Portland/Vancouver Metro Baha'i Community » Videos

Baha’i Faith – a Unique System of Self-Governance

SaraD — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:47:47 +0000

There is no class of ecclesiastics or clergy in the Baha’i Faith. Rather, it is administered by a unique combination of freely elected councils and a complementary institution of appointed advisers. This administrative system operates at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

Guided by principles laid down in the writings of Baha’u'llah, Baha’is have established a distinctive system of global self-governance that both protects personal freedom and safeguards the prerogatives of the community as a whole, striking a singular balance between individual initiative and the common good.

This dynamic arrangement is in many ways far more “democratic” than the methods by which most parliaments or other representational systems operate. And yet, because of its distinctive procedures and principles, it avoids the processes of manipulation, factionalism, and partisanship that have become features of other systems of governance worldwide.

Baha’i elections exclude any form of electioneering or nomination. Yet they offer every individual elector the widest possible choice of candidates. At the age of 21 Baha’is become eligible to serve on elected institutions of the Baha’i administrative order. These elected bodies are vested by the Baha’i sacred writings with legislative, judicial, and executive functions.

The appointed branch of the Baha’i administrative order is entrusted with propagating and protecting the Faith. It is the responsibility of individuals serving in an appointed capacity to counsel, stimulate and encourage individual Baha’is and elected institutions.

Spiritual Concepts

SaraD — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:58:31 +0000

Baha’is believe there is one race – the human race.

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”

~ Baha’u'llah

Ascension of ‘Abdul-Baha

SaraD — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:12:37 +0000

‘Abdu’l-Baha was the Son of the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith. He passed away on 28 November 1921. He traveled to America in 1912. This video describes this Unique Personage.

Peace Video

SaraD — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:56:24 +0000

“…these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come….”
~ Baha’u'llah

Van Gilmer, Director of the Baha’i Chorale in Evanston, IL, discusses peace and what it has meant to him over the decades.

Rethinking Education for girls and women; beyond basic curricula

SaraD — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:01:30 +0000

“The world of humanity has two wings — one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly.”
~ ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Dr. Wendi Momen, magistrate and author from the United Kingdom, speaks as a panelist for a side event hosted by the Baha’i International Community during the 55th Session of the Commission for the Status of Women.

We are One

SaraD — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:31:44 +0000

“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
~ Baha’u'llah

Country singer Dan Seals wrote this song about the oneness of humanity.

The Promise of World Peace – A Baha’i Perspective

SaraD — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:01:23 +0000

“World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet — in the words of one great thinker, ‘the planetization of mankind’.”

~ The Promise of World Peace,
a letter to the peoples of the world by The Universal House of Justice

A World in Need

SaraD — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:22:44 +0000

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
~ Baha’u'llahThe solution to today’s problems of the world – One God – One Religion – One Humanity – the Baha’i Faith.Music: A World In Need, Lotus in the Mudd, Visceral Melee Copyright © 2007 Lotus in the Mudd. All Rights Reserved.

TEDxGrandRapids – Layli Miller-Muro – Innovate: Justice

SaraD — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:30:25 +0000

Layli Miller-Muro, a lawyer and Executive Director of the Tahirih Justice Center, speaks at TEDx Talks in Grand Rapids on justice and the equality of women and men.

“The world of humanity has two wings — one is woman and the other man. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible.”
~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Cornel West Speaks on the Baha’i Faith

SaraD — Thu, 19 May 2011 16:28:30 +0000

Dr. Cornel West is a philosopher and Princeton professor of African American Studies and Religion and a staunch defender of rights and freedoms for all people. He learned about the Baha’i Faith through his race unity work, befriending Baha’is such as jazz maestro Dizzy Gillespie. Professor West recently welcomed a relative of an imprisoned Iranian Baha’i into his Princeton office and shared his thoughts on the persecution of the Baha’is in the religion’s birthplace.