tobyfreefoot

i live in the middle of no where, have no neighbors, the nearest towns are 1200 people 6 miles away. i wanted to try to volunteer for the democratic party and thought that was okay by what i read in the promulgation of universal peace but then i read that Shoghi Effendi said in 1930 we could no longer participate or hold office. i really believe in dennis kucinich also and wanted to campaign for him. now i feel my hands are tied to try to implement consultation in the political process or have any influence at all in the world. anty suggestions? i do have a job in a town 35 miles away on the graveyard shift where i work in a room alone all night.

arthra

As Baha'is we need to be careful that we do not appear to be partisan for any particular party... We are not to be registered in a Party when we vote. We are supposed to be "Non-partisan". In this way we can work toward unity among the friends and also the larger community by not aligning ourselves with a particular group.

People may think they should support a party or candidate but what happens is we become embroiled in partisan issues and be exploited by political hacks.

There are ways you can be involved in community issues without being partisan... Being involved say in an Inter-faith Council is a nonpartisan way to share the Faith and still be concerned about your community.

- Art

Jafar

Toby,

There are some real important reasons why Baha'u'llah doesn't want Baha'i involved in politics. If you study the Baha'i Writings well enough it will be very clear.

Good luck!

Jafar

shathaway

Politics!

There may come a day in your area when governments collapse. There
must be enough persons with forethought and training that can build
a representative government devoid of the forces of partisan politics
that are causes of disunity. The Baha'i cause is to be the force
that helps unify people at ground level. Baha'is are not to impose
political will, but are to promote the fundamental ideals of right
living and prayerfull consultation.

Baha'is have a very good example of representative government as a
model based on local involvement to an international infrastructure.
This model can be presented as an example for study as governments
struggle to survive or need to be reformed.

Sincerely,
Steven J. Hathaway

Eftekhar Be Khoda

I wish I could redo my registration. I registered Dem when I registered at 18, before I even knew of the cause, so technically I think I'm still registered dem, even though as a practical matter I don't see much difference in just a registration. In MO you can vote for whatever party you like even in the primaries.

What about cause advocacy -- something like prolife? Not that I really want to right now, but I'm curious -- is that someting different than being a democrat or republican or campaigning for a particular person?

arthra

You can always change your registration to "independent" or "non-partisan".

Baha'is have supported a lot of causes such as Race Unity, Equality of Men and Women, Esperanto- the world language, Peace efforts which are along the lines of our principles.. The thing is though we do this in ways that are not usually antagonistic or divisive. The Baha'i way is to encourage consultation and education rather than confrontation and bitterness or divisiveness.

While we agree with other groups on the importance of recognizing say that life begins at conception we don't join those who say demonstarte at family planning clinics or engage in partisan political activities to influence changes in legislation. Again we have a different strategy than most.

Many Baha'is can also serve on non-partisan boards like Human Relations Commissions or Interfaith Councils and make significant contributions to their communities ...

- Art

Eftekhar Be Khoda

Well, I'm not talking about protesting outside of abortion clinics. That doesn't help anyone and I don't think tramatizing young women helps things. Protesting in most cases is just about pissing off the other side anyway -- it's not like anyone has ever seen a posterboard sign and really changed their point of view.

I don't know how to change the form. I may look into that.

LittleBuddha

I live in the UK so I dont really understand American Politics.
To me it is all based on how much money is spent on a campaign. All that money is spent on trying to get a person into power. To me it is immoral all spent on TV campaigns.
The amount of bad mouthing the candidates do is terrible. Is this what politics are in the USA.
I dont understand why if you are registered for one party you cannot change your mind and vote for the other.
In the UK you are free to vote for whoever you want. Registration is not required.
If you dont vote you cannot complain about the various policies.
I do not believe that because you are a Baha'i you cannot take an active part in the decisions being made about running your country.
If you have a hung parliament because you don't vote, you cant complain about decisions that you dislike.
IT'S CALLED DEMOCRACY.

arthra

In the US it depends sometimes what state you are in.. that is some states allow non-partisans to vote for whom ever in what we call primary elections.

But in some states a non-partisan voter can only vote for non-partisan offices in a primary.. The primaries decide what candidate is the Party candidate for an office.

In a general elections, independent or non-partisan voters can vote for whomever.

Since there's a growing block of non-partisan voters both parties solicit votes.

Anyway we Baha'is generally stay clear of partisan discussions because they can be divisive and cause polarity. So we register independent or non-partisan.

As far as voting goes..yes Baha'is are encouraged to vote and we do for the best candidate in our opinion etc.

Now the model we use for ourselves can be seen in our elections for our local spiritual assemblies, conventions and so on.. is (1) no nominations.. (2) we vote for those we feel are most qualified to serve in a state of prayer .. (3) a plurality usually decides the election. In this way we avoid polarizing groups and divisiveness.