Ahmadinejad meets Christian leaders in New York - Baha’is excluded
Ahmadinejad meets Christian leaders in New York. Photo ©New York Times
According to this story in the New York Times, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held
a friendly, even warm, exchange yesterday with Christian leaders from the United States and Canada convinced that dialogue is the only way to prevent war.
The meeting on 26 September was organized by the Mennonites and the Quakers and took place in the Church Center for the United Nations. Questioners included a Quaker, a Catholic, an Anglican, a Baptist and a representative of the interfaith World Council of Churches. About 140 other religious leaders also attended, but no Jewish leader would agree to take part.
As the NYT reported:
“My heart was broken that there was so little support from other religions to be here,” said Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group that helped sponsor the event. “If we don’t walk down this path of dialogue, we’re going to end up in conflagration.
However, one faith group couldn’t take part in the meeting. The Baha’is had been invited to the prior meetings, according to the NYT, but the Iranians had refused to attend if the Baha’is were there.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Ahmadinejad, Iran, Christians, dialogue
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4 comments
I would call this “The inter-faith dialogue a la Ahmadinejad”. Nothing but show off!
Two weeks ago we had the Dalai Lama here in Lisbon and we had an interfaith meeting at Lisbon Central Mosque. Everyone was welcome, and Muslims treat us with utmost kindness!
What a contrast!
Interesting! Clearly such developments would only serve to show the world the real face of oppression of Baha’is in such countries. God works in mysterious ways…. Thank you Mr. President!
I have some truly wonderful Muslim friends in the UK and they, I am sure, would be utterly disgusted at the exclusion of the Baha’is from such a dialogue session. However, a year or two back the Baha’is in Ireland were excluded from a high level inter-faith meeting in Dublin because the Muslims wouldn’t attend if the Baha’is were present. I believe the Baha’is were invited and then the invitation was withdrawn.
Marco, you are so fortunate to have had the Dalai Lama in Lisbon. I have met him very briefly and listened to a lecture he gave in Lambeth Palace (residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury). Everything he said could have been taken directly from the Baha’i Writings.
Anyway, Ahmadinejad’s conduct will in the end have the very effects he is trying to avoid - namely, raising the profile of the Baha’is.
It could be argued that by agreeing to meet President Ahmadinejad knowing that the Baha’is had been excluded at his insistence, the Quakers and others in attendance were implicitly condoning the Baha’is’ exclusion.
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