greetings and adieu

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dr. Maneck,

 

I want to thank you and also Mark for your tireless services in making
the Baha'i Studies listserv available these many years. While there are
occasional posts that are of value to me in my work, more of the
discussions tend in directions distant from my scholarship, whether
explicitly on aspects of the Faith or implicitly so. Although I remember
a period many years ago when being an active member on the old Talisman
discussion group was exciting, but the evolution of the listserv led to
a point when my energies needed to be directed elsewhere.

 

Please accept my best regards to everyone on this list. I wish you all
well in your studies of the Baha'i Faith, the Baha'i writings, and the
myriad wondrous aspects of this Faith.

 

Dr. Maneck, thank you again for your efforts here. It is time for me to
sign off.

 

All the best to all,

 

Susan

___

Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 

Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

 

Department of English

Bradley University

1501 W. Bradley Avenue

Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

 

(309) 677-3888

(309) 677-4560 (fax)

br...@bumail.bradley.edu

http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml
<http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml> 

http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml
<http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml> 

 

From: bounce-526395-22...@list.jccc.edu
[mailto:bounce-526395-22...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Jeanine H.
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 10:51 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Baha'i Review

 

The Baha'i Studies Listserv

Dear Susan Brill de Ramirez,

The following is just my opinion.

Part of the problem may be that this is only a partly-moderated list.
Mark needs to give the co-moderator the ability to remove posts if he is
not going to monitor this list, and long practice seems to show that he
is not. Otherwise, Covenant Breaker and enemy of the Faith material has,
and will be, occasionally posted here. The friends who are responding in
this case are correctly identifying that the scholar discussed below
fits into this category. The desire to point out the severe problems
with this person stems from a desire to protect the Faith and
individuals who don't know the history of such people. That means we
will have, de facto, negative responses to such people and materials. It
is possible that the atmosphere may not be to everyone's liking, either
in the first instance of bringing up the issue or, then, in the
response. It is not simply a "live and let live" when there are
corrosive individuals who have repeatedly slandered the Institutions and
have sought leadership; that's the first negative. If you don't know the
history, if the discussion feels like individuals backbiting, you can
email Dr. Maneck who has had to deal with these people repeatedly.
There's a reason you see what you see. There was a Baha'i list that was
created for, and dealt specifically with, scholarly study of individuals
who attack the Faith and where such a discussion is unreservedly
appropriate, but I don't know what's happening with that list these
days.

Having said that, the originators of this list can clarify what purpose
is served in these instances. Unless the originator permits removal of
posts, there is no ultimate moderation function. That is a shame,
because this kind of issue has come up from time to time in virtually
every Baha'i list I've read. That is the nature of the disease of
opposition to the Covenant. I, personally, skip the discussions that I
find unpleasant and read the more enlightening ones. The moderators can
clarify the purpose of the list, altho' I suspect I could just look
around at all the links at the bottom and figure it out. ;-)

Yours,

Jeanine

On 9/14/2010 10:19 AM, Brill de Ramirez, Susan wrote: 

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
In reviewing the posts over the last number of weeks, I have a request:
 
Would the moderators of this listserve please remind us all of the
purpose for this discussion group? I would greatly appreciate that. When
individuals come together in good spirit to learn together, that is a
gift. When we can do this across great geographic distances via this
listserve, that is also a great benefit to us all.
 
There is such a fine line between argument for the sake of argument and
disagreement in the course of learning. There is also a fine line
between being informed about the work of various scholars and descending
into the realm of scholarly" backbiting.
 
I read the attachment that maligns the recent scholarly work of
Professor Juan Cole. I regret that I did so. It is not my business why
or why not a fellow scholar receives a position . . . unless it is in a
department over which I have some jurisdiction or involvemen

RE: Baha'i Review

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
In reviewing the posts over the last number of weeks, I have a request:

Would the moderators of this listserve please remind us all of the
purpose for this discussion group? I would greatly appreciate that. When
individuals come together in good spirit to learn together, that is a
gift. When we can do this across great geographic distances via this
listserve, that is also a great benefit to us all.

There is such a fine line between argument for the sake of argument and
disagreement in the course of learning. There is also a fine line
between being informed about the work of various scholars and descending
into the realm of scholarly" backbiting.

I read the attachment that maligns the recent scholarly work of
Professor Juan Cole. I regret that I did so. It is not my business why
or why not a fellow scholar receives a position . . . unless it is in a
department over which I have some jurisdiction or involvement. None of
us are perfect; professors make mistakes, some small, some large. If
Professor Cole has produced some work that is weak, then I would rather
recognize the good scholarly work that he has done and is still doing.
If he was a Baha'i, but is no longer, that too is not my business. That
is between him and Baha'u'llah. I would much rather read about the
positive contributions that various Baha'i scholars are making that can
help us to grow in our understandings of the Faith and the world.
Negative attacks about scholars, negative attacks about the Faith, these
do not serve the larger purpose of a unified and engaged search for
knowledge. 

To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a
man has ten good qualities and one bad one, to look at the
ten and forget the one; and if a man has ten bad qualities
and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.
Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word
about another, even though that other be our enemy.
("Abdu'l-Baha cited by Dr. J.E. Esslemont in _Baha'u'llah and the New
Era_, 83)

Does this not apply also to scholars? We certainly must correct errors
in the scholarship, but not the errors in the person.

I will look forward to clarification regarding the purpose of this
listserve so that I can decide whether to continue my involvement
(whether posting or simply reading).

My sincere regards to you all,

Susan
___
Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 
Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

Department of English
Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue
Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

(309) 677-3888
(309) 677-4560 (fax)
br...@bumail.bradley.edu
http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml

-Original Message-
From: bounce-526362-22...@list.jccc.edu
[mailto:bounce-526362-22...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Maneck
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:23 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Baha'i Review

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
> This is interesting reading.
> http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2006/07/juancoleyale.php

I have to agree with this writer of this blog that Juan is inclined to
conspiracy theories. As some of you know I initially sided with Juan
when he first broke with the administration, but I began to have
second thoughts as a result of his verbal tirades. When I began to
pull away he sent me private messages saying he believed the Baha'i
Faith had been taken over by a secret cabal going back to Mason Remey
and Horace Holley.

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RE: Fear of God (was at-Taqwa (Godconciousness))

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Don and Sen,

Thank you both for adding and deepening this thread. I have two brief thoughts:

I do not think that by "fear of God" is meant "fear" as understood within 
emotional or psychological bounds. Perhaps "awe" comes closer.

As the "essence" of wisdom, the "fear of God" is that which guides our 
understandings, our choices, our behavior. It is a gift to us as humans.

Yesterday, I saw something quite remarkable. There was a pretty moth in the 
bathroom, but I didn't want it there. I'm sorry to report that I was prepared 
to dispatch it. Anyway, I was tired and couldn't catch it. As it fled, it 
landed on a door for a moment, then flew to a wall, then a towel. I then 
realized that the moth was making strategic choices, flitting to sites that 
appeared closest to its own coloring for camouflage. It would land, 
look/evaluate, then decide the place didn't give enough camouflage for the 
colors of its wings. Finally, at its last stop, near multicolored wallpaper and 
a brown cabinet, it gave up, saw a crack behind the cabinet and skittered there 
to safety.

I was amazed to see the clearly deliberate choices for landing--always places 
with colors relatively close to the moth's own coloring. I had stopped chasing 
it, so the flight away was somewhat leisurely. At each landing, there was the 
moment of evaluation and decision. Quite remarkable, I think, in one so tiny 
and without a brain. But then, some animals even craft tools  (e.g., blue jays 
and wood peckers--twigs deliberately bent) to catch prey; I've watched coyotes 
strategically corral poor slow moving animals like moles or opossums. But I had 
never seen the deliberation on the part of a tiny, yet pretty, moth. Mainly I 
see them "mindlessly" flying into my car headlights.

Creation is quite remarkable. How sad that we care so little for creation. So 
much abuse, destruction, ugliness wrought by humans out of control and acting 
so mindlessly.

Greetings to all, as we are off to Green Lake Baha'i Conference,

Susan

__
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; br...@bumail.bradley.edu; 
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/caterpillar/ramirez/



-Original Message-
From: bounce-522937-22...@list.jccc.edu on behalf of Sen & Sonja
Sent: Fri 8/27/2010 8:15 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Fear of God (was  at-Taqwa (Godconciousness))
 
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
On 27 Aug 2010 at 6:18, Don Calkins wrote:

> Remember in H.S. being totally hung up over some guy (or gal)? 
> Remember how you were scared to death they either would, or would not,
> pay attention to you?  I think that is equivalent to the fear of God
> Baha'u'llah speaks of.

I think the continual awareness of God is closer to the sense: 
there's no quesiton of God going away or not caring, it's the 
awarness of God's presence and care that goes away. We forget, and we 
have to remember. Remembering is dhikr, plural adhkar, and the place 
where dhikr happens is the Mashriqu'l-adhkar. That's why prayer 
(along with service) is so essential to character-building

Sen

--
--
Sen McGlinnhttp://senmcglinn.wordpress.com

 ***
 In reality, the radiant, pure hearts are the Mashrak-el-Azcar
   and from them the voice of supplication and
 invocation continually reacheth the Supreme Concourse.  
  Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, p. 678
--
-- 


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RE: at-Taqwa (Godconciousness)

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I remember a friend (then, not yet a Baha'i) in college asking me if I could 
help him to understand what Baha'u'llah meant by the fear of God?

So, as a naïve but ardent 20 yr old, I sought out passages in the Writings 
about the fear of God. Pretty quickly, I realized that I was over my head, but 
. . . and this is the main point that I want to share . . . 

One passage read as follows: "The essence of wisdom is the fear of God."

I didn't understand the concept of the fear of God, but I knew that I really 
wanted to gain wisdom in life . . . And this passage from the Writings set up a 
definition and an equation and a hierarchy. 

Essence establishes the base, grounds, foundation, core.

Well, even though I didn't understand what constituted the fear of God, I 
realized that it was "essential" to the attainment of wisdom. So, I decided 
that I better start praying for: "the fear of God."

Thank you for the discussion and quotations. It makes me think of those viewed 
as elders in Indigenous tribal communities who are always those who are deeply 
men and women who walk a sacred path in life.

All the best to you all,

Susan Brill de Ramirez


Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

-Original Message-
From: Sen & Sonja 
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 4:13 AM
To: Baha'i Studies 
Subject: at-Taqwa (Godconciousness)

The Baha'i Studies Listserv

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqwa
> Sawm and Taqwa are associated. Is there a Baha'i reference to Taqwa?

Indeed there is:

In the fourth Ishraq (splendor) of the Ishraqat (Tablet of Splendors) 
We have mentioned: "Every cause needeth a helper. In this Revelation 
the hosts which can render it victorious are the hosts of 
praiseworthy deeds and upright character. The leader and commander of 
these hosts hath ever been the fear of God (taqwa-ye allah), a fear 
that encompasseth all things, and reigneth over all things."

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 26)

By God! This people have never been, nor are they now, inclined to 
mischief. Their hearts are illumined with the light of the fear of 
God (nur-e taqwa), and adorned with the adornment of His love.
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 122)

Ye are the shepherds of mankind; liberate ye your flocks from the 
wolves of evil passions and desires, and adorn them with the ornament 
of the fear of God. (taqwa-ye allah
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 29)

it behooveth every fair-minded person to succor Him Whom the world 
hath cast away and the nations abandoned, and to lay hold on piety 
and righteousness (taqwa).
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 35)


The cities of knowledge and of understanding wept with such a weeping 
that the souls of the pious and of the God-fearing (ahl-e ... taqwa) 
were melted.
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 72)


God-consciousness is a good translation of the concept: it is a pity 
that it is so hard to fit elegantly into a sentence:
"the people of God-consciousness..."
"the God-conscious ones"
"The leader and commander of these hosts hath ever been God-
consciousness..."

The last of these works for us, but probably would not have worked 
for the more biblically educated audience of Shoghi Effendi's day, 
who were used to "fear of God" and had not been familiarized with 
"God-consciousness" by the Hare Krishna movement 

Sen

--
--
Sen McGlinn   http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com 

All is to be yielded up, save only the *remembrance* of God; 
   all is to be dispraised, except His praise. 
Today, to this melody of the Company on high, 
   the world will leap and dance: 
  `Glory be to my Lord, the All-Glorious!' 

 (Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha, p. 93) 
--
-- 


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RE: Angel Gabriel

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
"Maybe it's not good to speculate but does present some possibilities
for thinking."

 

I like this comment very much.  We certainly do not want to sink into
the endless morass of medieval scholastic debates regarding the rank and
size of angels and, the proverbial, "how many angels can dance on the
head of a pin." But, yes, it is always good to read scripture deeply and
reflectively with consideration of the realities of lives beyond the
physical, material realm. 

