The Baton Rouge Baha’i community says it is hosting a “weekend dedicated to enjoying the diversity in our community and focusing on the benefits of unity” in conjunction with Race Unity Day.
The events include a movie night, an interfaith service and a picnic.
Patrick Garrett, one of the event planners, said, “Racial unity is a part of what we do year round. We work with the Interfaith Federation and many of their activities. In January we celebrated World Religion Day.”
That committment to spiritual and racial unity starts with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i, the governing body of the Baha’is of the United States, which issued a 1991 statement that started, “Racism is the most challenging issue confronting America. A nation whose ancestry includes every people on earth, whose motto is E pluribus unum, whose ideals of freedom under law have inspired millions throughout the world, cannot continue to harbor prejudice against any racial or ethnic group without betraying itself.”
The Associated Press Stylebook describes the Baha’i as “A monotheistic religion founded in the 1860s by Baha’u’llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by the Baha’is.
“Baha’u’llah taught that all religions represent progressive stages in the revelation of God’s will, leading to the unity of all people and faiths.”
