The Faith Column
Every week a different believer gives the inside track on their religion or philosophy.
Resisting Persecution
- 2 comments
- Posted by Nazila Ghanea
- 26 November 2008
The Bahá’í faith supports human rights and interactions with other religions, yet the believers have faced persecution in Iran for decades.
The gardens surrounding the Shrine of Bab in Israel have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
The Bahá’í teachings are full of references to justice, legal order, universality, equality, human dignity and individual freedoms, as well as responsibilities, and the need to overcome prejudices of race, religion, nationality or sex. Though pre-dating the modern human rights era by a century, all the core ingredients are there for enthusiastic Bahá’í support for human rights.
Religions are most often criticized in human rights for restricting the role of [...]
Bahá’ís and Social Action
- 21 comments
- Posted by Nazila Ghanea
- 25 November 2008
The Bahá'í ethos of easing the burdens of others inspires believers to build schools and improve health and equality around the world.
There is an oft-quoted Bahá’í maxim that says that if religion brings about more hatred than harmony then we are better off without religion. It is by this measure that Bahá’ís also measure their own worth as a community.
Service to the world of humanity, becoming the cause of harmony, easing the burden of everyone whose path they cross, and making sure that their behaviour each day is better [...]
The religion of God
- 11 comments
- Posted by Nazila Ghanea
- 24 November 2008
Academic and human rights campaigner Nazila Ghanea explains the basic tenets of Bahá’í belief
Despite its relatively brief history of some 165 years, the Bahá’í faith is the second most geographically widespread religion in the world after Christianity. The Bahá'í community numbers some six million followers living in more than 100,000 localities around the world.
As a Bahá’í, I believe that there is but one God, a Supreme Being that has continually sent divinely-inspired ‘Messengers’ – or 'Manifestations of God' - to impart [...]
Finding Happiness
- 7 comments
- Posted by Steve James
- 21 November 2008
Meditating, believing in impermanence and seeking true happiness will help people weather the financial meltdown.
The Dalai Lama at the Royal Albert Hall in May.
Buddhism is about sustaining happiness. Whilst the credit crisis and impending recession will cause many unpleasant situations, our experience of these times depends on whether we believe that money and a permanent job could actually make us happy in the first place. After all, it is not our cars or houses that get happy - it is only our minds that can do that.
Buddha’s teachings are not beliefs, [...]
Judaism and the meltdown
- 1 comments
- Posted by Shraga Zaltzman
- 20 November 2008
Rabbis are a great resource during this economic crisis, providing both support and networking opportunities.
A menorah in the Plymouth Synagogue.
In any period of difficulty, it is essential that communities pull together to share their expertise to support those in need. During this period of economic uncertainty, it is certain that there will be no sector, faith, nor community that will be unaffected by redundancy and financial turmoil. It is clear that the leaders of those communities will be looked to for guidance during such a testing period.
I [...]
Compassion during the crisis
- 18 comments
- Posted by Matthew Jee
- 19 November 2008
Compassion for all - including bankers and politicians - will help society weather the economic crisis and learn to prize equality and sustainability, says Buddhist Matthew Jee.
Buddhist monks outside a Scottish monastery.
The Buddha was an ordinary human being who lived a remarkable life. An Indian prince, he gave up everything in search of the truth. The truths he discovered speak to us across all cultures and ages. He discovered and taught that human dissatisfaction is caused by three “root poisons” of the mind: greed, ignorance and anger. The Buddha also taught that we can move beyond these poisons and wake up [...]
The church in the crunch
- 8 comments
- Posted by Simon Barrow
- 18 November 2008
Following huge losses during the financial crisis, the Church of England should return to the Christian principles of using material wealth for the common good
No-one is immune from the global economic crunch. That includes the Church of England, which has £5 billion tied up in assets, pensions and buildings. When the archbishops of Canterbury and York started to sermonise on short-term greed and the failures of market, they were embarrassed to discover that the Church had been playing the system in pretty much the same way as everyone else.
Initially, things looked good. Due [...]
White Poppies
- 20 comments
- Posted by Symon Hill
- 07 November 2008
Symon Hill explains why the Quaker belief in pacifism leads him to wear a white poppy.
