David, At 02:52 AM 9/17/03 +0000, you wrote: >>>Just out of interest, what really is the basis for having a dowry?<<
As I see it, though it just my personal opinion, the dowry is primarily a symbol of a man's willingness to "support" a family (given that the man has this responsibility). Similarly, water baptism was, in the Christian Dispensation, a symbol of eternal (spiritual) life and fasting has been is a symbol of spiritual detachment and sacrifice. All of these are, IMO, applied metaphors - demonstrations of the names of God reflected in nature through ritual. Mark A. Foster * http://MarkFoster.net http://CompuServe.m.foster.name ---------- 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)
