tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post3059355216150598594..comments2023-09-02T06:47:03.422-07:00Comments on Pilgrim's Notes: Preparing for the Centenary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Visit to Montreal (2012)J.A. McLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01306797382150261125noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-79104452817853902802011-08-30T13:01:53.934-07:002011-08-30T13:01:53.934-07:00Dear Anne,
I am delighted to hear from you! How s...Dear Anne,<br /><br />I am delighted to hear from you! How sophisticated you are in the digital world, with your picture and all! This Luddite can't even get my picture up on Facebook. My blog is not really a blog--I suppose. A friend told me it should not be essays and I haven't really kept it up. I trust you and yours are well. BTW, watch for my forthcoming book which I began in 1997 and finished in 2006. BPT of India. It's called A Celestial Burning: A Selective Study of the Writings of Shoghi Effendi. It's about 500 pages of a combined literary critical and theological study of the Guardian's writings. If you can't sleep some night, just pick it up and it will make a wonderful sleep aid!<br /><br />Yes, I am signed up for your daily blog on 'Abdu'l-Baha's journeys in America. Wonderful idea and so timely. Many congrats! Warmest, JackJack McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15749538669419718664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-75503210344840949572011-08-06T22:41:44.063-07:002011-08-06T22:41:44.063-07:00Jack, I am thrilled to see your blog, especially b...Jack, I am thrilled to see your blog, especially because it focuses on the Canadian part of Abdu'l-Baha's travels. Did you know that I have a blog following each day of the journey? See http://www.master-in-america.blogspot.com/ I will list your blog as a resource there. Also, we are working on a film and hope to come to Montreal to shoot some footage! An informal blog about the film is at http://film-abdul-baha-in-america.blogspot.com/ We've just named our film "Luminous Journey" and are almost finished with a trailer for it. I'll be going to ABS--will you? <br /><br />Peter mentioned the context of the journey of Abdu'l-Baha--there is so much to discover and ponder. So many of us can offer facets of it--the territory is immense. Write on!Anne Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13263143555028481842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-43369994140619576132008-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:002008-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:00Jack:Congrats on a great blog!One comment on what ...Jack:<BR/><BR/>Congrats on a great blog!<BR/><BR/>One comment on what you said here:<BR/><BR/>"The discrepancy is explained by the fact that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s departure, according to Zargání, occurred at 9:00 a.m. on September 9th."<BR/><BR/>There is an endnote in the latest edition of Mahmud's diary that explains this. It seems that he got his dating out of whack by one day in the spring and did not correct it until October or so. For that reason, we are to take the dates given in Promulgation as accurate.badijet@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02359762702595495945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-3103264459746944762007-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:002007-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:00Dear Peter,Thank you for your interesting suggesti...Dear Peter,<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your interesting suggestions about possible future publications on the Master's visit to Canada, especially in light of the upcoming centenary in 2012. To answer your question--no, not all of the historical and scriptural sources regarding 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to Montreal have been collected under one cover. But sociologist and professor emeritus, Will van den Hoonaard, gets the credit for doing in-depth research into the newspaper articles, published talks, Max Maxwell's journal, etc. pertaining to the visit. His findings are published in The Origins of the Baha'i Community of Canada: 1898-1948. But undoubtedly the archives would benefit from another look and possible revision of current materials. So, I agree, there is a book-in-waiting. The NSA of Canada's 'Abdu'l-Baha in Canada (1962) published photocopies of some of the newspaper articles with their contents. That publication also included excerpts from May Maxwell's journal account which recorded the healing of nine year old Geraldine Birks. <BR/><BR/>JMUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01563419682395039151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-1211680280420055462007-09-16T07:58:00.000-07:002007-09-16T07:58:00.000-07:00Dear Jack,It is wonderful that you engage in dialo...Dear Jack,<BR/><BR/>It is wonderful that you engage in dialogue with those who comment on your blog! I named one of my blogs bahai-dialogue hoping for a free flowing exchange of ideas, which haven't yet materialized, but for everything there is a time.