"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth," said Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá’i Faith. Bahá'u'lláh made the oneness of humankind the central principle and goal of his Faith. "We, verily," he further stated, "have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth.”

One of only seven Bahá’i temples in the world stands less than a mile up the street from campus. Proudly erect at 138 feet tall at the apex of its dome, and surrounded by geometric gardens of tulips and topiaries, the Bahá’i temple decorates the lakeside drive north along Sheridan Road. Most NU students admire it from afar, showing it off to visiting friends and family. They talk it up as the only Bahá’i temple in North America, and ogle its majesty at night illuminated from below by stadium spotlights.

But what does the average Northwestern student know about Bahá’i? “I don’t know shit about it,” senior Carey Tischler so aptly said. Junior Anita Idiculla said, “Um ... is that a sect of Muslim? I know they do some crazy fast thing in the middle of winter—19 days or so.” To others such as senior Alicia Frank-Meltzer, the temple is “a place to run to.”

How typical of Northwestern students to see only the surface of the building. How many have actually taken the time to see what it’s all about? I myself thought the temple was a place for worshipping multiple gods. I never looked close enough to see that the building has nine sides to account for the nine religions of the world that the Bahá’i faith embraces, and the nine elected leaders chosen to represent each of those religions.

Completed in 1953 after 40 years of construction that many critics said could never be done, the Bahá’i House of Worship’s architecture symbolizes the Bahá’i faith. The structure is three stories combining shrine, temple and cathedral. The ornate carvings along the surface are made possible by a combination of quartz and the first ever large-scale use of decorative cement, after aluminum and other materials were found to be too costly and heavy.

Entering the Bahá’i temple is part of the experience of worship. You must follow a long narrow path bordered by a beautiful garden, climb 44 cement stairs, and read one of the nine inscriptions that adorn each entrance. The inscriptions beseech one to humble, calm, and center the mind on the purpose of unity.

The carvings in the corners of each entrance show a cross, a Star of David, the Muslim crescent moon, a Buddhist wheel and, and symbols from the other major world religions. You may need to catch your breath at the beauty and enormity of the temple as it protrudes into the blue spring sky. The designs above the first story are carved out to allow light to dance about the worship center and the nearly 2000 people it seats. Inside, the red bench-like chairs all face east, like a mosque, but they also all face a central point where the speaker stands at a simple podium to deliver his message. A Bahá’i truth is inscribed like a banner in each of the temple’s nine alcoves, such as, “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”

Bahá’i is the second most widespread independent world religion. Its followers number five million worldwide of over 2000 ethnic and tribal groups, according to the official Bahá’i website (www.bahai.org). Bahá’i was founded in 1864 as an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam by a man who renamed himself Bahá'u'lláh (which means the glory of god). His message was the oneness of God and the oneness of religion. Bahá'u'lláh’s main point was that humans must unite. He established the belief that God is unknowable, but sends “manifestations,” which are like mirrors that enable us to see God, of himself that are appropriate for each age. These “manifestations” include Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Zoroaster and Confucious. Bahá'u'lláh said he was the era’s manifestation of God.

Bahá'ís consider that no one of the founders is superior to the others. According to Bahá’i scholar Shoghi Effendi, “The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that divine revelation is a continuous and progressive process: that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.”

Global unity is the means to world peace, according to Bahá’i believers. Bahá'u'lláh described the world as an evolving being, like a human. Through the ages the neighborhood has evolved from the family to the tribe to the city-state, the nation, and now the globe. “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens,” Bahá'u'lláh said.

Bahá'ís aim is to eradicate racism and prejudice, advocate equality for women, and seek to unify the nations toward world peace. Northwestern senior Megan Keefe said, “It’s all about unity. I like Bahá’i.”

The purpose of the Bahá'í faith is to bring about the kingdom of God on earth, a scenario which Bahá'u'lláh described as: “All nations will become one; all religions will be unified; all individual men will become of one family and of one kindred.” Reminds me of John Lennon’s Imagine (...and the world will live as one).

Is such a utopia feasible, or is it just a dream to imagine that unity can be the fundamental purpose of a belief system? Although Bahá’i claims to include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and all the other major religions of the world, critics point out that the Bahá’i perception of God is monotheistic, polythestic and pantheistic all at once, which they say diminishes its authority as a legitimate religion.

Furthermore, despite proclaiming to be democratic and all-inclusive, rumors abound online about the elected leadership’s authoritarian rule. Liberal reformers have been excommunicated from the Faith for their extreme views, and all published material regarding the Bahá’i faith is strictly censored, according to some former and current Bahá’i followers.

On the official website, Bahá’is proudly point out that there have never been schisms or sects of Bahá’i faith. Their unity over the last century is unique from the histories of all other religions. But inside critics and scholars counter that Bahá’i has sects of reform and orthodox like all religions. There are also many liberal believers with potentially divisive views, which suggests why Bahá’i leaders censor literature about a faith based on unity. Dale Lehman, a Northwestern graduate (1977) who as a student became Bahá’i, noted that to Bahá’is, Bahá'u'lláh’s words in scripture are the word of God. Anyone who tries to change the religion or impose his own views on it rather than submitting to God’s will as manifested by Bahá'u'lláh is simply not Bahá’i, Lehman said.

Whether its ideas are realistic or utopian, legitimate or bullshit, you should check it out for yourself—they have open services daily. You can’t say you’ve never been curious, and you can even run there if you want.

Lizzie somehow confused this assignment with her mid-term Religion in Human Experience research paper. Now she’s considering becoming Bahá’i, so convince her: e-kountze@northwestern.edu.