Faith in NYT Thanksgiving roundup
Written by mcgee on November 24th, 2005An article in today’s New York Times (free registration is required to read the article) mentions the Bahá’í Faith in a roundup of religious traditions that have to do with food.
It’s a relatively positive, if slightly weird, write-up (and this tidbit got pushed below both Scientology and Wicca).
Wanda Schnider, a professional baker and cake decorator who lives outside Troy, Idaho, and is a member of the Bahai faith, said that one of the Bahai teachings is not to have traditions.
“Each family or community comes up with their own so it doesn’t turn into a dogma,” Ms. Schnider said. Yet each July 9, she prepares a key lime pie to commemorate the martyrdom of the Bab, whom Bahais believe heralded the advent of Baha’u'llah, their spiritual leader.
She said the bittersweet flavor of the pie recalls the sacrifice of the Bab.
In addition, Ms. Schnider’s herb cracker has become a tradition at holiday meals among the 30 Bahais who live near her.
“I started making it for Noruz,* our New Year’s Day, which happens in the spring,” she said. “I thought the herbs reflected the greenery of spring. It was similar to a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens, but the recipe actually said to use just one kind of herb or another. I didn’t notice that and put them all in together and decided that it was very good like that. Now all the Bahais in Latah County love it.”
It’s a little bit weird, since I after having been in many Bahá’í communities in my life, I can say that this pie thing is in no way representative of general practice, though the article doesn’t really do much to contradict that impression.
And, puff piece or not, though, there is nothing in the Faith that is against having traditions per se. Whether this is something that the reporter misunderstood or was simply misinformed about, I don’t know. However, the only prohibition is against certain kinds of religious rituals. The idea that you could have a religious community without any traditions (like, for example, making a pie every year to celebrate a holiday) is pretty ridiculous.
According to a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice:
It is not accurate to state that the Bahá’í Faith has no ceremonies. The marriage ceremony and the funeral service are examples of such observances in our teachings.
It would be correct, however, to state that the Faith has certain basic laws and simple rites prescribed by Bahá’u'lláh and that its teachings warn against developing these into a system of uniform and rigid rituals by introducing into them man-made forms and practices. Rituals such as those of the Catholic Church in the celebration of the Mass and the administration of the sacraments, which are performed by a member of the clergy.
In carrying out the basic laws of our Faith the friends should always maintain a standard of utmost simplicity and observe flexibility in all matters of detail.
[Taken from Lights of Guidance]
For those of us who came into the Baha'i Faith through the ever popular 
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this is hilarious,i suppose more so if you have been brought up in this generation of Bahai’s where many of the last were the Pioneers,that and other American terms such as ‘Potluck’ seeems to have spilled over and carved a niche in the so called Bahai identity of many communities (thats in my limited experience so far, and i need more exposure to all things)
i have more time to read this site,who are you guys? in keeping with your style i will keep ths short n sweet but thanks for a great and informative site this year and hope there are many more stories of all kinds here in 2006!