The
Baha'i Faith in Newfoundland
Some Newfoundland and Labrador
Related Items
1.
Newfoundland
Roots
The first woman to become a confirmed
believer in the "Western world" (i.e outside the Middle East) in the
Baha'i
Faith was Kate Cowan Ives (1863-1927), in 1894/5 in Chicago. Her
parents were John H. and Catherine Cowan from Newfoundland who left for
the Boston States sometime before 1863. Kate Ives was born in
Orleans,
Massachusetts. She lived in the States for most of her life but is
known
to have visited Newfoundland in 1917 with another Baha'i woman.
2.
An
Early Talk on the Baha'i Faith
In 1914, Agnes Clift (Mrs. James Augustus
Clift) gave a talk about
"Bahaism, a Persian religion that espouses
a universal faith" to the Current Events Club at the Ladies Reading
Room in St. John's, Newfoundland (Pursuing Equality, Linda
Kealy).
It is not clear how she got her information, but "The Daily News" (January
17, 1914) reports of her talk indicate a good understanding of the
Baha'i
Faith. Agnes Clift had close family members living in Montreal at
the time and that may have provided a contact with the visit of ‘Abdu'l
Baha to Montreal in 1912.
Her talk focussed on the life and on-going effect of Tahirih
("The Pure One"), also known as Quarratu'l-`Ayn ("Solace of the Eyes"),
one of the earliest followers of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, and, in 1850,
an early martyr of the Baha'i Faith for her fearless expounding of the
principle of the equality of women and men, one of the core principles
of the Baha'i Faith.
3.
A
Prayer for Newfoundland
`Abdu'l-Bahá revealed a prayer for
"... a Mr. Crowe of Newfoundland ..." , probably Harry Crowe. It
was given to the Newfoundland community by Ruhiyyih Khanum (the former
Mary Maxwell of Montreal) after her visit to St. John's in 1982.
He is God!`Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas
O Thou kind Lord!
Though we are but Thy humble servants, endear us in Thine eternal Kingdom.
Though we are poor, enrich us through Thy heavenly Treasury.
Though we are ignorant, inform us of Thy mysteries.
We are dead, quicken us with the breaths of the Holy Spirit.
We are extinguished, set us ablaze with the Fire of Thy love.
O God! Look not upon our capacity, nay rather deal with us in accordance with Thine infinite bounty.
Suffer the drop to become an ocean and the seed a harvest.
Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Generous, and the Mighty!
4.
1916
Mention of Newfoundland
The province is explicitly mentioned in the
headings of a series of messages to the Baha'is of North America in
1916:
TABLET TO THE BAHÁ'ÍS OF CANADA AND GREENLAND5. From The Encyclopedia of NewfoundlandRevealed on April 5, 1916, in the garden adjacent to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, and addressed to the Bahá'ís of Canada—Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Mackenzie, Keewatin, Ungava, Franklin Islands—and Greenland.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 22)
6. Baha'i Marriage Ceremony
Recognized
(1982)
In 1983, the House of Assembly unanimously
passed a legislative amendment granting official recognition of the
Bahá'í
marriage ceremony. The first Baha'i marriage conducted in the province
was that of Suzanne and Hubert Schuurman, who lived for years in
Labrador,
and have recently been living in Hants Harbour. Much of their
time
in Labrador is captured in the book Tristan, the story of the
all-too-short
life of their son.
7. Formal Presentations to
Government
Leaders and Commissions
There have been official presentations of
matters respecting the Bahá'í Faith to Ministers of
Government,
and a wide number of community leaders. These include
a) The Wildfire
Dance Theatre
In the past two years, the local community
has hosted visits of The Wildfire Dance Theatre to the region.
This
troupe of young, energetic dancers bring a message on socially
important
issues to adolescent audiences. Topics include such themes as the
abuse of drugs, peer pressure, domestic violence and the equality of
women
and men. They performed in several local schools and other
venues.
b) The Points
of
Contact Conference
During 1997, there was discussion about the
challenge of reaching out into the entire Province of Newfoundland to
plan
a conference for the deaf and those related to and associated with
them.
