Denmark

From Bahaikipedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The Bahá'í Faith began in Denmark in 1925 but it was more than 20 years before the community began to grow after the arrival of American Pioneers in 1946. Following that period of growth, the community established its National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. With Iranian Bahá'í refugees and convert Danes the modern community was about 300 Bahá'ís as of 2002.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early history

Johanne Sørensen became a Bahá'í while in the Territory of Hawaii in 1925. Returning to Denmark the same year she was its first Bahá'í, though there would be no others for more than 20 years perhaps in part due to her introverted personality.[1] During those years she was involved with translating, or seeing to translations being done, and corrsponded in over 100 letters with Shoghi Effendi, then the head of the religion about the translation work. In 1926 Sørensen published a translation credited as a work of John Esslemont's "Hvad ei Baha'i Berageken?" (What is the Baha'i Movement?), the year after his passing.[2] Soon she translated Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era which drew approving academic review. But there were no other converts to the religion during this early period (and Sørensen married and her last name became Høeg though she remained active in her translation work until the community elected a Local Spiritual Assembly which held the authority for such endeavors.)

Starting in 1946, following World War II, Shoghi Effendi drew up plans for the American (US and Canada) Bahá'í community to send pioneers to Europe including Denmark and they went so far as to setup a European Teaching Committee chaired by Edna True. Prominent among these were the women Dagmar Dole and Elenoir Holliboaugh, arriving in 1947, who helped establish the first community of Denmark's Bahá'ís.[1] Many of the early converts were supporters of Det Radikale Venstre political party as part of a modern liberal outlook. From 1948 to 1952 thirty eight individuals converted to the Bahá'í Faith and none withdrew. In 1939 the first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Copenhagen. In 1950 the Denmark community hosted a number of continent-wide European Bahá'í events though still having about 50 Bahá'ís in the community. Some credit the success of American pioneers was due to the Danes being attracted to their "cultural style" - "emancipated, independent, and idealistic".[3] In 1957 Denmark, Scandinavia and Finland were gathered in a regional National Spiritual Assembly.[4]

[edit] Establishment

In 1960, shortly after the passing of Shoghi Effendi and the culminating period of the Ten Year Crusade, Denmark became the home of some Iranian Bahá'ís bumping the community total to over 60[1] and Denmark National Spiritual Assemblies formed in 1962.[3] In the wake of the 1968-9 cultural changes across Europe including youth movements, war and environmental issues protests.[5] most Bahá'í communities experienced sizable growth. From 1971 to 1974 the community nearly doubled. By 1979 the community's progressing organization of Assemblies and petitioning the government lead to the recognition of the Bahá'í Faith as a legal institution with privileges, for example, including the authority to grant marriages.[1] 1979 was also the year of the Iranian Revolution with its sever persecution of the Bahá'ís that continues past 2007[6][7] leading many thousands to flee and the portion that came to Denmark almost double the community again.[1] though many many more went to other nations.

[edit] Modern community

As of 2002 their were about 300 Bahá'ís in Denmark, and the community has also spread beyond Copenhagen into the countryside and rural provinces. It has been shown that there is a mix of liberal and conservative world views among the Bahá'ís.[8] Though a small proportion in a nation of over 5 million, yet in 1995 when Denmark hosted the United Nations World Summit for Social Development the Bahá'ís participated in an NGO contribution to the Summit as well as the NGO-Forum held along side.[1][9] Additionally the Bahá'is of Denmark and in general are an object of academic study by University of Copenhagen Professor Margit Warburg and her students.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Warburg, Margit (2004). in Peter Smith: Bahá'ís in the West. Kalimat Press, pp. 228-63. ISBN 1890688118. 
  2. ↑ MacEoin, Denis; William Collins. Principles. The Babi and Baha'i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press's ongoing series of Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hassall, Graham & Seena Fazel, "100 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in Europe", Bahá’í Studies Review 1998 (8): pp. 35-44, <http://bahai-library.com/asia-pacific/Europe.htm>
  4. ↑ Hassall, Graham; Universal House of Justice. National Spiritual Assemblies statistics 1923-1999. Assorted Resource Tools. Bahá'í Academics Resource Library. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  5. ↑ Rootes, Christopher. "1968 and the Environmental Movement in Europe." [1] Retrieved 02-2008
  6. ↑ UN Doc. E/CN.4/1993/41, Commission on Human Rights, 49th session, 28 January 1993, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, paragraph 310.
  7. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2006-06-06). Iran: Scores Arrested in Anti-Baha’i Campaign. Human Rights News. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
  8. ↑ Warburg, Margit (1999), "Baha'i: A Religious Approach to Globalization", Social Compas 46 (1): pp. 47-56, DOI:10.1177/003776899046001005, <http://scp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/46/1/47>
  9. ↑ Boyles, Ann (1994-5). The Bahá'í World; Bahá'ís and the Arts: Language of the Heart, pp. 243-272. 
  10. ↑ van den Hoonaard, Will C.. "A bibliography of sociological or anthropological studies on the contemporary Baha'i Community". Bahá'í Academics Resource Library. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://bahaikipedia.org/Denmark"
Personal tools
quick find