Rotating exhaust vent: inspiration for a new generation of Bahá’í temples.
©2017 Kaweah (Dan Jensen)
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Tag Archives: laughs
In Geologic Times
Not so long ago,
I came upon Half Dome
half done, shrouded
in oak scaffolding.
Squinting my eyes,
I noted stocky little men
on the network of hardwood
toothpicks
with rosy cheeks and
beards like their bellies,
some chiseling away at the granite,
some polishing.
Looking again at all that
scaffolding, I recalled
how spacious the forests
and the meadows had been
before the white rangers came
and saved everything, and then
I thought, well,
these guys did it!
But what about the glaciers,
I inquired of one of the little people
who’d come by to offer me a pint.
What’s a glacier, he asked me.
Some kind of elf?
© 2013 Kaweah
The Lost Prophet of the Millennium
Remember the old Y2K scare? We generally look back at that anxious time as an anticlimax, understanding that nothing much happened at the turn of the millennium. I remember how the Bahá’ís expected world peace to flower by the end of the 20th Century. Since then, many Bahá’ís have sought out alternative interpretations of their failed peace prophecy.
Mustaghath, shortly before his occultation
I say “failed,” but I know something that most Bahá’ís don’t. Truth be told, at the close of the year 2001, on the very last day that fell within the Y2K window, a young prophet discovered his calling. Evidence of this portentous moment can be found with the help of the tool known to nostalgic Web surfers as the WayBack Machine:
This page doesn’t provide any actual information on the youthful prophet, but information would soon be forthcoming:
The hour is approaching when the most great convulsion will have appeared. I swear by Him Who is the Truth! It shall cause separation to afflict everyone, even those who circle around Me….
—Baha’ullah (Mar 29, 2002)
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The latest target of BIGS Legal
I recently decided that I didn’t really want to say any more about the Rocky Mountain Bahá’ís, that is, the O’Bahá’ís (Orthodox Bahá’ís) of New Mexico and the BUPCees (Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant) of Montana. It’s obvious that they’re irrelevant and seeing as I have taken the position that the Guardianship was a bad idea to begin with, I don’t really see the point of promoting their desperate causes.
Guardianship? For those not in the know, a Guardian is a sort of Bahá’í Imam or Ayatollah.
Anyhow, The BUPCees are just too kooky and fragmented, and the O’Bahá’ís—they’re just boring. What have they done for me lately?
But then I was reminded that these two pathetic minorities have recently been getting bullied in court by the dominant Bahá’í organization, henceforth referred to as the BIGS™ Corporation, or BIGS™ Inc.
Word on the street has it that the BIGS™ (Bahá’ís In Good Standing) have been diverting construction funds into litigation against those minuscule mountain communities, so I couldn’t help but take notice. And what are they suing the O’Bahá’ís and BUPCees for? Exclusive rights to Bahá’í terms such as “Bahá’í,” “UHJ,” and “The Greatest Name.”
“The Greatest Name”—now who wouldn’t want to corner that?
“The mainstream Baha’is have responded with a lawsuit that tries to bar the orthodox from calling themselves Baha’i and sharing the “The Greatest Name,” a sacred and trademarked symbol. Baha’is believe they are not only safeguarding their identity. They are defending the truth with a capital T.
“The Orthodox say that is not a matter for the courts to decide.”
—Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2009
At present, BIGS™ Inc is losing. They lost to the BUPCees in 2005 and then lost to the O’Bahá’ís in 2008. The latter case is being appealed. Stay tuned. The Chicago Tribune is on the case.
“… the Court finds that the alleged contemnors are not in contempt …”
How minority Bahá'í attorneys of the future will get to court.
I wonder how well paid the BIGS™ Inc legal team is. I wonder whether the BIGS™ Inc lawyers are themselves BIGS™ members. Then again, who cares?—I just hope they’re well paid. But I digress.
As for the mountaineers, can they even afford attorneys? I’m surprised that they can even afford airline tickets to Chicago. Then again, maybe they left the driving to Greyhound. Speaking of Greyhound, check this ride—but I digress further.
Our Daily Bread: Abhageddon
There is a wealth of doomsday prophecies and predictions in the Bahá’í scripture and literature. The following passage, for instance, clearly foresees the advent of Rock & Roll:
Suicidal Stanford
“The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
—Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings … , pages 118-119
Of course, the simple fact of the matter is that the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith had already discovered Rock & Roll:
“the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and oftentimes it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest”
—Doctrine & Covenants, 85
The Eighteen Terraces and the Nineteenth Hole
Welcome, pilgrim, to the Dan Carmel and the Terraces at the Bahá’í World Centre.
This is a brief guide to help you golf this authoritative, par-95 course.
“The Lumps” at “the Terraces”
In all these terraces the fairwayer must stray not the breadth of a hair from the “Law”. Please observe and heed all signs, and please refrain from wading after balls into the founts of Divine Bounty. Divots are strictly forbidden, and grounds for immediate expulsion without warning.
Please don’t feed the badgers.
By playing the BWC Links, you help to finance the maintenance of the terraces. Your continuing patronage is appreciated.
Membership Has Its Privileges!
Yes, you can have your own official FBI* agent card! Print them while they last!
The official FBI agent card. Don’t leave home without it.
Print this image (200 dpi), sign it with your alias of choice, slip it into your wallet, and be prepared to parade it at all Bahá’í functions. This will enable you to hoard the food and refreshments while all Bahá’ís-in-good-standing dutifully shun you!
Caveat: As FBI agents are becoming more and more common, you may need to divide the spoils with agents at an increasing number of events.
*FBI is an unregistered trademark of the Forum for Bahá’í Investigations. All rights reserved.
phone, revisited.
phone (fon) Informal—n. A telephone.
—v. phoned, phoning. To call or transmit by
telephone.
Please accept my apology
for having stooped so low,
resorting to quotations.
Take heart: I don’t cite authority lightly,
but that phenomenon that’s femi-nine—
ambiguity demands one be specific
with one’s sources of information.
I’m sure it’s nothing there’s just a
minor misalignment between the words
and their intention.
Surely it’s a simple matter of definition.
Rest assured, no sooner had she spoken it was written,
and mapped to every match in Webster’s latest
collegiate edition.
Here be where the visitors
seek advisement in these affairs,
among the natives who—
having heard a word more often—
might be a little more familiar
with words whose sounds are similar,
having only sound in common.
Our Daily Bread: Baha’i Hair Care
Here are several of my favorite passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s “Most Holy Book.” I think these passages open a window into the future of Bahá’í fashion.
it is not seemly to let the hair pass beyond the limit of the ears. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds.
please read this paragraph. I know your eyes want to gaze at the photo below, but please resist that temptation.
I imagine that Bahá’í hippies will not have long hair like the Founding Fathers of the Bahá’í Faith, or rather if they do, they might use those aboriginal-style ear lobe inserts to extend their ears as far as they desire to grow their hair.
The Look of Rock’s Future
Multiflush Environmentalism
If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s a first-generation low-flow toilet.
It’s almost enough to make a Republican out of me.