More than from Islam, the Baha'i religion is derived from very ancient Middle Eastern religions which had a huge influence on mystic Islam (sufism, and in Iran, shiite mysticism). Their founder, Baha'ullah, came from a mystic group that suffered persecutions under the "orthodox" shiites. After suffering tortures he had a revelation from God who asked him to preach peace and brotherhood between all the religions. Bahaism more than a religion is a phylosophical system such as confucianism. Nowadays it's very much influenced by New Age.
The Bahai are often seen as "bad" because as they have retirements and preach peace and love and have a lot of New Age influences. Authorities often confuse them with other groups known for their use of narcotics (which is not their case). In 1981 the Bahai was forbidden in Mexico, and some American citizens from this cult were expelled from a place near Canc�n, because they were asking for money and the not-so-religious authorities thought they were dangerous (now the group, along with other groups that were forbidden before such as the JW's and the Hare Krishnas can work freely).
We are posting here using a 'we/them type conversation, but interestingly enough more than half of this particular group were raised Catholic. Any thoughts?
The Bahai can be considered as a part of all the New Age and neo-Oriental mania, a fashion among westerners, specially Catholics. I believe it's all connected with the lack of a mysterious and spiritual environment that modern Western Christian denominations are not able to offer, specially in their worship. I believe that the secularization in Roman Catholicism worship play an important role in the recent "conversions" of Catholics to Budhism or other exotic religions. I don't blame people who join those groups, they just look for something different from their already difficult modern lives, they look for a refuge, different from the environment of the streets and the noisy cities.