 

All the best to you all,

 

Susan

___

Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 

Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

 

Department of English

Bradley University

1501 W. Bradley Avenue

Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

 

(309) 677-3888

(309) 677-4560 (fax)

br...@bumail.bradley.edu

http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml
 

http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml
 

 

From: bounce-516594-22...@list.jccc.edu
[mailto:bounce-516594-22...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Naison Jones
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 3:48 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Angel Gabriel

 

The Baha'i Studies Listserv

Interesting.

Also interesting to note though is that when a maiden appeared to
Baha'u'llah and spoke exact words, it does give the impression that this
maiden was an angel and not just some metephor. The reason why I think
this is because God cannot manifest his essence and certainly the maiden
was not God himself. Hence it begs the question whether Baha'u'llah was
visited by another manifestation of God perhaps even a female one who
has already passed away or is somehow significant to him. Mabye its not
good to speculate but does present some possiblitites for thinking.

 

thanks for your input.


 

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ruminations on the Angel Gabriel

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Thank you for pointing us to the angel Gabriel.  I've always loved that
name: such a perfect name for a boy, I've always thought.  When he grows
up to be a master cellist, he is Gabriel, and when he grows up to play
shortstop for the New York Yankees, he's Gabe.


Alas, I've spent so much more time with the Torah than the later Books
of the Prophets.  From the Book of Daniel:

8,13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto
that certain one who spoke: 'How long shall be the vision concerning the
continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that causes appalment,
to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?' 8,14
And he said unto me: 'Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and
mornings; then shall the sanctuary be victorious.' 8,15 And it came to
pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to
understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a
man. 8,16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, who
called, and said: 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.'
8,17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified,
and fell upon my face; but he said unto me: 'Understand, O son of man;
for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.'

Beyond reading a bit of the Book of Daniel and contemplating what all
this might have meant for my ancestors during the centuries when we were
in anticipation for a Redeemer, for a Christ, Whom some recognized but
Whom many in my family line could not for almost two millennia when my
father married a Christian woman and raised his children Christian . . .
this then led me to contemplate angels.

O Breakwell, O my dear one!
Thou art become a star in the supernal sky,
and a lamp amid the angels of high Heaven;
a living spirit in the most exalted Kingdom,
throned in eternity.(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of
Abdu'l-Baha, p. 189)

So we here are to be like Breakwell and become angels.  This can be
symbolic, certainly a spiritual condition; clearly we do not become
literal/physical stars in heaven.  What does it mean for there to be
stars in heaven?

I beg of God that ye will be bringers of joy, even as are the angels in
Heaven.  (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p.
203)

Now, 'Abdu'l-Baha talks about angels being in Heaven.  Well, if we can
become angels here . . . and we do die and go on to the next world, so
if someone can be an angel here, presumably they can be an angel in
heaven.

Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by
God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the
fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart
of every righteous man to throb.  (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the
Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 295)

This passage is in part of our Ruhi materials. I, like Sen, have read
the references to angels symbolically, but during one study circle, my
husband who is Catholic, commented on the angels that come and scatter
the fragrances of holy words. I was pulled up in my interpretive tracks
. . . ANGELS?! . . . with actual power in worlds beyond this material
world?

And now, concerning His words: "And He shall send His angels" By
"angels" is meant those who, reinforced by the power of the spirit, have
consumed, with the fire of the love of God, all human traits and
limitations, and have clothed themselves with the attributes of the most
exalted Beings and of the Cherubim. That holy man, Sadiq,[1] in his
eulogy of the Cherubim, saith: "There stand a company of our
fellow-Shi'ihs behind the Throne." Divers and manifold are the
interpretations of the words "behind the Throne." In one sense, they
indicate that no true Shi'ihs exist. Even as he hath said in another
passage: "A true believer is likened unto the philosopher's stone."
Addressing subsequently his listener, he saith: "Hast thou ever seen the
philosopher's stone?" Reflect, how this symbolic language, more eloquent
than any speech, however direct, testifieth to the non-existence of a
true believer. Such is the testimony of Sadiq. And now consider, how
unfair and numerous are those who, although they themselves have failed
to inhale the fragrance of belief, have condemned as infidels those by
whose word belief itself is recognized and established.
[1 The sixth Imam of the Shi'ihs.]
And now, inasmuch as these holy beings have sanctified themselves from
every human limitation, have become endowed with the attributes of the
spiritual, and have been adorned with the noble traits of the blessed,
they therefore have been designated as "angels." Such is the meaning of
these verses, every word of which hath been expounded by the aid of the
most lucid texts, the most convincing arguments, and the best
established evidences.  (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 78-80)

We are all to strive day by day to become angels in this world and the
next. What a blessin

RE: Eve of Martyrdom of the exalted Bab

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Khazeh,

Thank you so much for this; it is greatly appreciated.  I have shared it with 
the friends in our region.

For all of the friends online here, I am attaching a separate copy of this 
beautiful Tablet that I have ever so slightly reformatted (spacing, size of 
type font, and type of font) so that it can be readily printed for use in 
personal and family devotions.  I have found that when the pauses that we would 
most usually place as moments of silence in our devotions are also placed on 
paper as line breaks, it serves as an aid for readers to pause at those places; 
in this way, the prayers and meditations can more easily become "conversations 
with God" as we are practicing in our Study Circles.

All the best to everyone,

Susan
__

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; br...@bumail.bradley.edu;
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/caterpillar/ramirez/



-Original Message-
From: bounce-513192-22...@list.jccc.edu on behalf of Khazeh
Sent: Thu 7/8/2010 3:47 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: FW: Eve of Martyrdom of the exalted Bab

The Baha'i Studies Listserv

-Original Message-
From: Khazeh [mailto:aqu...@dsl.pipex.com]
Sent: 08 July 2010 09:46
To: 'research into history'
Subject: Eve of Martyrdom of the exalted Bab



I had lost my own copy but I saw this on the internet




http://the-mission-of-the-bab.blogspot.com/





Tablet Concerning


the Day of the


Martyrdom of


His Holiness,


the Exalted One


Published in Ayyam-i-Tis'ih [The Nine Days] pages 187-88
Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1981
Originally written as "Lawh-i-Yawm-i-Shahádat-i-Hadrat-i-A'lá" in Persian.





He is the All-Glorious!O thou honoured 'Alí Akbar!
This day is the day of the Martyrdom of His Holiness, the Exalted One, may
our heart be sacrificed for His sanctified blood.
This Day is the day in which this "Sun of Truth" concealed itself behind the
clouds of providence.
This Day is the day in which this luminous Orb did set!
This Day is the day in which that Body, pure and without blemish or spot
fell upon and rolled onto the blood soaked earth
This Day is the day in which His chest and His heart, immaculate and pure
like unto a spotless mirror, was riddled by thousands of bullets!
This Day is the day in which that "Divine Lamp" became severed from Its
physical frame!
This Day is the day in which the cries and lamentations of the Concourse on
high are raised
This Day is the day in which the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God weep and
moan, the eyes in tears and their hearts torn!--Abdul-Baha
===

hat is, Mullá 'Alí-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadí, known as Hají Akhund, one of
the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Early in life,
he frequented discussions of philosophy and religion, becoming extremely
well-verses in the current of his times. He first came into contact with the
Faith when he was about nineteen. He became on fire for Bahá'u'lláh upon
reading the Kitáb-i-Íqán in 1861.He engaged in teaching, and was forced out
of the city of Mashád as a result. He returned to his native city of
Sháhmirzad in the province of Khurasan to teach there. He was imprisoned for
the first time in Tihrán. Throughout his life, he was in prison a total of 6
times. In one of these cases, on the orders of Nasiri'd-Dín Sháh and his son
Kamran Mírzá, the Governor of Tihrán, he suffered imprisonment inTihrán for
18 months in 1891, but was released. He attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh
twice, once in 1873, and the second time in 1888. He was the recipient of
many Tablets from the Blessed Beauty, including one in which is revealed a
special prayer for the Hands of the Cause. Hají Akhund rendered many
services, both to the Faith, and his country. It was Hají Akhund who
interceded to Bahá'u'lláh on behalf of the people of Irán, begging for
relief from a severe famine, which had been sent as a chastisement after the
martyrdom of Badí. It was also this same Hají Akhund, with the aid of
Jamál-i-Burujird, who, in 1867-68, helped to transfer the remains of the Báb
from the Shine of Imám-Zadih Ma'sum in Tihrán to the Mosque of Masha'u'lláh,
in the village of Chashmih-'Alí, and from thence to the home of Mírzá
Hasan-i-Vazir, again in Tihrán. See The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 3,
pp. 85-6, 200-1, 425-27, Vol. 4, 495-301 and Memorials of the Faithful, pp.
9-12


Translated from the Persian into English by Khazeh Fananapazir


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RE: Non-Baha'is are permitted to participate at the 19-day feast

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Regarding the new guidance regarding non-Baha'is at Feast, we have had two 
experiences with this:

When visiting family in NYC, my non-Baha'i husband came with us to Feast for 
the spiritual portion.  Then he quietly left to spend the Administrative 
portion at a nearby bookstore, returning an hour later.  After he left, the 
local Baha'is, perhaps thinking he had just gone to the restroom and would 
return, realized he had left.  They exclaimed, "Where did your husband go?"  
After being told, they said, "He could have stayed!  He knows a lot about the 
Faith, and now non-Baha'is may stay throughout the Feast if they like.  What we 
have to consult about tonight is appropriate for him to listen and even 
contribute."

Since we live rurally, this was our first experience with this.  Our second 
experience was a Feast where my son and I offered to host in Peoria.  I checked 
ahead to see if my husband could join us since we were hosting.  The Peoria LSA 
responded that they already had another non-Baha'i husband attend one Feast and 
that it would be okay.  So instead of leaving during the Administrative 
portion, he stayed.  It turned out to be most fortuitous!  As my son and I 
arrived early, I developed car trouble and had to call for a tow truck.  My 
husband arrived a bit later.  Had he not been there, my son and I would have 
been stranded!  Also, since I was outside with the tow truck driver who arrived 
as the Administrative portion was beginning, my husband was able to fill me in 
on what I missed!

Of course, as I explain to others, Feast is like a family meeting when the 
issues of a family are discussed--not really the sort of meeting for inviting 
others.  Of course, if a very close friend or family member was visiting, it 
might make sense for them to participate in a family meeting with their added 
contributions.  I really think that it would have helped a great deal if I had 
the experience of the family meeting to help explain the exclusivity of Feast 
when I was a younger Baha'i.  It would have made it much more understandable to 
non-Baha'is then.

All the best to all,

Susan

P.S.  In the age of Facebook and Twitter, don't listserves seem a bit archaic?  
Technology is changing so quickly.  Scholarly listserves that I am on are so 
silent these days.  Chatter has moved to Facebook and Twitter with listserves 
being used for emailed announcements.  It's so hard to keep up!  Are there 
Baha'i Twitter sites that folks recommend as especially effective? ATB

__

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; br...@bumail.bradley.edu

RE: CS Lewis

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
The mention of C. S. Lewis moves me to mention Charles Williams' novels: _War 
in Heaven_, _Many Dimensions_, _The Place of the Lion_, Shadows of Ecstacy_, 
__Descent into Hell_, _All Hallows' Eve_, and _The Greater Trumps_.

This summer, I'm reading a couple of these.  Although Lewis is far better 
known, I've always enjoyed the intellectual and spiritual depth of the Williams 
novels.  Platonic eidei, angels, sacred stones of Islam, illusions and 
realities, all interwoven within the worldly modernism of the time.  Magical 
realism, not all that far away from Shakespeare's fairies and witches.

All the best to everyone,

Susan
__
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; br...@bumail.bradley.edu



-Original Message-
From: bounce-509625-22...@list.jccc.edu on behalf of Sen & Sonja
Sent: Wed 6/16/2010 3:50 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: CS Lewis
 
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
CS Lewis is a theologian, and also a very good writer. He wrote the 
Narnia stories (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe etc..) and the 
Screwtape Letters. Read the former to your children or grandchildren 
or any other victim you can locate, read the Screwtape Letters for 
yourself. 


Sen


--
--
Sen McGlinn   http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com

Happy are those who spend their days in gaining knowledge, in 
discovering the secrets of nature, and in penetrating the subtleties 
of
pure truth! Woe to those who are contented with ignorance, whose 
hearts
are gladdened by thoughtless imitation, ... who have wasted their
lives!"(~Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions p.137)

--
-- 


 



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RE: Jinn

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Although it is indeed intriguing to join the many scholars and thinkers 
throughout the ages who have tried to delineate the stations and capacities of 
spiritual beings (St. Thomas Acquinas having been one of the most thorough), I 
am now coming to appreciate more fully the grounded language and philosophy of 
our Dine' (Navajo) brothers and sisters for whom there is not even an abstract 
word for mother.  One can talk about "my mother" or "shima" or "our mother" or 
"nihima," but there is no separate word for "mother" in and of itself.