The St. John's Assembly adopted this as a goal, with the view that the
work leading up to the conference would be at least as important, if
not
more important, than the conference itself.
The Points of Contact Conference, held in October 1998,
successfully
drew upon the support and resources from the private sector, federal
and
provincial governmental agencies, the sponsoring organizations, and the
Bahá'í community itself. This is a remarkable
demonstration
of ‘united in our views and thoughts', while permitting diversity of
method.
Furthermore it demonstrates the efficacy of consultation, since it
required
a persistent series of discussions and meetings to achieve this mutual
understanding and support.
c) The Open
Letter
Project
In 1998, the community prepared an Open Letter
from the Baha'is of Newfoundland and Labrador entitled "Facing the
Future
Together". This was widely distributed across the whole
province.
The main theme of this Open Letter was the effective use of
community-based
consultation to forge our collective future.
(The Open Letter is available on-line.)
d) "Words of
the
World"
In 1994, the Community sponsored an innovative
program in collaboration with Teachers on Wheels in celebration of
United
Nations' International Literacy Day on September 8.
Entitled "Words of the World", the program at the theatre
of the School of Music featured a wonderful evening of stories, poetry,
dance and song from a variety of cultures from as far afield as China,
El Salvador, Inuit, Iran, Russia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Uganda,
as well as a presentation from Teachers on Wheels on their projects in
support of adult literacy.
9. Size of the Local
Community
Baha'is are spread over the whole island,
with larger numbers in Corner Brook, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Mount
Pearl
and St. John's. Others are in spread over about 20 towns over the
whole province. Baha'is are not a visible ethnic minority
as
they come from all of the peoples and cultures of the world.
About
60% of the community are Newfoundland-born.
10. World-wide Recognition
of
the Baha'i Faith
While the Baha'i Faith may not have a high
profile in this province at this time, the Baha'i Faith and individual
members of the Baha'i community are widely recognized on the global
scene.
The following short excerpts are drawn from three sources:
Education
MILL BAY, Canada, 23 December 2004 (BWNS) -- Baha'i communities across Canada and Australia paid respect to the teaching profession at events that marked World Teachers' Day.NEW DELHI, 24 December 2003
(BWNS)
-- A 10-year-old girl made one of the most moving speeches at a
conference here that stressed the importance of educating girls.
Akansha Dhungyha told of the discrimination
she faced as a girl in her home village of Bhaktapur, in Nepal.
(Full Story: http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=269
)
FRANKFURT, 22 December 2002 (BWNS) -- The Club of Budapest has
honored
FUNDAEC, a radically new educational program, with the prestigious
Change
the World -- Best Practice Award for its achievements in providing high
school education and training to more than 50,000 people living in
rural
areas in South America.
In his speech at the award ceremony, Peter Spiegel,
the Secretary General of the Club of Budapest, characterized the
project
as "the most considerable revolution of education in the twentieth
century."
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=185)
LUCKNOW, India, 20 June 2002 (BWNS) -- City Montessori School, a
large
private school with a Bahá'í-inspired curriculum that
stresses
world citizenship and religious tolerance, has been awarded the 2002
UNESCO
Prize for Peace Education.
Awarded annually by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the honor was given to
City Montessori School (CMS) this year "in recognition of its efforts
to
promote the universal values of education for peace and tolerance and
to
renew the principles of secularism at a time when these values and
principles
are increasingly being challenged," according to UNESCO press
release
dated 6 June 2002.
Founded in 1959, the school has a reputation for
a high level of academic excellence -- and for a distinctive program of
moral and spiritual education. ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=165)
LUCKNOW, India, 2 January 2002 (BWNS) -- Fresh out of college and
newly
married, Jagdish Gandhi knew some 42 years ago that his main goal
in life was to serve humanity. And he felt educating children would be
a good way to do that.
