This thread and the links associated with it have opened "a dog's breakfast" of stuff in relation to the Baha'i Faith. The internet is now full of both accurate information about the Baha'i Faith and information which is far from accurate. this is also true of many other subjects in cyberspace. People need to do their own investigation. During most of Bahá'í histo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It has been some 4 years since I was last on this thread. As is often the case in cyberspace, if one waits long enough, many posts come onto a thread, posts which present diametrically opposed views. I leave it to readers with the interest to examine the views expressed on this thread. We all have to use our reason and examine the evidence. I'll post the following to keep this thread and its
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The link for the above article is: --Ron Price, Australia
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The article I referred to by Schaefer is found at the following link:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If readers go to Udo Schaefer's article Sect or Religion in Baha'i Studies, they will get an excellent analysis of this issue.-Ron Price, Tasmania
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Various studies have established five defining characteristics of a destructive cult: 1.) a leader demanding total authority, 2.) the use of "controlling" techniques, 3.) social and physical isolation, 4.) extreme or fanatical behavior, and 5.) secrecy and deception. A critical examination of the Bahai Faith shows that it does not embody any of these characteristics. The Bahai Faith als
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Let me post a series of items to establish the "non-cult status of the Baha'i Faith."-Ron Price, Tasmania ________________________ The disastrous outcome of the events surrounding Waco, Texas, and the Branch Davidians in 1993 was both shocking and terrifying to the American nation. For many, the horror of this terrible event -- and others like it -- has fostered skepticism and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

With a history going back to 1844 and even further back to various arguable dates into the 18th centur, one of which could be the birth of the first major precursor of this religion, Shaykh Ahmad, in 1743, the Baha'i Faith is far from being a 'New Religious Movement.' I wrote the following piece with thanks to Arnold Toynbee who wrote, in the early 1950s that the Baha'i Faith
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A DIFFERENT PENETRATION Shortly after I retired from full-time and from part-time work as well as from much of the voluntary work I had done for decades, I saw a documentary film(1) entitled The Weather Underground. I felt a certain nostalgia as I watched this television documentary since the complex and historical origins of the group at the centre of this TV doco, the Weathermen and later t
Forum: Hate Groups

In the last 25 years the world has witnessed the birth and renewal of hundreds of sects, denominations, cults, metaphysical systems, spiritual disciplines and mental and occult practices of many kinds. This welter of religious and para-religious groups display an astonishing variety in outlook, belief and practice. My purpose here is to define very briefly what the Baha'i Faith is and is no
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"