What are the characteristic ways that Baha’is study religion – their own and others? How have Baha’is integrated Baha’i theological perspectives into their work, and how (and to what extent) have academic perspectives informed Baha’i belief, practice and community life? This panel takes up some of those questions, reflecting on key Baha'i ideas and how they shape new approaches to the study of religion. The first panelist examines how Baha'i ways of defining religion (as a system of knowledge and practice) might lead to new ways of studying religious people and communities. The second panelist examines how bringing together new insights in disability studies and Baha'i studies could generate new ways of thinking about the medical model of disability and how disability relates to Baha'i ideas of religious and scientific progress. The third panelist examines what Baha’is involved in Religious Studies have said about possibilities for developing distinctive Baha’i-inspired perspectives on religious studies methods and theories.
The purpose of this paper is to examine religious studies’ constitutive theoretical dichotomy between social scientific study and religious practice from a Baha’i perspective and propose possible paths towards its reframing. Specifically, I argue that the prevailing preoccupation with the boundary between religious studies and practice stems from a contingent conception of religion inherited from the epistemic categories of modern secularism. The questions we ask of an object of study and the approaches we employ to answer them are rooted in what we think that object is. This paper offers an analysis then of the theoretical and methodological implications of a Baha’i conception of religion. In particular, I discuss how the Baha’i concept of religion as a system of knowledge and practice, analogous in some ways with science, invites distinct questions about religious actors and phenomena, as well as distinct methodological approaches to answering them.
The governing bodies of the Baha’i Faith have written relatively little about disability. A major exception to this is a 2000 statement “A Bahá’í Perspective of Disability” by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United Kingdom. The statement is unique in that it implicitly seeks to articulate the potential benefits of the Baha’i vision of civilizational progress for disabled people. Its main points are that Baha’is believe both government and charity are responsible for providing for those unable to work due to disability, and that Baha’is encourage the development of cures for previously incurable conditions. This reveals an essentially medical understanding of the origins and proper response to disability, generally reflecting the medical model of disability. The medical model is by no means unique to Baha’is, but is illustrative of the high regard given to medicine as a source of knowledge by Baha’i authorities and Baha’i writings.
During the last century, religious communities in America have engaged in conversations about the tensions and benefits of studying religion from academic perspectives. In this presentation I try to understand better what Baha’is involved in Religious Studies have said about the ways they have tried to integrate Baha’i theological or ethical perspectives into their work. I also will comment on the possibilities for developing distinctive Baha’i-inspired perspectives on religious studies methods and theories. Though not much work has been done at the intersection of the Baha’i community and the academic study of religion, there are many possibilities for mutually beneficial discussion.