Baha'i Couple Holds Regular "Interfaith Devotionals"

March 31, 2006

Source: The Huntsville Times

http://www.al.com/living/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/living/114380017266970.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

On March 31, 2006 The Huntsville Times reported, "The Hieberts, who are Baha'i, hold monthly interfaith devotionals at their home to celebrate [their] belief, but not to proselytize for the [Baha'i] faith that's been often misunderstood since its inception. Ruhi Hiebert suffered imprisonment and whippings in her native Iran because she was Baha'i before she moved to the United States several years ago. Marlene Brown of Gurley, who became Baha'i when she was a teenager in Detroit, faced trying to convince her Catholic mother that she wasn't joining a wicked sect. And some people have trouble understanding that when the Hieberts invite people to an 'Interfaith Devotional,' they mean just that. It's not a Baha'i prayer meeting, though Baha'i prayers are included along with readings from the Bible, the Qur'an and other holy scriptures. It's not a Baha'i entrapment where guests must listen to an explanation of the obscure, but worldwide faith. It's just people: [p]raying together after eating some of Ruhi's saffron-scented rice pilaf, [l]istening to prayer songs from the world's faiths, and [l]aughing together over cheesecake and coffee."