This will be the last post I intend to make that is somewhat critical of the Baha’i faith. Specifically I will be discussing how Baha’i in general views homosexuality and how that seems to conflict with the rest of the Baha’i religion.
I’ll admit that the title gave it away just a little.
First off, the official Baha’i position is that homosexuals are not to be considered with disdain or with any kind of prejudice. The practice may actually be different, but I don’t have the experience to tell you one way or the other. They are not excommunicated, nor are they to be turned away from joining the faith and participating within the community or the Baha’i Administration (the central governing body of the Baha’i faith).
However, homosexuality is not viewed as a valid sexual orientation, and is instead considered as a kind of handicap, “a condition which an individual should control and overcome.” The only valid or approved sexual relationship is between a man and a woman in marriage. Again, I do not mean to imply that the Baha’i fiath sees gay men and women as any worse than other Baha’i’s, but their orientation is certainly considered to be a transgression against the faith, similar to adultery.
Honestly, this seems rather ludicrous in light of what I have learned about the faith. One of the central beliefs of Baha’i is the oneness of humanity, that we need to dissolve the barriers not only between our religions and concepts of the Supreme Being/Reality, but also between ourselves as human beings. This is a very progressive and liberal philosophy, but it is at odds with this rather conservative notion of marriage and sexuality. We cannot honestly say that we are accepting of every human being if we are excluding some of them on the basis of their sexuality. This is not bringing people together, but rather it is something that keeps them apart.
Homosexuals are told that through counseling, diligence, and prayer they can overcome this affliction. Although they claim that homosexuals are not prejudiced or condemned, the very stance the Baha’i faith takes on the matter is counter to this philosophy. Claiming that homosexuality is somehow deviant and not in line with the norm implies a prejudice, even if it isn’t acted upon. In this view homosexuals will always be considered second class, something that is not the norm, and must strive further to be fully accepted.
This part of Baha’i philosophy seems to be rather inescapable, and I am curious as to how adherents justify advancements in their doctrine. As we saw in the previous post, the Baha’i faith depends on the word of the Prophets, specifically Baha’u'llah. This is because they are the only ones who can know God and thus try to inform the rest of humanity as to what the Lord wants of His creation. But here we have an idea that I cannot abide, and that seems to contradict the rest of the Baha’i faith. Indeed it seems to be a leftover from a time and society that was generally homophobic, yet we seem powerless to change the doctrine, as this would put the supremacy of our own intellect over God’s.
Even if we were ready to leave this idea behind and accept something new, how could we do this as members of the Baha’i faith without a new Prophet to guide us? To change our stance would suppose that we can know the Truth, which can only be done by Prophets, but if we know that homophobia is wrong and inaccurate we are either knowing the Will of God without a Prophet, or admitting that the Prophets can be mistaken.
I really like the Baha’i religion and the way it characterizes God, it has guided me towards a concept of the Divine that I can understand. But this aspect seems so backwards and counter intuitive that I was surprised to find it being mentioned. It seems to do more harm than good to the overall movement, earning needless criticisms and self-contradictions, and the only method available to us to solve the issue seems to lead us to a dead end.
It has been widely, I dare say unanimously, accepted by the scientific community that homosexuality is not a deviant behavior, that is it natural and normal. It is also not something that is seen as unethical by many, if not most, religions and philosophies. If we can move on from hating each other based on our religious differences, from dividing each other based on race or sex, then surely we could also move on from trying to judge one another by our sexual preferences. But do we really have to wait for a man or woman who talks to God to tell us otherwise? Perhaps we can know the Truth by ourselves. Perhaps we can know God without the Prophets.
But you will have to wait for more exposition on those thoughts.
Allah’u'Abha, and goodnight.