The only religion that PROMOTES interracial marriage

Let me begin by stating that this is the one forum I least wanted to participate in. Religion has long been the cause of death and suffering around the world as many have died or killed others "In the Name of God."

As a child, I grew up studying Catholicism and believing that my faith was the one closest to God; that Priests and Nuns had a direct pipeline to God that no one else held save for the late Dr. King and his close disciples.

But, then I learned of the pedophile Priest that had always treated me slightly different than the other students. Was I spared his evil because of my skin color? Or, did he simply have a preference for Caucasian boys; my childhood friends that somehow kept a nightmarish secret from me?

Religion, when used properly, can be a great way to find God and maintain a relationship with him. But, too often it is administered by people that have great but very human flaws. So, as I write this post, I ask everyone to treat religion as simply a WAY to find God.

In my humble, non-religious opinion, the relationship you have with him must be developed through you, not the church. Then again, what do I know?!

The religion I'm going to spotlight is very new. Founded in the 19th century, it is the only one that I know of that PROMOTES, HOPES and WISHES FOR interracial marriage. It is a faith that has a rare message for the world: “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity.

The central theme of the faith is that "humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society. God has set in motion historical forces that are breaking down traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and to assist the processes of unification.

This new, 19th century doctrine has science on it's side: Every scientists that has studied humankind has concluded that we are all just one single race. There is no way that a religion formed in the 1800s could have possibly known what 21st century science would later conclude about race, which makes their 19th century proclamation amazing in it's timing (relatively close to modern day).

For me, it's never the religion. It's not the church building or the Minister or any of the followers themselves. It's always the message. AND THIS IS ONE HELL OF A MESSAGE coming from a world that believes Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants are two different races (people strongly believe this in Belfast).

Could they be onto something? Normally, when a message is the truth, it's usually hated and scorned. Well, imagine trying to preach to a Serb that his brother is a Bosnian Muslim. I doubt that the conversation would go well.

Are Jews and Palestinians really different? Not according to The Bahá'í Faith. Instead; they believe that humanity is now coming of age.



To them, God is making it possible for the unification of the human family (scientists believe that all people are African under the skin) and the building of a peaceful, global society.

Their principles are simple: The abandonment of all forms of prejudice, an assurance to women of full equality of opportunity with men, the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth, the realization of universal education, the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations, and the recognition that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.



[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Bahai Temple, Haifa, Israel[/FONT]


It's a flawed religion (as all are). It's difficult not to be cause society changes beyond the scope of the doctrine.

But, how many religions encourage all of these principles (including interracial marriage, which they believe helps them to achieve their goal of a global society)?

Other religions may be supportive of it. But, ENCOURAGE IT???

Here is an article that gives an idea of what this new faith may lead to in the coming years if it catches on like it's older siblings:





Baha’i faith eases the tests that come with interracial marriage
Friday, September 28, 2007 | 1:00 p.m. CDT

BY AARON DOHOGNE


COLUMBIA — At first Debra Byndom was reluctant to let her son marry a white woman. Tyree Byndom’s past relationships with white women made his mother believe this one wouldn’t work. Tyree is black, and Jesca, the woman he had been dating, is white.


Debra was going to make sure that if Tyree was going to marry Jesca she understood how important family was.


“She asked me if I was going to love him or the family,” Jesca Byndom said. “I was ready to love the family.”


United by a common faith in God, Baha’u’llah, prophet-founder of the Baha’i faith, and a belief that they can help create world peace as a married couple, Tyree and Jesca fell in love. And the idea of the oneness of humanity, the most important belief to the Baha’i faith, has guided the Byndoms through the tests of being interracially married and ultimately, to a greater faith.


“The principal elimination of prejudice of all kinds was very important to me,” Tyree said. “Once I expanded my mind, I forgot about my oppression. I always put my life in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ before. But the Baha’i faith erased the ‘my’ people and ‘their’ people perception. It became ‘our’ people.”


The monotheistic Baha’i faith has roots in many religions. Through the oneness of humanity, Baha’is believe that many of the world’s religions and their prophets are manifestations of God and linked by his evolutionary path for humanity. Baha’is believe that humanity’s oneness will inevitably produce world peace as people come together.