Th definitional rhapsodizing of Plato would be silenced in "Dine' bizaad" 
(Navajo language).

It seems to me that the more important questions are less about the definition 
and concept of "jinn" and more our understanding of specific passages from the 
Writings and how they apply in practice in our own lives.

For example, intercessionary prayer and other forms of communications across 
and beyond time and place, inspiration, insight.  But most important is how our 
understandings affect our lives: as Ludwig Wittgenstein reminded us over 1/2 a 
century ago, any language game is its actual use in praxis.

Are we not advised to ponder our sacred scriptures in our hearts ("ponder this 
in thy heart")?  Much like the applied processes of our study circles (when the 
memorization, practices, and service acticities come together).  Rather than 
philosophizing to Platonic ends about the meaning of words in and of 
themselves, I think it would be much more productive to engage deeply with 
actual passages.  What Plato forgot but Socrates understood was that the use of 
any word can and will mean very different things in actual use.

Denotation is helpful, but it can only take us so far--especially in relation 
to the deeply metaphoric, connotative, and co-creatively rich realms of 
Scripture and literature.

So much for my early morning post-Platonic thoughts.

All the best to you all,

Susan  

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

-Original Message-
From: Susan Maneck 
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 2:38 AM
To: Baha'i Studies 
Subject: Re: Jinn

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
>Jinn could refer to a departed human soul which is not pure, sanctified and 
>detached but which somehow attempts to interfere (either positively or 
>negatively) with the progress of other souls (in this world or the next) or 
>the progress of human society generally, even though it has >no right or 
>>authority to do so?

Dear Gary,

I recall reading a letter written on behalf of the Guardian that
indicated that such departed souls have no power whatsoever to
interfere in this world, that only pure souls can sometimes intercede
on our behalf.

warmest, Susan

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RE: Jinn

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I love this thread.  I had always read references to angels as metaphoric.  I 
was raised Presbyterian, so there was not much talk about literal angels.  Of 
course, my lens changed radically in my years living in Indian country in the 
US southwest and as a scholar of Native literatures.  I also understood, after 
my own fashion, about the Baha'I teaching on life after the death, the 
immortality of the soul and the concourse on high.

 

There was a beautiful passage from the Writings that we read during one of our 
Study Circles (also in most prayer books):

 

Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the 
scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the 
words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to 
throb.  (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of 
Baha'u'llah, p. 295)

 

During our discussion which focused more on the process and habit of prayer and 
chant, my husband (not a Baha'i) who was raised Catholic entered the discussion 
and emphasized the effect of the angels who would "scatter the fragrance" of a 
person's divinely informed utterance.  I was completely pulled up in my tracks. 
 I had NEVER given the reference to angels any thought at all.  All of a 
sudden, I thought of the Concourse on High, souls in the next world and worlds 
upon worlds, and that one's sacred utterance could be spread by them, perhaps 
sharing my utterance as inspiration for another, just as one person in this 
world can share what he or she has heard from another, or as I quote scholarly 
insight and knowledge in citations in my scholarly work.

 

I've never read or heard or recited that passage from the Writings since 
without a deeper appreciation of the mysterious communications networks that 
cross and interweave worlds.

 

My fond thoughts to everyone here on this very sacred Holy Day, the Ascension 
of Baha'u'llah.

 

All the best,

 

Susan

___

Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 

Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

 

Department of English

Bradley University

1501 W. Bradley Avenue

Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

 

(309) 677-3888

(309) 677-4560 (fax)

br...@bumail.bradley.edu

http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml 
 

http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml 
 

 

From: bounce-507185-22...@list.jccc.edu 
[mailto:bounce-507185-22...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Hasan Elías
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 3:11 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Jinn

 

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Hi, I'd like to thank Susan, Sen and others who colaborate to explain this 
issue. I have a question: These jinns, angels, whatever, means something?  I 
mean, are these jinns some kind souls or something? Thanks.

--- El sáb, 5/29/10, Sen & Sonja  escribió:


De: Sen & Sonja 
Asunto: Re: Jinn
A: "Baha'i Studies" 
Fecha: sábado, 29 de mayo de 2010, 02:39 pm

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
On 29 May 2010 at 13:38, Gary Selchert wrote:

> The Baha'i Studies Listserv
> I just don't get it. So all of the references to jinn in the Qur'an
> were just a long allegory or metaphor? OK. But Baha'u'llah was
> comfortable referring to jinns and letting his followers think jinns
> were something real until Shoghi Effendi raised a red flag and said
> nope, no positive existence. 

In the section of Amr wa Khalq I referred to, the last citation is 
from Abu'l-Baha, and says 

http://reference.bahai.org/fa/t/c/AK2/ak2-165.html#pg164 

But as for the stories of jinn and sylvan spirits (ghoul)  and the 
aal; what is revealed in the heavenly revealed books has a meaning, 
but that which is current among the mass of the people is pure 
imagination. The `jinn´ refers to the hidden souls whose belief and 
denial is not manifest and visible. 

That book never gives sources, but I've tracked this down, it is a 
tablet of Abdu'l-Baha in Yaran-e Parsi, 
http://reference.bahai.org/fa/t/c/YP/yp-133.html#pg128 
and Abdu'l-Baha continues on on the next page to cite words from 
Baha´u´llah that are virtually the same as these. 

So no, it was not something new that Shoghi Effendi came up with

Sen


--
--
Sen McGlinn   http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com 
 

Happy are those who spend their days in gaining knowledge, in 
discovering the secrets of nature, and in penetrating the subtleties 
of
pure truth! Woe to those who are contented with ignorance, whose 
hearts
are gladdened by thoughtless imitation, ... who have wasted their
lives!"(~Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions p.137)

--
-- 

RE: Happy Ridvan!

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Iscander,

I responded a few days ago, but if that did not come through, please do know 
that you may certainly contact me directly via email.

All the best for this Ridvan season!

Prof. Susan Brill de Ramirez

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

-Original Message-
From: Iscander Micael Tinto 
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 5:23 PM
To: Baha'i Studies 
Subject: Re: Happy Ridvan!

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Happy Ridvan!Dear Professor de Ramirez, may i contact you off list? My email 
is: isti...@tin.it

Thank you best regards,

iscander micael tinto
  - Original Message - 
  From: Brill de Ramirez, Susan 
  To: Baha'i Studies 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 6:19 PM
  Subject: Happy Ridvan!


The Baha'i Studies Listserv

  Yes, joyous Rdivan greetings to all!

  Alas, I neglected to cancel my class for today.  Usually I take care of that 
when I put my syllabi together.  I only have the one class today, and it turned 
out to be a most wondrous class.

  The course is Literary Criticism and Theory, and the students are currently 
reading two of Susan Howe's volumes:


  Howe, Susan.  The Birth-mark: unsettling the wilderness in American literary 
history.  Hanover, NH: Wesleyan UP / UP of New England, 1993.

  ---.  My Emily Dickinson.  New York: Norton, 200X.  Berkeley, CA: North 
Atlantic, 1985.


  During our class discussion, 3 of 4 students who have not been performing 
well each contributed with categorically brilliant insights!  I am quite 
convinced that most people are quite capable of this, but circumstances and 
history (personal, familial, generational, cultural) impede habits of study and 
engagement.

  Of course, this is global and why God has spoken yet again to help each of us 
after our own fashions and with the guidance each of us needs (severally and 
collectively, individually and relationally) to fight our respective fears, 
demons, challenges and to accomplish what we can offer to the world from our 
efforts.

  My love to you all,

  Susan


  P.S.  I have finally emerged onto Facebook.  You are welcome to "friend" me, 
but I am careful only to include those I know or who are friends of those I 
know.  I can assure you that I do not post my every movement but merely news, 
information, publications, events that I think would be of broad interest.  My 
overlapping areas include Indigenous studies, Ecocriticism and Enviro lits., 
litcrit and theory, pedagogy and service-learning, Jewish and women writers, 
and poetics and prosody.  Again, most Happy Ridvan greetings!

  ___

  Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 

  Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

  Department of English

  Bradley University

  1501 W. Bradley Avenue

  Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

  (309) 677-3888

  (309) 677-4560 (fax)

  br...@bumail.bradley.edu

  http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml

  http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml





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Happy Ridvan!

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Yes, joyous Rdivan greetings to all!

Alas, I neglected to cancel my class for today.  Usually I take care of
that when I put my syllabi together.  I only have the one class today,
and it turned out to be a most wondrous class.

The course is Literary Criticism and Theory, and the students are
currently reading two of Susan Howe's volumes:

Howe, Susan.  The Birth-mark: unsettling the wilderness in American
literary history.  Hanover, NH: Wesleyan UP / UP of New England, 1993.
---.  My Emily Dickinson.  New York: Norton, 200X.  Berkeley, CA: North
Atlantic, 1985.

During our class discussion, 3 of 4 students who have not been
performing well each contributed with categorically brilliant insights!
I am quite convinced that most people are quite capable of this, but
circumstances and history (personal, familial, generational, cultural)
impede habits of study and engagement.

Of course, this is global and why God has spoken yet again to help each
of us after our own fashions and with the guidance each of us needs
(severally and collectively, individually and relationally) to fight our
respective fears, demons, challenges and to accomplish what we can offer
to the world from our efforts.

My love to you all,

Susan

P.S.  I have finally emerged onto Facebook.  You are welcome to "friend"
me, but I am careful only to include those I know or who are friends of
those I know.  I can assure you that I do not post my every movement but
merely news, information, publications, events that I think would be of
broad interest.  My overlapping areas include Indigenous studies,
Ecocriticism and Enviro lits., litcrit and theory, pedagogy and
service-learning, Jewish and women writers, and poetics and prosody.
Again, most Happy Ridvan greetings!
___
Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 
Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

Department of English
Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue
Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

(309) 677-3888
(309) 677-4560 (fax)
br...@bumail.bradley.edu
http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml



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RE: "SAY"

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Another parallel, although in the realm of poetry, is the Illiad: "Sing, O 
Muse."

Specifically in relation to "Say," I have always read that as a command either 
from God to the Manifestation or from God/His Manifestation to us or, most 
likely, both.  

I discuss this briefly within the larger scope of my recent article in the 
Journal of Baha'i Studies on rhetoric.

All the best to everyone,

Susan

Dr. Susan Brill de Ramirez
Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

-Original Message-
From: Larry Marquardt 
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 11:01 AM
To: Baha'i Studies 
Subject: "SAY"

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dear Friends,

A question came up studying Book 6 about the word "SAY". Why is this term used 
and does it come from Quran usage? Recently someone asked this same question 
possibly on this site but I cannot find the responses in the archives. 

Can anyone shed any information about the use of "SAY" in the Writings or where 
some information might be found about this?

Thank you,
Larry


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RE: Who is writing the future?

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
In stating that "the center does indeed hold," I am simply affirming the
centripetal force of the sacred that binds all of creation within the
larger story of creation.  Planet earth comes together within the pull
of earth's gravitation. Our solar system is held together through the
centripetal pull of the sun. We walk upon the ground. As Wittgenstein
reminds us, when we walk out of our homes each day, we do not question
whether the back stoop is still there or not; we trust that it is there.
There is essential certainty upon which all other certainty, knowledge
and life are based. There are roots upon which the tree of knowledge
comes forth.

 

As to the words -- "Immediately after the oppression of those days" --
they refer to the time when men shall become oppressed and afflicted,
the time when the lingering traces of the Sun of Truth and the fruit of
the Tree of knowledge and wisdom will have vanished from the midst of
men, when the reins of mankind will have fallen into the grasp of the
foolish and ignorant, when the portals of divine unity and understanding
-- the essential and highest purpose in creation -- will have been
closed, when certain knowledge will have given way to idle fancy, and
corruption will have usurped the station of righteousness. Such a
condition as this is witnessed in this day when the reins of every
community have fallen into the grasp of foolish leaders, who lead after
their own whims and desire. On their tongue the mention of God hath
become an empty name; in their midst His holy Word a dead letter. Such
is the sway of their desires, that the lamp of conscience and reason
hath been quenched in their hearts, and this although the fingers of
divine power have unlocked the portals of the knowledge of God, and the
light of divine knowledge and heavenly grace hath illumined and inspired
the essence of all created things, in such wise that in each and every
thing a door of knowledge  30  hath been opened, and within every atom
traces of the sun hath been made manifest. And yet, in spite of all
these manifold revelations of divine knowledge, which have encompassed
the world, they still vainly imagine the door of knowledge to be closed,
and the showers of mercy to be stilled. Clinging unto idle fancy, they
have strayed far from the Urvatu'l-Vuthqa of divine knowledge. Their
hearts seem not to be inclined to knowledge and the door thereof,
neither think they of its manifestations, inasmuch as in idle fancy they
have found the door that leadeth unto earthly riches, whereas in the
manifestation of the Revealer of knowledge they find naught but the call
to self-sacrifice. They therefore naturally hold fast unto the former,
and flee from the latter. Though they recognize in their hearts the Law
of God to be one and the same, yet from every direction they issue a new
command, and in every season proclaim a fresh decree. No two are found
to agree on one and the same law, for they seek no God but their own
desire, and tread no path but the path of error. In leadership they have
recognized the ultimate object of their endeavour, and account pride and
haughtiness as the highest attainments of their heart's desire. They
have placed their sordid machinations  31  above the divine decree, have
renounced resignation unto the will of God, busied themselves with
selfish calculation, and walked in the way of the hypocrite. With all
their power and strength they strive to secure themselves in their petty
pursuits, fearful lest the least discredit undermine their authority or
blemish the display of their magnificence. Were the eye to be anointed
and illumined with the collyrium of the knowledge of God, it would
surely discover that a number of voracious beasts have gathered and
preyed upon the carrion of the souls of men.

