Bahá'ís face yet more persecution in Iran

The Bahá'í Faith is one of the fastest-expanding in the world, with more than five million followers. There are between 300,000 and 350,000 in Iran, where its founder Bahá’u’lláh was born in the 19th century. It is a fundamentally peace-loving religion with slightly utopian ideals of universal harmony. It is also the largest religious minority in Iran. The Bahá'í community has been particularly under siege since the 1979 Islamic revolution but there is a long history of persecution before this. The latest alarm has been provoked by a report by United Nations raporteur Asma Jahangir into the plight of Bahá'ís in Iran. It is discussed on an excellent Bahá'í blog here. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has instructed a number of government agencies, including the revolutionary guard and the police force, to 'collect any and all information about members of the Baha'i faith.' Ms Jahangir, whose brief at the UN is freedom of religion and belief, concludes that this monitoring 'constitutes an impermissible and unacceptable interference with the rights of the members of religious communities.' She is also concerned that the information gained as a result of this monitoring will be used to support 'the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards.'

Members of the Bahá'í community are not recognized as a religious minority in Iran and do not have the right to practise their religion. M Jahangir has long been concerned by the 'systematic discrimination' against members of the Bahá'í community in Iran and has already intervened with the government several times. But now she fears that the situation in Iran for all religious minorities is deteriorating.
Here is one example of what the Bahá'ís in Iran have suffered, reported on the faith's own site: 'In June 1983, for example, the Iranian authorities arrested ten Bahá’í women and girls. The charge against them: teaching children’s classes on the Bahá’í Faith — the equivalent of Sunday school in the West. The women were subjected to intense physical and mental abuse in an effort to coerce them to recant their Faith — an option that is always pressed on Bahá’í prisoners. Yet, like most Bahá’ís who were arrested in Iran, they refused to deny their beliefs. As a result, they were executed.' (See photo insert) 17-year-old Mona Mahmudnizhad was one of the women executed. There are many other stories of arbitrary arrests, imprisonments and property confiscation and members of the faith are not allowed access to public universities in Iran. After many UN and other international protests, Iran reduced the execution rate but what is concerning about the latest development is that it indicates that the ultimate goal of the persecution, the eradication of the faith in Iran, has not changed.
(quoted from posting by Ruth Gledhill on Monday, 27 March 2006 at 03:47 PM in Current Affairs, Religion, Weblogs Permalink )

For more on this matter......
http://mail.justice.com/jump/http://news.bahai.org

Millennium Campaign.... and drawing from the Divine Ordinances ?

Did you know....................

• One in four adults in the developing world - 872 million people - is illiterate.(Oxfam UK - Education Now Campaign)
• More than 100 million children remain out of school. (Source:UNFPA)
  46% of girls in the world's poorest countries have no access to primary education. (Source:ActionAid)
• More than 1 in 4 adults cannot read or write: 2/3 are women. (Source:ActionAid)
  Universal primary education would cost $10 billion a year - that's half what Americans spend on ice cream. (Source:ActionAid)
• Young people who have completed primary education are less than half as likely to contract HIV as those missing an education. Universal primary education would prevent 700,000 cases of HIV each year - about 30% all new infections in this age group. (Source:Oxfam)

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number 2 urges people around the world to take action to ensure that, by 2015, every child is able to complete a full course of primary schooling. This is a noble human effort towards attaining what has already been encouraged by the founders of world religions. And that is only 1 of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the UN through the Millennium Declaration in 2000. A grand commitment indeed. Note how the other MDGs fall within the fields of poverty alleviation, sustainable development, peace building and conflict resolution, and yet responses to them continue to remain aloof of the spiritual purpose of man on earth and how Divine guidance and prescribes remain root to success of all these efforts. Take a principle behind any of the MDGs, they boil down to basic Divinely Ordained principles pivoting morals and ethics....

The right to education is, in the view of the Bahá'í International Community, one of the most important rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Indeed, the very mission of the founders of the great religions throughout history has been to educate humankind. Education is critical to the development of each individual's potential and to his or her enjoyment of the full range of human rights. At the same time, education must serve society as a whole by instilling in individuals an unwavering respect for the rights of others and a desire to uphold and defend those rights. Spiritual and moral education would need significant attention over the other aspects of education. "Good behaviour and high moral character must come first", say the Bahá'í Writings, "for unless the character be trained, acquiring knowledge will only prove injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and a virtuous character, otherwise it is a deadly poison, a frightful danger". The function of moral and spiritual education is to guide the use of human capacities for the good of all. The goal of education should be not only the acquisition of knowledge, but also the acquisition of spiritual qualities such as compassion, trustworthiness, service, justice, and respect for all......

