Attempting to read about Bahá'í views on politics and economy, there seems to be a bit of a history of the Guardians having really lib takes, up to and including labeling communism as a "false god". Bahá'ís tend to be pretty deferent to the state authorities they live under, and also refuse to engage in party politics, which to me feels sort of yehhhh but also ehhhh. These Bahá'í policies feel like they probably have origins as survival strategies, when Bahá'ís have this history of persecution.

There are Bahá'ís who self-describe as Marxist, but these are few in number and are apparently ridiculed as oxymoronic; as a whole Bahá'ís seem to actively reject materialism as "satanic" and antithetical to their spirituality, and the notion of class warfare is seen by many Bahá'ís as a "divisive" view of humanity, and hence goes against the faith's teachings.

Simultaneously, Bahá'ís do seem to have some respect for Marxism, acknowledging parallels in the histories of Bahá'í Faith and Marxism, as well as recognizing the similarities of values held by Marxists and Bahá'ís, such as universal brotherhood; some Bahá'ís do acknowledge that their views of Marxism are colored by living in a liberal society, and are therefore more willing to actually engage with Marxist theory, to learn from it without embracing it wholeheartedly; and some of the common Bahá'í takes on politics are pretty decent in an apparently "stopped clock" kind of way.

So basically, I want to know: does anyone here have experiences with teaching Bahá'ís about Marxist ideas? Are there any organizations for Bahá'í Marxists? Have any of you met or interacted with any Marxist Bahá'ís? How do we feel about Bahá'ís in general, reconciling the Bahá'í Faith with Marxism in the same way as there are Marxists of other religions? Is this reconciliation possible? Is it worthwhile?

  • buckykat [none/use name]
    ·
    1 year ago

    From The Basic Viewpoint and Policy on the Religious Question during Our Country's Socialist Period:

    IX. Communist Party Members and Religion; Relations with Religious Ethnic Minorities The fact that our Party proclaims and implements a policy of freedom of religious belief does not, of course, mean that Communist Party members can freely believe in religion. The policy of freedom of religious belief is directed toward the citizens of our country; it is not applicable to Party members. Unlike the average citizen, the Party member belongs to a Marxist political party, and there can be no doubt at all that s/he must be an atheist and not a theist. Our Party has clearly stated on many previous occasions: A Communist Party member cannot be a religious believer; s/he cannot take part in religious activities. Any member who persists in going against this proscription should be told to leave the Party. This proscription is altogether correct, and, as far as the Party as a whole is concerned, its implementation should be insisted on in the future. The present question concerns the implementation of this proscription among those ethnic minorities whose people are basically all religious believers. Here, implementation must follow the actual circumstances, and so make use of proper measures, not oversimplifying matters. We must realize that although a considerable number of Communist Party members among these ethnic minorities loyally implement the Party line, do positive work for the Party, and obey its discipline, they cannot completely shake off all religious influence. Party organizations should in no way simply cast these Party members aside, but should patiently and meticulously carry out ideological work while taking measures to develop more fully their positive political activism, helping them gradually to acquire a dialectical and historical materialist worldview and to gradually shake off the fetters of a religious ideology.