 

What "oppression" is greater than that which hath been recounted? What
"oppression" is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and
wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go
for it and from whom to seek it? For opinions have sorely differed, and
the ways unto the attainment of God have multiplied. This "oppression"
is the essential feature of every Revelation. Unless it cometh to pass,
the Sun of Truth will not be made manifest. For the break of the morn of
divine guidance must needs follow the darkness of the night of error.
For this reason, in all chronicles and traditions reference hath been
32  made unto these things, namely that iniquity shall cover the surface
of the earth and darkness shall envelop mankind.

 

  (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 28-32)

 

For a challenging depiction of such a skewed and out of touch reality as
played out hemispherically, Leslie Marmon Silko's novel _Almanac of the
Dead_ is stark and comprehensive, showing the underbelly of our world.

 

Thank God for the knowledge that the sacred is and that there is a
center that holds regardless of our doings or our (mis)percepti

RE: Who is writing the future?

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I would like to note that I found the "Who Is Writing the Future?" essay to be 
invaluable, and I fully expect that scholars in the future will turn to that 
specific document as a ready clarification regarding the overall Bahá'í vision 
about the ways by which religious dispensations and human cultures evolve.

 

The two most radical assertions in the document include 1) the affirmation 
that, regardless of cultural shifts and temporal exigencies and notwithstanding 
critiques of essentialism, the center does indeed hold; and 2) that the 
turbulence of the day is emblematic of the great transitions that are forging 
humankind into one people of planet earth. These two concepts are, as yet, 
scarcely understood and appreciated in all of their radical implications and 
traditional grounds.

 

The central spiritual issue facing all people, Bahá'u'lláh says, whatever their 
nation, religion, or ethnic origin, is that of laying the foundations of a 
global society that can reflect the oneness of human nature. . . . Until this 
issue is acknowledged and addressed, none of the ills afflicting our planet 
will find solutions, because all the essential challenges of the age we have 
entered are global and universal, not particular or regional. [my emphases]

 

Also regarding the unity of humankind and the twentieth century, by the end of 
that last Gregorian century, the profound and actual interconnectedness of 
humankind, its nations, peoples, ecosystems, information networks, etc. was 
firmly recognized in ways that it had not been earlier.  9/11 was the 
horrifically violent and reactive affirmation of that fact. Much of the 
twentieth century forged the planet into one place, whether through the 
consequences of global colonization (political and economic), global 
trafficking networks, global warming, global treaties, global information 
networks, global language (for all intents and purposes-English), Asian 
population migrations into the west, western companies' movements into the east 
and eastern companies' into the west, world music (however defined and 
understood and appreciated).  Prior "globalization" through European conquest 
was unidimensional insofar as power was concerned, but this changed 
categorically in the twentieth century: whether it was Vietnam winning the 
"American War" or the "Vietnam War" depending on one's orientation, Edward 
Saidean critiques of "orientalism," or the mid-century's movements of 
decolonization.

 

If, as Bahá'u'lláh asserts, "the well-being of mankind, its peace and security, 
are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established",4 
  it is understandable why 
Bahá'ís view the twentieth century--with all its disasters--as "the century of 
light".5   For these one hundred 
years witnessed a transformation in both the way the earth's inhabitants have 
begun to plan our collective future and in the way we are coming to regard one 
another.

 

While specific parts of the document can be viewed as simplistic or obvious, I 
see them as profoundly complex, and the document as a whole presents a lens 
that is broader and deeper than most scholars would accept even today.

 

"Peerless is this Day," Bahá'u'lláh insists, "for it is as the eye to past ages 
and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times." 8 
 

 

Indeed, it is only now that we can look at the entirety of human history and 
see how the various threads come together in the larger tapestry of human 
history.  This shift is so huge that it will take generations to appreciate the 
enormity of this perceptual shift.

 

Rereading the document again today, I am impressed with its comprehensiveness.  
Core ideologies whether of east or west are called into question through a 
spiritualization of understanding and vision.

 

And, yes, I agree with the comments that note the document's corrective lens 
for prior misconceptions on the part of individual Bahá'ís (e.g., world peace 
in 2000 C. E.).

 

All the best to everyone as we begin this new year,

 

Susan

___

Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A. 

Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English

 

Department of English

Bradley University

1501 W. Bradley Avenue

Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

 

(309) 677-3888

(309) 677-4560 (fax)

br...@bumail.bradley.edu

 

From: bounce-425459-22...@list.jccc.edu 
[mailto:bounce-425459-22...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Don Calkins
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 1:50 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Who is writing the future?

 

The Baha'i Studies Listserv

On Mar 29, 2009, at 2:55 AM, David Friedman wrote:





I have read this booklet and didn't find myself that impressed.  It seemed 
lightweight and if I were a non-Baha'i it's difficult to imagine that I'd 
suddenly feel reassured ab

RE: UN Adopts Historic Statement on Native Rights

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Susan,

May I offer a friendly amendment to your comment that "those countries having 
significant native populations such as the US, Canada, Australia and New 
Zealand all voted against this resolution."

In fact, most of the countries of the world are predominantly indigenous 
nations (e.g., most of the countries of Central/South America are predominantly 
indigenous, so too most of the African, European, Asian, and South Pacific 
nations).  What the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have in 
common is that the colonizing European powers (mainly the British, but also the 
French in Canada and the Spanish in much of the southern/SW U.S.) combined 
racism, genocide, expansionism, and imperialism to debilitate, shrink, and in 
some cases altogether destroy indigenous tribes.  The number of indigenous 
peoples in these four nations was horrifically diminished at the same time that 
the number of invading colonizers vastly overtook the number of indigenes.

The number problem for indigenous recognition in the U.S., Canada, Australia, 
and New Zealand is that the indigenous populations are so small in relation to 
the overall populations of these four countries.

All the best,

Susan

 
 
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Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Susan Maneck
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 10:59 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: UN Adopts Historic Statement on Native Rights

It should be noted that those countries having significant native
populations such as the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all
voted against this resolution.


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RE: Holy Grail

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

This is an especially interesting direction for discussion.  We know that there 
have been many Manifestations of God throughout human existence propelling 
cultures and civilizations forward.  Those of written religious history, we 
know more about than those of oral cultures.
 
Judaism has the distinction of being one of the few tribal faiths that arose 
with a written culture with the Book rather than the Word of God having been 
transmitted orally (here, we might also include some Chinese traditions, 
perhaps the Egyptians, the Mayans, perhaps others). . . although, of course, 
there is also an active oral sacred tradition in Judaism . . . most notably 
retained in the Passover seder rituals and storytelling.
 
Anyway, the Grail. . . .
 
Lately, I've been thinking about Merlin and Arthur.  I've been pondering 
whether, in fact, Merlin might have been a Prophet/Manifestation of God for the 
Celtic peoples of England with the Message of unification of the various 
peoples of Great Britain with Arthur as his unifying instrument.  All that we 
have, of course, are stories, variously embellished and fictionalized.  In 
those stories, might the Grail be the holy Sign that fuses both ancient Celtic 
tribal traditions with the arrival of Christianity?  The Holy Grail being the 
tangible Sign of the Message of Christianity as it was brought from its Middle 
Eastern origins all the way to England. . . . 
 
So much for early Gregorian year musings,
 
Regards to all,
 
Susan

 
 
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__
 

 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; [EMAIL PROTECTED]  

 

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<>

FW: Zapatero and Annan

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

I thought I'd share the following elucidation from a colleague about the 
Zapatero article that makes passing reference to the Baha'i Faith.   My Spanish 
is not good enough to pick up the attitude in the writing.
 
>>This is an article critical to Zapatero and Spanish the problem with autonomy 
>>to the regions that make up the country.  The author is a little bit 
>>sarcastic in the paragraph that links Zapatero tolerance to the Bahaí 
>>doctrine. With respect to Kofi Annan it is also a rumor that he a follower of 
>>the Bahaí faith but there is no confirmation.  Again this article is a 
>>political propaganda against Zapatero and his talks with ETA.<<

All the best,
 
Susan
__
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; [EMAIL PROTECTED]  




From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Hasan Elias
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 11:15 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Zapatero and Anan

 

Does any of you heard that President of Spain Mr. Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and 
ONU's secretary Kofi Anan are sympathizers of Bahá'í Faith?

 

Is it truth or simply a rumor?

 

http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/nuevaeconomia/2006/321/1145743208.html


 

 

 

 

 

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RE: Baha'i double standards re: science and religion - ?

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The late historian Vine Deloria, Jr. who passed away recently published
two very interesting books that offer Native American perspectives on
these topics:

_Evolution, Creationism, and Other Modern Myths: A Critical Inquiry_
(Fulcrum, 2002) and _Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the
Myth of Scientific Fact_ (Scribner, 1995).

All the best,

Susan

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560
 


 
 
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RE: Black Indians in the West

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Don,
 
What is your individual email address?  I cannot tell from the post.  I will 
relay your question to a listserve restricted to Native Studies scholars and 
will send you replies, or have folks reply directly to you.
 
Sandra, thank you for noting a "BlackIndians" website.  That is a popular site 
that I cannot recommend other than for anyone's personal interest in the 
current movement of people interested in tracing their Native ancestry.  The 
individuals listed as "black Indians" are not tribal members.  Some may indeed 
have Native ancestry; a few may be tribally connected [e.g., involved members 
of a tribal community].
 
If anyone is interested in the exhaustive issue of indigenous authenticity, see 
last week's _LA Weekly_ for a story well beyond the dilemmas of James Frey's 
writing.  The qualities of honesty, honor, dignity, and authenticity appear to 
be in such sort supply these days.  The story involves a writer who passed 
himself off as Navajo, naming himself Nasdijj [which, I might note, is not a 
Navajo name and merely a Navajo sounding jibberish].  This one story helps to 
articulate why issues of tribal membership are important in Indian country.
 
All the best to everyone,
 
Susan
__
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University
1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-4560; [EMAIL PROTECTED]  



From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Don Calkins
Sent: Sun 2/5/2006 10:07 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Black Indians in the West



Dear Friends,
The Community & Culture working group of the Great Falls Poverty
Reduction Organization of Opportunity Link
(http://www.opportunitylinkmt.org/) is looking at the possibility of
having a program next year during the MLK Day/Black History Month
time period.  One possible topic under consideration is "Black
Indians in the West".  We are looking for possible speakers.  At this
point I don't know how much money beyond expenses would be available.

If anyone knows of anyone who would be a good presenter/facilitator,
please contact me.

Don C

--

-.-.-.-.-
He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not.






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RE: Baha'is in Nazi Germany

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

When I attended the large Baha’i
conference held in St. Louis
back in the 1970’s, I remember one of the speakers (perhaps Board Member
Elizabeth Martin?) saying that when she had asked Hand of the Cause Bill Sears
whether the Baha’is could be involved in the civil rights movement, he
said, “The first person who died in Selma should have been a Baha’i.” 
Does anyone else remember this talk and this part of it?

 

Of course, one can stand up for what is
right in ways that are unifying and constructive towards peace or one can do so
in angry, destructive, and disunifying ways.  Often there really is a fine
line between the two, and I really feel that as Baha’is, we need to
exercise our independent investigations of truth more regularly and deeply in
determining our courses of action in given situations.

 

For now, we all have been requested to get
involved with one or more of the core activities: study circles, devotional
gatherings, and children’s classes.  Having been variously involved
with each, I feel that these activities offer a distinctively powerful means of
spiritually deepening ourselves, our communities, and our children in ways that
can transform how we view the world, our responsibilities therein, and our
responsibilities in offering the lifeline of the Word of God for today to
others.  I would love to see more of our Baha’i scholars involved in
these activities and helping the articulation of these activities to the
friends and the broader non-Baha’i population.

