The Bahá'í: The Religious Construction of a Global IdentityRutgers University Press, 2000 - 246 pages The Bahá'í Faith is one of the fastest growing, but least studied, of the world's religions. Adherents view themselves as united by a universal belief that transcends national boundaries. Michael McMullen examines how the Bahá'í develop and maintain this global identity. Taking the Bahá'í community in Atlanta, Georgia, as a case in point, his book is the first to comprehensively examine the tenets of this little-understood faith. McMullen notes that, to the Bahá'í, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed are all divinely sent teachers of 'the Truth', whose messages conform to the needs of their individual cultures and historical periods. But religion--which draws from the teaching of Bahá'u'lláh, a nineteenth-century Persian--encourages its members to think of themselves as global citizens. It also seeks to establish unity among its members through adherence to a Bahá'í worldview. By examining the Atlanta Bahá'í community, McMullen shows how this global identity is interpreted locally. He discusses such topics as: the organizational structure and authority relations in the Bahá'í "Administrative Order"; Bahá'í evangelicalism; and the social boundaries between Bahá'ís and the wider culture. |
From inside the book
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... Bahá'í : the religious construction of a global identity / Michael McMullen . p . cm . Includes bibliographical references and index ... U.S. copyright law . Manufactured in the United States of America To my wife , Katie , and my daughter ,
... Bahá'í Center near downtown Atlanta . I spent four to five hours each week ... Bahá'í Archives Committee had just begun cataloguing all their records when I ... American culture , I did not feel I could in this context adequately address ...
... National Bahá'í Archives in Wilmette , Illinois for helping me find additional material on Atlanta and the American Bahá'í community during re- search trips in June 1994 and July 1998. A special thanks to Clark Denny for always lending ...
... American gospel styles , using native instruments . The event culminated in live satellite broadcasts from the Bahá'í World Center in Haifa , Israel , and from Bahá'í cen- ters in Western Samoa , Argentina , Romania , India , Russia ...
... Bahá'í Faith to lead to ] the unification ... of the nations and peoples of the earth " ( quoted in The American Bahá'í , 31 December 1992 , 2 ) . The affirmation of unity and fellowship was reinforced not only by official events ...
Contents
Carriers and Converts | 15 |
The Bahaf Administrative Order | 34 |
Authority in the Administrative Order | 56 |
Personal Devotion and Organizational Participation | 76 |
Boundaries and Identity | 109 |
Teaching the Bahaf Faith | 126 |
Thinking Globally Acting Locally | 152 |
Conclusion | 175 |
Atlanta Bahaf Questionnaire | 185 |
Historical Overview | 193 |
The Bahai Calendar | 197 |
Notes | 199 |
229 | |
243 | |
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The Bahá'í: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity Michael McMullen No preview available - 2000 |