Reflections is a weekly spotlight on faith within the campus community through intimate student interviews.
If religion is the source for division among people, then it is better to not have religion at all. That is a fundamental belief of Natika Calhoun, a 28-year old graduate student in biology at The U of M.
"There are no real lines between people, because we are all made in the image of God," she said. "No matter what your religion is, there ultimately is only one God and only one spiritual message that has been sent by many messengers in time. Baha'i is a faith renewed."
Natika's beliefs stem from the teachings of a Persian nobleman named Baha'u'llah, who established the Baha'i faith in 1844. Baha'u'llah taught that God revealed himself to humanity through many prophets, including Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, Zoroaster and Baha'u'llah himself.
Natika compares mankind's religious development to education -- as children progress through the different grades in school, so humanity moves from a narrow, simple concept of God to a more complex, fuller truth. Religious evolution, she said, has taken people "from tribes, to villages, to cities and one day to a global community."
Central teachings of the Baha'i faith include: the oneness of God, the unity of religions and the inherent equality of the sexes and races. Social teachings call for the elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth, the need for universal education and the recognition of fundamental harmony between science and religion.
For Natika, who has always been interested in science, the Baha'i faith allows the fusion of her religion with her discipline. "Without science, religion becomes superstition, and without religion, science becomes materialism," she said.
Even though Natika believes that the world would be a better place if everyone shared her faith, she does not believe in actively converting other people to her beliefs. Instead, she said that she demonstrates her faith through genuine kindness and community service. "Those people that are truly interested in who I am and what I believe will ask me themselves," she said.
She is not alone in her beliefs. There are approximately 6 million followers of the Baha'i faith in the world today, with about 140,000 in the United States. Along with other Baha'i students on campus, Natika is planning to establish an organization for interested students.
Even in this time of inter-religious tension and violence throughout the world, the Baha'i community remains optimistic about the important role their faith may have in bringing together adherents of all religions worldwide. They believe that, as Baha'u'llah said in his teachings, "Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
And through her daily life, Natika Calhoun is trying to live up to the higher calling of healing the divisive wounds within the body of human civilization.