So he borrowed 300 rupees (the equivalent of less than $10), rented
a couple of rooms, and founded City Montessori School in this historic
provincial capital in northern India. The school's first class
consisted
of five students.
Little did Mr. Gandhi imagine that it would one
day become the largest private school in the world -- or that it would
also become widely known for its distinctive emphasis on teaching
students
the value of world citizenship and religious tolerance. ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=146)
No. 423 (BINS) 30 November 1998
LIBERIA
Baha'is Invited to Participate in Moral Education Curriculum
Development
The Education Ministry invited representatives of
the Baha'i Faith to join Christians and Muslims in putting together a
curriculum
for religious and moral teachings in the country's schools.
Since being asked to take part in this endeavour,
a Baha'i has been added to both the Christian and the Muslim committees
which meet at different times. The Baha'i Faith has been
represented
at these meetings by D. E. Manneh Brown, principal of the William
Foster
Baha'i Academy. In fact, he was chosen as secretary to both the
Christian
and Muslim committees. ...
[Reports from "Liberian Highlights" Vol. 2, No. 1]
No. 382 (BINS) 15 March 1997
MACAU
School of the Nations Awarded for Innovative Secondary Curriculum
The School of the Nations has won first prize
in a contest organised by the Macau educational department for
innovative
secondary curriculum. The competition was initiated in May 1996,
and on 14 January 1997 the coordinator was informed of the result.
The same programme won third prize in a
contest
organised by International Schools Services for community service
programmes
at international schools around the world. This award received
excellent
publicity in six newspapers and on the radio, and television stations
broadcast
interviews with staff and students. ...
[Report from the School of the Nations received 20 February]
Institutional and Government Relations
UNITED NATIONS, 3 March 2005
(BWNS)
-- Baha'is played prominent roles last month at the 10-year review of
the ground-breaking World Summit for Social Development.
Baha'i International
Community representative Bahiyyih Chaffers chaired
one of the main panel discussions at the one-day Civil Society Forum
held 8 February 2005 in association with the review, which ran from
9-18 February.
(Full Story: http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=354
)
NEW YORK, 15 May 2002 (BWNS) -- Decrying the persistence of
religious
prejudice as a barrier to global peace and prosperity, the
international
governing council of the Bahá'í Faith has addressed a
message
to the world's religious leaders. Bahá'í
communities
around the world are conveying it to religious leaders in all their
countries,
thus transmitting its appeal that they act decisively on the need to
eradicate
religious intolerance and fanaticism.
"With every day that passes, danger grows that the
rising fires of religious prejudice will ignite a worldwide
conflagration
the consequences of which are unthinkable," writes the Universal House
of Justice in the message addressed simply "to the World's Religious
Leaders."
(Full
text available at: http://www.bahai.org/article-1-1-0-1.html)
"Tragically, organized religion, whose very reason
for being entails service to the cause of brotherhood and peace,
behaves
all too frequently as one of the most formidable obstacles in the path;
to cite a particularly painful fact, it has long lent its credibility
to
fanaticism," the appeal states. "We feel a responsibility, as the
governing
council of one of the world religions, to urge earnest consideration of
the challenge this poses for religious leadership." ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=159)
One Country, January–March 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4,
page
8
TURIN, Italy (OC) — Eighty percent of the automobiles made in Italy
are manufactured in this bustling northern Piedmont city. Home of the
Fiat
Group, workers here build Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo cars, as well as
Iveco trucks.
Turin is also the home of the International Training Centre
(ITC),
an arm of the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO). The ITC
seeks
to "assemble, package and deliver the best thinking, practice, and
experience
— at global level — concerning issues related to the world of work."
Over the last few years, a major concern at the Centre, as well
as of workers and industrialists in Turin — and, indeed, in Europe as a
whole — has been how to "restructure" businesses in a way that causes
the
least harm to owners, employees, and communities.
