Discipline for the soul . . .

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Bahá’ís within the Thames Valley Bahá’í Community will be joining other Bahá’ís throughout the world for the annual Bahá’í fast in March.

The last month in the Bahá’í calendar – 2 March to 20 March – is dedicated to the Bahá’í fast. During this time Bahá’ís between 15 and 70 years old don’t eat or drink for 19 days from sunrise to sunset and also set aside time for prayer and meditation.

It was Bahá’u’lláh who designated a 19-day period each year when adult Bahá’ís fast each day. This period is the month immediately preceding the Bahá’í new year on 21 March.

The period of fasting is viewed as a time of spiritual preparation and regeneration for a new year’s activities.

New Year, new call for Iran to release Baha’is

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The United States Congress called on Iran to release Baha’is imprisoned solely for their religious beliefs in a resolution passed on 1 January 2013, expressing its condemnation of Iran’s “state-sponsored persecution” of Baha’is.

“The [Iranian] regime has sought to make life as a Baha’i in Iran simply unlivable,” said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in a statement before the vote. “This resolution draws attention to their plight, and calls on the Iranian regime to end its campaign of abuse against the Baha’i.”

The bill took note of Iran’s wrongful imprisonment of seven former Baha’i leaders, each currently serving 20-year prison terms. It also condemned the unjust arrest and incarceration of Baha’i educators and administrators of an informal community effort to provide for Baha’i youth otherwise excluded from higher education.

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