Proposed Presentation on Comenius for the ABS
Throughout my writing career my motto has been "submit to no man, only God," but I made an exception today with the Association for Baha'i Studies. I submitted the following abstract of a proposed presentation for next summer's conference in Washington. I have no idea how I would ever pay for such a trip, but the importance of this topic moves me to try anyway, albeit well after their deadline for submissions. The abstract had to be under a hundred words, and this is the 99 words I gave them:
"Best known to English speakers as a pioneer of learner-centered education, Johannes Amos Comenius (1592-1670) put forward almost three hundred and forty years ago the first detailed plan for global reform. His posthumous masterpiece, Panorthosia (Universal Reform) covered most Baha'i principles, including a democratic world government. As an essayist and author of the Badi' Blog (badiblog.blogspot.com), which specializes in the Baha'i principles, I have detailed the Panorthosia in relation to Baha'i ideas. This informal presentation will give an illustrated biography of Jan Amos Comenius, introduce the Panorthosia and sum up features of interest to Baha'i scholars and peace workers."
You are allowed to expand upon this in less than two hundred words, so I put in the following, in well under the required word count.
"In the Western Canon, John Comenius comes closest in spirit to the Baha'i approach to the principles of peace. Deeply rooted in faith, Comenius, along with Francis Bacon, inspired the Royal Society and what became modern science. Later, his more liberal ideas were co-opted by anti-theist writers of the Enlightenment and are now understood in wholly secular terms. Comenius's organized, detailed, scripture and education-oriented approach in Panorthosia complements perfectly the "universal gathering of mankind" proposed by Baha'u'llah in the Tablets to the Kings, as well as the future-oriented principles proclaimed by Abdu'l-Baha in the West.
"I have found that many teachings that uninitiated Baha'is think of as distinctive to their Faith were worked out by Comenius, who in turn derived them from classical sources, and especially the Bible. Examples are: education for all, including priority to girls as the mothers of the next generation, independent search for truth, a common faith for all humans, a parliament of religions, universal language and world government. Each of these is worked out in Panorthosia, though often with gaps and differences of emphasis."
--
John Taylor
email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment