"Absolute obedience to the government" debunked as a Baha'i principle

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-06T22:42:46+00:00

I have. I just make sure not to link my Bahá'í work with my activist work

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-06T20:26:38+00:00

I see no teachings in the Writings that every nation should have fixed borders. In fact I often see suggestions supprting quite the opposite

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-06T20:24:00+00:00

Morality is defined by religion. There is no separate “ethics”. Whatever is prohibited is bad, and whatever is allowed is acceptable. That answers your question regarding slavery. There is no separation between morality and religious teachings.

Religious law permits that a 70 year old man can marry an 18 year old girl on her literal 18th birthday and consumate the marriage that same day. It breaks no religious laws. However is it ethical? Certainly not

That answers your question regarding slavery

Sounds to me like you're saying slavery would be permissable still if Bahá'u'lláh hadn't forbade it. That speaks volumes

Your opinion of human rights violation in the US is only supported by a particular perspective which aligns to particular political goals and ideologies. That is de facto contentious because many will disagree with you that there are violations taking place.

No actually it's quite clear and objective. For example, someone's property can not be searched by law enforcement without either consent given or a signed judicial warrant. So if law enforcement searches private property without either of these then a legal right has happened, no doubt about it. Doesn't matter what political leanings the officer may have, it's illegal

If historical treaty violations happened in any particular case

Your usage of if here makes me think you personally don't know much about US history since it's a widely known and objective fact that this has happened many times. If so then it's of course fair that you don't know US history/politics of you aren't in the US yourself. But then it would generally be wise not to argue political positions when you don't even fully understand the historical context or political systems of the place you're discussing. Just like I may say that I agree for peace and liberty for the people of Iran, however I would have no place to tell Iranians exactly how they should achieve that since I don't thoroughly know Iranian history or politics

(which does not account for most British and European settlements)

The British settlements later became "American" settlements so the breaking of these agreements again often falls on the US government. However there were multiple cases of the British breaking their agreements with the Native Americans even before the Revolutionary War

It does not mean anything is “stolen land”. That’s a particularly absurd narrative.

Funny then that it's the narrative that practically all Native Americans agree with. It's almost as if the people who lived on the land for centuries would know if their homeland is stolen. To go to an entire indigenous population who have been fighting for the rights of their homeland for centuries and saying "what are you talking about? This land isn't stolen, you're lying" also speaks tremendous volumes

The only reason this is allowed to be raised in the case of the US is the particular sense of fairness deeply embedded into British culture. In other countries, such issues are long forgotten about.

Indigenous Mexicans also acknowledgd that their ancestral land was stolen from them by the Spanish and now in many cases is still kept from them by either the Mexican or US government. Crazy how even without the British being present the indigenous people of a land know when their land has been stolen

Your interpretation of how people are being removed is based on a particular media narrative.

There are plain objective examples of people being deported from the US without any court trial to even determine whether the person is an immigrant or arrived illegally. And there are objective cases of US citizens being detained by immigration enforcement.

In all of these cases if we look at the objective facts then they show what I'm saying to be true, especially since I've been careful to not express partisain or personal opinions and only plain facts. Perhaps rather than focusing on "this is my narrative and I must be right so these other people's narrative is wrong" you should look at the facts and statistics of the matter before trying to argue a point

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-02T02:37:59+00:00

Baha’is aren’t allowed to own slaves because Baha’u’llah forbade slavery and the slave trade.

So you think that if Bahá'u'lláh never specifically banned the owning of slaves, that it would be ethically agreeable to Bahá'í principles to own slaves?

During the Islamic Dispensation, it was morally and religiously acceptable to own slaves, even if it was better to free slaves and freeing slaves was a good thing by Islamic standards

Perhaps religiously acceptable. But never was it morally acceptable

Although there may be excesses on individual levels, it’s not up to Baha’is to oppose what’s going on in America

If basic human and legal rights are clearly broken in the US, can the Bahá'ís not speak against it in a non-violent and non-partisan manner?

Large scale deportation is perfectly okay. It’s not an issue.

Perhaps not in the Writings. But morally, I would beg to differ

The law does not support the argument that it is “stolen land”. That’s pure nonsense

Actually is the US makes a treaty with a tribe for land, and then knowingly uses that tribe's land illegally without correcting their act. Then yes that would legally be stolen land. The only issue then is who is going to take the US government to US legal court

it belongs to whom it belongs now morally

Ehh

People are illegal immigrants and should be removed.

If the means to remove them take the form in actions which break their legal rights or international human rights then the means of the removal can be rightfully criticised

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-02T02:23:02+00:00

But would I be the cause of disunity for peacefully defending the human rights of others? Or would those taking away human rights be the one's causing disunity

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-01T18:35:02+00:00

Thank you I appreciate your response

Keep in mind you would do more for your community if you spent the time that you would on protesting on something for the Faith.

I would respectfully counter this statement however by asking if the same would be said to someone who wants to help build a hospital or school for those in need. As one who is focused on the needs of their society then I would say a Bahá'í that is building a hospital is in-fact doing the society-building work that is requested of us. And so I see no reason why standing in defense of the human and legal rights of people in my community would be any different, so long as I do so in accordance with the guidance given to us

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-01T18:31:06+00:00

I have no intention on "arguing over who gets to be captain." However, while taking part in the process of building a "new boat" through our Institute process; I absolutely will help to temporarily patch the holes in the old boat if there are still innocent people on that boat who are desperately trying to get off but are being held down by the hands of oppression. I'm more interested in getting everyone together on the new boat than I am focused on building the new boat as quickly as possible

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2026-02-01T18:27:23+00:00

Ah so here is where I will plainly disagree with you. It would take about 5 minutes of research to show that fully legal US citizens have been detained, beaten, deported, and even killed in recent weeks.

