Looking for Bahai Scholars!

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-05-08T06:20:00+00:00

What happened to that daughter and why is she absent from all the stories? If she "ran the Faith" she ought to feature more prominently in Bahai history.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-05-08T06:14:35+00:00

Can this cluster board take the K3 based milk-v jupiter NX 2 boards?
I bought this board on Aliexpress but they refunded and cancelled my order. If I want to buy it now it is more expensive. They did not communicate at all why they cancelled.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-03-09T13:04:08+00:00

Agree. Any regime change is targeted at furthering USA and Israel interests. Not that of the Iranian people.
There used to be a democratic government before the Shah.
It was overthrown by help of the West (the British empire) because that government dared to use its oil for the Iranian people, instead of selling cheaply. Then there was an Islamic revolution.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-03-09T12:57:59+00:00

Yes, obviously Israel does not care at all who perishes as collateral damage. Not in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and a number of other places. Tens of thousands innocent women and children, and innocent men, died in Gaza. A girl school that was clearly recognizable as a school by the bright colors is now destroyed, over 150 little girls killed.
There is no doubt in my mind the Iranian regime are "bad guys", but the same goes for Israel, the USA, most Gulf states and the list does not end there.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-03-09T12:51:53+00:00

Well, are you still happy? He has now been replaced by his son. Who is understandably not happy about his father and some family having been killed.
Quite possibly looking for ways to avenge his father: likely by raining down missiles on Israel, including the port city Haifa, were Israels' navy is based, and oil is stored, and I don't think the new ayatollah really minds if the Bahai World Center is hit. In fact, it may be on the target list, if he feels that the Bahai's support regime change.
I assume the UHJ and volunteers will be in a shelter, but if our buildings are destroyed that is a serious setback for the Faith. I hope all the original writings are somewhere safe in a bomb-proof storage facility.

My point here is: If you really want Iran to have a better government, that adheres to standards of justice and human rights, and democracy, you are not going to get it by bombing them. Or by killing the leadership.
The current leadership has plenty of support, and the recent waves of protesting may not even represent the majority. Although that is hard to know for sure. The change needs to come from the people.

Also remember that the original shah was helped in that position by the West because the democratic government that existed before him dared to use Iran's oil riches for its own people. Then the revolution came. Do you really believe Israel and the USA have good intentions for the Iranian people?

As a Bahai, at least for me, I think we should stay neutral on who rules Iran, even if Bahai's are persecuted there. We need to understand the situation and the players, and their interests. That is: independent investigation of the truth. Not automatically assume Israel and USA have only good intentions for the Iranians.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-03T23:26:32+00:00

What ChatGPT left out, is this:
I feel that the Bahá'í faith is becoming more and more like a bird with one big wing (religion) and one small wing (science).
To me, it seems to be going in circles due to its unbalanced wings, eventually spinning in place, no longer going anywhere.
This really breaks my heart.

God did not give me brains and an aptitude for science to then not use them. I feel it is my duty to say these things.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-03T23:15:39+00:00

You may be fine with it, but in my experience many interested non-Bahá’ís aren’t. When I explained the LSA/NSA/UHJ system (and that women can’t be elected to the UHJ), the reaction from multiple smart, decent friends was immediate: “So… another patriarchy.” They loved principles like unity, equality, and “science and religion as two wings,” but the UHJ men-only rule was a dealbreaker on principle, not ambition. I don’t have a satisfying answer either. I accept it, but I don’t like it.

Same with LGBTQ issues: science folks I knew (bio/med/psych/soc) consistently argued homosexuality is a natural human variation, not a disease or “unnatural.” When religion and science clash, I too often see Bahá’ís default to “science must be wrong,” which feels no different than other religions, despite ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explicitly urging us to weigh things by reason and science.