<BR/><BR/>Has anyone collected all of the textual sources for 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit into one volume? You cite multiple newspaper articles in multiple newspapers, in French and English, Zarqani's notes, notes made of some of His talks...have all of these sources been assembled and published as a collection? <BR/><BR/>Also, has anyone worked on providing the historical context for this visit? Current events of the day, analysis of the culture and economy and politics and religious beliefs of the residents of Montreal in 1912? Photographs of the city and its inhabitants during that year? <BR/><BR/>Thank you for bringing up this topic and reporting on the web that the NSA of Canada has called for the annual commemoration of this visit. I had no idea that this was in the works until you reported it in your blog. Next year in Montreal!Peter Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07090849784410850427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-6747806597327880882007-09-13T09:38:00.000-07:002007-09-13T09:38:00.000-07:00Hello,It is, of course, true that Unitarian church...Hello,<BR/><BR/>It is, of course, true that Unitarian churches today are of non-theistic character, but not exclusively. Atheism or agnosticism is not a requirement of membership. A lot of people are drawn to the UC because of their social justice involvement. The theistic or non-theistic orientation of a particular UC would be determined by the minister and the congregation.<BR/><BR/>In the Unitarian church in Ottawa where I live, the congregation is roughly 50% theist and 50% non-theist. Recently, one of my friends left the Unitarian church because, as a former Catholic, she did not find God present.<BR/><BR/>As was pointed out by Robin Edgar, during 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to Montreal in 1912, the Unitarian Church of the Messiah would still have been a (theistic) church in the original sense of the word, i.e. a community that believes in God. <BR/><BR/>But since roughly 1890, Unitarians began admitting non-theists to their congregations and since then some authorities say that atheists and agnostics outnumber theists.<BR/><BR/>Unitarianism began originally as a rejection of trinitarianism, a fundamental belief of most Christian churches. Other fundamental beliefs have since been jettisoned, including the divinity of Christ--he is viewed simply as a great moral teacher and for some Unitarians, a prophet. The divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible are also rejected, as are the virgin birth. This latter doctrine is not to be confused with the immaculate conception which refers to the Roman Catholic belief in the essential sinlessness of Mary.J.A. McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01306797382150261125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-5944055057494953732007-09-13T06:43:00.000-07:002007-09-13T06:43:00.000-07:00It should be noted that the Church of the Messiah ...It should be noted that the Church of the Messiah is more commonly known as the Unitarian Church of Montreal. In fact Montreal Unitarians recently voted to change their legal name to the Unitarian Church of Montreal. This in spite of the fact that Rev. Ray Drennan, the former fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" minister of the Unitrian Church of Montreal, is on record as declaring that it is "false advertising" to call the Unitarian Church of Montreal a "church". . . He was, and still is, quite correct. <BR/><BR/>Montreal Unitarians are outright fraudulent in calling their social club a "church" when many if not most of the members are atheists, and some of these U*U atheists are even intolerant and abusive anti-religious bigots. Not the least of them being Rev. Ray Drennan himself who preached Sunday sermons declaring that God is a "non-existent being" and that believe in God "seems primitive". Rev. Ray Drennan is also on public record as declaring that most religious rituals of any and all world religions (excluding Unitarian*Universalism aka U*Uism of course) are "meaningless." <BR/><BR/>When Abdu'l-Baha visited Montreal about a century ago it may have been legitimate for the Unitarian Church of Montreal to call itself a "church" and even "the Church of the Messiah" but that is no lomger the case. The so-called Unitarian Church of Montreal is now better described as a "Church of Fraud" than a bona fide Church of God and it has been <A HREF="http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/1998/060498/news5.html" REL="nofollow">spitting in God's eye</A> for well <BR/>over a decade now.Robin Edgarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06208142626285495635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575129844804463427.post-19592893740374081792007-09-12T14:35:00.000-07:002007-09-12T14:35:00.000-07:00You have a replaced many apostrophes with =s.You have a replaced many apostrophes with =s.Gerald Fernandez-Mayfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06329197942235879727noreply@blogger.com