 

On the topic of this thread, I have a
request:

 

Could the subject line for this thread be
changed to reflect the change in topic.  If the discussion is specific to
the Baha’is in Nazi Germany, okay, but as a woman of German-Jewish
background, and who is of a generation empty of cousins and second cousins, and
whose father was in the War, I need to say that receiving all these emails with
this subject heading is really hard.  

 

It has been two generations since the War,
and we are only now just beginning to process openly that experience (as
evidenced in the recent volumes _Maus_
and the history _The Pity of It All: Jews in
Germany_).

 

My understanding is that many (perhaps
over half) of the Baha’is in pre-war Germany were Jews.  Thank God,
thank God, that regardless of what horrors my distant family members in Germany
who had accepted Baha’u’llah experienced back then, thank God,
thank God they had Baha’u’llah . . . and maybe the Baha’is
were able to offer Baha’u’llah to others in the death camps, giving
them hope for the next world and hope that our woefully distracted and lost
world would eventually be turned around.  Can you imagine?  What a
place to teach the Faith . . . with the cattle cars and the ovens and the
starvation and the physical labor and the war . . . and the ovens . . .

 

A new subject line would be greatly
appreciated.  Now back to finishing up course syllabi.

 

Regards to everyone,

 

Susan

 



Dr. Susan
Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley
University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330










 
 

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RE: a meditation

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Khazeh,

 

Thank you so much for sharing the story
from “2Kings” with us.  Naaman was prideful in his position and
status, and yet his humility and openness is touching:  

 

First of all, he listened to a little
child, a girl no less.  This alone says much about Naaman (how much he had to
lower himself and also how far he was willing to do so).  

 

Second, he was open to the spiritual
healing of the Jews . . . which few gentiles were-- Pharoah being the most
extreme example.  

 

Third, Naaman was willing to listen to and
accept the guidance, rebuke, and correction of his servants.  

 

Fourth, Naaman then acted upon the prophet’s
and his servants’ advice.  He had to learn to listen to a little girl, a
Jewish prophet, and his servants, gaining the humility to become a hollow
reed.  We all are given this opportunity, every day, every moment.  And most of
us, also like Naaman respond critically because what is revealed is not what we
expect or want to hear:  measuring the Book of God against our own books and preconceived
expectations, as Baha’u’llah warns us against in the Aqdas.

 

This story of Naaman is so beautiful for
in it, we see the struggles of the ego with the divine.  And Naaman learned to
that listen to the divine, one must divest oneself completely, to empty oneself
sufficiently of one’s power, wealth, and learning, so as to learn from a
child, servants, and thereby from a prophet of God.

 

2Ki
5:13  His servants went up to him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had
told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can't you
just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?" 

2Ki 5:14  So Naaman went down to the Jordan,
dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed, and he was
completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child.

 

Greetings
to you all,

 

Susan

 



Dr. Susan
Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley
University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 







 















 
 

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film review

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

http://slate.msn.com/id/2122935/

 

This link gives an interesting review of the film “My
Son, the Fanatic” that looks at the process of young Islamic males in the
West who lean towards Islamic fundamentalism.  The film emphasizes a sort
of Durkheimian anomie, aimlessness, emptiness that is then supplanted with prayer,
ritual, religious community, a rejection of the materialism and amorality of
the West, and political militarism against western governments viewed as
anti-Islam.

 

Although the film came out six or so years ago, the recent
review was in response to the London bombings
since the film largely focused on the Islamic community in England.

 

Thinking about this film and the increasing divisiveness and
violence of our planet, it really reminds me of how important our Baha’i
work is in the world.  Each aimless young person desperately needs to
learn about the healing and directive guidance of Baha’u’llah. 
We really do need to make ever stronger commitments to our devotions, study
circles, and children’s classes that we increasingly open to our non-Baha’i
friends, relatives, and neighbors to invite them to begin their own processes
of growth infused through the Word and Book of God.

 

Anyway, the link to the film review is above.

 

All the best,

 

Susan

 

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de
Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley University, Peoria,
 IL 61625 
 U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax
(309) 677-2330

 








 
 

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RE: What is the bitter book?

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Brent, Khazeh, and others interested in this thread,

 

Allah’u’Abha!

 

You’re discussion may possibly be my favorite topic in relation
to the Writings and in all the religious texts with which I am familiar. 
The posts on this thread make me so happy to see Baha’is engaging the
idea of the Book (bitter and otherwise).  To begin my offering on the
topic of the Book, I have chosen to listen to the powerfully moving music of
the Jewish-Yemenite singer Ofra Haza while I write.  The significance of
this choice will become clear in what I have to say.

 

What I have to share is deeply informed by my own tribal roots as a
Jewish-American woman and as a literature professor.  The very idea of the
Book has informed my being from the moment of my conception from my father who
was a German-Jew.  My thoughts on the topic of the Book are also informed
by my work in Native American Studies and folklore/oral tradition.

 

Let me begin with a brief historical overview.  For the vast
majority of the sacred traditions of the world with their respective
Manifestations of God, the Word of God was transmitted to the
Manifestations’ peoples orally in the form of chants, prayers, songs,
stories.

 

My people, the Hebrew people, were one of the first peoples’ of
the world to receive the Word of God in the form of a Book.  Even before
the Torah (the Pentateuch or the first five Books of the Hebrew scriptures),
Moses brought to us the Tablet bearing the Ten Commandments from God.  For
every Jew (religious or otherwise, practicing Jew, Baha’i, member of
another faith-based tradition, or secular), our lives and history have been
deeply informed by this Book (always bitter, but also always
joyous)—bitter because of the sacrifices and sufferings that come with
human life in the world and in our spiritual growth; joyous because of the same
and our wondrous connections to our Lord, Adonai (our Creator Whose Essence is
fundamentally unpronounceable and, thereby, unknowable—as evidenced in
the unpronounceable tetragrammaton YHWH).

 

This Book?  There is nothing else that I am capable of saying
right now.  Let me share some of the words of one of our greatest Jewish
poets, the Egyptian Edmond Jabes.  Then I will conclude with a few words
of my own.  And please note that what follows are the lines of poetry, and
they need to be read accordingly.

 

“Eternity of the book, from conflagration to conflagration . .
.” (_The Book of Margins_ 38)

 

“To fear God,” he said, “is, in short, to fear the
Book.” (_Book of Margins_ 55)

 

“All books answer the questioning of a single one” (_BM_
80).

 

“Making a book could mean exchanging the void of writing for writing the void” (_BM_ 106). 
[even typing this makes me cry, so many generations of filling up the perceived
emptiness of God’s voice with our own voices so as to not hear the
silence that we feared was there but, in fact, never was—two thousand
years is such a long time to survive with the pain from the illusory perception
of God’s silence, of the Book once open but then closed, written but unfinished
and not continued]

 

“The book’s glance: glance of closed eyes.” (_BM_
116)

 

“The book,” he had noted, “does not open from left to
right of from right to left, but from top to bottom: one page in the sky, one
page in the dust.” (_BM_ 122)

 

“In the wake of a book already old, yet still present.  In
the wake of a book’s cry of pain.” (_BM_ 142)

 

“The believing Jew cannot go toward God except through the
Book.  But his commentary on the original Text is not a commentary on the divine
Word, only on human words dazzled by the latter like moths by the lamp. 
It annotates the frenzy of the moth, not the blinding light.” (_BM_ 174)

 

“ . . . about being faithful to a word from the desert, which the
Jew made his own because it had come out of all our crumbled words, and about
being faithful to an absolute, mythical book, which every book tries in vain to
reproduce.” (_BM_ 175)

 

“For the book does not seek refuge outside its words, but in
them, hiding in their heart of hearts.  So that the book always leads to a
book that remains to be discovered.” (_BM_ 188)

 

“Yukel, how many pages to live, to die, are between you and
yourself,

    between
the book and leaving the book?” (_The Book of Questions I_ 43)

 

“. . . do I know, in my exile, what has driven me back through
tears and time, back to the wells of the desert where my ancestors had
ventured?  There is nothing at the threshold of the open page, it seems,
but this wound of a race born of the book, whose order and disorder are roads
of suffering.” (_The Book of Questions I 25)

 

“Silence of a universe spread out—and over how many
seasons.

   From now on, all words stand behind the word which
smothered us.  Where no letter can speak, the word becomes passage of the
absolute.  The desert is ours, with its choked thirst.

    To
be Jewish is to have left home early and arrived nowhere.” (_The Boo

RE: Qur'an text 9 translations and recitation & Bible Text translation and recitation

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Thank you, Khazeh, for sending these sites
along.  They are wonderful resources!

 

Susan

 



Dr. Susan
Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley
University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 









From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Khazeh Fananapazir
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2005 12:05
AM
To: Baha'i
 Studies
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Qur'an text 9
translations and recitation & Bible Text translation and recitation



 

 

 

 

Dear
friends you can find up to 9 translations of the Holy Bible and the Holy
Qur’an with Arabic text and recitations on these sites

 

With
kind regards

 

 

http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jhn/16/12.html#Jhn_14_30_1#Jhn_14_30_1

 

http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/versions/1119243553-9723.html#3

 

 

 

http://www.quranbrowser.com/

9
translations of the Qur’an

 

 

 

 

http://www.geckil.com/~harvest/quran/translations/002/002-001.htm

 

http://www.geckil.com/~harvest/quran/translations/

 

three
translations and recitation

 



 

One translation text and recitation



 



 http://www.ummah.org.uk/what-is-islam/quran/noble/subject1.htm

 

 



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RE: Adoption: Baha'i Children

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Sandra,

We are newly foster-to-adopt parents of a wonderful little boy.  There are many 
foster children throughout the U. S. waiting for permanent homes.  As long as a 
child is in the foster care system, by law, their biological parents have the 
right to determine the children's religion [unless parental rights have been 
legally terminated], but once children are legally adopted, their adoptive 
parents then guide their religious education.

This doesn't exactly answer your inquiry.  There is a public website 
www.adoptuskids.com that lists many of the waiting children in the United 
States.

All the best,

Susan

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330


-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sandra 
Chamberlain
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 4:58 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Adoption: Baha'i Children

Is anyone on the list aware of a Baha'i Children Adoption 
Service/Organization - perhaps in the U.S.?

Sandra



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RE: question fm another list (tackled in depth)

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Khazeh,

 

Thank you so much for your
response to my prior post in which I abruptly asserted the end of ontological
discourse.

 

>** what is made patently
clear to me is that the Baha'i revelation puts a categorical end to ontological
discourse** This servant would say that is putting it strongly...One can have
discourse...Indeed we must have discourse because Christian Theology that
affects nearly a billion human beings has ontology embedded in it...Similarly
Sufi and Ismaili and Buddhist and Hinduism have ontologies...

 

I should have specified my
comment to refer to efforts to perceive, conceptualize, describe, understand, and
articulate the Essence of God—theistic ontology.

 

Let me clarify my assertion
with responses to your clarifying points.

 

>1. The highest level of
all existence is HAHUT, this represent God's essential oneness (AHADIYYA). 

 

This is the realm of
theistic ontology where I see no room for ratiocinative thought.  Either
one accepts the reality of God or one does not, and this acceptance is
spiritually based.  Insofar as the reality of God is concerned, as an “unknowable
Essence,” there is nothing beyond this that we can say about the Essence
of God that would be accurate or meaningful (other than what such deliberations
would say, in a refractive manner, about oneself).  In contrast to Christian
theological definitions and descriptions of God, in Judaism and in many of the
oral sacred traditions of the world, there is a profound sense of one
overarching Creator whose Essence is fundamentally unknowable and for Jews, not
only unthinkable but thereby unpronounceable as the tetragrammaton (the four
Hebrew letters that spell God’s name) which is never literally
articulated by observant Jews but instead uttered as “Adonai”
(Lord).

 

However, we can talk about
what God has done/created/manifested.  We can talk about the
manifestations in the world of God’s attributes.  We can talk about
the effect of belief in God in people’s lives.  What we cannot
meaningfully discuss, argue, debate, conceptualize, nor articulate is God’s
essential Essence other than to say that it is unknowable.

 

 

>2. The level of God's
attributes being manifest within His Godhead

(ULUHIYYA) in the realm of
LAHUT. This is the level of singularity (WAHIDIYYA). This is the station of the
Prophetic Oneness... It is a realm of the Command ('alam al-'Amr).

 

My understanding is that
analogously to human ratiocinative limits, insofar as our ability to conceive
of that which is beyond human reason and language is concerned, of this domain,
our wisest utterances would be manifested in silence.

 

 

>3. The level of God's
attributes being manifest in the locus of manifestation (mahall). This is the
level of God's Names and Attributes (asma wa'l-sifat) which is in the realm of
JABARUT. This is the Station of the Prophetic Plurality, not to be confused
with their actual Manifestation in the realm of nature or sense ('alam al-nasut,
'alam shuhud wa'l-huss... It is a realm of Creation ('alam al-khalq).

