Dear National Spiritual Assembly of the United States,
There are three matters I would like to discuss in my letter. First,
it is long overdue that I officially write a letter to resign from the
Faith. I have embraced the investigation of truth since I was 12.
When I
was 18, the Baha’i Faith found me, and it resonated with my heart.
After being embraced by the amazing community in Baltimore, MD, and
immersed myself in the love of the Faith, I became a Baha’i within a
year. I made a fatal assumption at the age of 18, however. Considering
the acceptance of all people in the Faith, and the amount of love I
experienced when I met the Baltimore Baha’i’s, I assumed that the LGBT
community was fully accepted, embraced, and allowed to be themselves.
Soon after becoming a Baha’i, I learned that was not true. I was
devastated, and contended with the issue for many years. I tried to find
reconciliation, and made justifications and excuses despite how much it
hurt my heart and soul--but I still stayed a Baha’i.
When I was
26, something strange and unexpected happened. I began to be able to
see, hear, and communicate with other-dimensional beings (spirits,
angels, ghosts--whatever you feel comfortable calling them). I was
scared, and I sought comfort and understanding in the Baha’i writings,
but I was left without such things. In fact, Abdu’l Baha said there were
no such things as ghosts. How could that be when I see them everywhere?
I was distraught, and considering I have always continued my
investigation of truth since I became a Baha’i, I ventured elsewhere for
answers. This journey took me to some incredible places, but my
research was quickly drawing me away from the Faith. I resonated most
with near death experience stories (first of which was Renee Pasarow’s
NDE!) that confirmed all of the information I was gathering as my medium
abilities opened up. Paired with this, I have been a Reiki practitioner
since I was 16, and a Master by 27, and my healing abilities began
transforming and transcending along with my expansion of consciousness.
Near death stories continued to confirm and expand my understanding of
healing.
The existence of many kinds of multidimensional beings
and the phenomena of past lives have all been confirmed. These are now
facts in my life that I must accept to be who I am, and do what I do.
The Faith does not support these beliefs. This investigation has also
led me to the knowledge that my heart knew all along, and science, of
course, has been confirming: being gay is okay, natural, and accepted by
God. In fact, many of the rules established in most religions serve no
Divine purpose--only that of the ego. And since then, I choose to live
free of the egoic constrictions of any religion, as I see that they do
not serve me, only hurt me.
I believe that Baha’u’llah and the
Manifestations before and after Him are great Masters--and in their
unbound Spirit, they are better at being these great Master-- however, I
believe that any Spirit residing in the flesh can still only profess
spiritual truths through the filter of the human ego. As conscious as
Baha’u’llah was, He still saw the world through the lens of His
relationship between his Spirit and His ego while residing in the body,
thus increasing the fallibility of any Manifestation’s word--and this
includes the perceptions of experiences during a near death event, and
undoubtedly my own spiritual experiences. I approach everything from a
scientific perspective, and I am a natural skeptic. When I read near
death stories, I don’t take each singular story verbatim.
The truth lies
within the innate essence of all the stories. The similarities. The
ultimate truths that pervade outside of the realm of ego, human error,
and perception. I see these same similarities and truths among the many
faiths and religious institutions, which are the heart and meat of all
that truly matters.
Based on the accounts of stories like
Howard Storm’s near death event, a Baha’i belief was confirmed: that all
religions are right and serve a purpose in their own way. Therefore, I
still hold great respect for the Faith, and I believe that those who
feel they must be Baha’i, Christian, Muslim, etc. in their hearts, must
indeed be to serve their purpose, and experience life as they were meant
to.
We all come here with a desire to experience this earthly realm
through particular filters, and the choice of religion and spiritual
beliefs is one of those filters. There are only some faiths that delay
the soul from uniting with Oneness, but the Baha’i Faith, I assure you,
is not one of them.
I am grateful for the role the Faith has
played in my life, these last 11 years. It has served my growth. My
journey now has taken me away from the Faith as I continue to learn,
investigate, grow, and be true to my purpose. I do not wish to be
contacted by any Baha’i members, especially by those part of this area’s
Local Spiritual Assembly--to which I will explain why with my third
matter.
* * *
While I respect the growth and journey of
the Baha’i Faith, I cannot complete my letter without addressing the
harm the Faith does by adhering to its outdated beliefs and treatments
toward the LGBT community. All the science one could ever need is
available, and I am sure many hurt and disgruntled people have sent all
the scientific research showing the natural existence, and necessity of
people who identify within the LGBT spectrum. When I researched data, I
found that it is natural in many mammals to have a small percentage of
gay spectrum animals, and they often provide surrogate families for
abandoned young (Bagemihl, 1999). When I applied this to humans, I took
the number of estimated gay couples in the US, and paired it with the
number of children currently in foster care. If just a quarter of
estimated gay couples adopted 2 kids each, there would be NO CHILD in
the US foster care system.
