tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post5983326434268846506..comments2024-03-14T07:29:46.679-07:00Comments on Baha'i Coherence: Mourning of an IntellectualBryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06536028746119658713noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-56169007094746313582010-06-02T01:55:34.879-07:002010-06-02T01:55:34.879-07:00The way I see it, this isn't a luxury. It'...The way I see it, this isn't a luxury. It's not something to be considered once survival is guarenteed. It's about the motivations that animate the entire process.<br /><br />In the Baha'i approach to development that's building momentum around the world spiritual and material progress go hand in hand. Economic projects are propelled through processes of capacity building informed by the belief that life begins in this world and is preparation for life in the next. This is the conscious basis for a Baha'i or Baha'i-inspired life of service.<br /><br />Another aspect of this regards the relationship between development projects and religion. Many religious leaders stand on the sidelines, or are opposed to development projects because they interpret them, perhaps correctly, as being part and parcel of the same system producing crass materialism in the West. Working under the assumption that they have to choose between spiritual and material prosperity, they then support their vision of the former, and oppose the latter. And one of the great challenges to development projects in general, though really it's a challenge for religion, is to mobilize spirituality for the purpose of economic improvement.<br /><br />The Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity has a great paper on this theme. I believe it's been posted to this blog before. Here it is. http://www.globalprosperity.org/initial_considerations.html?SID=4<br /><br />There's a lot of angles to this worth exploring, i.e. the basis of these ideas in the Baha'i writings. So I definitely need to do a follow up post.Mr. Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16477489009466005394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-89003366450870136232010-05-31T14:10:12.212-07:002010-05-31T14:10:12.212-07:00Greg,
I'm sorry to hear of your grandmothers...Greg, <br /><br />I'm sorry to hear of your grandmothers passing. Reading your reflections brought up a lot of my own, some of which I might have formulated to comment upon at a later time. I found this sentence to be especially thought provoking: <br /><br />"And when one life ends those who remain must reconfigure themselves and their world in light of that absence. The challenge of another's death is to summon up one's own creative power for life; to renew oneself and renew one's world in light of changed conditions."<br /><br />It seems natural to me that economic development up to now has been motivated by the incentive to survive. A mother might get up in the morning and go to work, not because she likes her job but because she has 5 kids to feed. You are right that in the Western world, it has become overkill, and the question moves from one of trying to survive to one of finding meaning in our survival. Unfortunately much of the world still does not have this luxury, and it will be interesting see how the Baha'i model of development can address both issues in places that have not had a chance at the first.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17162527239228375591noreply@blogger.com