Sermon : On How Bahais Live Diversity

Since there is no clergy in the Bahai faith, every individual Bahai has the opportunity to serve the community and participate in Bahai administration. Consultation is used to encourage communication, understanding and cooperation between Bahais. Each community is connected to other Bahais worldwide through an international network of freely elected local and national governing councils.

“The Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” wrote Baha’u’llah (1817-1892), the founder of the Bahai faith. Bahais regard Baha’u’llah as the most recent in the line of messengers of God, a line that includes Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ, Mohammed and the Bab. Baha’u’llah’s message--that humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification into one global society--is particularly relevant in Los Angeles.

Established in 1909, the Bahai community of Los Angeles is known as one of the earliest multiracial religious communities. It is now among the largest in the world, with 5,000 local members representing every strata and ethnicity of Southern California.

In the early 1980s, the Los Angeles Bahai community chose its current center site at La Cienega Boulevard and Rodeo Road specifically because it was located in an ethnically, culturally and economically diverse area. Among the programs offered is the Children’s Enrichment Program, an after-school program designed to build unity in the community, promote multicultural values and enhance educational and child-care needs of neighborhood families. Developed after last year’s riots, this nondenominational, nonprofit program is staffed by five volunteers who tutor 20 predominantly African-American and Latino children.

Another outgrowth of the riots is the Los Angeles Institute for the Healing of Racism. It was created by concerned Bahais who wanted to offer the public a positive model that illustrates how diverse peoples can work together in friendship, respect and dignity. The institute begins a nine-week free class Sunday. Topics include stereotyping, internalized racism, building allies for healing and understanding the oneness of humanity.

The Los Angeles Bahais hope their efforts will make a positive contribution to the community they serve.