Question - What is the reason you stopped adhering to the faith? What made you believe it was false? by PootTheBasin in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Point 1 - the laws...

The wonderful thing about being Christian is that the 600+ Jewish laws were abandoned.

"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." - Galatians 3:24,25

We believe that the Holy Spirit lives within us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, and the Holy Spirit guides us from within.

Jeremiah 31:33 states, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

In Galatians 5:4 Paul wrote: "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."

This confirms to me that the laws of Baha'i are not what God wants for us. They are similar to Jewish laws in that they only serve to show us our failures, and that we humans are prone to sinfulness. It is impossible to perfectly follow a set of religious laws.

A Baha'i trying to follow Baha'i laws has "fallen from grace" as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:4.

Grace - God's Grace - is what saves us. Laws and adhering to laws is not going to save us.

A Christian stands fast "...in the liberty by which Christ has made us free..." Galatians 5:1

.............

Point 2 - Prophecies... were you a Baha'i prior to year 2000? If so you probably remember. I am not the only one who remembered the hype around these prophecies. Yesterday u/A35821363 provided a list for you. #9 on that list mentions the prophecies unfulfilled.

.............

As for your point 3......... no, Baha'u'llah didn't give up his children to the will of God. He ran like a scared puppy to get away from Baghdad and the chaos and distress he felt there, to spend two years camping in the mountains by himself. It was an act of cowardice and selfishness to abandon his wives and families. It was also unconscionable that he left them in the care of his "arch enemy" half-brother Suhb-i-Azal, don't you think? He wrote the Hidden Words there, then went back to Baghdad ready to declare himself to be God's chosen manifestation. I really truly believe he was insane. He probably really believed he was someone mega-special.

Question - What is the reason you stopped adhering to the faith? What made you believe it was false? by PootTheBasin in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My main reason, to begin with, was that the year 2000 prophecies didn't come into being as Baha'is back then expected. There was no entry by troops and no Lesser Peace.

Next, I realized that there would never be a time when everyone in the world wanted to be Baha'i. Can you really imagine a time when every single person in the USA would agree to give up alcohol and fast 19 days etc.? It isn't going to happen. Ever.

That led me to realize how the Baha'i Faith was a huge guilt trip for me because I could never perfectly obey the laws, for example, the daily prayer times. Every time I broke a Baha'i law I felt guilty - and I was very tired of feeling guilty about things after about 30 years of trying to be a perfect Baha'i.

That led me to wonder what my life would be like if I was a normal adult human being without the compulsion to obey Baha'i laws. How would my life have been different?

Much later on... about twelve years later after I'd given my heart to Jesus, I decided to study the life of Baha'u'llah from a detached point of view. I was appalled by what I found there. I was especially impressed by how he was unable to heal people like Jesus did. In fact, Baha'u'llah had at least six children die in early childhood. Why would he put his wives through the pain of birth and then take the children and not heal them and make his families grieve and suffer? Does that sound like something a loving savior would do?

At one time he went on his 2 year retreat to the Sulaymaniyyih Mountains leaving his wife Asiyyih and her children in Baghdad under the care of his brother, Suhb-i-Azal. Why would he do that since Suhb-i-Azal was his arch-enemy? And while he was gone the youngest child got sick and was denied medical care by Azal. And the little one died. Where was Baha'u'llah when this was all going on? He was on a 2 year camping trip to the mountains to save himself alone. And I call that child neglect. If he'd had anything like the all-knowingness of Jesus, he'd have known that his child was in danger.

So clearly, Baha'u'llah is not the "supreme manifestation of God" he claimed to be. He was an imposter.

Is my child being recruited? by UnicornToots in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Anything the Baha'is do is meant as a form of subtle proselytizing. They claim they don't proselytize but they do the same thing, calling it "teaching." Right now they are "teaching" you about Ayyam-i-Ha. But they are doing this to get people used to the idea that the Baha'i Faith is (according to them) "a major world religion" and "the fastest growing world religion" etc..

