I recently found out some of my relatives are Baha'i.

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coolcatholicguy

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This troubles me especially because one of my cousins in that family may be my best friend, and I guess I always assumed they were Catholic. I feel a little nervous talking about my Religion with them. Any advice on what I should do?

Thank you for any and all answers!
 
Well, they’re the same people they were before you knew this. And to paraphrase a greater mind then my own… share your faith with them and when you have to… use words. 😉
 
Don’t be afraid. On a philosophical level the Baha’i faith and Catholicism are surprisingly similar. The Baha’i faith is an extremely tolerant faith, more so than even Buddhists. It has a fascinating history, to be sure. If the subject of religion comes up, be sure to know your faith. You may also now want to research the Baha’i faith, to know what they believe, teach, and their history. Like Catholicism, history is a great conversion tool for them, especially against Christians who do not know their own faith via the promises in the Bible and have not been properly Catechized. So, i would advise studying your own faith, and that of your relatives, but wait until they bring up the conversation.
 
"And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mk 16:15)

We are not called to change their minds, only to plant the seeds & let Jesus enter their hearts!

Sancta Maria, Mate Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark
 
Well seeing as one of them could be considered a best friend you should probably just treat them the same way you did before you found out their religious beliefs. What difference should it really make if you were all on good terms before you found this out?
 
ZDHayden said:
but wait until they bring up the conversation.
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This is a problem, as they believe that all religions are OK! My brother is Baha’i, converted when he was working in Europe. It has changed his life for the better (but nothing he wouldn’t have learned if he had embraced the Catholic faith). He has a weird sense of history of the Catholic Church, and since my husband and I can refute his claims, he won’t talk about these things with us anymore. I found his prayer book when he was staying with us a few years ago; many of the prayers and meditations are from our faith (liturgical, saints) but attributed to “the Bab”. He is a very loving and devoted uncle to my kids, but there is no longer a strong bond between him and myself. He doesn’t stand a chance, in the long run, as the kids are always praying for him and reminding him that he was baptized a Catholic and no one can take that off his soul! :rolleyes:
 
coolcatholicguy said:
I feel a little nervous talking about my Religion with them. Any advice on what I should do?
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My advice would be don’t talk religion with them…talk about Christ to them. 🙂

There are claims the Baha’i make about Christ that are false, and can be refuted with scripture. They in essence have the same problem Islam has - they claim to come from a past tradition but contradict or ignore large parts of the tradition before him. The time of prophets, for example, ended with Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2), yet the Baha’i (and many other false religions, for that matter) claim we needed another prophet or two. The completion of Christ’s work on the cross and the sufficiency of His mercy should be emphasized to your family.

I know what it’s like to have family who are not believers, and I know it can be difficult. Because they’re close to you, you want to see them come to Christ a lot harder than a random person on the street, but keep in mind that you can only do your part and plant the seed or water the soil. It is God who causes the growth, and by His will alone growth will come. You simply have to be patient and submit to His will. 🙂
 
Love them with all your heart. Pray for them with all your heart. Talk to them.
 
Let them live their life as they see fit…trust me in our culture they are well aware of everything you could possibly tell them. if you try to convert them you will only push them away

i have pushed many “friends” away simply because i got tired of being told i needed to change who i was “or else”
 
coolcatholicguy said:
This troubles me especially because one of my cousins in that family may be my best friend, and I guess I always assumed they were Catholic. I feel a little nervous talking about my Religion with them. Any advice on what I should do?

Thank you for any and all answers!
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My wife is Baha’i. All her family are Baha’i. I almost became one. I never really knew much about my faith and the objections they made against it (mainly by my father in law) made a lot of sense to me. However I decided I had better learn something about the faith I was considering leaving and began to study Church history and theology. There was no turning back after that.

The Bahia’s faith is a new religion so most people are coverts to it. This means they generally know quite a bit about their faith and others and have a lot of passion. Many of the Baha’is I know are very decent people who have done a lot of pioneering in poor countries. My father in law and his family converted from Islam and had to flee Iran. I found my new family to be fascinating and spiritually rich. When I first began to study my own faith the similarities struck me immediately. From there I began to notice the inconstancies and inaccuracies of their history and theology. Some of the criticism laid against the Church by the Guardians of the Baha’i faith were so flawed it cemented my Catholic faith once and for all.

