Observed by Bahá'ís | ||
Type International, cultural Significance Celebration of the oneness of religion and its role in human society Date Third Sunday in January 2016 date January 17 (2016-01-17) 2017 date January 15 (2017-01-15) | ||
World Religion Day is an observance initiated in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday in January each year. Though initiated in the United States, World Religion Day has come to be celebrated internationally.
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In 1968, the Universal House of Justice, the highest elected body in the Bahá'í administrative order, sent a letter to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Chicago stating that World Religion Day "is a celebration of the need for and the coming of a world religion for mankind, the Bahá'í Faith itself. Although there have been many ways of expressing the meaning of this celebration in Bahá'í communities in the United States, the Day was not meant primarily to provide a platform for all religions and their emergent ecumenical ideas."
Its purpose is to promote the idea that the spiritual principles underlying the world's religions are harmonious, and to suggest that religions play a role in unifying humanity. In April 2002, the Universal House of Justice published a letter "To the World’s Religious Leaders", in which it was stated that:
Interfaith discourse, if it is to contribute meaningfully to healing the ills that afflict a desperate humanity, must now address honestly ... the implications of the over-arching truth ... that God is one and that, beyond all diversity of cultural expression and human interpretation, religion is likewise one.
History
The earliest observation entitled "World Peace Through World Religion" was in Portland, Maine at the Eastland Park Hotel in October 1947 with a talk by Firuz Kazemzadeh. In 1949 observances in various communities in the United States made the local newspapers in December called "World Religion Day". It was standardized across the United States by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States in December 1949 to be held January 15. It also began to be observed internationally starting as early as in Australia in 1950 in two cities and Bolivia in 1951. By 1958 Bahá'ís had gathered notices of events in a number of countries—sometimes attracting hundreds of people and sometimes overlapping with race amity priorities. In Laos, for example, meetings were noted in 1958, 1959, and 1960, among many countries activities. In the Netherlands in 1962 it was noted in several cities.
More pronounced awareness
The observance has grown in some scale of recognition beginning in the 1950s.
It was noted on various AM radio stations in the 1950s and 1960s:
Various noted speakers have given talks in the 1950s to the 1970s:
A number of locales have seen Mayoral proclamations in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and 1970s:
In 1968 the proclamation was issued by Warren E. Hearnes, Governor of Missouri.
Stamps
In 1985 Sri Lanka issued the first World Religion Day postage stamp. This was followed by a stamp issued by the Republic of the Congo in 2007. The Congo stamp showed a globe with the symbols of 11 religions surrounding it, and the text (in French) read, "God is the source of all religions."
Modern events
After years of activity since 2000 in 2011 Ottawa city government hosted an event that was video taped. It was subsequently noted in 2014 on CTV Television Network.
Since 2013 participants have gathered at a virtual presentation in Second Life at the UUtopia Center for an observance. The 2014 observance had screenshots taken. The 2015 event of talks of a panel of speakers was recorded.
In 2013 the Parliament of Religions noted it. The Oxford University Press' blog noted it in 2015.
There is a long tradition of hosting panels and symposia with representatives of many religions at World Religion Day observances.