 

Although this realm is prior
to the actual physical manifestations of these attributes in the temporal
world, we are able to articulate those virtues, attributes, and qualities of
God (but none that are not manifested in material existence known to humans] in
terms of their NAMES.  Of course, as in the above comments, even here, we
can neither comprehend nor speak of God’s attributes in and of themselves
for our very knowing of them is definitionally limited by the bounds of human intellection
and language and our understandings of these attributes as manifested in the temporal
world.  

 

However, we can say the
names of these attributes, but even so, those names are bounded within the
limits of human language and may vary from one language to another.  For
example, the attribute of “beauty” in English signifies the deeply
attractive in a sensory sense; whereas in Navajo, “nizhoni” is always
relationally based and conveys a deep sense of balance, harmony, and a way of living.

 

 

>4. The level of the
symbolic representations ('alam al-mithal) in the realm of MALAKUT. This is the
realm of spirits and angelic beings. In which there are the cities of Jabalqa
and Jabalsa... It is a realm of Creation.

 

Ah, yes, what our Navajo
sisters and brothers refer to as those in the spirit worlds.  Those we Baha’is
refer to as “the Concourse on High.”  What the classical Greek
poets referred to as their muses.  My earliest remembered encounters with
this realm occurred when I was still a child in grammar school.  I
remember riding my bicycle to parks with my books of poetry and philosophy or
carrying them up the trees that I would climb so that I could find alone space
to read and think and dream.  Early on, I developed a deep love for
Socrates through Plato, and for those remarkable women pioneers—Emily Dickinson,
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jane Austen; also Sophocles.  I used to call them
“my friends,” and a

RE: question fm another list (tackled in depth)

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Khazeh, thank you so much for your wonderful response to Don's very helpful 
inquiry.  And, Gilberto, thank you for your important question about Baha'I 
ontology.

Khazeh, the first quotation that you share with us in response to Gilberto's 
question must touch all of our souls online here, for are we not all scholars 
in the sense of our interest in Baha'i studies?  Let me cite again the 
beginning of the quotation from Baha'u'llah on this topic:

"For whatever such strivings may accomplish, they can never hope to transcend 
the limitations imposed upon Thy creatures, inasmuch as these efforts are 
actuated by Thy decree, and are begotten of Thine invention. The loftiest 
sentiments which the holiest of saints can express in praise of Thee, and the 
deepest wisdom which the most learned of men can utter in their attempts to 
comprehend Thy nature, all revolve around that Center Which is wholly subjected 
to Thy sovereignty, Which adoreth Thy Beauty, and is propelled through the 
movement of Thy Pen." (Baha'u'llah, _Gleanings_ 4)


Let me preface my thoughts on this issue by reminding everyone that my views 
are informed by my training in the areas of literary criticism and theory, 
Native American studies, women's studies, and classical philosophy (many years 
of Greek and Latin study), and my work in ecocriticism, environmental 
literatures, and Baha'i and Native American epistemologies.

When I read that God is an "unknowable Essence," what is made patently clear to 
me is that the Baha'i revelation puts a categorical end to ontological 
discourse.  Just as Wittgenstein, in many ways, ends the western tradition of 
philosophy [for more on this, please reference my first book on Wittgestein 
published under my maiden name of Brill], Baha'u'llah's explanation to us all, 
and especially to scholars, is that fundamentally God is an "unknowable 
Essence."  Therefore, any attempts to articulate that which we cannot know 
would be futile.  As Wittgenstein so wisely expressed at the end of his 
_Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus_, that which we cannot know, we must pass over 
in silence.

The problem with ontology is that it is an inherently logocentric discourse 
defined in terms of human logic and ratiocinative thought.  As the Blessed 
Beauty makes so very clear, our Creator is beyond such human comprehension.

I'll end hear since the clouds outside are darkening, and I want to send this 
off while I still can.

I send my regards and love to you all.

Thank you for your words, questions, thoughts, and wisdom.  It is always valued.

Susan

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



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RE: UHJ membership and women

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Jim,

Allah'u'Abha.

Yes, should I be able to address this issue in the form of an essay later this 
summer, God willing, I would indeed respond to the stated and published 
concerns.

For now, I have a book monograph that needs to be finished and at the publisher 
in June, and a number of other large projects that need to be completed before 
I can turn to new projects.

I also want to thank those who have emailed me individually regarding my post.  
Yes, this is an important issue that we will all come to understand over time.

My regards to all,

Susan

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330


-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Habegger
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 5:48 AM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: re: UHJ membership and women

Susan B, if you write your essay, I hope you will address the issues in my long 
post above. Also, I hope you will address *all* the issues in the articles 
"Women's Service on the Universal House of Justice" and "The Service of Women 
on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith" 

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UHJ membership and women

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Dear friends,

Allah'u'Abha!

I have been following the discussions regarding the membership of our supreme 
body, the Universal House of Justice.  I remember these sorts of concerns that 
were raised over a decade ago on the old Talisman listserve.

As a Baha'i who is also a woman and a feminist (and who is the daughter and 
granddaughter of women who fought for women's rights in the United States--my 
beloved grandmother as a suffragette and my dear mother who always had us 
observe the birthdays of important American women like Juliette Lowe and 
Eleanor Roosevelt), I would like to offer a few thoughts about this issue 
regarding the gendered make-up of the Universal House of Justice.

1) First, I want to thank Jim and others who have contributed to this thread, 
for otherwise I would not have known that this is still a concern among a 
number of Baha'is.  For many years, I have considered addressing this issue in 
the form of a publishable essay.  Perhaps this is the time to do so.

2) Second, as a woman who understands the struggles of women intimately, 
familially, culturally, and historically, these debates about the House of 
Justice weigh heavily upon my heart.  I wonder, how is it that we Baha'is 
cannot differentiate between sexism, misogyny, and female oppression, on the 
one hand, and a legitimate and wise distinction that is gendered but not 
sexist, on the other?  Are we evaluating Baha'i structures and ways in light of 
the secular values of the day?  

Does not Bah'u'llah advise us, "Weigh not the Book of God with such standards 
and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring 
balance established amongst men" (Baha'u'llah, _Gleanings_, 198).

3) Throughout time, there have been diversely gendered roles and relations that 
have varied from people to people, culture to culture, and time to time.  In 
most cultures, women have been severely devalued and marginalized, but this has 
not been the case in all cultures.

In those cultures where women have been valued (generally in agrarian-based and 
geographically rooted cultures) and where gender relations have been based on 
equitable principles, such equality in no wise has signified sameness.  Even 
where women and men have lived in balance, there have still been certain 
divisions of roles and labor based on gender.  Here difference has not meant a 
hierarchized inequality.  When the friends criticize the fact that our beloved 
Universal House of Justice is made up solely of men, are they not familiar with 
how certain cultures have recognized the differences between men and women in 
ways that are neither prejudicial nor unjust?

4) Yes, in the metaphor of the bird, right wings and left wings need to be 
perfectly balanced for a perfectly true flight, but we must never forget that 
right wings and left wings are not identical.  They are very similar with very 
similar functions, but they have functions that differ and in some respects are 
mirror images of each other.

5) It is important that we clearly see the difference between appearances and 
actualities.  Wittgenstein wrote that a boundary line may be drawn and appear 
to be exclusionary for one perspective.  He then explains that if the rules of 
the game are, in fact, different, that line may have a very different meaning 
that is, in no wise, exclusionary. . . . but this requires efforts on our parts 
to come to new ways of understanding.

6) I really feel that to understand the gendered make-up of the Universal House 
of Justice, it is necessary to study those past cultures that have manifested 
gender equality to see what such balance has looked like in the past.  Perhaps 
this is an area where I can be of assistance.  I'll see if I can craft such an 
essay by the end of the summer.

7) Finally, as a feminist, I do want to note that I find it a bit annoying to 
have Baha'i men riding in on their chargers like white knights to save the weak 
and feeble damsel in distress on this issue.

As a rule, I have found more men to have difficulties with this issue than 
women.  Most women are pretty secure in the very high stations that are given 
to us and our respective responsibilities in the world as the first educators 
of the children, as primarily responsible for the moral training of the 
children, as the first line of defense for the health of our families, as 
responsible in having our own careers and being knowledgeable in our local 
community, schools, state, national, and international affairs, and being those 
who log innumerable hours in Baha'i community life and other forms of social 
service in our communities.  Maybe the men, instead of talking about so many 
issues, could spend more of their time helping us out with the children, the 
schools, the home, etc., etc.  

And anyone who would devalue women's responsibilities in the education of 
children (and how THAT affects EVERYTHING ELSE in the world--scientific 
discoveries, crime rates, viol

questions re: long prayer for the Fast

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

I would like some help in understanding three passages from
the long prayer for the Fast.  These are passages that have confused me since I
was an undergraduate.  I am especially interested in those who can reference
the prayer in its original Arabic or Farsi.  Let me quote each passage,
following it with my inquiry:

 

 

“And yet I beseech Thee by Thy
Name through which Thou hast revealed Thy Self, in the glory of Thy most
excellent titles, unto all created things, in this Revelation whereby Thou
hast, through Thy most resplendent Name, manifested Thy beauty, to give me to
drink of the wine of Thy mercy and of the pure beverage of Thy favor, which
have streamed forth from the right hand of Thy will, that I may so fix my gaze
upon Thee and be so detached from all else but Thee, that the world and all
that hath been created therein may appear before me as a fleeting day which
Thou hast not deigned to create” (253-254).

 

“. . . which Thou hast not deigned to create”
has always tripped me up.  Were the passage to read “as a fleeting day
which Thou wouldst not even deign to create,” this would make sense to
me.  But as the passage is translated, it says that world would appear as an
insignificant and swift day that God has not created.  My problem is that God
has created all days, those lived meaningfully and those not.  The translation
seems to indicate that there are days that are not created by God.  Is this a
translation problem?  Is this implication also in the original?  Are we to
understand the passage as if it reads “as a fleeting day which Thou
wouldst not even deign to create”?; and if so, why was it not so
translated?

 

 

“Magnify Thou, O Lord my God,
Him Who is the Primal Point, the Divine Mystery, the Unseen Essence, the
Dayspring of Divinity, and the Manifestation of Thy Lordship, through Whom all
the knowledge of the past and all the knowledge of the future were made plain,
through Whom the pearls of Thy hidden wisdom were uncovered, and the mystery of
Thy treasured name disclosed, Whom Thou hast appointed as the Announcer of the
One through Whose name the letter B and the letter E have been joined and
united, through Whom Thy majesty, Thy sovereignty and Thy words have been sent
down, and Thy laws set forth with clearness, and Thy signs spread abroad, and
Thy Word established, through Whom the hearts of Thy chosen ones were laid
bare, and all that were in the heavens and all that were on the earth were
gathered together, Whom Thou has called Ali-Muhammad in the kingdom of Thy
names, and the Spirit of Spirits in the Tablets of Thine irrevocable decree,
Whom Thou hast invested with Thine own title, unto Whose name all other names
have, at Thy bidding and through the power of Thy might, been made to return,
and in Whom Thou hast caused all Thine attributes and titles to attain their
final consummation. To Him also belong such names as lay hid within Thy
stainless tabernacles, in Thine invisible world and Thy sanctified cities.”
(257-258) 

 

In this paragraph, the prepositional phrase “through Whom”
is repeated twice (referring to the Báb), followed by “Whom” (also
referring to the Báb).  This is the line “Whom Thou hast appointed as the
Announcer of the One through Whose name the letter B and the letter E have been
joined and united, through Whom . . .”  Here, “the One through
Whose name” refers to Bahá’u’lláh.  This is immediately
followed by another “through Whom.”  Now, English grammar would
indicate that this “through Whom” and the subsequent ones then
refer to Bahá’u’lláh as well.  This is a bit confusing, since I
presume that “Whom” throughout the paragraph refers to the Báb.  Or
is there an intentional semantic shift in the pronouns?

 

 

“Magnify Thou, moreover, such
as have believed in Him and in His signs and have turned towards Him, from
among those that have acknowledged Thy unity in His Latter Manifestation - a
Manifestation whereof He hath made mention in His Tablets, and in His Books,
and in His Scriptures, and in all the wondrous verses and gem-like utterances
that have descended upon Him. It is this same Manifestation Whose covenant Thou
hast bidden Him establish ere He had established His own covenant. He it is Whose
praise the Bayan hath celebrated. In it His excellence hath been extolled, and
His truth established, and His sovereignty proclaimed, and His Cause perfected.” 
(258-259)

 

Here the first line “Magnify Thou, moreover, such as
have believed in Him and in His signs and have turned towards Him, from among
those that have acknowledged Thy unity in His Latter Manifestation . . .”
seems to be asking God to give greater blessings to the Babis than to the Bahá’ís. 
Magnify those who have believed in the Báb beyond those who have believed in Bahá’u’lláh. 
Then the next sentence extols the Bahá’í covenant.  It has always seemed
to me that the first sentence should be extolling those who have believed in Bahá’u’lláh
“from among those who have acknowledged”

RE: Shocking Desecration of Bahai cemetery in Yazd (5 pix)

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Could the pictures be resent?  For some
reason, I did not receive that post.

