“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
–from the Bahá’í Writings.

There are more than four million of the Bahá’í around the world today, spread over 200 countries of all races and classes.
The Bahá’í believes that humanity is one single race and the time has arrived for it to become one family; that the will for our era is for all of mankind to unite and eventually become a world government and a world civilization.
The Bahá’í has an entirely new perception in god’s role in human affairs. They believe that social and moral evolution of the human race has been through the successive interventions of God in history through the messengers of God (who are traditionally regarded as the founders of separate religions) Moses, Christ, Muhammad, Buddha and Krishna, are all seen by Bahá’í is as having the same purpose, and all sent by the same God. The Bahá’í believe that civilization has been organized around these insights.
The Bahá’í believe that God has spoken again. They say, “Since our world is in the process of becoming a “global village”, God has provided the teachings by which humanity can meet the unprecedented moral and social challenges facing us now.” They believe the name of God’s messenger is Bahá’u'llá , the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who was born in Persia, and lived from 1817 to 1892.

They say, “Bahá’u'llá said that the discovery of God’s revelation is a matter of recognizing what is already sensed in one’s inner being. In our hearts, most of us already know that mankind is one, that women and men are equal, that the spiritual messages of all the great religions are in essential harmony, that human rights are universal, and that nations must sooner or later accept the idea of a world government and a global economy.”
The Bahá’í also believe that there is more to life than a physical existence.

The Bahá’í house of worship was designed by English architect Peter Tillitson, whose design was chosen from 43 others submitted from architects all over the world.

Panama was selected as the site of the Mother Temple for Latin America because great importance was given to Panama in the Bahá’í writings. They say, “You must give special attention to the Republic of Panama because at this point the East and the West are united through the Panama Canal and it is placed between two oceans: in the future it will gain most great importance.”

The construction of the Bahá’í temple started December 1st 1968 and took two and a half years to complete and one million dollars, contributed by the Bahá’í worldwide community. On April 29th 1972 it was opened to the public.

The Beliefs of Bahá’í

All humanity is one family.
Women and men are equal
All prejudice is destructive and must be overcome
We must investigate truth for ourselves with out preconceptions
Science and religion are in harmony
There is one god
All major religions come from god
World peace is the crying need of our time

We went to check out the temple on Sunday. It was a gorgeous drive up a winding, lush hill. The views around and inside the temple were amazing! The temple itself was really simple and almost overtaken by the landscape and views around it. Cailey, Keyra and I had to put provided shawls over our bare shoulders and arms to go inside.

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Filed under: Country Guide, Culture, History on May 23rd, 2008