Since there have been so many posts about Iran here lately, I thought it was time to mix things up a bit and feature some other country.

So, I thought I would point out this link to the Afghan Bahá’í web site that a commenter left on another post a couple of days ago.

Though the site […]

It’s not hard for university papers to find a good lead-in for stories about the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran, since the denial of education is something that’s bound to stir up interest on college campuses.

Along those lines, we have this article from York University’s Excalibur:

Stop. Look around you. You might be in class; […]

A new site has just been put up by the Bahá’í community in South Africa addressing the denial of education of the Bahá’ís in Iran. The site, which compares the treatment of Bahá’ís in Iran to apartheid in South Africa, describes how the government has denied Bahá’ís access to colleges and universities for over […]

I know this blog is at risk of turning into the BahaiIranBlog, but I just couldn’t pass this one up. Now, at this point I know you’re all aware of the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran right? So in the face of damning UN reports and international pressure regarding their treatment of religious […]

At the White House press briefing today, Spokesman Scott McClellan said the President is concerned over last week’s UN report that stated government persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran is getting worse.
Excerpts from the press briefing transcript:
Q: Scott, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief has said that she’s highly concerned that […]

Well no, not really. But it seems that when William L. H. Roberts, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the US, spoke at the annual Interfaith Brotherhood-Sisterhood brunch in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, there was, shall we say, a little friction. Mr Roberts was speaking about threats to religious freedom, […]

This is just a friendly reminder to everyone to be sure to keep checking back with Australia’s Bahá’í Youth Portal THEHEYDAY.COM for their regularly updated content (sadly, they have no rss feed, so we’re all going to have to bookmark it and check back the old fashioned way). For instance, there’s this great story […]

As a follow up to last week’s post about the report from the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief outlining concerns about actions by the government of Iran against the Bahá’ís, here is a great piece by Ruth Gledhill, religion correspondant for The Times. She goes into a brief history of […]

Short and sweet little piece in The Lismore Northern Star about Vahideh Hosseini, regional manager for the Red Cross in Lismore, Australia, who is assiting with the support, comfort and care of victims of Cyclone Larry, which hit the North Coast of Australia last week. From the Northern Star:
Like those she is helping now, […]

I have no idea where she’s been hiding, but Anousheh Khalili is my new favorite singer/songwriter as well as the one who’s been eating up all my itunes time. She’s also just released an album on Richmond, Virginia’s Triple Stamp Records that’s been getting some great reviews:
You go to shows for certain bands, you see […]

I don’t know how long the site has been around but I just discovered Bahá’í Video, which has a bunch of embedded movies as well as a few photo sets. A lot of the videos are interviews about the Bahá’í Faith, some giving a general introduction and others more personal, with people talking about their […]

Bahá’í Research is a new web-based tool for accessing holy writings of the Bahá’í Faith and other religions. Those familiar with the Ocean research tool will recognize a lot here, since the texts are ported over and the interface is very similar. This web-based application does have a few features that Ocean doesn’t, notably you […]

I hate to bring this up so soon into your joyous new year, but it seems that things are getting much worse in Iran.
The linked BWNS story tells how the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, released a statement about actions of the Iranian government against the Baha’is.
It seems […]

Happy Naw Ruz! Hope you’re all having a fantastic New Year. If you’ve got a spare moment amidst all of the celebration and revelry, you could always check out this little Naw Ruz round up. If not, hey, no worries. I understand. Naw Ruz parties are but once a year.

Great little story about a Baha’i devotional meeting in Jackson, TN courtesy of the Jackson Sun:
What typically happens is that open invitations are extended for members of the community to come to one of their nondenominational prayer meetings. On the glass coffee table in the Schmidts’ home are the books “The Bounty of Allah” and […]

Happy Birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday to Baha’i Blog, haaaaappppy biiiiirthdaaay toooo us.
Can you believe it’s already been a year of internet surfery and madcap blogging hijinks? From post #1 (you’d think I’d remove these test posts wouldn’t you? but it seems a little silly to do it now), to post […]

The Bahá’í-inspired film Harmony Film Festival has just announced the theme for its third annual event, as well as a new incentive for entry:

We are proud to announce the 2006 theme for the 3rd annual Harmony Film Festival is Justice. And not only do we have a new theme, we are also happy to announce […]

Lest you think that Iran is the only country giving Baha’is a hard time, the report on Egypt from the same 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices describes the current situation of Baha’is being denied national ID cards, birth certificates, and marriage licenses:
The government continued to deny civil documents, including ID cards, birth certificates, […]

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State just released its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Big surprise that the report on Iran outlines some less-than-kind treatment of the Iranian Baha’i community at the hands of the government. The following comes from the section on “Freedom of […]

Ok, this is the last study circle related oddity that I’m going to post, I promise. But I really just couldn’t help myself.
For me the best part of the scene is the guy right at the bottom, with all the crossed out squares and triangles in his booklet…

This profile of Australian Olympic athlete Cathy Freeman mentions her connection to the Faith and its influence in her life, even though she says she doesn’t consider herself a “devout Bahá’í.”

When Freeman was nine or 10, her mother’s conversion to the Baha’i faith was another seemingly random seed that would have enormous consequences for her […]

This article offers a fair introduction to the Faith and even has a somewhat challenging lede, since it opens with the angle of people who have converted from other faiths.

However, there are a couple of paragraphs near the end perpetuate a very common misconception:

The religion is very inviting to new and old ideas from other […]

Here are a few more Baha’i blogs for your perusal. These are especially for those of you that haven’t yet realized that english is actually the world auxiliary language (keep your shirts on, everyone knows that “the internet” is actually the world auxiliary language…) First off, there’s the mostly-in-Portuguese-but-sometimes-english Povo de Baha, (which is an […]

Just in case that last post didn’t tell you all that you needed to know about study circles, perhaps The Study Circle at Pooh Corner will help clear things up. Or… perhaps not:

It was then that Piglet had one of those special Moments. He imagined it was the same sort of moment that a great […]

So I can’t even keep up with mr george wesley over at Baha’i Views, so I thought I should just also let you know that he’s great at keeping up with the murmurings of the blogosphere, posting all manner of blogs that mention the Faith. A great example of his many updates of blogging Baha’is […]