Mark A. Foster wrote:
Tim,
At 06:49 AM 9/4/2005, you wrote:
A person can define himself as anything, there is no way to control that. However,
that doesn't mean the rest of the world must accept that self-definition.<<
As a sociologist of religion, I have no alternative but to accept the
self-definitions of people. As an individual, I also do not want to judge
people. My assumption is that people are adherents of whatever religion they
claim.
You always have choices, Mark. Your's has been to define yourself as
an academic and to toe that line. Yhat's ok, but be honest with
yourself, you have chosen. Ian Semple, in a talk on obedience, discussed
the collaborater who says he had no choice but to betray others, or he
would have been killed. Semple says he could have chosen to die.
Well, they are obviously not members of "the Baha'i Faith," which is an
organization with precise membership standards. IMO, that is a separate issue.
I don't believe that that's true, Mark, and your original answer was
ambiguous. I think it good to keep in mind that when non-Baha'is raise
issues on this list they are expecting Baha'i answers not sociological
answers. The Baha'i Faith is the eternal faith of God, not a
sociological organization in the sense that it is being defended and
discussed in this issues.
In grad school I wrote a paper on healthcare views in the Baha'i
Faith from a nursing and anthropological perspective and I kept that
perspective, but I didn't kid myself that it had anything to do with the
Faith from it's own perspective.
Rich
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