Family member has adopted Baha'i in a big way. Of course I looked around to find out what the hell it is and on the surface it appears to be fairly innocuous religion and not an extremist sect, but you never know.
The family member has lived her entire 40+ year life in Texas and grew up in a very southern Baptist atmosphere, so this is unexpected and certainly out of the ordinary for a lifetime Texan.
There are kids in her family so we are concerned if this is some kind of weird outlier muslim thing. Or it could be fine, we don't know what to think.
Worse and yet not.
The Baha'i are to Islam and Buddhism what the Quakers are to Christianity... radical pacifists who only let themselves hate fun. It's the sort of religion those Coexist neo-marxist types buy into, thinking Imagine was somehow a blueprint to world peace and not just a dumb song by someone who'd just broken up a band in a tragic episode of hoes before bros.
There is concern in the family that woman's daughter who is 10, might be coerced/forced into FGM. But I haven't seen any indication that baha'i is into that.
They don’t . They’re kind of weird (by religious standards ) but are fairly harmless. Nothing in doctrine about subjugating females, Child brides , or blowing yourself up to honor God. If anything , they’ve historically drank too deep of the pacifist koolaid . So when they started to get big , guess which religion had a century long field day shunning, persecuting , and killing them ? Hint: Screechy progressives insist it’s peaceful !
Mainly it’s just the theology that seems odd. Basically they think every prophet and messiah of all the major religions were the real deal. God sent messengers with a message meant for each specific region at the time they needed to hear it . As someone who studies and teaches about religions , there is no way to hold this world view without some serious mental gymnastics. Mostly because there are two religions that do not and can not jive with this oneness of God universalist worldview , and whose texts explicitly make such a thing an impossibility . Talmudic Judaism and Islam. Christianity and the other religions may not really be theologically compatible but most of those other faiths & denominations , have some form of “Don’t screw with us , we will leave you alone,” that makes the Baha’i universalist Kumbaya worldview have at least some ground to stand on
Other than that , standard Prophet brings final message mostly about clean living and not being a douche . There’s some weird shit in their dogma about the universe being made of ether and some esoteric mystical bullshit, but nothing that leads to crazy behavior. May get preachy if anyone drinks or does anything harder than caffeine ( they’re big on keeping the mind clear ) but the family member should be fine .
*wanted to add : they also reject notions of race and national identity. So expect some self righteous diatribe about the oneness of mankind and how nationalism just divides us more , but I’ve never heard of one advocating violence against dissenters or shunning nonbelievers for disagreeing. So if the family member was at all liberal , they may turn insufferable . Nothing gives people that repulsive air of self righteousness, like thinking God wills whatever the fuck you’re advocating for .
That's kind of a relief, I've never heard of baha'i before and just doing internet searches yielded only some confusing 19th century muddled philosophy about one god and love your neighbor. Which we have heard before too many times, and often with bad outcomes. :/
Do you have any useful links you'd like to share?
https://fore.yale.edu/World-Religions/Bahai-Faith
http://www.religionfacts.com/bahai
These two sites will give you the basics of their beliefs but if you want to go on a deep dive , I have a few books I can recommend . Online and easily accessible resources for Bahá’í aren’t overly abundant . Mostly , I think anyway, due to their size but those will be a start . Let me know if you’re at all interested in a book list and I’ll also see if I can find some free online copies . FYI : books on Bahá’í fall into scathing criticism by author with axe to grind or love letter obviously penned by a devout adherent. So expect bias .
Personally , I lob them into the same category as Mormons: your prophet was most likely full of shit , and some of your beliefs are completely separated from reality , but most of you are alright .