 

Thank you.

 



Dr. Susan Berry Brill
de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 




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RE: Reflections

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Richard,

I'd like to weigh in on this one.  Recently some solid anthropological, historical, 
folklore, and African Studies work has cast doubt on whether cannibalism was really 
practiced among any groups of human persons on the planet . . . barring the extreme 
sado-masochistic behaviors recently in the news in Europe and the U.S.

It appears that past reports that purported to document actual cannibalism as an 
acceptable practice among various tribal groups may have been the result of outside 
anthropologists and ethnographers being told tall tales in the bush.

Currently, this is a loaded topic since it calls into questions much of the work of 
past and current scholars.  I imagine that this will become clear over the course of 
the decade.  If, in fact, it does pan out that no peoples literally practiced 
cannibalism (literally eating other humans), then 'Abdu'l-Baha's comment would need to 
be taken more broadly.  Of course, the science of the day affirmed such cannibalism in 
Africa.

One of the problems we have in Native Studies is sifting through the past 100 plus 
years of ethnographic work to determine which work is reliable, questionable, 
problematic, or downright spurious.

By the way, does anyone online here remember the name of the anthropologist whose work 
last year created quite a stir in the news on this topic?

All the best to everyone,

Susan

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330


-Original Message-
From: Richard H. Gravelly [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 6:22 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Reflections

Thank you Susan,

Why would I look at Abu'l-Baha's statement regarding cannibalism amongst the
men of the Sudan as hyperbole?  Why would a statement of fact be hyperbole
in your view?

Richard.


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RE: Reflection

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Tim,

 

Within the broad realm of cultural studies
(including such fields as literature, art, music, drama, film, ethnic studies,
women’s studies, etc.), essentialism is defined as follows:

 

“An essentialist belief is one that
mistakenly confuses the effects of bilogy with the effects of culture; in
particular it refers to the belief that biology is more significant than
culture in subject formation” (299).

 

This is from Julian Wolfreys’s
literary theory guide and glossary.

 

Essentialism has been especially strongly
debated and critiqued within the various global fields of indigenous studies
(Native American, Canadian First Nations, Australisn Aboriginal, various
African studies areas, etc.), with the obvious early criticisms directed at the
essentialist views of generations of ethnographers stereotypes of the
indigenous “other.”  As the Vietnamese-American film-makes
Trinh T. Minh-ha writes out: “anthropo-logo-centrism” to emphasize
the western and logocentric bias that denied the validity of diverse ways of
knowing.

 

All the best,

 

Susan

 



Dr. Susan
Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley
University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 

-Original Message-
From: Tim Nolan
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 8:29
AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Brill
de Ramirez, Susan
Subject: RE: Reflection

 





Hello Susan,





 





>essentialist racial appropriations endure, even
though as Native writer and filmmaker >Sherman Alexie says, "The
endgame of essentialism was flying airplanes into >buildings."






 





Could you please explain what essentialism means?





 





Thanks,





Tim Nolan











Do you Yahoo!?
Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter
now.




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RE: Reflection

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Can someone tell me the word in Farsi or Arabic that has been translated into the 
English of the following quotations as "savage"?  Also, how also might the word be 
translated?  When was the quotation about indigenous peoples translated, and by whom, 
Shoghi Effendi?
 
Here is the indigenous quotation:
 
"Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America. For these souls may 
be likened unto the ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, who, prior to the 
Mission of Muhammad, were like unto savages. When the light of Muhammad shone forth in 
their midst, however, they became so radiant as to illumine the world. Likewise, these 
Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will 
become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world."
 (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, 32)
 
Thank you,
 
Susan
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888, fax: (309) 677-2460, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 

-Original Message- 
From: Mark A. Foster [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Wed 8/18/2004 9:23 PM 
To: Baha'i Studies 
Cc: 
Subject: Re: Reflection



Hi, folks,

'Abdu'l-Baha frequently used the literary device of mubalaghah (hyperbole). I 
know one person, an African American, who left the Baha'i Faith due to a lack of 
knowledge of this convention:

"... man, if he is left without education, becomes bestial, and, moreover, if 
left under the rule of nature, becomes lower than an animal, whereas if he is educated 
he becomes an angel.  For the greater number of animals do not devour their own kind, 
but men, in the Sudan, in the central regions of Africa, kill and eat each other."
-- `Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p.7

"A man who has not had a spiritual education is a brute.  Like the savages of 
Africa, whose actions, habits and morals are purely sensual, they act according to the 
demands of nature to such a degree that they rend and eat one another."
-- `Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p.119

"The leaders of this religion [Protestant Christianity] are still making every 
effort to promote it, and today on the East Coast of Africa, ostensibly to emancipate 
the Sudanese and various Negro peoples, they have established schools and colleges and 
are training and civilizing completely savage African tribes, while their true and 
primary purpose is to convert some of the Muslim Negro tribes to Protestantism."
-- `Abdu'l-Baha, Secret of Divine Civilization, pp.42-43

Here is Shoghi Effendi *not* using mubalaghah:

"It shows that a spiritual receptivity, a purity of heart and uprightness of 
character exists potentially amongst many of the peoples of the Pacific Isles to an 
extent equal to that of the tribesmen of Africa.  It is indeed an encouraging and 
awe-inspiring sight to witness the spread of our beloved Faith amongst those whom 
civilised nations misguidedly term 'savages', 'primitive peoples' and uncivilised 
nations.'"
 From a letter dated July 11, 1956, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi and 
cited: Unfolding Destiny, p.365

In my view, the same figure of speech, mubalaghah, is used by `Abdu'l-Baha 
when referring to the past accomplishments of Persians.

Mark A. Foster * http://markfoster.net
"Sacred cows make the best hamburger"
-- Mark Twain and Abbie Hoffman



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RE: Reflection

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Patti,
 
You are quite right here to note that the statement need not be taken genetically.  
Let me cite the original quotation, your comment, and then I'll add a couple final 
thoughts on this topic.
 
-Original Message- 
From: Patti Goebel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 

 
". . . they have always excelled all other peoples in endowments conferred by birth. 
Persia
herself, moreover!"


Another way to look at this is that the "endowments conferred by birth" are
not anything genetic, but rather the circumstances into which a child is
born, including natural resources, culture, knowledge base, spiritual base,
etc.

 
In 'Abdu'l-Baha's statement, it is important to note that he writes "endowments 
conferred by birth."  That which is genetic is there at conception.  At birth, one is 
brought into a family, a community, a culture, a language, etc. all of which 
determines those particular endowments "conferred by birth" to a person.
 
I remember a story a number of years back when a famous delicatessen was closing in 
Brooklyn, NYC.  Many patrons were coming by for their final orders of gefilte fish, 
lox, knishes, etc.  A reporter was covering the closing of a century's long 
institution in the community.  As one customer left with her order of knishes, the 
reporter approached her and requested a brief interview about the deli.  She agreed, 
and the reporter asked her why she had come by for her ceremonial final order . . . 
particularly noting that she was African-American.  In New York, folks are pretty 
direct with questions, so she understood the question and did not take offense.  Her 
response? . . . She looked at the reporter for _The Christian Science Monitor_ as if 
he was a bit clueless, and then she replied, "Don't you understand?   This is New 
York!  Here we're all Jews!  It's part of the dominant culture, part of all of us."  
Of course, she was not saying that she was ethnically nor religiously Jewish, but that 
part of her respective "endowments conferred by birth" included growing up within a 
part of NYC that was predominantly Jewish and that it was part of her culture thereby 
as a local resident.
 
This is very much the case in the northwestern part of New Mexico where the 
predominant culture is Navajo.  Everyone connected with that region is informed by the 
dominant Navajo culture, and of course, everyone in New Mexico is part Hispanic since 
the culture pervades the entire state (albeit differently in different regions).  Many 
Native American writers from New Mexico or who have spent many formative years there 
include Navajo/Dine' concepts and words in their writing, even though their genetic 
tribal backgrounds are not Navajo.
 
[Of course, there is an important and, sometimes, a very fine line between being part 
of a culture versus problematic (and, at times, outright racist) appropriations.  One 
infamous example was the book published a number of years back by Asa Carter entitled 
_The Education of Little Tree_ that purported to be the author's romanticized and 
nostalgized growing years as a Cherokee boy.  As it turns out, the author was not 
Cherokee, and, in fact, had been an active member of the Ku Klux Klan throughout his 
life.  The book was an outright fabrication, but its romanticized Euroamerican views 
of Native culture spoke strongly to Euroamericans who loved the book whose sales 
propelled the tranformation of the book into a financially successful, yet racially 
stereoptypic film.]
 
Native American appropriation is a very loaded and sensitive issue throughout Indian 
country . . . and a very \\HOT// topic here in Illinois.  Post-modernism 
notwithstanding, essentialist racial appropriations endure, even though as Native 
writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie says, "The endgame of essentialism was flying 
airplanes into buildings."
 
Would that all people would take to heart Baha'u'llah's words that "The well-being of 
mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly 
established." 
 
We all need to start listening to each others' stories and making choices truly based 
on conversive consultation.  My state of Illinois is very divided because of the issue 
of Native American mascots even at the highest levels of state government.  Mark, as a 
Sociologist, you must be very aware of our situation here since I understand that the 
University of Illinois is one of the primary current examples of institutional racism 
in contemporary Sociology texts.  The difference between being part of a culture 
versus an outside appropriation is hard for many to understand.
 
Anyway, greetings to all online here.  Even when I do not post for awhile, I am an 
active reader of your posts and have learned so much from the friends on this list.  
Thank you, Mark and Susan, for this listserve.
 
Susan
 
Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Department of English, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
(309) 677-3888

RE: Reflection

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

"It should not be imagined that the people of Persia are inherently deficient in 
intelligence, or that for essential perceptiveness and understanding, inborn sagacity, 
intuition and wisdom, or innate capacity, they are inferior to others. God forbid! On 
the contrary, they have
always excelled all other peoples in endowments conferred by birth. Persia herself, 
moreover!"

I read this quotation in a different way from the insights already offered.  I, like 
Sandra, take 'Abdu'l-Baha's comment quite literally.  Certainly Persians have excelled 
all other peoples in those particular "endowments conferred by birth" that they have 
notably received from God.  We could also say this of ALL peoples; there are 
particular gifts and distinctive traits that distinguish each of the peoples, tribes, 
nations of the world.  So I read 'Abdu'l-Baha's quote in a very direct manner, hearing 
him remind the Persians of their particular gifts that they can offer to the whole 
world.

To me, this really is an emphasis of the notion of "unity with diversity."  The global 
culture that is unfolding is bringing to the forefront the respective gifts and 
strengths of the diverse peoples of the world.  The presumed hegemony of the west in 
all areas is imploding upon itself as the future global village is emerging (yes, 
seemingly in fits and starts).  And as 'Abdu'l-Baha reminds his fellow Persians, they 
must not lose sight of their great gifts to the world (e.g., in arts and literatures . 
. . some of those areas most lamentably de-emphasized in Iran right now).

[By the way, the Olympics games going on right now are a demonstration of the diverse 
strengths and abilities of different peoples.  There are physiological differences 
among the diverse peoples of the world that includes different sorts of physiological 
gifts.  All peoples have their respective gifts, but they are not all the same.]

Regards to all,

Susan

P.S. I imagine that many of you online here will be at the ABS meeting in Calgary.  It 
will be good to see you all!  All the best to everyone online here.

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330


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RE: Please help this limited mind!

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Hasan,

 

I like what you say about spiritual powers
and superior mental abilities in relation to the Guardian.  I’ve found
over the years that we in the West have great difficulties in understanding
sacred realities.  So often what is of great debate among many Baha’is in
the west (scholars and non-scholars) are issues of common parlance and deep
understanding within the realm of Native Studies.

 

The very idea that the Guardian received
spiritual guidance and insight certainly does not mean that he was omniscient. 
While the Manifestations of God had complete infallibility, this was as
Manifestations of God.  Within many of the sacred and religious traditions of
the world, believers understand that Manifestations of God are also human
persons in the world, that they were everyday humans (although perhaps with
great potential) prior to receiving their revelations from God.  Within Judaism,
Moses is loved because of his weaknesses and errors as a man and appreciated so
much the more because God could choose such an imperfect instrument to
transform and turn into God’s Mouthpiece [Jews love that Moses argued
with God and even tried to talk God out of having Moses as His Manifestation]. 
The same for Abraham and Adam, men with failings but whom God raised up.  Of
course, in Christianity, the person of Jesus Christ is understood very
differently in light of the Virgin Birth—the station of Jesus being
appointed from His infancy.

