Eboo Patel has worked with Baha'is and has great respect for them, so there should be no stone-throwing here regarding his inclusiveness and walking the talk.

There are strange statements made here about Baha'is. A follower of Baha'u'llah is a Baha'i, not a "Baha'ist." Baha'is regard Baha'u'llah as the latest in the progression of Manifestations of God - those exceptional personages who are the revealers of the will and Word of God. Baha'u'llah ordained in the Baha'i scriptures themselves the composition and duties of The Universal House of Justice - the democratically elected world council and Head of the Baha'i Faith.

The conclusions of CCNL about the reasons for no Baha'is at the meeting Mr. Patel describes do not represent reality. The quotation he posts about the Universal House of Justice is from an excommunicant group of fewer than 100 members who oppose the Universal House of Justice and violate the identifying marks of the Baha'i Faith. One can learn about the Baha'i Faith, its spiritual life, its organization, and its interfaith work at www.bahai.org and www.bahai.us

OK. Let's talk about the holocaust.

Apart from the military and civilian casulties from war, Hitler murdered 11 million people of which roughly 6 million were Jews. Less than 4 million of these Jews were killed in the death camps (Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor and Chelmno). No Jews were gassed at Dachau or Ravensbruck and many others. Tens of thousands were murdered at these camps - shot, starved, beaten to death, worked to death, run over by vehicles, etc. Tens of thousands more didn't survive long enough to see a camp. They were murdered on the spot. Overall, 1/3 of of the total Jewish population of the world was exterminated. 1/2 of the world population of Roma were similarly murdered.

It isn't just the death camps or even the other camps. Jews were murdered everywhere.

Farnaz,

One of the least interesting parts of following these blogs is having to see, and then skim over, your adolescent "i'll show you mine if you show me yours" banter with CCNL. I am sad to learn that you, who displays at times great intellectual fluidity, are in truth an adolescent that is addicted to this futile penile conflict.

You are better than that, and all it takes is to resit engagement at the third grade level... You passed that year, I am sure. Why continually revisit it, and with a Martian? You do not need to drag this discussion down to the pit. Stop the addiction.

hey eboo your still one of my favorites... sorry i haven't been by to comment lately i've been painting and writing creatively, and doing photography and composing music on my electric guitar i rarely let anyone actually hear. i have also taken time actually trying to make a difference where i can in real life which can be a tedious process since the people i am trying to help have very poor ethics and do not wish me to change them lol. . maybe it will be this generation, composed of the young the middle age and aged with our instant communications, who will fulfill the honest aspirations and assertions, hopes and yes prayers to what may in fact be to the same God. what if we were all right that we worshiped the the greatest God and we were all wrong for not allowing other people to worship the same God in thier way. i don't claim to have the answer to this question but suggest it might be an interesting thought to contemplate. I have in my life at times taken a situation where i was right and allowed my actions or words to be wrong in asserting my right and rights. i do think it is important for people to actually stand up for what they believe in and even take the chance of being wrong in which case it becomes a learning experience. i would doubt i'm inthe minority worldwide here.. perhaps that is the answer to be right the right way. this is what i am doing in my life with a real situation and the other in this case institution or business is hoping desperately to change the subject but like i have said for some time.. it might be possible the greatest fear of liars cheats thieves and bully's is if people simple peacefully insist on the truth and public acknowledgment no matter how long it actually takes. i used to be a general manager for a fortune 100 company and my specialty was huge increases i sales and training managers and employees i suspect it was my detail to training that caused the other. ... i consider my situation a training problem with a a very highly educated but slow learning student lol. ph.d piled higher and deeper could be a true statement in some cases especially with college administrators.

First “World Conference on Untouchability” to be held in London, 9-10 June 2009
u.org/first-%E2%80%9Cworld-conference-untouchability%E2%80%9D-be-held-london-9-10-june-2009

And as ccnl's remaining brain cell struggles vainly for life, it asks

WWHD?

What Would Hitler Do?

