Close your eyes to racial differences . . .

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Baha'i community sponsoring Race Unity Day event
Baha’i community in Springfield, Oregon, USA at a Race Unity Day event. Reprinted by courtesy of Bahá’í International Community.

Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, implored people to: “Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness.”

It was this which inspired the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States to inaugurate Race Unity Day in 1957 to promote racial harmony and understanding. It has been held every year since then on the second Sunday in June.

Shawn Khorassani, of the Thames Valley Baha’i Community, said: ” The purpose of Race Unity Day is to focus attention on racial prejudice, which Baha’is believe is the most challenging moral issue facing our nation.

“Writing in the mid-1800s, Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, stated  that humanity is a single race. He called on the world to recognize the principle of human oneness in all spheres.

“Worldwide, Baha’is have sought to build a model of racial integration by embracing people from all races, backgrounds and classes of society.”

 

Former Baha’i leaders marked anniversary behind bars

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Iran’s former Baha’i leaders began their fifth year in prison in May (14 May) amid an intensification of the persecution of their co-religionists.

Thames Valley Baha’i Myra Erbenova said: “The seven prisoners each face the bleak prospect of more years in jail for crimes they did not commit.

“The date also marked the first anniversary of raids on homes of Baha’is associated with an informal initiative offering higher education to community members barred from university. Nine educators later received harsh prison sentences. We remembered them all in our prayers and hope that the day will soon come when they are freed.”

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