Recently, a gathering took place in which friends from diverse backgrounds, ages, geographies, and experiences came together to explore participation in discourse. Coherence, it seemed, was the key. The weekend began with a study of a message of the … Continue reading Coherence in Conversations
This past weekend, nearly forty individuals gathered together for an exploration of participation in discourse. (See post, Discourse: Session at Bosch) The aim was to connect everyday conversations – those with neighbors, with friends, with co-workers, with family, with parents … Continue reading Collective Reflections
Topic Outline: (by paragraph) Summary Youth Saviors 95 Conferences will be Convened Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) ¶1 Summary Civilization as we know it is characterized by a culture of rational self-interest and a value system that encourages individual benefit. Decisions regarding … Continue reading Ninety-Five Conferences will be Convened
Some facts are based on principle, others follow from empirical evidence. The economic and social order of the industrial world no longer considers universal welfare the object of its deliberations and actions. This has been, in part, the result of … Continue reading In the Masses Lies the Key
As beings of praxis, human beings differ from animals, which are beings of pure activity. Animals do not consider the world; they are immersed in it. In contrast, human beings emerge from the world, objectify it, and in so doing can … Continue reading Scholars and Servants
Achievement, we know from experience, requires the expenditure of material means. Social and economic development, albeit with a spiritual and transcendent intention, is no exception. Antithetically, there are many societies, some of whom may consider themselves servants of the best interests … Continue reading Utilizing Material Means
The development of a just society requires universal participation. Why? Why is this the case? If you’d like, respond with your thoughts below. Surely, there are many of reasons. Three come to my mind at the moment. They are related … Continue reading Justice and Universal Participation
Some people think education is an act of depositing facts, in which the students are the receptacle and the teacher is the banker. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues lectures and makes deposits which the students receive and memorize. This … Continue reading Education and Liberation
In discourse, thought, reflection and action are intimately interdependent. Action is coherent only when it is not merely rote but also consultative, that is, when it is not dichotomized from reflection. Reflection, which is essential to action, is implicit in the … Continue reading Spiritual Re-Education and the Power of the Masses
Paragraph#: 1. Learning sites and associated clusters (31 in total) contain half the current junior youth groups and participants. 2. Universal youth response to serve as animators. Ruhi 5 releases reservoirs of commitment to social change. Program expands beyond resources within Baha’i community. 3. Benefits … Continue reading Summary of 14 November Message
Decades have come and gone and our busy lives, cluttered with diverse daily drives and enjoyments, have advanced in age, irreparable choices have been made, courses set, and moral decisions cast in the stone of opportunity cost. Billions have come … Continue reading Shadows of the Mind: Disorganized Activism, Conducive to Change?
Every intelligent mind that evaluates the causes for global warming concludes that human-induced green-house gas emissions are responsible for Earth’s atmospheric average temperature increases. The only people who disagree with this are fringe scientists and few in number. For mysterious … Continue reading Climate Change and Political Partisanship: Why is the Truth So Divisive?
Paragraph#: 1. Abdu’l-Baha’s Temple-ground piercing Centenary. Diverse participants then and now. 2. Divine civilization beyond mere adjustments to present order. 3. Erroneous assumptions of human nature, justified by failings, disallow spiritual potential. 4. Imprisonment enables sympathetic hearts. 5-Year Plan (5YP) … Continue reading Summary: Ridvan 2012 Message
Paragraph#: 1. 10 new Regional Councils (RC’s). 5-Year Plan messages foundation of action and study. Familiarity with dynamics of growth increases with core activities. 2. Dichotomy of neighborhood and centralized children’s classes (CC) transcended. 2 Junior Youth learning sites. Expansion/consolidation primary task of RC’s. … Continue reading Summary of August 9th Message
Discourse on the following topics has brought these themes to the point of being reconceptualized. Certain foundational principles have emerged and crystallized from ongoing discourse. Principles we now believe in in a new way are: 1) Unity of all Humankind 2) … Continue reading Discourse and Politics: Blood in the Arteries of Governance
Is it possible that a “debate” leads us, the listeners and watchers, to truth? Can a mode of dialogue such as contestational or confrontational debate assist others and people interested in the issues to discover the truth or learn more … Continue reading Can Debate Lead to Truth?
Identifying aspects of political discourse that is partisan in nature and to be avoided is challenging and will call for a higher caliber of insight and self-mastery as issues become increasingly engrossing and complex and as noble ideologies arise to prominence within the context of … Continue reading Post-Partisan Politics
The practice of consultation has been a theme of multiple posts on this blog. It is, obviously, a vital concept for governance, for it is the operating expression of justice in a way that empowers. As the last post pointed … Continue reading Consultation and Governance
As has been a central theme throughout the discussions on this blog, our current stage of human history is defined by global interdependence. All forms of government and organization that divide one group against another are simply outdated, ineffective, and … Continue reading Oneness, Justice, and Governance
Historically and currently, the relationship between power and knowledge has been strained and complex, to say the least. Recently, “modernism” – which has constructed systems of knowledge around truth-claims about social reality – has come into critique by “post-modernism” – … Continue reading Beyond Modernism and Post-Modernism
Like all false dichotomies, an approach to knowledge that is either absolutist or relativist is not helpful nor enlightening in efforts to generate and apply knowledge towards the building of a just and prosperous world civilization. A few previous posts … Continue reading Reconciling Relativism and Truth
This online forum for discourse shares content that is inspired by the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith. Learning how to apply what is written to reality, however, remains a formidable task. In order to accomplish this, capacity must be built … Continue reading Circle of Participation
Previous posts’ discussion on the concept of consultation shed some initial light on transcending the false dichotomy between objectivisim and relativism. Some knowledge has a foundational basis, that has an existence beyond the human mind, and through consultation, we can … Continue reading Consultation and Objectivism / Relativism
In reference to human potential it has been said, “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit there from.” . Education is a … Continue reading Education: The Driver of Social Transformation
Any minority pursuing development on behalf of the collective foists its values onto, and often disturbs, the very population it purports to serve. Subsuming collective prosperity to their personal values of progress, and sacrificing the participation and engagement of whole segments of … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part III
A culture of learning that operates through study, consultation, action, and reflection, depends on empowerment and capacity building on the level of both the individual and the institutions of society. Individually, all are responsible to participate in the generation and … Continue reading Global Learning
The history of philanthropic movements recounts many instances of people who believe in noble ideals and strive to fulfill their vision of what they think the world ought to look like. One may reasonably ask however, whether what they considered … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part II
Unity and Truth are closely related. If two people argue about a matter both are wrong about it. Prevalent assumptions hold that truth can be known and should be sought by individuals. Alternate epistemologies hold that truth should really be pursued as … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part I
An approach to the generation and application of knowledge within a learning mode occurs through a process of study, consultation, action, and reflection. Science and religion are the two systems of knowledge and practice that strive to describe reality, and … Continue reading Study, Consultation, Action, Reflection
Both extremes are to be completely avoided; the first of accepting everything one reads – this is the state of being an easy prey to eloquence and dazzling and elaborate presentations of those who pretend to know or actually are … Continue reading Justice and Discourse, Part II
As a community of discourse we need to ensure that we develop the ability to read and examine other people’s views and thoughts on a given subject with fairness. This does not mean that we never reach conclusions or continuously consider new or … Continue reading Discourse and Justice, Part I
achieving coherence 