Children of gay couples have been shown to be
more intelligent, compassionate, and driven. And gay parents will not
have an accidental child, and often go through great lengths to become
parents, making them less likely to take their gift for granted, and be
more educated in parenting (Pawelski, 2006). Gay people not only make
suitable parents, but exceptional parents--which also translates to
minimal to 0% of cases of child abuse in same-sex parent homes (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/lesbians-child-abuse-0-perc…). Kids in foster care deserve loving homes, same-sex or otherwise.
If that isn’t enough proof of the need for same-sex acceptance and
rights, the only other proof I can offer is that of near death
experiences, which provide a spiritual window into how God treats
homosexuality. In all near death experiences, who the people had sex
with, when they had sex with them, and whether or not they were married
mattered not during the life review process post death.
God, nor any
Divine Being witnessing the life review had no care, judgment, or
concern over these matters (http://www.near-death.com/experiences/gay-and-lesbian.html).
What was understood by more detailed stories, was that those we
encountered and interacted with were often part of a Divine purpose.
Same-sex relationships were just as destined as opposite-sex
relationships (http://www.near-death.com/…/exp…/mellen-thomas-benedict.html).
Currently, The Faith is harming a portion of its own population by
excluding the LGBT community. While the Faith preaches oneness and love,
many communities do not know how to contend with their beliefs, and
facing LGBT Baha’i’s. Because of this, they are often quietly shunned
and excluded from activities. Some may be approached with hostility.
Some others are approached by members who think they can say it’s okay
to be who you are, you just can’t act on your feelings; they are a
temptation you must resist; etc., but this leaves these people feeling
trapped, unheard, invalidated, and physically ill with being in their
own bodies. These words are just as harmful as the hostility, and can
lead one to feeling hopeless and suicidal. Attempting to justify the
existence of LGBT individuals through the limited scope of the Faith is
not just hurting these individuals, but the Baha’i community as a whole.
The Faith cannot progress if a part of its family is suffering, and I
foresee a decay in the Faith until this illness is repaired.
* * *
I am confident, comfortable, and happy with my decision to leave the
Faith, though remorseful for the reasons. It feels right with every
fiber of my being. I must follow my heart. I do not wish to be contacted
to be persuaded otherwise, and considering my feelings towards the
community here, I definitely do not seek council with any of these
particular individuals. I must continue to follow my truth wherever it
leads me, or I will not feel whole. I pray for the Faith that it grows,
heals, and becomes what this world needs, otherwise it will only become
part of the decay. Abdu'l-Bahá says: 'If religion be the cause of
disunity, then irreligion is surely to be preferred.' (Compilations,
Bahiyyih Khanum, p. 202) Such a commonly used quote among Baha’i’s, and
yet, I have seen so much disunity without proper concern and
rectification. I pray for change. I think the Baha’i Faith has the most
potential of the religions, but what good is that potential if it
already appears to be decaying within its first 300 years of birth. I am
not the only person waking up to spiritual abilities and insight.
There
is a shift happening that no religion can control. The Baha’i Faith has
the potential to keep up only if it is willing to let go of its own
traditions and ego, or it shall be among the archaic faiths that could
not accommodate the Spirit, and will fade into the past. I think the
Baha’i Faith can be way more than that.
With love, regards, and best wishes
NE
References
Bagemihl, B., Ph D. (1999). Biological exuberance: Animal homosexuality
and natural diversity. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Retrieved on
April 10, 2010, from Google Books
http://books.google.com/books…
&dq=biological+exuberance+by+bruce+bagemihl&source=bl&ots=xZoMVv9N
N9&sig=zuovP2ctTB4xAsoWEYl2Dm76fGE&hl=en&ei=9_nAS4agHsWhngf0y
5z3CQ&sa=X&oi=book_resul
t&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
Pawelski, J. G. MS, Perrin, E. C. MD, Foy, M. J. MD, Allen, C. E. MD,
Crawford J. E. MD, Del Monte, M. JD, Kaufman, M. MD et. al. (July 3,
2006). The effects of marriage civil union, and domestic partnership
laws on the health and well-being of children. Retrieved April 10,
2010, from American Academy of Pediatrics from:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/…/cont…/full/118/1/349