To be Quaker is to choose a religion fundamentally at odds with the dominant values around us. For me, this is both exciting and challenging.
Quakers often enjoy publicity at this time of year, because – like other pacifists - we wear white poppies. Like most Quaker commitments, this is often misunderstood. White poppies are not about insulting the dead, but about honouring them by working for an end [...]
Quakers and the UN
- 1 comments
- Posted by Chris Walker
- 06 November 2008
Held in the Quaker tradition of dialogue and mutual respect, the Quaker United Nation Office promote informal discussion and understanding among UN delegates.
Central to Quakerism is the peace testimony. This derives from the conviction that there is the light, whether that be of God [...]
Walking the talk
- 0 comments
- Posted by Eoin McCarthy
- 05 November 2008
Eoin McCarthy works to encourage others to apply Quaker principles to their lives and businesses.
The anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss noticed that “It is in each other’s gaze that we come into being”. I walk alongside men and women who accept me as I am, and who quietly show me what a great life can look like. Amongst them I have learned to nurture my inner resilience, to practice life-sustaining connection with my body, my partner, my environment, and the underlying unity of all things. [...]
Quakers for prison reform
- 0 comments
- Posted by Helen Drewery
- 04 November 2008
Their belief in equality and justice, and a history of being jailed for their faith, have inspired Quakers to campaign for prison reform.
Quakers (members of the Religious Society of Friends) are usually more concerned with living out their faith in their lives than with defining their faith. Our simple style of worship, based in silence, often provides the spiritual grounding for our efforts to make the world a better place, which in turn enriches our worship.
We have what we call Testimonies – I think of them as signposts or touchstones – [...]
Seeking, not finding
- 0 comments
- Posted by Ben Dandelion
- 03 November 2008
Ben Dandelion explains how modern day Quakers celebrate their faith through silence and seeking
No longer a group wearing ‘Quaker grey’ bonnets and broad rimmed hats, Quakers in Britain today embrace a vibrant faith of spiritual exploration. Whilst the very first Quakers of the seventeenth century believed they were the ‘true church’, God’s chosen vanguard at the time of an unfolding second coming, today’s Friends (as Quakers are also called) are far less dogmatic.
Indeed, in terms of beliefs, they are one of [...]
Diwali Greetings
- 0 comments
- Posted by Manjula Sood
- 29 October 2008
Councillor Manjula Sood is the Lord Mayor of Leicester, where the largest Diwali celebration outside of India is held - complete with music and lights
The Right Worshipful, the Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Manjula Sood.
Diwali - from Deepavali, meaning row of lights - is one of the most popular and widely celebrated Hindu Festivals. Diwali marks the end of the Hindu year. Above all, Diwali is about the concept of light: divas (traditional Indian lamps) were lit at Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhaya after 14 years of exile. The holiday is the celebration of good over evil where light is the symbol of knowledge.
[...]Celebrating Diwali
- 1 comments
- Posted by Divyang Patel
- 28 October 2008
After Diwali on Sunday, student Divyang Patel reflects on what the Hindu festival of lights means to him.
Diwali fireworks above the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden.
The clocks are turned back the last Sunday in October as winter begins to grip London. And as I contemplate the depressing reality of afternoons in darkness, I find something to keep my spirits high - the Indian ‘Festival of Light’, Diwali, brings with it a tremendous sense of enthusiasm and occasion.
This is one of the few days of the year - besides my birthday - when [...]
Reincarnation and Karma in CaoDai
- 2 comments
- Posted by Hum D Bui
- 10 October 2008
Hum D Bui concludes the series on CaoDai with a look at what it says about how past deeds set the course for the next life in comparison to other religions.
Most religions conceive human beings as consisting of three parts: the physical body, the soul, and the spirit.
Hinduism calls the spirit, "Brahman," "Atman" or the absolute (metaphysical) self and the soul "jiva," or the miniature self. Buddhism calls the spirit the true heart, or Buddha-heart, and the soul the earthly heart, or the illusory heart. Taoism calls the spirit god's heart (which is absolute), and the soul the [...]