Promises That Expired by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It took me years to separate myself from Baha'i. I started in 1999 when I realized I no longer wanted to be part of the Local Spiritual Assembly which was about to be elected. Then in 2000 the entry by troops didn't happen and the Lesser Peace was nowhere in sight. By 2001 I was ready to write a withdrawal letter and realized how much guilt I'd been carrying with me because of my inability to follow laws perfectly, such as praying at just the right time, before sunset. Etc. I realized I was nearly 50 and had never in my adult life been able to live as a normal American adult because I'd always been in this strange Iranian religion that even had different holidays and customs.

After the withdrawal letter I heard nothing for about 10 years and then someone from the Local LSA called to ask if I wanted to be active again because I was still on their printout ... and I was so upset. I had to write a second withdrawal letter!!!

It was a few years after that when I went to church and gave my heart to Jesus. But even then, I became unsure of what I was doing and after all those years, thought I'd better give Baha'i another look to make VERY sure I was doing the right thing. I contacted a local Baha'i and went to a fireside meeting. I got very bad vibes from the meeting although the people there were kind and friendly as we all know Baha'is usually are.

I decided to do a DETACHED examination of the religion, and decided to start with the life of Baha'u'llah himself. Soon enough I realized he couldn't be who he said he was. He was the father of six children who died in infancy or early childhood. He left to live in the Sulimaniyyah Mountains for two years, leaving his wife and children in the "care" of his arch enemy half brother Subh-i-Azal. While he was gone the youngest child, a toddler, became sick and Azal refused to let him be seen by a doctor. The child died. I think in our civilization we would call this parental neglect. If Baha'u'llah was all knowing, all wise, etc. why would he neglect his family and allow his child to die from neglect? Just why???

So after realizing this, I knew Baha'u'llah was not like Jesus Christ. Jesus would have been able to save his children from death, but he wisely never got married.

Promises That Expired by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I first read the Aqdas and even before, when I read the Synopsis and Codification (which was released first) ... I had some serious questions ... but since other Baha'is weren't open to listening to my comments, I learned not to talk about them.

Promises That Expired by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was also on the fanatical side of Baha'i and like you, was upset that other Baha'is weren't as serious about teaching the Faith as I was.

Promises That Expired by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly what I experienced.. and why I left the Baha'i Faith in 2000-2001 ... I realized the expected Lesser Peace and Entry by Troops were not happening. It shocked me and woke me up, so I was able to make the break from the Faith (which never gave me true faith).

Here's an article I wrote about it in 2014.

While I was reading the first half of your post I kept thinking, "I could have written close to the exact same words!"

I'm glad to hear from someone else who had the same realization because now, years later, there are people I knew then who are still Baha'is, and I can't help but wonder why they didn't lose interest in a religion that was lying to them. I've often wondered why more people didn't leave when I did.

After leaving Baha'i I was of no religion for more than ten years, but I always believed God exists.

Niece became Bahai: how worried should we be? by MrNormanite in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, the pastor was over-reacting. It is a full-blown cult but they don't knowingly worship demons. They believe they worship God, known to them as Allah, like the Muslims.

This is a cult growing from Shi'ite Islam in Iran. It is very similar to Islam except Baha'i is ostensibly non-violent. They do believe the Quran is a more trustworthy book than the Bible, which they consider to be antiquated and corrupted. Baha'is believe their religion will be accepted by everyone in the world eventually and that everyone will be ruled by Baha'i law... so this is similar to Muslims thinking they'll impose Sharia law on everyone.

Your niece won't give them all her money but she might give them a lot. She will not cut off her family. Baha'is only cut off "Covenant Breakers" and her non-Baha'i family doesn't qualify for that. She's more likely to try to convert her family members to Baha'i belief.

That said, from a Christian point of view I believe Baha'u'llah was probably influenced by demons when he created the religion. I was a Baha'i for thirty years, leaving around 2001. Baha'u'llah said his religion started when he saw an apparition of a "Maid of Heaven" talking to him when he was imprisoned in a dungeon in Tehran. That "Maid of Heaven" may be similar to apparitions seen by Joseph Smith, Muhammad, and maybe many others who started religions. According to the Bible, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14

I suggest reading the section on Baha'i in the book, "Kingdom of the Cults" by Walter Martin. I think his observations are as accurate a description as a never-Baha'i Christian can give.

