8A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY, JAN. 28, 2002
Quiet faith finds adherents
By Maggie Koerth
Kansan Staff Writer
Most University of Kansas students probably haven't heard of the Baha'i religion. According to Adherents.com, a religious statistics website, there are over 6 million followers of Baha'i worldwide, yet the religion remains largely obscure. In fact, a survey taken by the U.S. Baha'i Information Center found that only 30 percent of Americans have heard of Baha'i.
Justin Herrmann, Topeka senior, is used to people being confused by his religion. Herrmann was raised Baha'i and is currently the president of the KU Baha'i club. He said he thought few people had heard of Baha'i because of its relatively young age.
"We're only about 150 years old and we have less than 1 percent of the world's population," Herrmann said.
population. Baha'i began in what is now Iran when a man called The Bab announced the coming of a messenger of God. Nearly 20 years later, one of The Bab's followers, a man named Baha'u'llah, declared himself to be that messenger.
that messenger.
The key difference between Baha'i and other God/messenger religions is Baha'is believe Baha'a'ilah was not the final messenger from God but the latest in an ongoing series of messengers.
This belief that God has revealed his word to many different people over many different time periods is called progressive revelation by Baha'is.
Baha'is believe that all religions come from God, and they recognize prophets from a wide variety of religions. These include Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, Zoroaster, Krishna and Buddah.
"Baha'is worship God, which we believe is the same God that Christians worship and is the same God that Jewish people worship. God is just God for everybody." Herrmann said.
Baha'is also believe in the equality of the sexes and the races because, to them, all people are God's children.
an people Because their beliefs conflicted with the spiritual dictates of Iran, Baha'is were often persecuted in that country.
Justin Herrmann, Topeka senior and president of the KU Ba'hai group, meditates at last night's worship service. About 15 people attended the service at Ecumenical Christian Ministries.
AARON LERNER/KANSAN
Baha'i at a glance
Ahdieh Khoshsabegheh, Lawrence senior, lived in Teheran, Iran, until about five years ago. Her parents are Baha'i and at the age of 15 she decided to become Baha'i herself.
Khoshsabbeghheh's family never experienced dramatic persecution themselves
Pronouncitation: Ba-hye
Key Figures: The Bab (the Gate), the
hand of the faith:
Pronunciation: Ba-hve
Baha'u'allah (the Glory of God), the prophet of God; Abdu'l-Baha (the servant of Baha'), Baha'u'llah's son and early Baha'i leader.
Founding: 1844 in Persia (now Iran).
Fundamental Beliefs: There is one God.
All religions come from the same God.
The harmony of science and religion.
Equality of men and women.
Equality of the races.
Key Quote: "The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens" Baha'a'u'lah.
More information: Lawrence Baha'a', 843-2703.
her father spent only one night in jail because of his religion — but she said it was not uncommon for them to hear about it.
about it.
"I remember the government captured all the nine members of our national spiritual assembly," she said. "We still don't know what really happened to any of them."
Baha'is in each country elect a spiritual assembly to lead their local church because they do not have clergy.
In Iran, persecution differed greatly depending on the opinion of local government leaders. In some places, Khoshsabegheh said, Baha'is were not bothered at all. Elsewhere, they might be refused entrance to college, kidnapped or killed.
Throughout all this, however, Khoshsabegheh said she and other Baha's tried to obey the government as much as they could without compromising their beliefs. This nonviolent response to persecution eventually lead the government to stop viewing them as much of a threat.
"We just try to understand that these sort of things are going to happen," Khoshsabegheh said.
The Iranian government also scaled back their persecution of Baha'i because the religion is very low-key.
the rangers Kevin Hinegardner, Omaha junior, said Baha'i was characterized by a lack of pomp and circumstance. Instead, Baha'is are encouraged to focus on their own study of the writings of Baha'u'llah and other messengers.
He said the community gathered
Herrmann, the club president, said Lawrence Baha'is also hold a weekly prayer meeting on Sunday nights.
together every 19 days to discuss business and spiritual matters at a gathering called Feast.
Even major ceremonies, such as weddings, are kept simple. In order to marry, a Baha'i couple must recite a passage in the presence of several witnesses. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
Becoming Baha'i is a little more difficult because it requires a great deal of study.
"We are expected to read and study the Writings of Baha'u'lah before we make a decision," Hinegardner said. "The age or decision for children of Baha'is is usually 15."
But the quiet, introspective nature of
Baha'i may be one of the reasons few people have heard about it. Hinegardner said Baha'is aren't allowed to proselytize beyond teaching classes or putting ads in the paper. Khoshsabegheh said they weren't that concerned about conversion.
"It is important to understand that we don't want the world to be Baha'i," Khoshsabegheh said. "We believe all religions are from God so conversion really isn't important. What is important is that you obey God and just look at the world as a unity and accept differences."
Contact Koerth at mkoerth@kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Warren.
RELATIONSHIPS
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
She said he went to Missouri to major in journalism, and she came to Kansas for architecture.
"We are both really competitive and really love our schools," Fishback said. "A lot of my friends go to Mizzou as well, and they give me a hard time."
Fishback said she once gave Stoll a T-shirt with the top ten reasons to attend Kansas. The number one reason was Missouri basketball wasn't as good as Kansas basketball. He refused to wear it, she said.
