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Video: Baha'i Interfaith Work Increases After 9/11

Community encourages peaceful relations with the Muslim community.

 

This story is part of a Patch series examining the Muslim experience 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks. Read other stories in the series here.

Like many religious groups, the Bahá’í International Community saw the need for a renewed call for openness and friendship with Muslims in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Two months after the attacks, the group issued a statement in The New York Times to encourage peaceful relations with the Muslim community.

"It was a statement talking about the peril we’re in right now, and trying to remind us how the Bahá’í writings say that America has a spiritual destiny to bring the world together," said Ellen Price, the U.S. Bahá’í National Center's assistant director in the office of communications in Wilmette.

The post-9/11 missive, The Destiny of America and the Promise of World Peace, states that the United States "will evolve through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations, and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace."

The Bahá’í religion emphasizes spiritual unity and encourages the acceptance of diverse races, as well as cultures. In the 10 years since the attacks, Price, who worked in the Bahá’í offices in the United Nations building in New York City during 9/11, told Patch that religious tolerance and interfaith work has grown. 

"It was a reminder to encourage world peace, as well as peace towards Muslims, in the wake of the attacks." Price said. "One of the wonderful things to see in the past 10 years is how when another religion has had a difficulty or been persecuted in some way, to have the other religious leaders come together to assist them.”

Watch the video above to hear how the Baha’i community has seen an increase in tolerance and interfaith work. Stay tuned to Patch for more 9/11 memories. Like Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch on Facebook to join the conversation.

Related Topics: 9/11 and Bahai

cris

6:24 am on Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Easy to say in Wilmette, hard to do in Kabul.

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Bill Collins

9:18 am on Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Baha'is in Afghanistan are working for the same and they are not naive. They recognize that most of their neighbors are Muslims with spiritual values. They also can recognize which ones are extremists. The question is whether we who are people of faith reflect the deepest spiritual values of our traditions, or respond in fear and begin to undermine our own values.

Candace Hill

9:01 am on Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I would guess that there are many families in Kabul that have relatives in Chicago. They come here, when they can, to gain education and work experience that then can be used to improve conditions at home. When Muslims living in Chicago are accepted as fellow human beings and appreciated for their faith of service and peace, that does make a difference in Kabul. Our example of how we live together here, in peace, ripples all around the world.

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woof woof

4:05 pm on Thursday, April 12, 2012

America is in the Bible. Rev 13 A beast rising out of the earth with 2 horns like a lamb, but now we speak like a dragon. America is the false prophet in the Bible, because we have sold out to the papacy. ( the false messenger)

By exalting papal doctrines here in America, this country does speak like a dragon, Satan or Rome

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