The U.S. Department of State has issued the following statement about the recent arrests:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today called for strong international condemnation of the arrest of Baha’i leaders in Iran.

On May 14, Iranian intelligence officials arrested six Baha’i leaders and took them to the notorious Evin prison. The imprisonments are ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Baha’i leaders were summarily rounded up and subsequently executed.

Close to 200 talented voices from throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Africa will sing works from Baha'i scriptures and those of other religions in the second annual Baha'i choral music concert at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent.

Diversity outdid itself at the recent 10th annual Baha'i International Convention in Haifa.

Members of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world have elected nine members to the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa.

Lisa Blecker’s Blessed Is the Spot: A First Prayer Book with animated DVD transforms a much-loved prayer by Baha’u’llah into a multimedia experience that sends souls and hearts soaring no matter what your beliefs.

On April 29, approximately 1,200 delegates from 170 nations will elect individuals to the nine-member Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. The election is held every five years at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel.

Try to imagine, if you can in this age of contention, a style of group decision-making in which participants arrive at a decision that everyone accepts with grace. No “owning” your ideas. No hurt feelings. No battling, blame or sour grapes.

Ten years ago, Michael O’Neal started a program to help dispel racial tension in the Savannah public schools. Called Parent University, the Baha'i-inspired program has attracted more than 4,000 participants and earned numerous awards. Recently the city of Savannah hired Mr. O’Neal and his staff to help 100 at-risk families.

What makes the Festival of Ridvan, celebrated April 21 to May 2, the holiest of days for Baha'is? It commemorates the anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s declaration in 1863 that He was the Promised One of all earlier religions.

Ed LaBonte
Athol, Massachusetts
Baha'i since November 2007

After being an atheist my whole life, I decided, as part of a midlife crisis, that there had to be something out there that was better than nothing. Secular humanists say you have to make your own meaning, but when you’re faced with a gigantic universe that doesn’t care about you, it’s hard to do.