Chuckle!
No Ruhi is not academic. I omitted something there. What I intended was: if you live in a culture whihc has a strong subculture of anti-intellectualism and then a method is introduced which is not appealing to the intellect, it can create a strong bias against that method.
You say it is not working in the USA. Apparently the institutions has not yet picked up on that. However, they will. And if it is not working, then they will design something else.
Abdu'l-Baha promises us that if we support a decision made in unison, even if it is a wrong one, the result is that truth will be shown.
My intellect strongly reacted against that when I read it for the first time. It went against all I had learned and be taught. Yet something else in me thinks this is true.
Maybe it is a good thing that firesides have stopped, or at least for a while. The institute process is all about offering three things to the people outside our Bahai community: childrens classes, study circles and deepenings. And to me I think these are far more in line with what western culture need now than firesides, even though Shoghi Effendi encouraged us to hold firesides.
The way I see it is that at this moment we are gearing up to build channels by which entry by troops can become a reality. Everybody is busy doing the books now, and that means that temporarily other things are abandoned, but does not necessarily mean it is abandoned forever.
People in Ireland picked up far more quickly on the ruhi programs, not because we are better but because the facilitators and coordinators had learned from the experiences withthe resistance against ruhi in other western countries. They came prepared and were able to come up with an approach which circumvented and had a good answer to this resistence. I think in the USA at least two years have been lost because people had to get over their resistence, and because of the clumsiness of the facillitators, who interpreted the method very narrowly and did not give it the wide scope I feel it has.
People in Ireland picked up far more quickly on the ruhi programs, not because we are better but because the facilitators and coordinators had learned from the experiences withthe resistance against ruhi in other western countries. They came prepared and were able to come up with an approach which circumvented and had a good answer to this resistence. I think in the USA at least two years have been lost because people had to get over their resistence, and because of the clumsiness of the facillitators, who interpreted the method very narrowly and did not give it the wide scope I feel it has.
Yet, that is but an opinion. I may miss the mark completely. I still find it amazing that I was so against it and am now seeing a lot of benefits in it. I still would love an intense deepening though with a group of people who not only have deep intellectual knowledge, but who understand spiritucal values and processes very well. People with knowledge on all levels. Is that called irfan in Arabic?
much love,
janine
Susan Maneck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Susan Maneck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
" What I am suspecting from being on the internet and being exposed to the
english sections of the internet having a huge representation of people from
the USA, also Bahai lists etc. is that because the USA is such a vast
country with one major official language, which has never been invaded by
another country and where if people go to Canada they still are exposed to
the same language and the same food and the same cultural background, there
is a great possibility that people take what they see in their surroundings
as being world wide the case, the truth and forget to subject their
conclusions to critical examination."
Dear Janine,
Actually, I recognize that Ruhi may well be the most appropriate program for
those countries and areas where people have a history of being attracted to
mass teaching efforts but consolidation has been difficult. These are
typically underdeveloped countries with limited literacy skilss and where
rote learning is the predominant pedagogy in any case. Ruhi seems quite
appropriate there, at least in the rural sectors. It is much less successful
in urban areas among adult Baha'is, even there. I agree with you that the
problems with Ruhi here may well stem from the fact it conflicts with
American culture and educational ideals. I guess my question then is, why
not develope study circle materials more in keeping with our own culture?
You wrote:
"It is easy to reject something new when it does not conform with your
ideas. However, when it starts to have positive results it is difficult to
reject it again."
True. And if Ruhi does lead to growth in substantial areas of the US I would
certainly be prepared to withdraw any objections I personally have. So far,
I know of only one area in Florida where it seems to be working. In other
places, rather than increasing human resources, it seems to be using them
up. Nearly all other forms of deepening have ground down to a standstill and
there is less time for firesides and other teaching activities.
"Especially if we live in a culture, like i get the feeling the USA has as
one mainstream subculture, which rejects academic learning and academic
approach."
There is indeed an anti-intellectual strand in American culture which in
turn is reflected in the Baha'i community. But Ruhi is hardly what I would
call 'academic.' In fact I fear it will reinforce the anti-intellectual bias
in the Baha'i community.
warmest, Susan
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