One wonders why this self-proclaimed Catholic atheist is so pro-Catholic, so Romanish! One very strange brain cell!!!

Some added low-life, anti-semitic commentary made by Stadtbear that Farnaz conveniently forgets???

"Geseke wrote:
>There were autopsies conducted at Dachau by a U.S. Army doctor, but none showed that the person had been gassed.
Well of course not! The gas chamber at Dachau, which was installed as a hail-Mary effort by the Nazis at the near end of the war, was never used. Nobody was ever gassed at Dachau, thanks to the end of the war.
Posted by: stadtbear | February 13, 2009 2:25 AM"

And as ccnl's remaining brain cell struggles vainly for life, it asks

WWHD?

What Would Hitler Do?

One wonders why this self-proclaimed Catholic atheist is so pro-Catholic, so Romanish! One very strange brain cell!!!

Hmmm, the only anti-semitic remark I have seen on the On Faith blog pages was made by one Stadtbear who has since left the arena. Said low-life noted that the only thing about the Holocaust that he/she was sorry about was that it was not completed.

And as ccnl's remaining brain cell struggles vainly for life, it asks

WWHD?

What Would Hitler Do?

One wonders why this self-proclaimed Catholic atheist is so pro-Catholic, so Romanish! One very strange brain cell!!!

US-Conscience,

After added analyses, it appears that there were no Baha'ists at the prayer fest because the all-male governing body of the Baha'ists aka the Universal House of Justice would not approve the travel expenses.

Any other thoughts about the strange Baha'ist cult???

you are now entering the ccnl vs. farnaz all spin zone.

It is good that Mr. Patel correctly refers to the meeting also as a crowd. That is exactly what it was a crowd, and there is no problem with that. Crowds indeed did follow Jesus wherever HE went. Out of the crowds and IN the crowds, was the Church; Just as it is today. It's also good that the President Mr. Obama decided to do his prayers privately. Not making a spectacle of it, like the previous president did.

However exactly as it happened then in Jesus and the Apostles times. The Church that is IN the crowd if is really there. Will need to move on and at some point come out of the crowd and be the Church. Even if it is for an hour to really pray to God in Jesus name.

Otherwise, if that does not happen the Church IN the crowd has 2 options. First: while IN the crowd Pray to God the one and only, who created the Heavens and the Earth. The one who IS the Father of Jesus and also HIS God.

Second: opt to remain IN the crowd be part of the crowd and, risk 4 things to happen.
1- Be rejected and driven away by the crowd.
2- Be left alone by the crowd.
3- Be salt of the crowd, be light IN the crowd.
4- Like salt be dissolved in the waters.

Number 3 is the best case scenario.

Interesting, Eboo. You don't mention the Bahai, as ccnl notes. Why is that?
No Dalit. No Bahai.
Jews who are clueless about vous. Hmmmm....
Any Catholics? Plenty, I'd bet.

After added analyses, it appears that there were no Baha'ists at the prayer fest because the all-male governing body of the Baha'ists aka the Universal House of Justice would not approve the travel expenses.

Interesting, Eboo. You don't mention the Bahai, as ccnl notes. Why is that?
No Dalit. No Bahai.

Jews who are clueless about vous. Hmmmm....

Any Catholics? Plenty, I'd bet.

Is this why there were no Baha'ists at the prayer fest?? i.e. its strange, almost Mormon-like foundations??

– as the only Institution in the world that has the living descendant of King David as its president, the great grandson of 'Abdu'l-Baha seated upon the throne of King David which is to last forever (Psalm 89) – this House alone, the true UHJ, has the Divine Power and God given Knowledge through the “KEY of DAVID” to heal the world of all its ills and guide a wayward and forlorn humanity back out of the gloom of the darkness of war into the light of real fellowship, truth, felicity and brotherly love in the shade of the divine and holy Tree of Life – man reunited with God in the garden of God as this earth was meant to be – in fulfillment of this sacred verse."

