This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page
The path to world recognition has not proven to be an easy trail for the Baha'i Faith.
There have been moments of glory.
'Abdu'l-Baha, or Abbas Effendi, attracted a good deal of press interest as he travelled through Europe and America.
The Baha'i "House of Worship" in Wilmette, Illinois is one of the Chicago area's more recognized monuments, and the the buildings in Haifa, Israel and New Delhi, India uphold this architectural tradition.
In the 1970s, the pop music duos "Seals and Croft" and "England Dan (Seals) and John Fordcoley" brought recognition to the Baha'i Faith.
In the late 1970's, the Iranian Islamic Revolution was seen by Baha'is as an opportunity for their religion to finally "emerge from obscurity".
Baha'is claim a membership of over 5 million believers, but there is little evidence of growth since the 1970s.
The 1970s brought hope that Baha'is would finally be recognized for their accomplishments as individuals, but little has shone from Baha'i artists, scientists, etc..., since then.
The Jazz great Dizzie Gillespie became a Baha'i late in life, but his great accomplishments could certainly not stand as evidence of any traceable Baha'i inspiration.
Still, Gillespie is evidence that a musical genius can be attracted to the Baha'i Faith.
Today, the only sustained accomplishment of the Baha'i Faith is the construction of shrines, houses of worship, and administrative buildings. A great deal of money, time, and effort is directed toward these architectural projects, but these efforts do not put the Baha'i Faith in a unique position amongst the world's religions. Rather, the Baha'is have followed an ancient, controversial tradition of putting architectural displays over economic and social development.
Baha'i investments in "economic and social development" have largely gone into Baha'i schools, institutes, and radio stations.
Because Baha'i institutions such as these are regularly used as tools of indoctrination and expansion, their status as "economic and social development" is questionable.
Relatively little Baha'i money has gone into real economic development or charity.
For an impression of how some Bahá'ís viewed their faith's lack of progress in the 1980s, refer to the document entitled A Modest Proposal:
... there is clear and compelling evidence that the fortunes of the United States Baha'i community have stagnated, at least by some objective measures, within the past decade. Americans are loathe to face such stagnancy or admit that any decline is occurring, but even a cursory look at a few basic facts and indicators reveals the trends:
Declarations have slowed to a maintenance pace. In the 1960s and early '70s,10,000 declarations a year, many among young people, were not unusual. Since 1974, enrollments have hovered around the 3,000 per year level, which is approximately what it takes to replace attrition to withdrawals, pioneering, deaths, etc.
Youth declarations have dropped even more precipitously as we have been unable to sustain the influx of youth and young adults at levels comparable to the 1969-1973 period, when unprecedented numbers of youth enrolled in the Faith. Consequently the total of 19,000 Baha'i youth in the American Baha'i community in the peak year (1971) has declined to a total of 2,800 in 1987.
While the goals of the Nine, Five, and Seven Year Plans were, for the most part, won, the American Baha'i community has yet to achieve anything close to widespread enrollments and the beginning of the process of "entry by troops" expected here for over a decade.
Get your own Free Home Page