 

As Baha’is, we are told that Baha’u’llah
and the Bab were men like other men until God transformed them through the
light of the Holy Spirit into His Manifestations.  I think this transformation
(easily understood within the indigenous sacred traditions of the world and
within Judaism and Islam) is very difficult for those from Christian
backgrounds to consider.  This is an area where we all will need to understand
and accept the diverse ways of looking at the Manifestations in light of the
diverse religious cultures of the world.

 

When Baha’is say that Baha’u’llah
was omniscient from the beginning, I agree.  When other Baha’is say His
omniscience came during His revelation in the Siyah Chal, I also agree.  The
lack of authoritative interpretation here permits us all within the bounds of
the Writings to understand what we read in our own fashion.  The biases that we
all bring into the Faith from our respective backgrounds orient our
understandings, perceptions and interpretations (for better and for worse).

 

I do want to make one comment regarding we
academics.  When we get so lost in the ivory tower and are scrambling around in
our heads, we end up in a ratiocinative realm that impedes our understandings
of spiritual enlightenment and inspiration.  If the Guardian receives an influx
of the Holy Spirit or direct guidance from ‘Abdu’l-Baha, the
knowledge that the Guardian has at that moment might be infallible, but that
does not make him infallible as a person nor infallible all the time.

 

I think that most Baha’is surely
understand infallibility personally in their own lives.  Doesn’t each of
us know infallibly that Baha’u’llah is the Messenger of God for
today?  When I recognized Baha’u’llah and accepted His station
wholly and decided to become a Baha’i, I had infallible knowledge (even
if my understanding of that knowledge was and still is imperfect).  That may be
the only area and time in our lives with such knowledge, but we all, one hopes,
achieve infallibility at least in this area.  Among Native peoples
traditionally, it was understood that some people gain such inspiration more often
than others (perhaps like the Guardian), and these people were the wise elders
to whom others would seek guidance.  Infallibility wasn’t so firmly
categorized as in the Western tradition.  Infallibility was understood to
represent a living continuum among, across and within peoples.

 

Well, so much for some summer ruminations.

 

Regards to all,

 

Susan

 

P.S.  Hasan, I hope it is okay that I
shared your post and my continuation of the thread with my husband.  Thank you
for your wise words.

 



Dr. Susan
Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley
University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A.

[EMAIL PROTECTED];
(309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 

-Original Message-
From: Hasan Elias
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 2:06
PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Please help this
limited mind!

 



Original Message:

Alláh'u'Abhá

El hecho que Shoghi Effendi haya estudiado en colegios
católicos no implica que el haya utilizado esos conocimientos (que adquirió de
niño) cuando se pronunciaba sobre la dogma de la Inmaculada Concepción. Lo que
se hasta ahora es que la dogma de la Inmaculada Concepción fue creada para
liberar a la Virgen Maria del pecado original, que es una de las tantas dogmas
de la Iglesia Católica.

Estoy "CASI" convencido que el Guardián
podía leer las mentes, ya que el poseía los poderes de los santos, cuando una
perso

FW: [NATIVELIT-L:29948] Legal confusion reigns over co-authorship

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

The following post was sent out to scholars in the formally hemispheric
(but increasingly global) field of aboriginal/Native/indigenous studies.

Does anyone on Baha'i Studies have any additional information on this?

Susan

Dr. Susan B. Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330
 

-Original Message-
From: George Lessard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 8:14 AM
To: NDN Literatures
Cc: L JHR JDH; L Nat-Lit
Subject: [NATIVELIT-L:29948] Legal confusion reigns over co-authorship

Confusion reigns over co-authorship
http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=1414&lan
guage=1
Scientists in the US fear that co-authoring 
papers with researchers in sanctioned countries 
such as Cuba and Iran may lead to prosecution. 
(Source: Science)

[excerpt[

Two months ago, the US treasury announced it was 
lifting a ban on US journals publishing papers by 
authors from countries such as Cuba, Sudan and 
Iran, with which the United States has a trade 
embargo.

But buried in the announcement was a sentence 
stating that collaborations between authors in 
sanctioned countries and US researchers would 
constitute "a prohibited exportation of 
services". Scientific societies and publishers 
are now worried that criminal prosecution may 
result from co-authoring of papers.

Link to full news story in Science

Reference: Science 304, 1422 (2004)


Related SciDev.Net articles:
US confirms end to editing ban on 'sanctioned' authors

A welcome retreat on publishing ban on 'rogue' nations


Quick guides:
Science Publishing




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RE: Sacred Mythology and Historical Fact

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Dean,

 

When I first saw your earlier posting
referencing “sacred mythology,” I was inclined to respond, but
decided to see if the thread included additional thoughts.  It has a bit,
and I would like to offer my thoughts.

 

The very distinctions between the notions
of “sacred mythology” and “historical fact” can be seen
in the debates over the last few years regarding the historical accuracy of Nobel
Laureate Rigoberta Menchu’s ethnographic autobiography.  Menchu
asserted that she related the true story of her life and that of her family and
compadres.  A history professor attacked the book’s historical accuracy. 
The debate here really gets at the heart of what constitutes the recorded
truths of our experiences and worlds.

 

Ironically, it is Menchu who demonstrates
a far greater sophistication regarding our understandings of our present and
the past, than the History professor who attacked her recorded memory.  Were
the field of folklore not so marginalized in the academy, the rest of us, too,
would have more sophisticated understandings of historical facticity and its variously
intertwined discursive narratives.

 

Historical fact is far more complicated
than the facts of science: I drop something and gravity makes it fall. 
Gravity is a scientific fact.  How I relate the falling then enters the
realms of history, story, and interpretation.  As Dr. Maneck makes very
clear, historical fact is hardly as clear cut as gravity.  There is always
a high degree of interpretation in any recorded “fact.”  Our
top historians these days are very aware of this, hence the exhaustive
revisionist work being done to correct the errors of the past when scholars were
under the illusions of a simplistic and reductive facticity.

 

Over the course of the past two decades,
historians, literary scholars, anthropologists, and folklorists have learned a
great deal from each other.

 

And back to Menchu, yes, she did relate
the true story of her life and her people.  And, yes, in some places, she
take poetic license in the telling to convey those truths --thereby including
on occasion, factual inaccuracies (e.g., how her brothers died).  Among
the indigenous peoples of the world, the power of storytelling to convey past
history has not been forgotten.  To understand history among Native
peoples means to have deepened learning.  Mere facts and dates and details
would be considered less important than the larger story.

 

How does this relate to our understandings
of Baha’ii history?  I think, a great deal.  Were I to relate
the factual sufferings of the Babis, their imprisonments, tortures, and deaths
. . . in the scheme of twentieth century holocausts, global slavery, trafficking
in arms, drugs, organs, women and children, etc., the sufferings of the Babis
start to seem less important.  However, if I relate the sufferings of the Bab,
Baha’u’llah, and their followers bearing the Message of God for
today, and the horrific machinations of people to keep that healing Message
from the world, then this story can convey the weight and power of the ages and
the Divine.

 

Perhaps this post gives a wee bit of the
sense of storytelling as the time immemorial vehicle for relating and
remembering and understanding history.

 

Regards to everyone,

 

Susan

 

P.S.  Dean, I agree with your problem
with “mythology” but perhaps for different reasons.  The logocentrism
of mythology narrowed the transformative power and vibrancy of traditional storytelling. 
Hence the reality of conversive means by which we can relate the (hi)stories of
our Faith in conversative and conversional ways.  I do think that the
extent to which we have not drawn on storytelling power to share the Faith has
hurt all our teaching activities.  The early Christians were much more
effective at relating the Good News, than we are, but then they all were part
of oral traditions and could share the Message in such conversively powerful
ways.  We, in our textual worlds, need to relearn this.   Susan

 



Dr. Susan Berry
Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English

Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A

[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330



 

-Original Message-
From: Dean Betts
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 2:46
PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Sacred Mythology and
Historical Fact

 



>>How do you teach the Baha'i
Faith to anyone as sacred mythology and not
>>historical fact?







>Perhaps by comparing the lives
and acts of the Bab and Baha`u'llah in terms of their similarities to
"sacred mythology". It is >hard, for instance, to examine the
Martyrdom of the Bab without likening it to the Crucifiction of Christ. That's
just a start . . . . 





 




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Gay marriage and politics

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

This is an issue that is relevant throughout North America.  See the
following article about this in Nunavut, Canada.

Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625   U.S.A 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330
 

-Original Message-
From: George [s] Lessard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 6:27 PM
To: NDN Literatures
Cc: L NEUList; L Nunavut Circumpolar
Subject: [NATIVELIT-L:29663] HIDDEN issue in Nunavut election is battle
for soul for soul of the eastern Arctic 

HIDDEN issue in Nunavut election is battle for soul of the ...
Canada East - Canada
... Incumbent Paul Okalik, 38, an Ottawa-trained lawyer, seems 
determined
to preserve Inuit culture and language while moving their society toward
the secular ...



CP National News
  Article published: Feb 15, 2004

Hidden issue in Nunavut election is battle for soul of the eastern 
Arctic

  IQALUIT, Nunavut (CP) - Voters in Nunavut go to the polls Monday in an

election that, on the surface, has featured issues that are not 
different from anywhere else in Canada.

  But underneath the concerns about jobs, education, health care and 
housing is a battle for the soul of the eastern Arctic, symbolized by 
the two men likely to be candidates for the premier's chair after the 
vote.

  Incumbent Paul Okalik, 38, an Ottawa-trained lawyer, seems determined 
to preserve Inuit culture and language while moving their society 
toward the secular Canadian mainstream.

  Challenger Tagak Curley, 60, who has been acclaimed in his riding of 
Rankin Inlet North, is a veteran Inuit leader and member of the Order 
of Canada. He's also strongly associated with Nunavut's burgeoning 
fundamentalist Christian movement and has acknowledged he's re-entering 
electoral politics at least partly in protest over the territory's new 
human rights legislation.

  "Curley is definitely a rival and a strong challenger," says Health 
Minister Ed Picco, who notes the fundamentalist revival in Nunavut has 
been "obvious" for several years.

  "There is a constituency that will agree with what Mr. Curley is 
saying."

  Observers agree religion became a political issue in Nunavut last 
fall, when Okalik's government pushed through a new Human Rights Act 
that included issues such as protection from discrimination based on 
sexual orientation.

  The bill barely passed after a bruising, bitter debate - unheard of in

Nunavut's consensus-style government, in which legislation normally 
passes almost unanimously.

  Okalik makes no apologies.

  "It wasn't broadly accepted by some sectors of our territory, but so 
what?" he said. "It's legislation that's needed for everyone, not just 
Inuit but minorities everywhere."

  Shortly after the bill was passed, Curley announced his decision to 
run.

  "The special rights that are accorded to others more than ours, that 
believe in one union between man and woman, is something that is 
absolutely new to this part of the world," Curley said after announcing 
his candidacy.

  "Now that we know what the law of God is, it really is much more clear

that it's not necessarily the best of lifestyles."

  Curley said the legislation "could lead to a situation where we become

a habitat for that kind of lifestyle."

  With the support of southern conservative lobby groups such as REAL 
Women, Curley said he would seek to amend the human rights bill if he 
is chosen premier by his fellow members of the legislative assembly.

  Under Nunavut's no-party electoral system, candidates run as 
independents and those elected choose the premier from among 
themselves. The premier then chooses his cabinet.

  Eighty-two candidates are running in 19 ridings in this election. The 
first one was held six weeks before Nunavut officially became a 
territory on April 1, 1999.

  The premier and cabinet are scheduled to be chosen on March 5. Okalik 
and Curley are the only candidates who have announced their intention 
to seek the premiership.

  James Arreak, pastor of the Iqaluit Christian Fellowship and one of 
the leaders of Nunavut's new fundamentalist movement, calls Curley "a 
strong part of our leadership."

  Arreak is one of several Inuit preachers in the process of organizing 
the fundamentalist congregations in all of Nunavut's 27 communities 
into a single church. That church, he says, considers the creation of 
Nunavut to be a sign from God for the Inuit to renew and redefine 
themselves.

  It promotes a conservative interpretation of scripture, as well as 
Pentecostal practices such as speaking in tongues, faith-healing and 
exorcism. Curley has attended and spoken at Bible camps held by the 
movement.

  Arreak makes no bones about his desire for political influence.
  "If we can do something about bringing an opinion on government 
policy, I think we have the right to," he says.

  At least t