What has been eating at me a little about the Baha'i and other religions is that their prophet is the only one or they put a warranty for 1000 years until there can be a new one. It's odd that people can accept certain prophets but be so quick to dismiss others. So now I want to think about what makes one prophet that can be followed, and if it has to do a lot with the individual or what the people want.
What makes someone a convincing enough prophet that people will believe what they say? Is it that they preform miracles and cure lepers? Or do they just need to represent the people and their needs to a certain degree? It's become troubling to me that there seems to be some kind of mold for a prophet, they must be wise, charismatic, represent the trials and tribulations of the people that follow them, and many other characteristics. I also find it pretty aggravating that people are willing to give their full believe to a certain prophet at the time but find it almost blasphemous that there could possibly be anyone else after that. Obviously, besides the first prophet ever, the prophets later were not first, it seems really unfair to say there cannot be any after that. The Baha'i do not say there cannot be another prophet...they just put a 1000 year barrier.
I'm not saying every person yelling on the sidewalk that the end is tomorrow is the next prophet, I just don't like the fact that only certain people can be fully accepted and others rejected based on timeline. What if someone who fits all the criteria for what is considered a great prophet shows up tomorrow? So, because they are a few hundred year too early they won't be recognized by one group and just in general will not be seen as legitimate by other groups.
I understand your frustration, to a degree. I mean, how DO people decide that one prophet is correct and others aren't? That leads us into a discussion of why people choose their religion, which can include anything from coercion over tradition and habit to rational conviction.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when we talk about the Baha'i time limit, I think we need to realize that they see it quite differently. Someone who comes before the thousand years are over isn't being rejected - because they aren't a prophet in the first place! In our mind, it seems as though Baha'u'llah decided to be a prophet - but for the Baha'i, god chose him as a prophet, and the 1000 years are a prophesy, not a condition.