may i be forgiven both being woefully behind on my reading,
and sadly, finding disagreement with people on this list i respect.
to briefly recapitulate an issue from august:
there was discussion on the Primal Point, Who had Things to Do,
taking the time to deal with the issue of masturbation.
for a moment or 3 He evidently had nothing better to do.
why?
could it be as a reasult oif a culture of guilt, oppression,
and violence?
could it be as the beloved Guardian said (since he did in fact deal with the issue,
findable in lights of Guidance) that fantasy debilitates from intimacy (that's a
paraphrase, one influenced
by my dear friend justice st rains) and makes marriage the more difficult?
could it be that suicide ranks extremely highly among the discussions of Baha'i youth
when the grownups are gone...suicidal impulses generated by the failure of coming to
terms
with the dialectic tension of our high ideals and our lowly states?
noted Baha'i psychiatirists (and i apologise for the lack of more formal academic
provenance,
but then, i am not an academic) have pointed to this syndroime as a source for
malaise.
along with this, i would offer that the occasionally driven concept that there a >>a<<
right way
to deal with any and all such issues and it can be found thru some exhaustive pilpul
of Text,
the development of a shariah for Baha'is, is frightening to me, and to others, whther
developed by administrative bodies, professionals,
discussions groups or the most frightening of all, well-meaning people.
from a later post, seeking to clarify focus:
"Over here it is a requirement of the NSA that this newsletter have something on
chastity yearly, and youth events frequently address sex."
God forgive us all.
:"19 August 2003Dear Baha'i Friend, Your email letter of 17 August 2003 regarding
tattoos has been receivedat the Baha'i World Centre and referred to our Department for
response. In reply to your enquiry, nothing at all has been found in the HolyTextson
the matter of tattooing. There is, of course, the following generalcounselgiven by
Baha'u'llah: Let there be naught in your demeanour of which sound and upright minds
would disapprove, and make not yourselves the playthings of the ignorant. Well is it
with him who hath adorned himself with the vesture of seemly conduct and a
praiseworthy character. (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 159) Generally, what is
appropriate in such matters will clearly vary fromculture to culture. "
3 years ago we did some research and got the same result, on our own.
it is always gratifying to find we agree with the UHJ without any effort of soul
searching and pain.
:"this letter doesn't try to lay down the law or make any fixed rules."
oh, but it ever so does.
it ever so does.
to my heart, which is the place where law is written.
:"always felt that getting tattooed would not be something Baha'u'llah would desire
for me to do."
k. and so u serve an Image of Baha'u'llah that's like that.
and i have a place on my arm that hurts becuase i don't have "Ya Sahibu'z-Zaman" in
arabic burned there,
but i will.
and that is the Image of Baha'u'llah that i have....One that doesn't really care
either way about whatever, but only
if ur well, if ur happy, if ur getting on with the job.
can we be satisfied that an Infallible House of Justice lays down the Law that we have
individual consciences,
in the place where shariah used to be?
:"Also, most Westerners who get tattooed are doing it for reasons of ego."
actually, the beloved Guardian notes, as collated in lights of Guidance (sorry for a
not more specific)
that in the end all human motives are selfish.
to all these issues of the flesh, hiw marked or treated, i offer this, and will shut
up:
beloved Hand of the Cause dr muhajir was allegedly once relating going to some place
in the south pacific
where being modestly dressed meant u had a full wrap (were heavily tattoed). a person
asked him, o,
did u tell them to wear clothes and whatever, and the the beloved Hand replied,
no, i went there to tell them about Baha'u'llah.
"surely He wants them all, becuase He made them all."
--shoghi effendi
"3 a.m. in las vegas, who is hanging around;
9 a.m. in manhattan, dust swirls around."
--firestorm
_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.
Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com
----------
You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Baha'i Studies is available through the following:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st
news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st
http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public)
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