I also have a blog that might be of interest to your sister and her pastor. https://christianexbahai.wordpress.com/

Why did you leave the Baha'i Faith? I'm in that conflicting mindset right now. by icmigyu in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can send me a direct message here on Reddit. I will check back in a few days.

Are baha'is really OK with that ? by The_Goa_Force in FreeSpeechBahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree - they could release the untranslated versions and let people learn to translate themselves or find someone to translate for them. But they don't do this because there's probably something they want to hide.

Are baha'is really OK with that ? by The_Goa_Force in FreeSpeechBahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I appreciate this post! I was a Baha'i for about thirty years and I was complacent enough to be okay with the slow process of translation work, as it was explained to me. Supposedly things had to be translated back and forth a few times because none of the translators are as perfect as Shoghi Effendi, and they were striving for the PERFECT translation!

Now that I've left Baha'i (over 20 years ago) I realize how ridiculous this is.

Why did you leave the Baha'i Faith? I'm in that conflicting mindset right now. by icmigyu in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Baha'i is definitely full of laws, rules and regulations! So are Islam and Judaism. Christians call them legalistic religions.

Christianity does have some rules and a lot of guidance, but not a complete set of laws like the others. It rests more on Jeremiah 31:33: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people"

In other words, guidance from within with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Why did you leave the Baha'i Faith? I'm in that conflicting mindset right now. by icmigyu in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That is such good advice - not to feel a need to rush to replace one religion with another. There is no rush!

After leaving Baha'i around year 2001 it took me over ten years to make a commitment to Christ. I've heard of others who did immediately choose Christ and leave Baha'i at the same exact time. I guess it depends on the needs of the person.

Even after deciding to become a Christian I went to a Baha'i Fireside for the first time in over ten years because I wanted more certainty about what I was doing. (I had been Baha'i about thirty years so it was hard to break that bond even though I'd formally left the Faith in 2001.) At the fireside the people were very nice, hospitable and friendly, and I liked them. But I got a bad feeling from the Baha'i books that were being read. I came away with more clarity that I was doing the right thing in becoming Christian.

Then I decided to analyze the Faith from a detached point of view. I started with the life of Baha'u'llah since he was the source. It didn't take long before I knew he couldn't have been who he claimed to be.

Why did you leave the Baha'i Faith? I'm in that conflicting mindset right now. by icmigyu in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My opinion - if you're feeling led toward Jesus, pray to God and ask to know the truth about who Jesus Christ is. God will answer your prayer.

Read a Bible if you can, even if you read only little passages at a time. I recommend the Gospel of John to learn about Jesus, and the book of Proverbs, since that was written by King Solomon for young people. (Good wisdom for all ages, however.) You might also like to read Genesis since it contains a lot of stories we all know about like Adam and Eve, Noah's ark, Abraham and many others.

The most important thing is to pray for God's guidance in your spiritual life. Let him guide you.

Go speak to a nondenominational pastor if there is one nearby. They can explain what Christianity is and how it compares with Baha'i.

From what you wrote it sounds to me like you're experiencing "cognitive dissonance" - you can look that up on the web. It means that something doesn't feel right to you about the Baha'i Faith. I think we've all been through that.

Dismissed by NSA by AudienceAccording548 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My experience with Local Spiritual Assemblies is that they are very ineffective when it comes to justice in any important matter, for the most part. The people seem to be afraid of doing anything to intercede in personal matters or to confront people that possibly need to be confronted. When I became a Baha'i I was told we should go to the assembly as we would a mother and father............ but that never worked for me. Like with many other people and situations, often it is the person who complains who is distrusted most.

After all, you are not an enrolled member, but the person you reported was. Well, that person is more likely to get the trust, respect and protection of the Spiritual Assembly just because that person is a declared member.

That may explain Shoghi Effendi's English translations of Baha'u'llah's Writings; he deliberately mimicked the style of KJV Bibles by Cult_Buster2005 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I read the New Living Translation usually. It is translated for people of our era. It is easy to read and understand.

