The excursion to the Baha’i faith offices was a very interesting and enlightening experience. Their religion is based around the fact that there is only one god; in other words, the god that is found in Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religions is in fact one and the same. This god has sent different prophets down to the world across time, and these can be found in varying religions. I find this to be intriguing, as I have always thought that the big 3 religions mentioned above are extremely similar and do worship the same god, but with different beliefs surrounding the entity. This has made me repeatedly question why so many wars have been fought in the name of religion, especially when religions call for peace and loving thy neighbors. Therefore, the pacifist stance that the Baha’i religion takes on is valuable to me.
Dan Wheatley was a very kind and informative man who explained to us the role of the Baha’i faith in daily life. We talked less so about religious matters than the community aspect of religion. The Baha’i faith revolves around equality, which is why they played a part in the fight for women’s voting rights in the UK in the early 20th century. Despite being a relatively new religion (founded in 1844 by Mirza Ali Mohammed in Iran), it spread relatively quickly to various parts of the world and has found a respectable following. This group pledges themselves to better the community and takes part in social justice movements. However, that being said, only opposite-sex couples are allowed to be married in their places of worship, which is something that western followers sometimes struggle with. I think if the religion truly revolves around equality and wants to engage themselves with the community, they have to be accepting of all. However, as a religion which formed in the Middle East near the Muslim religion, which is also intolerant of the LGBTQ+ community, I’m not sure they will be heading in that direction anytime soon.
One story that Dan Wheatley told us about the Baha’i faith which relates to public relations and crisis control is about David Kelly and the Iraq War. Kelly was a scientist in the UK who helped to get rid of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the war in the 90’s. Therefore, when the UK and US used these supposed weapons to justify war in 2003, and Kelly (anonymously) stated that he did not find these claims valid, he faced serious problems with the government. He was called in by British intelligence to give information about the situation, and a few days later was found dead. This led to serious questioning over the cause of death, and, despite his faith having nothing to do with the matter, it was found out that Kelly was a follower of Baha’i. The small religion that has never been brought to the forefront of mass media all of a sudden had to deal with the countries, and even the world’s, attention. Wheatley worked on the governmental side of the office and his two co-workers worked directly in the offices. They had to explain what the religion was and explain how they knew nothing of the Kelly situation. The advice Wheatley and his colleagues received from the religion’s headquarters was as follows: “Tell the truth and don’t be speculative.” This is great advice, as it allowed the office to simply state their lack of knowledge regarding the situation. Although it did not give the media what they wanted to hear, it took the attention off of them.
This is a clear example of good public relations strategies and deflecting negative attention. I think the Baha’i faith, at least in the UK, has a good system going on all-around, too. They elect 8 people every year based on who they think will make the best decisions for the community. People are not allowed to advertise themselves prior to the election, so it is truly based on feeling and knowledge of the candidates’ personality. Dan was kind enough to tell us all about his experience and I am glad for the new knowledge that came with the trip.
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