Hi, Gilberto, At 05:25 PM 5/6/2005, you wrote: >>Is that really how the Bahai faith fits into the above framework? It seems >>more like a particular understanding of Bahai orthodoxy? The analogy which >>comes to mind is that what you said sounds like a Christian saying "Of >>course, there are many different Christianities which are possible... as long >>as they accept the authority of the bishop of Rome and everything that >>implies."<<
As a Baha'i, I would say that these different Baha'i faiths need to operate in the context of the Baha'i Covenant. However, as a sociologist of religion, I would impose no such limitation. I disagree that I am proposing a Baha'i orthodoxy. It would be more accurate to say that I am advocating Baha'i polydoxy or multidoxy. >>By definition that excludes Protestants. And your definition of Bahai >>excludes Orthodox Bahais.<< My definition, as a Baha'i, would exclude Orthodox Baha'is, not my definition as a sociologist of religion. >>Just in general, it seems very hard to get around the issue. Anytime you take >>a religious group and you want to define it, by definition that means setting >>limits as to who is in, and who is out. And unless you simply accept everyone >>who self-identifies, it seems like you would invariably (even if only >>implicitly) set up some criteria and draw the line in a way which excludes at >>least somebody from the group.<< I don't think I have given any indications of excluding anyone. My messages were written from a sociological, not a Baha'i, standpoint. Via moderna, Mark A. Foster • Portal: http://markfoster.net "... since [a] word is said to be common, it can be called a universal" - William of Ockham, Summa Logicae, Part I __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
