Baha'i perspectives on pedophilia
Submitted by Heather on October 07 1999 at 17:57:26
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I flipped a coin on whether to post this message here or at RDC, but I suspect that it will be of greater interest to people here. A couple of days ago, I received a two-page letter from the headquarters of the worldwide Baha'i faith offering that community's thoughts on pedophilia. The Baha'is are generally conservative on sexual matters, though the equality of men and women is one of the major tenets of their faith. As might be expected, the majority of the letter consists of a strong condemnation of pedophilic behavior (I'll be posting the whole letter eventually at Unconditional Love). This paragraph, though, offered an original perspective on the subject: "However, an individual who comes forward and seeks assistance in overcoming his behavior would be aided by Baha'i institutions to the extent that it was possible. In this regard, it is important to note that Baha'i insititutions do make a distinction between behavioral inclination and actual practice." This is the first faith community to contact me that has explicitly made this distinction. Heather |