The sky's the limit, unless you've got a vagina.

Listen to a Bahá'í justify the gender inequality in his religion. Ask him to glorify the role of women as child rearers. Ask him to elucidate upon `Abdu'l-Bahá's discription of their station in life as spiritual rather than political. Ask him to alight upon the sublime wisdom of the Bahá'í inheritance guidelines in the Aqdas. Ask him to describe to you how much of a blessing it is for women that they are not required to go on pilgrimage.

It won't be long until you're struck with the sensation that you've been chatting with a Muslim.

If you don't happen to be blessed with your own vagina, you should take care not to become too fond of that thing that you're fortunate to be without. It's best to like vaginas just enough to give oneself an inclination to procreate.

But don't go overboard with that sexual detachment. A noticable lack of affection for procreation might indicate a spiritual disorder of the sort the ancient Greeks were afflicted with.

Sometimes I wonder whether the Bahá'ís failed to get a second guardian because of some such lack of affection for the fairer sex on the part of their first guardian. As a young Bahá'í, I always had a sense that there was something special about the pictures of the Guardian that passed before me. He looked so—boyish.

The Bahá'í Faith is not out of the ordinary with regard to sexual morality. It is quite well in line with Islám, which ought take no one by surprise. Still, this should not put anyone under the impression that Bahá'ís are noteworthy for their sexual restraint. There are of course no hard numbers on Bahá'í sexual behavior, but I can confidently say that in spite of the small size of the Bahá'í communities that I have typically known, I have had no problem encountering adultery, child molestation, and pedaphilia. I have no reason to believe that my experience has been atypical. Boys will be boys —Bahá'ís are certainly no exception to that rule.