"He'll find an article in the paper that compares the two schools or the basketball teams and if it says better things about Missouri then he'll send it to me," Fishback said. "He has a Jayhawk in his room and his roommates want to burn it."
She said the rivalry caused competition between them, but it was a lot of fun.
"One year when he came to the game here, he saw a girl that he went to school with, and she gave him a Missouri pompon," Fishback said. "He had the nerve to wave it around in the Kansas student section, and I thought KU fans were going to hurt him."
Fishback said being female was probably the only thing that saved her in the Missouri student section.
"I bought a Muck Fizzou T-shirt this year, because I know that I'll be safe wearing it here at Kansas," Fishback said.
Micki Prinster, St. Charles, Mo., junior, started dating Jared Beucke, a junior who attends Missouri, five years ago in high school. She said he wanted to go to the game tonight but couldn't get tickets.
"There is a little bit of
rivalry between us during football, but basketball season gets really competitive," Prinster said. "My entire family has gone to Missouri, so Jared and everyone gang up on me at family functions."
Printer said she went to the game at Missouri during her freshman year.
"Jared made me wear a sweatshirt over my KU T-shirt while we walked to the game, because he was embarrassed to be with a Kansas fan." Printer said. "I took the sweatshirt off during the game and got heckled a little bit, but we lost so it wasn't too bad. I think if KU had won then it would have been a lot worse."
Contact Lewis at slewis@kansan.com. This story was edited by Molly Gise.
FIRE
After the fire fighters arrived at 4:45 a.m. Medling, Evans and Hein were taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Evans had four compressed vertebrae and was released yesterday, a hospital representative said. Hein and Medling were treated and released Friday.
Hein said he had a sprained ankle, cuts and bruises, and that Medling had similar injuries. Evans cannot walk yet and will have to be in a back brace for a month, he said.
"I don't know if I'll skip class to make sure she gets around OK," Hein said. "I'm going to look out for her before I look out for myself."
"I woke up and heard noise from the flames and things falling on the floor," Gader said. He met Evans, Hein and Medling outside.
Matthew Gader, Topeka sophomore, escaped from his basement room without injury.
The other residents, David Wolfe,
Topeka sophomore, and Tom Fleming, Lawrence Free State High School student, were not in the house when the fire started.
The dog was the only one who didn't escape.
Sarah Cotton, Overland Park junior and Red Cross team leader, was called at 5:30 a.m. Friday to do a damage assessment and see that the victims had food, shelter and clothing.
"For the first 48 hours, we take care of people's basic needs." Cotton said. "It doesn't matter if they have insurance or not. If they need a place to stay, we put them up."
Cotton said all the residents received vouchers, which worked like gift certificates, from the Red Cross for clothing, and they all had somewhere to stay.
Gader said he would stay with his brother for the rest of the semester.
Hein said a friend of his girlfriend's had a room and would let him stay a while for free.
Contact Keesee at rkeesee@kansan.com. This story was edited by Eve Lamborn.
RIVALRY
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
Armitage said because there was no political resolution to the conflict, the rivalry continues.
"Even today there is a spirit they don't acknowledge," she said. "The rivalry now is happily played out on the basketball court where it was once played out with guns and rifles."
Blair Kerkhoff, who wrote a biography on former basketball coach Phog Allen, said although the history between the states was an underlying factor in early KU-Missouri football match ups. Quantrill was never discussed in pregame pep talks.
Instead, Allen told his players about Tommy Johnson, a KU football player who died from an injury sustained in a game against Missouri.
"Phog was such a motivator, he used the story of Tommy Johnson to motivate his team in the early 1920s," Kerkhoff said. "Memorial Stadium was built in memory of Tommy Johnson."
Kerkhoff said the rivalry was strongest in 1923 when Allen declared he would quit if the Jayhawks did not win the Big 6 conference title. Missouri had dominated the conference in the past, either winning the title or tying with Kansas. The rivalry was not strong again until the 1950s.
"There was a game played in 1951," Kerkhoff said. "Clyde Lovellette stepped on a MU player, stomped right on the guy's chest."
Steven Jansen, KU professor of history, said the current rivalry relates to the personalities in the game, not to the history between the states. The history has become just a backdrop for sporting events, he said.
Phog Allen recruited Norm Stewart as a player because he thought Stewart would be a great coach, Jansen said. Current Missouri coach Quin Snyder was recruited by former KU coach Larry Brown, but Snyder chose Duke University instead.
"Most KU fans would have a hard time believing that," Jansen said. "When Larry tried to get Quin and he went to Duke, it made some fans feel that Kansas was number two to Duke."
Jansen said the rivalry between the current coaches also keeps the school rivalry going strong because both were assistant coaches and played for rival Atlantic Coast Conference basketball universities, Duke and the University of North Carolina.
"Snyder played for Coach K. and Duke, and Williams came from UNC," Jansen said. "It is like the ACC rivalry coming to the Big 12."
Although the history between the states many not be the driving force behind the current rivalry, all agree it is still the origin of the KU-Missouri hatred.
"It is definitely the root of the more recent rivalry." Flader said. "This rivalry feeds the generations."
Contact Tims at jtims@kansan.com. This story was edited by Laurie Harrison.
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