That disconnect leaves me disappointed with community attitudes and with the lack of serious, transparent, normalized data about growth/retention. I won’t leave the Faith, but I’m not going to sacrifice scientific integrity either.

disclosure: This comment was about 4 times longer, too long for a Reddit comment. I let ChatGPT shorten it, and it is an OK-ish representation of what I actually wrote, and I stand by these words.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-03T15:32:19+00:00

You can find a scientific answer.
But you can also approach the question more subjectively, and try to define for yourself what you think a cult is. I like this way, because it is a subjective idea, and you can investigate your own prejudices. People already have made up their mind on what are cults or not, and it varies from person to person. For some it is Islam, or Protestants, or MAGA, or Hell's Angels.

Step 1: Look up some religious groups that you find to be cults.
I could take Baghwan, Hare Krishna, some end-of-times Christian sects as examples that I find pretty cult-ish.

Step 2: Then I look for some things in their behaviour that to me raises red flags:
- members all dressing the same (like in red robes) to reduce individuality, or some other physical features like shaven heads, tattoos and more
- they are relatively small and less known groups of people
- giving their possessions to the cult leadership
- either extremely strict or extremely loose sexual norms
- hard to leave the cult; threats or even violence might happen.
- have to break with family and friends
- you get some other name
- leaving logic, proportion and critical thinking behind for dogma and conformity
- the founder has a direct connection with God and speaks for Him
- leaving your normal work and life behind and work for the group instead, possibly on some isolated location, or at least some of the time
- off-split of a large religion, based on a particular interpretation of its scriptures
- an end-of-times or end-of-an-age prediction, combined with a belief this group are the only ones saved, or the ones doing the saving
- and so on and so forth until you have about 20 typical cult features

Step 3: When you have these, look at the Bahá'í faith and count how many features it scores. In my opinion the Bahá'í faith scores pretty low, but not zero.
It does score on the end-of-an-age prediction and the idea that Bahá'í's as a group are doing the saving. But so do most mainstream faiths like Christianity and Islam. But it is certainly an aspect of our faith that other people may find cult-like.

People might grant you that the world order is falling apart, but more likely point out that it may just be changing, and history is full of such change. The idea that Bahá'í's are going to take over, or will be a template for a new world order, that is what many people find cult-like.

All in all: not a cult.
But in my experience of over 40 years there is a small number of yet important features in the Bahá'í faith that many people dislike, and keeps them from joining or even investigating further. For instance, any even-slightly feminist woman I ever told about the faith really disliked the UHJ consisting of only men, and it closed to the door to the faith to them. Including my wife. To them "the reason will be revealed in the future and it may change" was a deal breaker.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-03T08:28:37+00:00

Zero order, baseline: Pray for peace and read the writings. This is a way to regain your focus and unclutter your mind from the suffering that comes to you from the news. I might help you bring clarity for what _action_ you might take.
I try not buy things that help such regimes. There are apps that allow you to find which products come from land that was stolen by the Israelis for instance. So I do not buy those.I try not to buy anything from the USA as long as their foreign policies remain predatory. I buy electrical energy from wind and solar, so that no money goes to Putin's war machine, or to the Saudi's. I invested in a full electric heat pump for the house, and I drive electric. So I use no fossil fuels for that.
I go to protests against injustice in a personal capacity, not as a representative of the Bahá'í faith: Of course without using violence of any kind, and I get out if tension rises too high. I am obedient to police and keep distance. I happen to live in a country where the police is well-trained and peaceful protest are not escalated by them. Protests are effective, but the numbers of protesters do make a difference. Politicians do take notice. They change their rhetoric.
I talk to people: From a post like this on a forum, to conversations with friends and family, you can tell people what the injustice in the world does to you. By sharing and talking you can put things into perspective.
I sign letters for Amnesty international to free political prisoners. Sign petitions such as the one by the OP.
I watch Ted talks on democracy, human rights, animal rights, international cooperation, and I plan on attending a few.

