as well but also having the position of John the Baptist, as the one proclaiming the inception of a new era of faith.
Baha'is believe in the equality of men and women, the unity of mankind, economic justice, the agreement of science and religion and the recognition that nationalism, racism and communism are the triple evils that get in the way of the unity of mankind.
Yesterday Obama underlined how the Iranian government stands in the way of religious minorities in their free exercise of faith. Last night, however, the Baha'is reminded themselves that each year at New Year is the symbol of rebirth, of new awakenings and of the opening of the door to infinite possibilities, as they celebrated Naw Ruz.
