Anyone have any experience dealing with Ba'hai?

[Barrister]

So little Timmy's best friend in pre-school is Ba'hai.  Through the kids, we've wound up meeting the parents a few times, and have even been over to their home once for lunch and a play date.  And of course, given the thread title, their family is Ba'hai.

While I've heard of Ba'hai before, I've never known anyone who actually believed it.  From what I can tell both of the parents were raised within that faith, rather than being converts.

So - while they seem like nice enough people, there's a couple of odd things about them too.  But because I have no idea about Ba'hai, I don't know if it's just this couple, or something as a result of their religious faith.  I tried googling, but all you can find are very pointed pro- or anti- Ba'Hai screeds.

[Malthus]

From what little I know (I have known some Ba'hai folks, but not well) it is sort of like Muslim Lite.

I give them props for actually having a prophet named "Bob".  (Well, a title actually - Báb).

[derspiess]

Dude who used to play for the Cardinals was Ba'Hai.  That's about as much as I know.  I'd probably take similar precautions that I would take not to offend a muslim.

Or next time you're hanging out you could ask them what it's all about. 

[PRC]

When I was a teenager I worked at a VHS rental video store and the owner was Ba'hai.  Nice guy and family, also had one work colleague who was of the faith and she was smoking hot so that was a plus for the faith.  I think they believe in multiple and ongoing prophets.  So they believe Jesus was a prophet of God, and so was Muhammed and so was Buddha... not sure what they think of Joseph Smith though.

[Jacob]

I've known a couple of Ba'hai individuals. They were pretty mild mannered and inoffensive. We never really talked religion or anything; IIRC the guy didn't drink because of his beliefs, but otherwise he was indistinguishable from any other dude really.

My impression is that they're a later day divergence from Abrahamic faiths, and that they take pacifism and being nice to everyone fairly seriously. I think most of the anti-Ba'hai stuff is from various hardline Muslims who consider the Ba'hai to be apostates of some flavour or other.

[CountDeMoney]

I understand that Ukrainian security forces have had difficulty in dislodging pro-Ba'hai militias from state buildings.

[crazy canuck]

I know a few families of that faith.  Nothing particularly remarkable about them except that they are always very polite.  We should all have such problems.

[CountDeMoney]

I don' know anybody who is Ba'hai.  I think Lettow is Oh'hai, though.

[Norgy]

From my experience, the Ba'hai are rather accommodating and with much more lenient practices in most fields than other religions we could mention. Their calling is also more like a New World Order (black helicopters sold separately) than anything else. Common language, common institutions, removing obstacles to human interaction across borders. When I think of it, you may have met someone who's the EU and the UN in person. 

[derspiess]

I understand that Ukrainian security forces have had difficulty in dislodging pro-Ba'hai militias from state buildings.

They're obviously outside agitators that infiltrated in from Bahailand.

[garbon]

I knew one person in high school but can't say he ever said that much about his religion. He was an oddball but that had nothing to do with his faith (I believe he had a breakdown at some-point / was the one person I ever was afraid might do something crazy like shooting up he place).

I also lived right near the Baha'i center when I was in SF. You wouldn't know it though apart from the sign on the outside the building.

[Barrister]

Okay, so the weird thing I was wondering about...

Timmy met his little friend at pre-school, but now his friend doesn't go to pre-school any more.  Apparently he said he didn't like going so they stopped bringing him.  It just boggles my mind though.  Timmy has resisted doing different activities before, but he always winds up loving them by the time we get there.

My mother (now retired teacher and vice-principal) had said she'd noticed the same thing about some Baha'i students in the past - that they were big on "expressing oneself", but as a result didn't pressure their kids to do stuff like going to school.

But I didn't know if that was actually true, or just some oddball opinion my mother picked up.

Yeah, other than being pretty bad at deadlines and timelines (we've had their kid over, and they picked him up way later than we thought they would) they seem very nice and very easygoing.

[Queequeg]

They're a vaguely hippie syncretic faith with elements of the native Iranian religions, Twlever Shi'ism and the Vedic religions.  They kind of annoy me; there are some 5, Bahai and maybe 200,000 Zoroasatrians and only a few thousand Mandeans. 

[Barrister]

They're a vaguely hippie syncretic faith with elements of the native Iranian religions, Twlever Shi'ism and the Vedic religions.  They kind of annoy me; there are some 5, Bahai and maybe 200,000 Zoroasatrians and only a few thousand Mandeans.

You?  Either in love with, or annoyed, by a group of people on the other side of the world?

Colour me shocked.

[Josephus]

I had the religious and ethnic  groups beat in my second year at journalism school writing for the school paper The Ryersonian. I did a story on them. I think the school had three or four Bahai' members. Their prophet was named Bahaulla or somthing, not Bob.  A lot of their religion is based on equality amongst gender, which is what makes it unusual for religion. In any case they didn't like the story I wrote on them and sent a letter to my prof. My prof told me to be proud. It would be the first of many I'd get in my career.

I don't think they prosletyze much, if that's your concern, Beeb.