By believing in the importance of world peace, Baha’is are strong believers in learning about different cultures and are usually positive about the prospects of interracial marriages connecting divided people.


“If me and Jesca can come together with our history and our color, I think this shows that people can show commonality and love for one another,” Tyree said. Tyree and Jesca agree that had it not been for the Baha’i teachings they wouldn’t have tried to love each other’s family as much as they did.


“I’ve grown to love (Tyree’s family) for God’s sake, not myself or themselves,” Jesca said.


Still there are family tests that are hard to get past. Jesca’s mom is more passive while Tyree’s mom is more aggressive, and the two have yet to connect. They’re polite with each other but aren’t friends, Tyree and Jesca agreed.


Tyree and Jesca’s wedding was another test. Although some racial tensions were revealed, other signs pointed toward the positive.
Many of Tyree’s aunts and uncles didn’t attend the wedding, and many of the uncles still don’t fully regard Jesca as a family member, Tyree said. But Jesca’s dad was supportive of the marriage and was offended that Jesca thought he had a racial bias, she said.


By being interracially married, Tyree and Jesca know they have come to understand each other’s background better.


“By being Baha’i I’ve learned about black culture,” Jesca said. “I could have real friendships and not just surface relationships.”

Coming into the faith

Jesca introduced Tyree to the Baha’i faith when they first met, and within two weeks he had joined the faith. Although Tyree was initially attracted to its beliefs in gender equality, he was also impressed with the faith’s emphasis on interracial marriage.


It was also his goal for his relationship with Jesca to be pure. It was a difficult decision, Tyree said, because he was physically attracted to Jesca but they both wanted to base the relationship in a mutual love for God and Baha’u’llah. That meant no kissing or sexual relations, he said.


“I didn’t use any game with her,” Tyree said. “I stopped running game two or three years before because I knew it wasn’t holy. I wanted to be a true representative of God.” While Jesca was in Santa Cruz, Calif., teaching at a Baha’i school, she asked Tyree to marry her. Jesca returned to Columbia more than a year and half after they met, but Tyree and Jesca didn’t get married for another two years.


To marry, Baha’is must have their parents’ permission, which was something Debra wasn’t initially willing to give. Between each other they disagree about whether or not race was an issue for their parents, but the couple do agree that their parents wanted them to get to know each other better first.


Tyree and Jesca know the tests they went through in order to be together were worth it.


“We really are one soul,” Jesca said.

For Tyree and Jesca, getting married was about their love for each other, not skin color.


“The focus is on us as a human race,” Tyree said. “People don’t date because of a race but because of a soul.”

 

Interesting, never heard of this before as a basis for a whole religion.

 

I came across it while surfing the web a few years ago. I pushed it aside as I'm not the most religious person and am skeptical of how religion is practiced (Islamic extremism being one good example).

And, I seriously doubt I'll ever join a religion like this one as it's tough to tell the good from the bad.

But, this message is greater than the religion itself. It makes me wonder if the founder was inspired by a greater force.

 

I've enjoyed reading your post BronzeSaint, thank you for sharing it.

 

Any religion in its' purest form is spectacular but humans are fallible and we are quite talented at taking something that's good and using it to justify our own ends.

 

Glad you enjoyed it, Athena (particularly knowing that your family may have a varied ethnic history).

I don't know where in Canada you reside. But, I know the West Coast is bracing for a huge storm.

Hopefully, it will miss you completely.

 

In the words of one of the greatest minds in history, Princeton University's great Professor of Religion, Cornell West:

"A-M-E-N, my brotha. AMEN!"

 

Great Post. I've done a little research of the Bahai and think its very appealing.

 

Hey Bronze,

I have heard many good things about Ba'hai.
If I am not mistaken, it began in Persia (Iran?).

This is a little off topic, but I was tutoring a refugee family from Liberia last year, and was of the (incorrect) assumption that most people in Africa are either Christian or Muslim. The family, being from Liberia, I assumed was Christian and went to church every week.

One day, I really sat down and talked to the dad, and it turns out he travelled all over the west and central parts of africa as a missionary for the Ba'hai faith. He was a really serene man, and it really threw me, once again...and brought home the idea that you can never really assume anything. I had always found him to be a lovely man, and when I found out he was Ba'hai, it made me more curious to understand the faith some more.