Their confidence and apparent knowledge can be very convincing. Their acceptance of other faiths and philosophical convictions can seem welcoming. If you want to discuss religion with them make sure you know your own. Also be prepared to get a little frustrated. They tend to have a elevated sense of spiritual maturity and believe in continuous progressive revelation. This causes them see other faiths as something akin to kindergarten and any time you show how their prophets completely contradict each other they just say “that was for that time and that people and now God has taught us this”. They will fall back on that every time you get them cornered. It drives me nuts.

That being said I love them all dearly and they have enriched my life, not to mention awaken me to my own faith.
 
coolcatholicguy said:
This troubles me especially because one of my cousins in that family may be my best friend, and I guess I always assumed they were Catholic. I feel a little nervous talking about my Religion with them. Any advice on what I should do?

Thank you for any and all answers!
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Love them anyway, and realize you did not know them as well as you thought to miss this. Or alternatively, you are not so far apart as you think.
 
CharlesDarwin said:
Let them live their life as they see fit…trust me in our culture they are well aware of everything you could possibly tell them. if you try to convert them you will only push them away

i have pushed many “friends” away simply because i got tired of being told i needed to change who i was “or else”
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And why don’t you quit pushing your false moral relativism on those who seek to live the Gospel?
 
JDZwiers19 said:
Their confidence and apparent knowledge can be very convincing. Their acceptance of other faiths and philosophical convictions can seem welcoming. If you want to discuss religion with them make sure you know your own. Also be prepared to get a little frustrated. They tend to have a elevated sense of spiritual maturity and believe in continuous progressive revelation. This causes them see other faiths as something akin to kindergarten and any time you show how their prophets completely contradict each other they just say “that was for that time and that people and now God has taught us this”. They will fall back on that every time you get them cornered. It drives me nuts.
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This is it exactly! Thanks for the insight.
 
zdon011 said:
And why don’t you quit pushing your false moral relativism on those who seek to live the Gospel?
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Now, I’m not certain that there AREN’T both sides to this, but I distinctly read that his problem wasn’t HIS pushing his beliefs, but his ‘friends’ constantly pushing theirs.

So, if “pushing your false moral relativism on those who seek to live the Gospel” is translated as “let us push our beliefs on you and tell you that you are going to hell/have beliefs that are inferior/are immoral,” then I can see a slight problem with perception. 😉
 
Ever since learning about the Bahai faith I have been among its admirers. What I especially like is Bahai respects for all religions. I don’t recall precisely, but I blieve they speak of nine - nine is sort of a ‘sacred’ number.
Code: 
 Adamant Christians, especially militant Catholics and Protestant fundamentalists, could benefit from adopting some of the tolerance for other beliefs which Bahais I know embrace. I don't agree with Bahaism, but give it an A+ for its open hearts and minds.

 Religion should serve as a bridge rather than a barrier.
 
I would respect Baha’i as individuals…but I would still preach Christ crucified to them and salvation in the cross, just as we are commanded to do so by the gospel. 🙂
 
dianaiad said:
Now, I’m not certain that there AREN’T both sides to this, but I distinctly read that his problem wasn’t HIS pushing his beliefs, but his ‘friends’ constantly pushing theirs.

So, if “pushing your false moral relativism on those who seek to live the Gospel” is translated as “let us push our beliefs on you and tell you that you are going to hell/have beliefs that are inferior/are immoral,” then I can see a slight problem with perception. 😉
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Diana, what fair wind blows you here?
CharlesDarwin’s (the poster’s, not the naturalist’s) friends had no right to force/pressure him into accepting their ‘beliefs’. But CharlesDarwin has no right to stop coolcatholicguy from sharing his beliefs with his Baha’i relatives, which was what he was suggesting in the OP.
If you had non-LDS relatives, wouldn’t you want to share your faith with them? Granted, I’m sure you wouldn’t ‘push’ it on them, but would you really consider their beliefs as objectively ‘true’ as LDS beliefs, if they were, say, Baha’i or secular humanism?

Threats of hell and damnation were exactly what I DID NOT want to bring into this.
But if you are determined to see the worst in my every post, so be it.

Yours in contrition,
zdon
 
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