>>As a sociologist he presumably had in mind the totality of the "Baha'i experience", >>so to speak: Baha'i community life and social norms, Baha'i intellectual life and >>philosophy, Baha'i art, and so on - IOW, the human aspect of the religion as opposed >>to the divine.<<
Religion consists of two things, IMO: 1. What God wills for a particular Prophet to reveal, which is good because God will it (not the other way around). 2. The social institutionalization of that Will and how it is understood by different people. I am not a postmodernist, and I do not believe that "no one can say which understanding is better than another." IMO, that represents a misunderstanding of the Guardian's position. However, I *do* believe that individual doctrinal understandings are, except with regard to the "fundamental verities," not so important. For the most part, Baha'is should be left to believe what they want. 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: Mail - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web - http://list.jccc.net/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
