AboutSuzanne Gerstner Expertise I can answer questions on all aspects of the Baha`i Faith, but am most interested in the spiritual teachings of this and other Faiths, and the interconnectedness of all religions. I believe that true religion should bring about love and unity. This is what the world really needs right now and the Baha`i teachings have a lot to offer on this subject.
Experience I've been a Baha'i for the past 23 years and have been answering questions on the newsgroup soc.religion.bahai since 1998.
Education/Credentials BA in Liberal Arts; Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and am currently working on an MA in psychotherapy.
Question Recently, I was reading up on the rules of the Bahai faith and I read that Bahai's
abstain from entering elections or joining political parties. I was wondering if
this could be explained a little further. I was wondering what the reasoning
behind this is. Many Bahai's seem educated and caring , which would seem
perfect for world politics. And would a Baha'i ever enter into politics regardless
of this rule to try and do good in the world?
Answer Dear Ryan,
Baha'is are supposed to abstain from "partisan politics", but they certainly can vote in elections as long as they are allowed to do so as an independent. They must look to the qualities of the person they are voting for and not to their party affiliation. Partisan politics, as you know, is where there are two or more parties which tend to be against one another as a matter of principle. The Baha'i Faith is all about unity. Baha'u'llah taught the principles for the unification of the human race in peace and harmony. When politics are purged from the partisan element of it, which we do believe will happen at some point in the future, Baha'is will be able to be involved in it, but for now we are more useful in the world as agents for unity and oneness. If we get caught up in partisan politics, we could get sucked into negativity and disunity and lose our main aim and purpose.
Baha'is are actually very active in the United Nations as a non-governmental organization and have been from its inception. The Baha'i International Community have offices at the UN in New York and Geneva. They were the co-chair of the non-governmental forum of the U.N. Millenium Summit in New York in 2000. At the Earth Summit in Rio in the early 1990's, attended by most of the world leaders including Bush Sr., the Baha'i International Community (BIC), was the only religious organization asked to speak at their plenary session.
Baha'is are also involved at the grassroots trying to promote racial equality, gender equality, rights for children, and human rights in general. Baha'is also have developed many of their own social and economic development projects in response to the needs of the communities in which they live. In a sense, all of this is political, but it isn't partisan. It is for the good of all.
