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A quote:
"At present, Bahá'ís in most local communities have no special place of
worship.
They meet either in each other's homes or at a Bahá'í centre. It is envisaged,
however, that in the future in each town there will be built a house of worship
(Mashriqu'l-Adhkár). Around it will be built schools,
universities, libraries, medical facilities, orphanages and so on. This will
become the spiritual and social centre of the community.
The Bahá'í house of worship is open to peoples of all backgrounds, not just
Bahá'ís, in accordance with the Bahá'í aim of fostering unity. In his speech at
the laying of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in
Wilmette, `Abdu'l-Bahá stated that:
. . . the original purpose of temples and houses of worship is
simply that of unity--places of meeting where various peoples, different races
and souls of every capacity may come together in order that love and agreement
should be manifest between them . . . that all religions, races and sects may
come together within its universal shelter . . .(4)
>>
At present Bahá'ís
prefer to use their money on other projects and, therefore, there are only
seven
of these Houses of Worship around the world as a symbol of future intentions.
These seven are: near Chicago, USA; near Kampala, Uganda; near Sydney,
Australia; near Frankfurt, Germany; near Panama City, Panama; near Apia, Samoa;
and in New Delhi, India."
If the purpose of places of worship (temples) is unity, a meeting place for
various people (regardless of race, religion, sect, etc.) may come together
within their universal shelter, then what makes Mashriqul Adhkhars unique?
Baha'is generally assume that Baha'i Houses of Worship are the only ones that
fullfil that criteria, but Unitarian Universalist churches, Universal Sufi
universels, Community of Christ temples, and many many more don't bar entry to
anyone on any basis. Actually, lots of houses of worship can be used for the
purpose of a unitive meeting place.
Generally, people have been known to go to places of worship despite not
believing in said religion either for social reason or knowing someone who goes
there. But, the general attitude in society is that if you don't believe in a
certain religion, people generally don't go to such houses of worship, doing
with more of an apthy towards houses of worhip rather than said houses of
worship being exclusive in who's allowed in.
Another quote:
"As
gathering
places for prayer and meditation, Bahá'í Houses of Worship are
buildings that most closely approximate the place of the
church, the temple or the mosque in other religions. Yet they are also
something more.
As envisioned by Bahá'u'lláh, local Houses of Worship will someday be the
focal point for a community's spiritual life--and an
expression of its
humanitarian concern."
So still, what makes them unique?
There's nothing instrisically making non-Baha'i Houses of Worship also fulfil
the criteria of being a unitive meeting place, a universal shelter, a center of
the community, a focal point of society-humainitarianism-education-science-etc?
What if a Unitairian Universalist church, Universal Sufi universel, Community
of Chirst temple, or any other house of worship were to fulfill these criteria?
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