There is an article on Dylan wrtitten by Alex Beam in today's Boston Globe.

All about how the academics think Dylan is someone deserving of respect. Cambridge University Press is publishing "The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan." Dylan took the mantel from James Dean who got it from Kerouac. Dylan still wears it but more lightly now -- and he has the benefit of still being alive!

Did you see the interview a few years ago on 60 minutes? I think Dylan was asked why he keeps touring and performing -- his answer was that he had made a pact with God. Now that Tibet is hampered we need Dylan to keep up good relations with God, don't we?

Once Dylan declares he will go on Oprah and that's when she will declare as well. Its all in the Tablet of the Ancient Mariner, did you but know.

BTW I read an interview with Rúhíyyih Khánum some years back and came away thinking that she really was in love with the AO and ritual. She called it being a basic Baha'i -- as opposed to a mystical one. I think she would be comfortable with the authoritarian aspects of modern Baha'i because she and many of the leaders of her time believed that strict obedience and keeping the party line was the most important part of Baha'i -- all for the sake of unity of course.

Here is a fine example of Dylan in a spiritual mood. He captures some of what a lot of us walking around stiffs feel, I think:

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer.
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me.
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

Peace Brother Craig -- enjoy the Jack (saw his scroll in Lowell near where I live -- he is still on the road, just dead that's all.)

Try this one Dan:

Re Dylan as God --

In Shelter from the Storm he writes:
"In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

That was after his fans almost loved him dead.

In All Along the Watchtower he writes:
"Businessmen they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth, none of them along the line know what any of it is worth"

Written after his near death experience via motorcycle. But still you'd think he would have learned not to do that. (Jimmy Hendricks carried a notebook full of Dylan lyrics and songs -- did a magnificent cover of Watchtower.)

So he -- like many in history -- speaks with God's voice sometimes. God's voice is always that of a mortal near as I can tell.

In the case of Grain of Sand I don't read it the way you do. The ancient footsteps refer to the spirit world, God maybe, but when he turns around he is sometimes lonely and disapointed -- as we all are sometimes especially if we rely on God. In fact if we think God is anywhere but in our heats we will be disapointed every time.

So I think no matter how you read this song, Dylan's voice rings true. Does for me anyway.

Lee for the record some of us -- me included are not Bahais at all.

Secondly once a person appears in public to discuss private matters they are no longer private. I personally have no knowledge of Rainn Wilson the private person but I do now what he presents publicity. Our discussion here is about that public presentation. Rainn is free to read this and comment if he wishes. It is closer to criticism as in critics of TV or movies than to backbiting I think.

Backbiting is private behind someones back -- obviously. This is a public discussion about a public presentation. We do not hide here in fact we stick our necks out for anyone to take a whack at. It might be foolish but its not backbiting.

Cheers,
Frank

Farhan asked "do you have any reason to believe that Baha'i leadership is more narrow minded than leadership in other religions?"

Answer -- yes I do but that really isn't the point. If Baha'i is the renewal of religion and if it ushers in the day that will not be followed by night why doesn't it, hasn't it had -- since the passing of Abdul Baha -- much better leadership. And I include the Guardian in this question. (Maybe the answer is god works in mysterious ways (yeah!) or he doeth whatsoever he willeth -- the one size fits all explanation for most everything under the sun.)

Some of the ministers and priests I know are not narrow minded at all, while others are. The Hindus I've known over the years -- not leaders -- have been very open minded and warm. They embrace other ways of thinking readily. The Buddhists too but I have less direct experience with them.

I knew Hands of the Cause (fine men and one was a spiritual dynamo) and one member of the original UHJ (a very conservative, up tight type). I was always puzzled by Rúhíyyih Khánum, by her style and outlook. She seemed an odd match for the Guardian and for her role -- to me anyway.

I think one of the reasons the faith has not spread more deeply is the lack of creative, charismatic leaders who where also completely sane. The leaders I knew during my active Baha'i years pushed back more often than they reached out.

Rainn Wilson's leadership is another quirky kind of "what were they thinking" leader for Bahai's. Surely the Baha'is can and should do better than this.

He doesn't know. At least that's my theory. He was raised Baha'i but might never really studied it. Just learned by osmosis. He thinks it as he describes it. Some Baha'is do seem to get away with ignoring lots of reality. If I'm wrong I don't have a clue re: what he is trying to do -- except maybe seem quirky and cool.

The Baha'i faith has always had more than its share of narrow minded types in leadership roles. Many are self appointed but with the formation of the UHJ and other non-clergy clergy roles they have become more institutionalized. Then there are folks like Rainn who seem to ignore both the heart of the writings and the reality of the leadership. These ones do describe a really nice -- new age sounding religion, but it doesn't exist. They usually seem to get away with this. Maybe they represent an important part of the Baha'i faith of the future? I know that my non-Baha'i friends who know about Baha'i think its like what Rainn describes.

Amanda may have anger issues but she is right -- imho. And I think anyone who cares about Baha'i should be angry too.

I left the faith and joined a UUish church in town. Every once in a while Baha'is are invited to speak to the congregation so people have some ideas about Baha'i. But they have been left with the impression that its a 'new age' sort of affair. This is ridiculous. Its the old (or as Baha'ullah puts it ancient) religion of the past full of small mindedness and fear. Mostly fear I think.

Rainn Wilson is annoying. He grew up in the faith but seems to know little about it. He makes fun of new age religion but doesn't give a serious introduction to Baha'i. And some of his 'humorous' antics on TV -- comedy sketches -- show him to be out of sync with what the AO and most Baha'is expect of a Baha'i public figure. (Acting as the sex slave of another actor, for example)

I think Amanda is also tight about the possible Oprah train wreck if she gets wind of what he left out. Of course he wouldn't be expected to say Baha'i is a fine religion for straight men but he ought to describe it as the traditional, old style religion that it is. Did he say its religion renewed? (I didn't listen to the whole thing because he makes me a little nauseous) Lots of folks like that -- the white middle class is still homophobic and some even still believe women should never be the boss. Many also believe in keeping your views to your self and that they will never have enough knowledge to figure anything out for themselves -- so there is a big audience for the real Baha'i message.