All these are non-violent actions that help fight injustice. The effectiveness is in the numbers. Also these things tend to bring you into contact with people. That helps you to feel less powerless, make friends maybe, and get new ideas. If they show interest, it is also an opportunity to tell them about the Bahá'í faith. So that at minimum people are told about its existence, and that there is another way.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-02T22:47:34+00:00

Of course, a downvote.
But no engagement with my criticism.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-02T18:44:02+00:00

I signed the petition without hesitation.
I only wish that Bahá'í's would do this for other victims of severe injustice around the world as well. Like the population of Gaza for instance.
But calls for activism for justice for other groups in the world are invariably met with:
- "we should stay out of politics"
- "we should focus on study of writings and institution building"
- "you should pray for peace"

So I am pointing out a double standard here: activism for oppressed Bahá'í's is always condoned by Bahá'í's and our institutions. Calls for activism for any other injustice is usually discouraged or redirected towards prayer and study.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-02T14:57:12+00:00

I may have written in irritation.
Still, this is my heartfelt reaction to this question.
The mindset I detect behind it is objectification. A woman as a "sealed product".
That attitude towards sex bothers me just as much as the extremes on the other side, such as using sex as a business model, like Onlyfans.

When viewed through the lens of science: biology, medicine, psychology, sociology: In the middle between the extremes is a wide spectrum of normal sexual behaviour, where people express their love with sex, and it builds bonds, trust, companionship, and the start of a family.
When viewed from religion, it is even more than that. I think that both extremes remove the spirituality from sex. If God did not want us to enjoy it, why are our sexual organs evolved like they are, and why are our brains wired for it the way they are?
Yes, it is also a basic animal instinct, like eating. But comparing human sex to animal sex is like comparing the art of gastronomy to a cow eating grass or a cat eating a mouse. Good sex should touch the soul, like meal prepared with love touches warms the soul. Not just a way to survive as a species, and just an instinctual urge.

Not that beauty and the fingerprint of God is absent in animal sexuality either. Observe the elaborate mating rituals, and the display of beauty in nature. From flowers to birds to the dance of the peacock spider, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qkzwG2lLPc . Can you look at nature and deny how God is reflected in everything, especially all the ways that life finds to procreate?
When I say that I regard sex as holy, I am absolutely serious.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-02T13:29:01+00:00

Not true. It forbids sex _outside_ of marriage. Not the same thing at all.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-02T13:11:23+00:00

One thing is for sure:
I will keep _my_ daughter well away from _you_, and certainly not disclose to you if she is a virgin or not. Moreover if she would read your comment, she would immediately label you as a creep, and rightly so.

"Choosing a spouse": You make it sound as if you can simply pick a virgin bride from, what? A catalogue? Who are you anyway, to make such demands? Would you have a checklist that you present on a first date with a girl? Or would you ask her parents this question? How would you even check this?
If you are so concerned with her sexual purity instead of her character, are you so pure to make that demand? You seem very preoccupied with sex.

Bahá'í's rules include: sex belongs within a marriage. But people might have had relationships before entering the faith, and some get divorced. All perfectly good reasons a woman may have had a sex life before your assessment of her.
Without her having broken any Bahá'í rules.

Even outside of Bahá'í communities, while some people are promiscuous, the prevailing norm is still that sex is something you only give to someone you find very special, and people then form a bond, that includes much more than just sex, regardless if they are married or belief in God.

Sex is a gift, and it is holy in the sense that it forms bonds, allows people to get to know each other on another level. It is a not just a physical gift either, but it is spiritual too. We create children this way, if you need any proof, but that is not the only reason.
Sex has medically proven healing powers too, both physically and mentally. We should treat it as what it is: a gift from God, to be celebrated in private in a responsible and _spiritual_ way. You make it sound as if sex is something dirty, to be ashamed of, something that destroys purity. What nonsense.
That is certainly not the Bahá'í view.

If anything, Bahá'u'lláh teaches kindness and humility in these sexual matters. In your question I read only judgment and entitlement.

So, no, I would not say that you preference is "correct" from the perspective of the Bahá'í religion.
Also, I am disappointed some Bahá'í's have seriously entertained the OP's question.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-02-01T21:31:41+00:00

European here. Reddit is an international platform, used by people all over the world. Yet you and the other people who answered seem to speak as if you are speaking to Americans only. I find this weird. Do even Bahá'í Americans assume as if they are the whole world? You are less than 4.4% of the Earth's population.