Interesting, Eboo. You don't mention the Bahai, as ccnl notes. Why is that?

No Dalit. No Bahai. Jews who are clueless about vous. Hmmmm....

Any Catholics? Plenty, I'd bet.

"Do agnostics pray? Can any agnostic answer? And if they do, why & to what?"

That was the point of my original comment--if they were actually agnostics, they were either making a Pascal's wager, or simply faking it.

As a person who survived twelve years of catholic schooling, I can assure you that faking it is the course of least resistance.

Do agnostics pray? Can any agnostic answer? And if they do, why & to what?

What no Baha'ists at the prayer fest??

The great "babs" must be very unhappy!!!

Eboo, Dear,

How many Dalit were present at the prayer fest? How many Jews read the blog in which your over-educated self posted that the US got involved in WW II to save Jews?
Illiterates know better, dear, and so do you.

How many of those Jews know that in your laments over the tragedy in Mumbai, you failed to mention the specifically targeted young rabbi, his eight-month pregnant wife tortured to death in front of their four-year-old son? Your failure to mention that the murderers were sent with their address and directed to do as they did?

Do those Jews who prayed with you know this? And do they know of your cowardly silence regarding the Dalit? Do they know, Eboo?

Better get with the program, my man.

Worldwide outrage is on the way.

First “World Conference on Untouchability” to be held in London, 9-10 June 2009
u.org/first-%E2%80%9Cworld-conference-untouchability%E2%80%9D-be-held-london-9-10-june-2009

The Reality of Prayer 101

The subject of prayer relates directly to the subject of religions and their foundations.

And what has history, scriptural text reviews and archeology taught us about these foundations?

1. Abraham is the reported founder of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Based on all we know now, Abraham was at best a combination of three separate individuals with 1.5 million Conservative Jews no longer believing he existed at all. (ditto for all the characters in the OT).

references: National Georgraphic review on Abraham and http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0401torah.asp

2. The founders of Christianity and Islam were both illiterate. i.e. neither one proof read or approved the NT or the Koran so we are taking the word of scribes and embellishers with their own agendas.

references: NT exegetes from the last two hundred years, Karen Armstrong's reviews of Islam and http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

3. Christianity is based on the whim of Pilate, the false prophesy of the imminent second coming, and the sword of Constantine.

references: NT exegetes and their conclusions/books from the last two hundred years

Conclusion: Jewish, Christian and Islamic prayers have very little foundation to rely on. Therefore, Eboo Patel et al wasted their time in "prayer".

It is comparable to members of the Baha'i cult wasting their time believing in the great "babs"!!!

Eboo, Dear,

How many Dalit were present at the prayer fest? How many Jews read the blog in which your over-educated self posted that the US got involved in WW II to save Jews?
Illiterates know better, dear, and so do you.

How many of those Jews know that in your laments over the tragedy in Mumbai, you failed to mention the specifically targeted young rabbi, his eight-month pregnant wife tortured to death in front of their four-year-old son? Your failure to mention that the murderers were sent with their address and directed to do as they did?

Do those Jews who prayed with you know this? And do they know of your cowardly silence regarding the Dalit? Do they know, Eboo?

Better get with the program, my man. Worldwide outrage is on the way.

First “World Conference on Untouchability” to be held in London, 9-10 June 2009

u.org/first-%E2%80%9Cworld-conference-untouchability%E2%80%9D-be-held-london-9-10-june-2009

Eboo,

Just a suggestion, but don't you have enough to do? Couldn't you maybe devote more time to your day job?

"A crowd of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Agnostics, we prayed for peace, and for a capable, focused and visionary generation of leaders who would work together, drawing from the strength of their differences to tackle the major issues that our communities, our country and our world face."

First, are you sure that everyone actually prayed; I'm willing to bet that some of them were faking it--especially the agnostics.

Second, let me know when this prayer has been answered. As I'm sure you know, humans have been praying for peace, to any number of supernatural entities, for many thousands of years.