All developmental gains take concrete shape from spiritual foundations http://statements.bahai.org/

And why not join the Millennium Campaign.....its worth being part of the making the global 'fantasy a feasibility'....... http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/site/pp.asp?c=grKVL2NLE&b=138312

Fellow Chocaholics let the joy ooze....

Now this is grand news.......and to be honest I don't really care what its implications on the number of inches gained on my hips and bottom! (that's why exercise was created (",) )

Scientists in 2006 have confirmed that "Eating chocolate may halve risk of dying"
"Regular consumption of cocoa may halve risk of dying and lower blood pressure, suggests a Dutch study in elderly men. But it is not necessarily good news for chocoholics, experts caution."
"The men in the group that consumed the least cocoa were twice as likely to die from a heart attack than those in the group that consumed the most cocoa – at least 4g per day – and the risk remained lower even when other factors such as smoking, physical exercise and weight were taken into account,” says lead researcher Brian Buijsse, at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.
“And men in the study who consumed the most cocoa were less likely to die of any cause,” he adds. The high-cocoa men also had significantly lower blood pressure than the other groups –... he says that cocoa-containing antioxidants chemicals, called flavanols, may be the cause. "
this is pretty dramatic ... and hopefully stays true after other studies ...

Original source: Journal reference: Archives of Internal Medicine (vol 166, p 411)New Scientist source: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn8780.html

Microbicides....not complex biology

Microbicides.....not complex science...but simply new technology that could free women from the centuries of sexual and reproductive bondage and violation of their rights to making informed decisions on their sexual and reproductive health.

But wait...this does not mean that we are implying women have been 'helpless' and victims' to date. On the contrary, we are affirming that they been survivors and victors as they have continued to strive towards realising and enjoying their optimal sexual and reproductive health status. Amidst the relentless HIV/AIDS epidemic, we note the urgency in lessening the loads that women carry.... find out more about this 'new technology' Microbicides and how advocacy and support of its agenda can save lives. Explore the Global Campaign for Microbicides, tommorrow it may be me or you, our sister, mother, daughter...or....

http://www.global-campaign.org
http://www.global-campaign.org/clientfiles/FS12-Messages-Mar06.pdf

Ini ndakuda ku'rilaksa'

ini ndakuda ku'rilaksa' = I want to relax in the Shona language....

Ok so this is me, holding a rare relaxed gaze..... for those who know me...they will gladly testify that this is indeed rare.....
"Relaxing".... this is a feeling i personally would do almost anything to have more and more and more of.... Mastering relaxation is an art, naturally innate for some and challenging for others (alas me being among the 'others'. )
Did you know that "Each problem has an opportunity hidden in it so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognised a problem and turned it into an opportunity" - Joseph Sugarman

Historically man has devised, and often stumbled upon, various techniques of relaxation, among them the common ones we hear are exercise, joke sharing, adoption of hobbies and joyful activity (subjective for each person of-course) and other stress relieving activity..... however I find that Prayer and meditation is probably the most effective means for achieving long-lasting relaxation of the mind, and refreshment of the soul...thus realising a relaxed and more joyful state of the body.

The Arts (performing arts, poetry, mime, dance, song and story telling) are another useful means through which to attain levels of relaxation and joy and inner peace, and uplift the human soul in many ways. Mystical works have been known to inspire artists to design and implement showcases for purposes of relaxation. In 2004 (http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=321), the play "The Seven Valleys" synchronises seven songs, each symbolizing a different spiritual stage described by Baha'u'llah (The Founder of the Baha'i Faith) -- the valleys of search, love, knowledge, unity, contentment, wonderment, and true poverty and absolute nothingness, into a road to relaxation.

There are a myriad sites that explore this awesome feeling, I was actually pleasantly surprised with ......http://www.relaxation.com/, http://www.unwind.com/jokes-funnies/ , http://www.mystic18.com/msp.html and many others that offer relaxation methodologies which could do lead to enhanced human performance...but always read with skeptiscism

from human heart to human heart....

i am not sure where the courage to build this blog came from, but thank you to Ramin who encouraged and hammered in the last nail of contemplation....so here i am....please write in and share and together we can apply the blog to create bridges of joy from human heart to human heart