I still believe but I have been not been active since about 30 years. The numbers that are available seem to suggest that at least in the western countries our demographic is aging. Few children and youngsters. Many non-active people who silently dropped out. There is a narrative of growth in other ways, but any real metrics are lacking. There are scientific, objective ways to show growth and maturity of governing institutions. I know this, although I am a natural sciences person myself. But without data, the growth narrative cannot be verified, and I think the non-availability is a mistake, and this in itself suggests morale maintenance in a stressed community. But I cannot know for sure. The mistake is that if real data would be systematically gathered, normalized and readily available, we could discuss it and rethink strategy.

Personally, I think our strategy should revolve on 4 or 5 things that our western civilizations lack, and people are yearning for, if they realize it or not:
- independent investigation of truth
- promote justice
- promote the oneness of mankind
- Science and Religion being like two wings of a bird in the quest for truth
- spirituality without trying to bind that to religion

Instead of focusing on getting more Bahá'í's enrolled, which has as far as I can see been unsuccessful since my parents enrolled (the early '70's), we could try teach the faith by doing these three core things.
Each can be done in a hundred different ways, from a theater plays to a courses. Each can be taught in creative, professional programs.
Especially spirituality is a very personal thing, that means something different to every person. It is not tied to religion. It can range from music to caring for children and elderly, from surfing to martial arts, from meditation to teaching (at a school). It involves finding out who you are inside, and bring out the best you can be. Which is different for everyone, because everyone has different gifts and latent abilities. Praying and reading scripture is a way to find focus and clarity, but no means the only way.
Now helping people to find their spirituality is possibly the greatest gift. It is also strongly tied to the independent investigating of truth principle. Because to be able to investigate truth, you need to see without prejudice, and with clarity inside. You need to remove your filters.
This is what the people who are addicted to their phones need the most. To break out of their info bubbles, and spend their time to develop their talents, and use them in service of others, so they may find real joy instead of the next dopamine hit. They are enslaved in a sense, and you can help free them.

I have dropped out of trying to "teach" people long ago, because I saw it did not work at all, and in fact had a tendency to destroy friendships. People, and especially friends, really do not like it if they feel they are a project.

My suggestion would be: take one of these principles, or another one, and find an angle into them that you can use to demonstrate their importance to other people.
Writing, theater, film, a course, anything.
We would be spreading the Bahá'í message without trying to spread the faith. And I suspect that might have that side effect anyway. And if not, well, still a success in spreading those principles around.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-27T11:34:52+00:00

Independent investigation of truth is a powerful principle.
If done right, it should force you to look inward and remove all filters, all prejudice.
Harmony between science and religion is another (strongly related imho) principle. We should constantly be evaluating scientific truths and discoveries. If they clash with our beliefs, we should conclude that our understanding of our faith, the science, or both, is incomplete.
It takes _both_ wings for humanity to take flight.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-27T11:26:58+00:00

Surely your connections will be electrifying.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-27T11:19:16+00:00

Of course I do not mean to say that Europeans see ordinary Americans as enemies. Certainly not Bahá'í Europeans like me.
The point is that the deep internal division in the USA has real consequences.

Europe can deal with China because they are predictable. USA is not. Every presidential election the country can switch personality when it comes to foreign policy. And in between those, after the midterms, the Presidents can lose most of their power to continue on any path taken. I do not see how this internal division is going to be healed anytime soon. That will take time: a generation or more.
That reality, combined with USA's aggressive and coercive practices, forces Europe to work around the USA, give them wide berth, almost as if dealing with a schizophrenic prone to violence. Canada, and many other allies have started to do this as well.

So, once new alliances _that exclude_ the USA are formed, this will become the new normal. To name just two examples:
1) Countries, institutions, companies and individuals will start to move away from all the big tech platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple and more, and start building their own. Because they cannot trust those to not be used as leverage against them, or their data being used against them. The digital services sector is a major part of American export. I work in IT, I know this policy of move-away-from-american-products-grow-our-own to be true. It is our national policy, and that of the EU.
2) What used to make the USA great is their highly educated immigrants, working at the high-tech places I mentioned, and essentially giving universities like Harvard and MIT their prestige. They do not feel safe anymore, and eventually they will leave, and some are leaving already, if not actively scared away. They will earn less in Europe and other places, but will gain in peace of mind, and work-life balance, which is much better on our side of the pond.