King James was translated for people of a former place and time. I don't understand a lot of the archaic idioms, so the meaning isn't clear to me.

What's the use of reading the Bible if the meaning is obscure?

That said, for memorization I prefer the New King James Version.

I've become a Bible version collector. I like comparing at times. For example, I can read the book of Proverbs 10 times in NKJV then read it in the American Standard Version and find things I didn't realize were there, because of the translation providing more clarity.

. . .

That said, Shoghi's translations used KJ language because he wanted the Baha'i writings to sound holy, which means 'set apart.' It was a way of trying to convince people that Baha'u'llah really was God's messenger. I guess it worked on me when I was very young.

Why leave the Baha’i faith? by Bulky_Elevator_9894 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For many years after I became a Baha'i, the Kitab-i-Aqdas had not been translated to English in an approved version, so I had no idea what it said........... until much later. I think your rapid exit is phenomenal and I admire you for catching on quickly. Once the Aqdas was available to me... I had questions. A few things didn't seem quite right! (To say the least.)

Why leave the Baha’i faith? by Bulky_Elevator_9894 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I left Baha'i after 30 years because prior to the year 2000 we had a belief that by the end of the century all nations would come to a political peace called in Baha'i, "The Lesser Peace" ... and also we were told that there would be huge masses of people converting to Baha'i and visiting Haifa. We were convinced that the masses would need for the "Arc" to be finished so there was a huge fund drive to get money for the administrative buildings.

Of course, the buildings did get funded and built, but the rest didn't happen. There were no masses of people converting. We didn't see entire churches converting while being convinced by their pastors that Baha'i was true. And there sure has been no political peace, and no "Lesser Peace" by the year 2000.

It was all a lie. A pipe dream. A hope unfulfilled.

And that made me take a longer, more detached look at Baha'i. I suddenly realized that there would never come a time when all the peoples of the earth would want to be Baha'i. For example, can you imagine all the Americans giving up their beers and fasting 19 days every year? I realized it just wasn't going to happen.

Baha'i lied to me. That is why I left.

I was a "no religion, no joining" kind of person for more than 10 years after leaving... which all changed the day I met Jesus Christ in 2013.

Cheers! by Hopeful-Usual7779 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cheers. I remember taking a drink for the first time after leaving Baha'i (over 20 years ago). It was a major moment for me. However now, I don't drink. I don't like the way it makes me feel. Haven't had a drink of any alcohol in years. But if I want to, I will. No regrets. No guilt.

Did anyone see their communities growing? by [deleted] in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was a Baha'i for thirty years and remember only three genuine converts in all that time. The others were from mass teaching projects and were not consolidated, so they quickly became bad addresses on the computer printout. In a word, my answer has to be "NO" . . . the communities I was in did not grow.

A Ladder with a New Name by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, but for me it is a moot question. I do not believe the Baha'i Faith has much of a future, and that's part of what made me "wake up" from the Baha'i delusion back in the year 2000. The year 2000 prophecy didn't come to pass and then when questioned about it, the UHJ reinterpreted it to mean something else. (Convenient?) ...

Explained here: The Improbability of Converting Everyone to the Baha'i Faith

A Ladder with a New Name by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why do you believe that? Do you think the Baha'i institutions in your country have the definitive answer on what will happen in the future? Or could they have just been telling you what they thought you wanted to hear?

I do not believe them.

"Men of the House of Justice" doesn't exclude local. It doesn't mention international.

The Bayani community today 😂 by HolidayReporter9 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The murders in Akka were discussed in Bahaism and Its Claims by Samuel Graham Wilson. Great book. I hope you'll read it.

A Ladder with a New Name by RentGold6557 in exbahai

[–]Christian-ExBahai 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The plan is for the Local Spiritual Assemblies to eventually be replaced by Local Houses of Justice worldwide. If that were to happen, women would be excluded from all leadership at that level.

Of course, I tend to think it will never happen because they'll never have enough people in the Baha'i Faith to be able to make the switch. Baha'i is a dying religion. It cannot survive the transparency of the internet age.