Restructuring often means laying off workers
in the search for greater efficiency. Global competition has put
pressure
on companies like Fiat to improve productivity and profits. Late last
year,
for example, Fiat proposed laying off some 8,100 workers in just such a
restructuring plan, a move that was met with strikes and protests here.
In the search for answers, the ILO has chosen
to collaborate with the European Bahá'í Business Forum
(EBBF),
a private voluntary association that promotes, among other things, the
application of spiritual principles to economic problems.
Since 2000, the EBBF and the ILO have produced
a joint paper and sponsored a series of workshops, all on the topic of
"socially responsible enterprise restructuring." Many of the workshops
have been held at the ILO Centre in Turin, and many have featured the
participation
of the EBBF's Secretary-General, George Starcher. ...
(Full Story: http://www.onecountry.org/e144/e14408as_EBBF_story.htm)
No. 329 (BINS) 30 November 1994
INDIA
Supreme Court Quotes from a Baha'i Booklet in Landmark Ruling
In a landmark decision involving tensions
between two major communities, India's Supreme Court quoted three
paragraphs
from a Baha'i booklet, "Communal Harmony - India's Greatest Challenge",
stating that "a neutral perception of the requirement for communal
harmony
is to be found in the Baha'i Faith".
In 1993, violence between the Hindu and Muslim
communities was sparked by a controversy over a 16th century mosque,
which
is said to stand on the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple.
The government of India referred this matter
to the Supreme Court, who in their judgement, which consists of 200
pages,
commented directly and favourably on the teachings of the Baha'i Faith.
...
[Report from the National Spiritual Assembly received 3 November]
(Link: "Communal Harmony -
India's Greatest Challenge")
Recognition of Individuals
JAMESTOWN, St. Helena, 29 August 2003 (BWNS) -- Two Baha'is who have
contributed to societies on remote islands have received high awards
for
their services.
Basil George, who led a successful attempt to
restore British
citizenship
to the people of the St. Helena, has received an OBE (Officer of the
Order
of the British Empire) for his services to his birthplace, which lies
about
midway between South America and Africa.
Robin White, a New Zealander who lived with her
family in the Pacific nation of Kiribati from 1982 to 1999, has been
appointed
a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for
services
to painting and printing. Much of her recent work depicts Kiribati. ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=243)
LONDON, 1 July 2003 (BWNS) -- Two members of the Baha'i Faith who
left
their home countries to contribute to the development of other
societies
will receive awards from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in
July
2003.
Bruce Saunders, an Australian living in the Solomon Islands, and David
Lambert, an Englishman now living in Mongolia, will receive an OBE and
MBE respectively.
An OBE is an Officer of the Order of the British
Empire, and an MBE is a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
These
awards are made in some countries of the British Commonwealth for
valuable
service to the nation. They rank below a knighthood. The OBE is the
higher
award. ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=228)
NEW YORK, 13 June 2003 (BWNS) -- The principal representative of the
Baha'i International Community to the United Nations was yesterday
elected
to chair the main committee of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
concerned
with women's issues at the UN in New York.
Bani Dugal will serve for two years as Chair of
the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, at which time she will be
eligible
for a second two-year term.
As Chair of the Committee, Ms. Dugal will work with
all departments at the United Nations to promote the advancement of
women
and girls and the equality of women and men. ...
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=222)
HAMILTON, Canada, 15 May 2003 (BWNS) -- Mehran Anvari first
discovered
his love for surgery in high school while dissecting frogs and other
small
animals.
"I was pretty good in dissection class, and I felt
this was something I really enjoyed," said the 43-year-old Canadian
physician.
"I remember we did dogfish, we did frogs, we did rats."
Dr. Anvari has come a long way from carving up
specimens
preserved in formaldehyde. The founder and director of the Center for
Minimal
Access Surgery (CMAS) at McMaster University here, he is among the
world's
leading practitioners of laparoscopic surgery. .
(Full Story: http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=210)