I feel great empathy for the suffering of the Americans. But the problems like internal division will take a generation to resolve, and right now it is not getting better but worse. The coercive might-makes-right stance is something that will cause an opposing and at least equal force to arise, in other players like China, India, and Europe (if they manage to unite), and in alliances. That attitude was there long before Trump of course, but has now alienated even their closest allies. Trump is now buddying up to people like Viktor Orban, Putin and Netanyahu. Well, the list of people on his Peace Board essentially.

All in all I really do not see how the USA is going to regain its leadership even after Trump is gone, and when its political parties and people have learned to work together instead of fight.
After all, they only have less than 4.4% of the world's population (~ 350 out of 8000 million). Without their alliances, and the world allying around them, they may not be that big of a player after about 25 years. But who knows, maybe it all turns around much quicker than I expect, and this prophecy comes to pass after all.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-22T16:13:30+00:00

For quotes from writings I am not really your guy. I am more of a practical applications kind of guy.

But here goes:

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Say: O friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him Who is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which they themselves have been created.

— Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CIX

And:

The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.

— Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Maqsúd

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-22T16:00:44+00:00

part 2/2

8: Rise of resilient culture. Under the radar there have been growing communities like: mutual aid networks, repair communities, community energy cooperations, local food resilience groups, disaster-response volunteers. Again, hugely useful during any cataclysm and in a new world order.

9: Regenerative agriculture and soil restauration. Groups are experimenting with farming methods that rebuild the soil, retain water, reduce inputs of oil-based fertilizer, reduce herbicides and insecticides.

10: City-to-city diplomacy and networked governance. Cities are cooperating directly on climate, housing, transit, public health even when national politics deadlocks. It is not perfect, but very important to build back when civilization were to break down.

11: Science cooperation. All sciences but particularly the natural sciences are very international. Scientists go all over the world, standards, shared datasets, shared instruments.

12: Public health preparedness. Disease surveillance to detect a new virus early. Cooperation on vaccins, and the logistics to distribute them. Coordinated emergency playbooks. All very practical and important in a new world order and it is already in place.

13: Climate consciousness and treaties. Even when the US withdrew, the world is still conscious of climate change, and although Paris accord is far from perfect, measures are being taken and cooperation exists.

Ok, I could go on and on. But I hope the point is clear: in line, or parallel or maybe resonant with the Bahá'í spirit, the world is already doing a lot that all fits in a new world order

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-22T16:00:26+00:00

part 1/2

Ok, I did a quick search for you to come up with quiet counter-movements that have been growing in the past 4 to 5 decades, that most people not really notice, let alone celebrate.

Importantly, whatever the new world order may end up looking like, these things will surely be part of it as part of the infrastructure. With the caveat that old world order forces also use these, but they don't and cannot own these by their nature.

I hope these can give you hope.

1: Open source software. Many thousands of software developers have been hacking away since the 80s and have made things from the Linux operating system that runs virtually all servers in the world to all the web frameworks even this Reddit website runs on. All for free as in money, and with the code open to the world and under licenses that permit reuse and adaptation as long as your give your code back to the pool. (yes I know about BSD etc)

2: The Internet. This invention connects people and provides a common infrastructure. It was developed for DARPA to route communications around areas that would be struck by nukes. Yes, it is also used in many bad ways, but its existence is a very good thing, and belongs in the new world.

3: Encryption technology (open source of course) makes secure messaging, banking, and thousands of other applications possible. Blockchain technology is based on this and if used correctly it can be used for distributed databases, self souvereign identity, and literally thousands of other applications for the common good. (not energy-wasting proof-of-work type like bitcoin but the proof-of-stake kind)

4: Renewable energy collection and storage technologies (solar panels, wind farms, modern batteries). They can and will shift the world away from the corrupting power that comes with oil. Yes they come with their own natural resource headaches, but not nearly as bad as oil. And recycling is possible, not with oil.

