The Baha'i Studies Listserv I believe the number of Baha'is in the world is stable at best, and maybe getting smaller. In the USA, the number of Baha'is is shrinking for sure, as new declarants are well below the replacement level due to deaths. Given the aging demographics of Baha'is ( a lot of us old folks and few young people) the trend will get worse before it gets better.
Just saying we are a fast growing religion doesn't make it so and since truthfulness is a core ethical value, it irritates me to see us constantly referring to the Baha'i Faith as a fast growing community. Ron Sent from my iPhone On Dec 13, 2010, at 8:19 AM, Susan Maneck <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv >> Are you sure that is an accurate prediction? Inductive reasoning. Present >> growth rates don't neccessarily predict future ones. > > Actually our present growth rate isn't all that high. During the late > sixties and early seventies the number of Baha'is in the US tripled. > We found we could not sustain that level of growth. The whole purpose > of the Institute Process was to develop a way in which growth would be > self-sustaining. > The House was not struggling (as David suggests) to keep up with > growth they simply did not place as high a priority on answering the > inquiries from individuals as David would like. And for that purpose, > they will likely become less and less available over time. At the same > time, there will be more and more knowledgeable individuals outside > the World Centre to whom certain questions can be addressed. The > primary purpose of the Universal House of Justice, besides guiding the > affairs of the community, is to make pronouncements regarding Baha'i > law and its application. > > But we do think we are playing a winning game and that our growth will > accelerate exponentially. > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to > mailto:leave-546165-193154.cd7639b4f32d68d299933c46032cd...@list.jccc.edu > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-546222-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