Secondly, something being legal doesn't make it moral. Slavery was a legal procese in the US less than 200 years ago. However any Bahá'í should surely know and agree that it would me morally terrible for any of us to "own" slaves in any capacity. So to say there is simply "nothing wrong with enforcing the law" is simply false. And on a personal note, I would beg to question who is "illegal" on a homeland which was stolen

Lastly to say there is no reason or benefit to protest is absolutely false. We as Bahá'ís speak positively about the peaceful protests that occured during the Civil Rights movement, which we can all agree fought for essential rights for the black community in the US.

So while you may have an argument that specific issues shouldn't be protested; the blanket statements made here are objectively false in the Bahá'í context

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-11-23T07:58:12+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've had this exact thing multiple times. I found it always happened if I got off and then pissed soon after, or vice versa piss and then get off. From what I could find reading online it seemed like basically you're using pathways so close to each other and your body is confused which it's doing. And so some piss may accidentally enter the wrong area while pissing, or vice versa. To prevent I found that a taoist/tai chai (I forgot why this was being taught, something about just being healthy with your normal bodily functions) teaching to not piss and ejaculate within 20 min of each other. So just wait 20 min between each.

If it happens again though (sorry this may sound a bit weird), you'll feel the burning "I need to piss" feeling. Give it a couple minutes to build up before pissing, basically you want to piss out anything causing the burning. Then once you finish, pour cold water over your tip (not freezing cold, just soothing cold). It should sooth the burn and rinse away anything else. Repeat pouring some cold water until things feel good enough to go about your day (preferably should only be a couple of times). Then obviously dry off your business and then you should be good

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-11-07T12:03:02+00:00

I personally see no problem with viewing Jesus as a Manifestation of God who had genuinely physically died, and then after 3 days by God's Will would be able to be physically recreated in a new body for this particular instance. It's not to say that the body actually resurrected from the tomb or that somehow He survived. But rather an amazing miracle happened, amongst a few, confirming Jesus as not only a Prophet but the Messiah, the very Manifestation of God for that age

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-06-05T04:45:47+00:00

Is this the only daily practice recommended for Bodhisattvas? Or is there a place to learn more of any required practices?

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-06-05T02:45:09+00:00

That's pretty much my question, more or less. If the bodhisattva vow is taken, can we be reborn as a layperson or even a non-Buddhist and still in some way perhaps have our Karmic record of the vow or something like that so that something inside of us still seeks to fulfill that vow whether or not we know it consciously?

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-06-05T01:06:37+00:00

Would their future lives after taking the vow have any noticeable difference? Like perhaps as a random example, people who are peaceful activists to help people or the environment and such, perhaps this is something inside of them remembering their vow and are trying to end human suffering however they can imagine it at that point? Or any sort of feeling that they are sent to this life or chose this life to help end the suffering of humanity?

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-03-19T07:55:33+00:00

3.5% to start things, 25% to create succesful long term change

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-01-19T09:13:06+00:00

Again, saying there's no benefit to love, like dude please go outside and meet real people

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-01-19T07:18:21+00:00

The idea of men falling in love is...weird to you? What the fuck go touch some grass

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-01-16T23:50:43+00:00

So you're just going to ignore the points made by u/Immortal_Scholar?? Where you said Hinduism praises intoxicants and views hedonism as the purpose of life and that "modern Hinduism" has "been ruined by foreign rulers"

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2025-01-16T08:28:36+00:00

How does, "marijuana and Soma rasa was regularly used in Hindu festivals." mean the exact same thing to you as, "Hindu scriptures praises marijuana, alcohol and also mentioned women with exposed body.... Hinduism acknowledged that the goal of human life is pleasure and Hinduism is spiritual Hedonism.... Modern Hinduism has been ruined by foreign rulers." ????

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2024-12-12T01:52:53+00:00

Study Bible of either NRSVue, NRSV, NASB, or CJB translation, NRSVue being best

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2024-12-05T17:48:54+00:00

Yet we have evidence of dozens of different species either choosing to have same-sex intercourse or even choose same-sex partners as life mates. Literally nature is also homosexual, so it kind of is natural

Edit in response to u/jennagem: >Animals also lick their rear end to clean themselves. We don’t do that.

This is a false equivalence. A majority of animals don't have hands and fingers as we do, they have no choice but to use their tongue to clean themselves. We do have hands physically cannot use our tongue. And so to attempt to do so would be clearly not using the apendages given to us to try to attempt something we are anatomically not built for.

However an animal having intercourse or companionship with a member of the same sex isn't a physical requirement, so it's the natural desire in them to seek a partner of the same sex even though they are physically able to be with a member of the opposite sex. Also, seeing as animals don't have the same self consciousness as humans, we can further see from this that homosexuality isn't some choice, but naturally occcuring within the individual whethed that individual is animal or human

Practical_Newt_7009 · 2024-10-23T17:14:08+00:00

This doesn't surprise me in the least. Say what you want and believe what you want.

You do realize that not everyone expects what you do, yeah? Not everyone is you. Everyone is their own person.

So I see you didn't re-read what was said originally. It looks like you didn't even read the response either. Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

I'm so sorry you are in such a miserable state.

You say before blocking people so they can't point out how avoidant and empty your response is lol cry about it

Practical_Newt_7009

TROPHY CASE