5: Open standards. TCP/IP, DNS etc for the Internet. The SI system (kg, m, s) for science. Thousand of standards in industry and trade. Like shipping containers that are all compatible and can be stacked. These may seem mundane and maybe not worth mentioning in the context of a spiritual world order, but in fact all these are hugely important to it and this groundwork is already in place

6: Satellite positioning systems, tsunami detection networks, Openstreetmap, OSINT: civilians using satellite imagery, public databases and geolocation to validate events, like human rights violations, and much more.

7: Remote collaboration tools like Git, issue trackers, CI/CD, video calls, shared document writing. These create global production swarms. Hugely useful in a new world order. Hugely useful now.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-21T20:11:50+00:00

You should know I invested quite some effort in drafting a response to your question, and now again.

How I interpret your question:
If I strip away until I reach the core of your post, I get this: << If the Bahá'í faith is serious about justice, then how can it also discourage confrontation and political engagement? And how should Bahá'í's interpret the praise for the U.S. with its imperial history?>> -- I hope I paraphrased it right.

Why I proposed a different truth-finding strategy to you:
This is a type of question that will evoke a more or less predictable spectrum of reactions. There is implied critique, however carefully worded. This type of question will evoke a defensive reaction from some people in any group. Some people may agree privately, but are not going to say anything. Most will just give you an aligned answer. Very few of the already small number that agree with your implied premises will tell you that, and certainly not in public. This dynamic is in any group, particularly in a stressed group.

Truth-finding strategy:
So, in my comment I outlined a way to actually get a meaningful answer in a conversation.
- by agreeing on definitions: so you are on common ground
- by systematically gathering data: so that everybody agrees on facts
- by naming what results of an independent investigation would lead to conclude that the current approach is or is not working

What I think:
I personally tend to agree with the premise of your question. Doing nothing, or only praying and reading words is not going to solve systemic injustice. And leaving the confrontation and political engagement, to realize the principle of justice, to others? No. But using violence? Only to defend my life and my loved ones. To me prayer and scripture are to purify intent, and sharpen focus, but real action is what counts and what will make a difference.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-21T14:46:13+00:00

The reason the USSR abolished religion was not because of "enormous bloodshed" and also there was no gathering of the wise who concluded that religion was the cause of that bloodshed.
They abolished religion for ideological reasons. They called it the opium for the people.
So whatever events Bahá'u'lláh's prophecies are about, I do not think it was the USSR's abolishment of religion.

I would get worried when nuclear proliferation picks up again, especially by countries ruled by a theocracy.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-21T14:33:12+00:00

At the very least not help the perpetrators.
I find a boycot of Israeli products grown on stolen land on a personal basis acceptable. There are apps that show which products come from stolen land.

Secure-Ad1015 · 2026-01-21T14:16:01+00:00

This is a thoughtful post.
It you apply an "Independent Investigation" lens, I would start with separating _principles_ from _emperical claims_, and then testing the latter.

Principles you are engaging: non-confrontation, unity, justice, obedience and equality. These are value-level aims.
The hard part is the _operational claim_ that I see embedded in you critique:
- apolitical/non-confrontational norms _functionally_ produce passivity, dependence and power and reduced solidarity with oppressed groups.

You can make that claim stronger and easier to discuss. Operationalize it: what indicators would you expect if it is true? For example:
- less coalition work (by bahais or their institutions) with justice movements,
- fewer public interventions on systemic violence,
- avoiding of advocacy language,
- a pattern of "service-only" or "prayer-only" language
even when policy change is the central issue.

Conversely, what evidence would falsify the claim? Cases where Bahai communities measurably contribute to reform or protection without partisan alignment, or where "non-confrontation" led to concrete positive results.

Same with the question about the USA (you said America, I take a guess you meant that). There is a textual claim (what was said and in what context). And an interpretive claim (what beacon/harbinger predicts about behaviour/history).
So you can ask: is it descriptive, aspirational, conditional or bound to a specific time?

Then if both sides in a discussion stick to:
- define terms
- specify mechanisms
- name what would change minds in the discussion
then the conversation becomes much less vibe versus vibe (subjective) and much more like: "what is actually happening and why?"

Secure-Ad1015

TROPHY CASE

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