Alison's Ridvan vision: second thoughts

In my previous post, I described some of my first reactions to Alison's Ridvan vision. After those first reactions, I started having second thoughts. Were she and I really thinking about the same problem? Was she really saying what I thought she was saying about possible solutions? That led to some other questions. What problem was I thinking about, and what solutions was I proposing? Something about a division among Baha'is, associated in my mind with the dialogue/Talisman feud, but who is divided from whom?

The thought came to me that there's more than one division. In fact, there might be as many divisions as there are people involved. Now I see the image of two opposing sides as a red herring. What needs to change is each person's estrangement from some other people.

More questions. Out of all the strife and conflict in the world, is there some reason for me to single these Baha'i Internet feuds? Here's one reason:

"Nothing whatsoever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God."

Another reason is moral leadership in helping to check the disease of sectarian hatreds, which I see as the last stand for global violence. We need to lead the way by addressing the sectarian hatreds in our own community.

What solutions am I proposing?

I'm imagining each person making prayerful efforts to recover from her own feelings of estrangement, and to feel closer to anyone she feels estranged from.

What can I do to help, besides practicing that myself? I can share my ideas and experiences, in learning to flee from estrangement. One example is "Fleeing from Estrangement." Another is "Glimpses of the dialogue/Talisman chronicles."

Objection: Some estrangement is a result of injustice and abuse. It seems wrong to me to appeal to people to seek fellowship with people who have wronged and abused them, without addressing the injustice and abuse.

That rings a bell. The same issues are involved in the relationships between black people and white people. Those issues are addressed in the Advent of Divine Justice. Maybe the same principles can be applied here, and to all relationships between the dominant culture in each community, and the rest of the community.

This brings me full circle, back to walking and working with abused and marginalized people in my own local community, and helping to provide to every person the kind of encouragement and support that really helps, in her initiatives and in the challenges she's facing. The roots of Baha'i feuding on the Internet are in bandwagon abuse, and in people depreciating and repressing themselves, in every Baha'i community everywhere.