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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... sociological techniques of investigation as well as survey analysis and archival research . I have tried to combine these various methods of research into a single narrative about a particular religious community and their distinctive ...
... sociological theory ; and I believe my socio- logical training as a researcher has given me the discipline to resist ... sociologist when- ever I went to Bahá'í gatherings . Since it was not uncommon for people to take notes or record ...
... sociological research has instilled in me a lifelong ability to engage in participant observation , interviewing , and questionnaire construc- tion ; her skill in combining qualitative and quantitative research methods is one I hope to ...
... sociological study of the Bahá'ís illustrates how one particular social movement manages the inherent tensions associated with globalization.2 The two discussions below , of two very different Bahá'í events , serve to il- lustrate what ...
... the 1960s . One of the chief theorists of this sociological process has defined globalization as referring to " both the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole 8 THE BAHÁ'Í.
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 | |
Other editions - View all
The Bahá'í: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity Michael McMullen No preview available - 2000 |