I can see it growing, in the future. Thanks for the post, by the way.

 

It's a great concept (the idea of the human family coming together). It makes you realize that we are really wasting time fighting wars.

Imagine how incredible this world would be if we saw ourselves as one family (which is biologically the truth).

Thanks for the props.

 

I completely agree BronzeSaint.

 

You are correct (Persia or modern day Iran).

As you can imagine, this religion is not well received inside Iran (from what I've learned).

Think about it for a second: Iran fought a decade long war with Iraq (from about 1980-1990) and views Israel as it's mortal enemy. But the Ba'hai faith preaches that everyone belongs to one single family, including Jews and Iraqis.

Because of this, those worshiping the faith may face persecution in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East. It does, however, have a worldwide following that includes Asia, Africa, Latin America and the West. (They recently held a conference in London).

GREAT story! Very interesting to hear from someone that has interacted with a worshiper of this faith.

I'm not surprised at all by his demeanor. To truly accept this faith is to view everyone as a brother or sister; an extended member of one's own family.

So part of his quest in being a missionary is to stop family members from killing other family members throughout the continent and the world.

This is so completely foreign to our species. As Jane Goodall points out, even our primate cousins fight senseless wars. It's just our nature, built into our DNA to fight the "other."

While I'm not a proponent of or member of any religion (as I'm wary of all of them), this religious message of one family and one race is absolutely amazing because it's not how humans think. It's like thinking on another level.

Had I'd not found it, I would have thought it impossible to find a religion that believes this. I would have thought that the entire notion was implausible...It's just not who we are or ever have been! We are territorial.

I don't know about the religion. But, I hope the message catches on....It is backed up by science.

I'm not surprised that you found another religion in Africa as it has so many ancient customs. I am, however, shocked that this faith has 2 million followers in Africa!

Thanks for the compliment and for your post. - Found it very interesting.

 

It looks like there are more than just the two of us, Athena.

One of my dreams is to connect people that think this way throughout the world (as this is a VERY cool group of people) regardless of any religious or non-religious affiliation.

But, if a religion has beaten me to the punch in bringing some of these folks together, then THAT IS AWESOME!

 

Actually, the only other person I know who is Ba'hai is a friend of a friend, and she is first generation Australian, her parents being religious refugees from Persia. Really lovely people.

I learnt a lot in that minute - about the world and about myself. I was really thrown.

Yeah, I guess. He converted from catholicism, which he grew up with. really interesting guy.

Oh, yeah. Of course - i know there's still lots of smaller religions. I was meaning of the two major religions which were brought to Africa over the centuries. It seems to be fairly split, through the Sahara...Islam on the north, Christianity to the south. That is surprising though! Who would have thought that there were 2 million. Although, it would be interesting to do a comparison in regards to percentage of population in africa, compared to other parts of the world. There's a lot of people in Africa. Perhaps this is a normal percentage of the population?!?

You're most welcome. And thank you for starting such a great thread!

 

Any TRUE christian is open to all colors.

 

Find a Persian woman who practices Bahai'ism and convert to her faith. Who will she marry?

The Persian guy who practices Bahai'ism.

Remove your head from the clouds.

 

Agreed.

 

:smt017 :smt017 :smt017





DESMOND TUTU




"WHAT'S HE TALKIN ABOUT, WILLIS???"

 

Agreed.

 

I've been lurking on this website for about a month and finally joined after seeing some interesting threads. Great post, Bronze.

I'm going to disagree with a post that said something about "Find a Persian woman who practices Bahai'ism and convert to her faith. Who will she marry?

The Persian guy who practices Bahai'ism."

This is the dumbest post to the thread I've seen so far. "Bahai'ism" is not a dating service. It's not a way to find a wife or husband. It's a religion. The person that wrote this reduced the religion to a matchmaking service. This is stupid and not the message of the thread.

The reason why I and almost everyone else responded positively to the thread is because there may be a religion that has the courage to, as Bronze put it, promote interracial marriage (which really means bring people together). It's does not mean that you join the religion and marry someone of another race. It's not a means to an end. You marry whoever you love.

The point is this religion wants to bring people together above everything else. That makes it different than segregated churches and religions that demean and oppress women.

I don't know much about Bahai'ism. But, I know it's more than just finding a way to get hitched.