Cary Clack: Learning to appreciate that which unites us

The event is for a day, but its theme is daily, timeless, essential.
For a 13th year, Winifred Barnum-Newman will ask San Antonians to join her for not only the celebration of Race Unity Day but for the possibility that man-made walls of false separation and suspicion can be knocked down by the force of understanding.

This Saturday, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Villita Assembly Building will be the site of Race Unity Day where, with entertainment, food and free admission, people can have fun appreciating the things that unite rather than divide them.

"Prejudice is at the base of all heinous things we do to one another," says Barnum-Newman, a renowned painter, sculptor, writer and illustrator and the executive director of Race Unity. "We want to empower, encourage and educate people to understand that when you change your perceptions of others you change inside for the better."

Race Unity Day was created by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the United States. Beginning in 1998, Barnum-Newman, a Bahai, made it a citywide event that wouldn't be about religion or politics, two areas at the root of much misunderstanding and dissension.

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A Bahai has been sentenced to 4 years in prison

HRA News: Peyman Kashfi Najaf Abaday, a Baha’i resident of Tehran who was arrested by Ministry of Information and released on bail, is sentenced to 4 years in prison.

According to HRA reporters, Peyman Kashfi, a Bahai citizen who was released on 100 Million Tooman bail, was tried on Khordad 25 [June 15] in branch 28th of the Revolution court in the presence of judge Mohammad Maghyseh with charge of membership in a unlawful organization in reference to section 499 of law of Islamic punishments.

Last week, Judge Mohammad Maghyseh, in his verdict changed the reference from section 499 to 498 which would result in a heavier punishment for the defendant and sentenced him to 4 years in prison.

According to a knowledgeable source, the text of the judgement written by the judge for Peyman Kashfi was reviewed by experts from Ministry of Information in which [Mr Kashefi] is referred to as being a member of Bahai’ faith an elements of Zionism.

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Original article: http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6225

The Baha’is of Ivel: Undaunted spirit [IP]

GENEVA — Following the demolition of Baha’i homes in the Iranian village of Ivel – reported last week – there is another story that must also be told: that of sympathetic villagers who have commiserated with their Baha’i neighbors over the injustices they have been forced to endure.It is also the story of an undaunted spirit and a commitment to social good that continues to enable the Baha’is to transcend their prolonged persecution and be active participants in the social and economic development of their village.

Continue reading at http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6193

Attack on Iran's Baha'i is a human rights outrage [The Guardian]

The destruction of 50 Baha'i homes demonstrates the Iranian government's disregard for its international obligations

"The governor general is like a physician … if he feels that there is a malignant tumour in the body of the society, he tries to remove it." Such was the official explanation given to Natoly Derakhshan, a Baha'i from the village of Ivel in Mazandaran province, Iran, after the homes of 50 Baha'i farming families were razed in Ivel on 26 June.

If farmers strike you as an unlikely tumour in a country that earns 20% of its GDP from agriculture, then perhaps you do not know the story of the minority Baha'i faith in the Islamic Republic of Iran.The destruction of 50 Baha'i homes demonstrates the Iranian government's disregard for its international obligations

Read full article @ Guardian.co.uk

New music embraces diversity of cultures [BWNS]

OSLO, Norway, 7 July (BWNS) – Since his breakthrough as a composer more than 30 years ago, Lasse Thoresen has been searching for a musical language that brings the world's diverse cultures together.

Now, one of his innovative vocal works is being acclaimed for the similarities it draws between ancient and modern, as well as Scandinavian folk music and sounds more associated with the Middle East. The piece, titled Opus 42, has won a prestigious music award.

The Nordic Council Music Prize was searching for a work "in which all involved play their own part." Facing competition from 12 other composers, Professor Thoresen was delighted to win the 350,000 Denmark Kroner (US$56,000) prize.

"This strikingly beautiful piece reveals the common denominators in ancient and ultra-modern sounds, drawing our attention to the similarities between Scandinavian folk traditions and the music we might find in, say, the Middle East or India," wrote the Adjudication Committee for the Prize, which includes members from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

"It represents a renewal not just of Nordic vocal music, but of score-based vocal music in general," the Committee said...

Continue reading at http://news.bahai.org/story/781