Last week marked both the Birth of the Báb (also known as “The Gate”) and the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, two major days in the Baha'i calendar. In honor of these Baha’i holy days, we wanted to highlight some of the resources in the Baha’i Faith section of the Forum site.
One of the more recent additions to the site, our Baha’i section offers a variety of ways to learn about and engage with the intersection of the Baha’i Faith and ecology. The Overview Essay, “Baha’i Faith,” was written by Peter Adriance, the representative for sustainable development in the U.S. Baha'i Office of Public Affairs and Forum Advisory Group member, Arthur Dahl, of the International Environment Forum and formerly Deputy Assistant Executive Director of UNEP. It originally appeared in the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology. The essay provides a brief overview of the Baha’i Faith beliefs and then situates those beliefs in direct dialogue with the current environmental crisis.
The robust Bibliography, initially compiled by the International Environment Forum and expanded by Forum staff, offers books and articles dating from 1998 to the present. We offer links to official Statements on sustainability, conservation, global citizenship and more. The majority of these were issued from the Bahá’í International Community. On our Multimedia page, you’ll find videos from the International Environment Forum and the Baha’i International Community on sustainable development, the Baha’i perspective on the Earth as our common home, the Baha’i response to climate change, and more. You’ll also find a link there to a recent episode of actor Rainn Wilson’s Baha’i Blogcast, where he interviews Halldor Thorgeirsson, the Chair of Iceland’s Climate Council, retired Senior Director of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, and a practicing member of the Baha’i Faith.
In Sacred Texts, you’ll find links to Baha’i textual resources on the International Environment Forum’s site. These are organized thematically, offering topics such as Soil, Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, and more. The only Baha’i Engaged Project we list at present is the International Environment Forum, but if you are aware of others that should be included, please message our webmaster, using the Contact Form. We’re always eager to expand and enrich the offerings on our site. Additional Links of interest offer further opportunities for education on and engagement with this tradition, including international and US organizations and a recent interview with Forum Advisory Group member Arthur Dahl.
Peppered throughout the section, you’ll find images of Baha’I holy sites, including the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre and the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, the Lotus Temple in India, and the only Baha’i house of worship in North America, located outside Chicago.
We hope this section of the new Forum site will help enhance your engagement with the religious traditions of the world and environmental issues. Stay tuned next week for some insider insight into the development of the Living Earth Community volume from editor and Forum Spotlights host, Sam Mickey.