Baha’i Faith is hip with the kids.
I wasn’t sure whether or not I really wanted to put this up, but, you know, since doing so allows me to put a picture of Tom Cruise up on the blog I figured it was worth it. So to everyone that just googled “Tom Cruise + “Baha’i” + “Blog”, thanks for stopping by.
So there was a story in the New York Daily News last week about all the “alternative” religions that today’s youth are getting into. Of course they mention Tom-Cruise-approved scientology, as well as Madonna-rific Kabbalah but then, strangely, they also cover the Baha’i Faith:
Questioning the religious status quo is what led Hannah Doherty, a smart and articulate 17-year-old from Connecticut, to convert to the Baha’i faith, a humanist religion with more than 6 million members worldwide.
As a freshman, she started exploring the faith (having been raised in a nominally Christian household) and found it offered satisfying answers.
“The thing that appeals the most about it is how there isn’t a clergy and it isn’t about rules and the dogma,” Hannah says. “That’s what I disliked so much about the church - everyone saying the exact same prayer at the same time and at the end of the service, you could go back to work and still screw people over.”
Hannah was also attracted to the faith’s emphasis on action - whether helping AIDS patients or encouraging women’s education - and is refreshingly self-aware when talking about her beliefs. “It’s such a worldwide view, that’s why I like it. They have a plan, and it’s more than just an idea.” She pauses, then chuckles. “It sounds like a cult, I know.”
Well. Ok, so they call it a humanist religion, which it isn’t; and Hannah herself says that it “sounds like a cult” (nice work Hannah) but hey, at least now we have some of that alt-punk-rock allure that all the kids are looking for. That, and I have Tom Cruise on my blog.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:38 am
“I wasn’t sure whether or not I really wanted to put this up…”
You shouldn’t have second guessed yourself. This article is pretty much what results from mixing celebrity-driven baloney with vacuous teenage commentary.
“It sounds like a cult, I know.”
God help us.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
so naturally our next question is : who is the Tom/Katie of the Bahai world ??hahahaha.
Cruise for his genius at producing and directing…of course,
& holmes for ..uhhm..well..will get back to you on that one.
absurd.
April 29th, 2006 at 1:14 am
heh heh this is a good post.
Cult? Well I know one thing, a Bahai Southpark episode could never be as funny as that Scientology one!
I’m going down to the Celebrity Bahai Center for a thetan reading.
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:32 am
Puny humans! The Supreme Galactic ruler, Lord Xenu will crush you all with his mighty thetans and DC10s. You just wait!
ps don’t forget to enter this month’s placenta recipe contest.
May 3rd, 2006 at 8:25 am
I think its a great article. And even if she was quoted correctly we should cut her some slack — after all, which one of us hasn’t said stuff in restrospect we wish we hadn’t — and even worse when a reporter is writing it all down.
May 3rd, 2006 at 8:34 am
Ry,are going to let the previous comment be the last thing a person reads on this blog? ok i know none of the above really had a point but … please do not litter.thank you very much.
May 4th, 2006 at 8:27 am
i meant the comment by Baquia, i agree with Brian tho’
May 14th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
I happen to know Hannah actually and she is a really great youth who has done much for the faith in the short time since she became a Baha’i. I am sure that the quote above, as often happens, was taken a bit out of context but even if it was not that is beside the point. I hope we don’t overlook the true importance of the article, which is why I assume it was originally included in the first place, which is that Hannah has done another wonderful job of helping to make the Faith known to others sparked by a sincere love of the teachers that is easily sensed in short bit that she is quoted.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:08 am
Go Hannah!!!
I know where shes coming from, after going up to the middle of the jungle of Costa Rica with a bunch of Baha’i anyone would have the though that this is slightly cultish
Love ya Hannah
-Chad