Bahai Gardens UNESCO

The Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel within Haifa, Israel. Described as the Eighth Wonder of the World, they are one of the most visited tourist attractions in Israel.

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind.

Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society. These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.

Baháulláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion.

Bahá'u'lláh said, 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.


More info about the Bahai Faith:
www.bahai.org

Bahais offer decision-making model at UN

16 February 2010

UNITED NATIONS — A new model of decision-making among peoples of different cultures would contribute to integration "at this time of transition to a new social order," according to a new Baha'i statement.

The statement was prepared for the 48th United Nations Commission for Social Development, which concluded on 12 February. The commission is the chief UN body charged with following up on the World Summit on Social Development held in 1995 in Copenhagen, where world leaders outlined principles that would characterize a new "society for all." These principles included respect for diversity and participation of all people.

The Baha'i International Community said in its statement that it was offering its experience in the method of consultation used by Baha'i communities around the world – a key component in creating unity among people.

The consultative process, the Baha'i statement said, rests on the understanding that all human beings are essentially noble – "they possess reason and conscience as well as capacities for inquiry, understanding, compassion, and service to the common good."

Mr. Ming H. Chong of Singapore, a delegate to the commission who presented a summary of the Baha'i statement, said afterward that understanding the nobility of all humans prevents people from dismissing others as needy rather than being in charge of their own development.

"If you start with (this) understanding, then you have a different perspective, one that avoids labels like 'marginalized' and 'poor,'" he said. He explained that he was a child of immigrants to Singapore and had learned that such labels create the wrong impression of entire groups of people.

"Language shapes the way we think," he said. "It creates mental pictures of how we see the world. Some of these mental pictures are not always positive – those that dehumanize migrants, for example."

The Baha'i statement to the UN commission suggested that the human body can serve as a model for comparing the integration of the world's cultures and peoples. "Within this organism, millions of cells, with extraordinary diversity of form and function, collaborate to make human existence possible. Every least cell has its part to play in maintaining a healthy body," the statement said.

This image can be used to envision the world's peoples as one human family and understand how each culture plays a part in the functioning of the whole, Mr. Chong explained.

In consultation as practiced in Baha'i communities, great value is placed on the diversity of perspectives and contributions that individuals bring to the discussion.

"Actively soliciting views from those traditionally excluded from decision-making not only increases the pool of intellectual resources but also fosters the trust, inclusion, and mutual commitment needed for collective action," the Baha'i statement said.

A key feature of Baha'i consultation is that ideas belong to the group rather than to individuals.

"Detachment from one's positions and opinions regarding the matter under discussion is imperative – once an idea has been shared, it is no longer associated with the individual who expressed it, but becomes a resource for the group to adopt, modify, or discard," the statement said.

A diversity of opinions, however, is not sufficient – it "does not provide communities with a means to bridge differences or to resolve social tensions," it continued.

"In consultation, the value of diversity is inextricably linked to the goal of unity. This is not an idealized unity, but one that acknowledges differences and strives to transcend them through a process of principled deliberation," the statement said. "It is unity in diversity."

International News Prosecution against Bahais in Iran

Nations rally to defend human rights in Iran

16 February 2010

GENEVA — Countries from around the world have voiced strong concern at the United Nations Human Rights Council over Iran's deteriorating human rights record.

In speeches yesterday and in documents filed with the Council, nations and human rights groups described the degree to which Iran has failed to live up to its obligations under international human rights law.

"The good news is that governments and organizations are rallying to defend innocent Iranians, who have over the last year seen their human rights so gravely violated," said Diane Ala'i, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

"The bad news is that Iran continues to ignore such appeals," she said, speaking after yesterday's session of Council, which specifically focused on Iran's human rights record.

Muhammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of the Islamic Republic of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, told the session that there is religious freedom in Iran and that no Baha'i is persecuted for his beliefs. If any Baha'is are imprisoned, he said, it is because of "illegal activities" as a cult.

"Put bluntly, Iran once again completely discredited itself before the eyes of the international community," said Ms. Ala'i, noting that last week Iran arrested at least 14 more Baha'is.

Among those arrested, she said, was Niki Khanjani, the son of one of the seven Baha'i leaders who are currently on trial on false charges.

"As the Nobel laureate Mrs. Shirin Ebadi has recently stated in an open letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Iran is now trying to increase pressure on prisoners by taking their relatives hostage," said Ms. Ala'i. "Jamaloddin Khanjani is 76. He has been incarcerated for almost two years – and then they arrested his granddaughter at the beginning of January and now, his son."

"These are the desperate acts of a regime that is frantically lashing out to blame others for its troubles and to suppress any viewpoint that is different from its own ideology," she said.

The majority of countries who spoke out against Iran focused on the violence following last June's presidential election and also on the situation of the country's religious minorities.

Brazil called for Iran to extend rights to all religious groups in the country, saying Baha'is should enjoy the same rights as everyone. Mexico said all minorities – particularly the Baha'i community – must be able to practice their religion.

"Romania and Slovenia devoted almost the entire allotment of their time to discussing the increasing repression of Iran's Baha'i community," reported Ms. Ala'i.

Human rights groups, in documents filed with the Council, made similar points.

"Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, individuals belonging to minorities in Iran are subject to an array of discriminatory laws and practices," wrote Amnesty International in its statement. "Minorities suffering persecution include ethnic and linguistic minorities such as Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen and Baluchis, and religious minorities such as Baha'is and the Ahl-e Haq."

"The government systematically denies rights associated with freedom of religion to members of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority. In most cases, including the persecution of the Baha'i community, the government uses 'security' as a pretext for detaining individuals and denying them basic due process rights," said a statement from Human Rights Watch.

The session was part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a relatively new procedure that seeks to review the human rights record of all 192 United Nations member states once every four years. This year is the first time Iran has come up for review.