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Marriage: A Fortress for Well-Being
A Fortress for Well-Being offers valuable insights for every couple, whether married or in preparation for marriage, to apply spiritual principles to everyday needs. Redefining marriage as the basic building block for world peace and unity, the book explores issues such as dating, how to prepare for marriage, raising children, divorce, and more. By taking an in-depth look at what the Baha'i writings say about marriage, the book examines the institution in light of God's purpose for humanity and provides guidance for building spiritually founded marital unions. Coming at a time when modern social conditions are forcing a re-examination of the institution of marriage, the book offers sound advice, encouragements, and tremendous hope for the future.
286 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 18, 2013
As a non bahai and only just hearing about the principles of the faith I was desperate for guidance how to nurture my marriage. This book gave me just what I was looking for <3
July 25, 2021
Was described to me as one of the more universal textual doctrines of the Baha'i faith - something given to newlyweds as a 'must-read' internal to the religion. In a Religion that doesn't tend to push its dogma (at least with the same ferocity of the other abramist makyoisms), it is a window into the religion, what they believe, how they actually operate at least in theory.
And what do you see when you glimpse into this window?
That it's a load of useless, probably dangerous garbage, just like the others.
Somehow the Baha'i manage to take some of the worst parts of islam, christianity, judaism and modern secular societies and twist them into their own system. And it is explicit in citing the Qur'an, which is a red flag. Why bother with Baha'i as a faith, if it cites the Qur'an, which is supposed to be the final prophet? Who does this Abdul Baha think he is, and what does he think he's doing, if his followers are explicitly following Islam, but an innovator, allowing committee rule to blemish the perfection they so openly seek? A world order, at peace, sure...but that's nothing new from Islam. Wikipedia claims that Baha'is aren't a syncretic religion, but this book is pretty compelling contradicting evidence otherwise. It's what you would get if you allowed a highschool kid with no education to copy/paste somewhat convincing quotes of other religions together into one book and slap their name on it. It's *embarrassingly* bad advice when compared to something like, say, the other book I was reading on relationships at the same time.
Though there's some positives to this book (it's explicitly pro-racemixing, pro-love, etc) it's mostly about god. Which I guess makes sense but I really feel bad for the couples who are given this to read rather than, say, something that would *actually* help make their marriage into a fortress.
Here's a tip for those of you who are suggested to read this : relationships are about communication, compromise, and learning to have and work with boundaries. Long-term relationships involve learning about yourself, and your partner. If your god is interfering with your ability to fully communicate, to fully understand, and to fully be whole human beings...your god is interfering with your relationship. You don't *need* a god to have a relationship, to have a successful relationship, to be happy, or really anything. The insistence on the opposite is easily disproved by actually surveying relationships, in the wild, as they start, end and continue. The path to a successful marriage *isn't* by relying on god as a crutch in your relationship, as this book suggests - it's hard work maintaining a relationship, but is often possible.
tl;dr The 'fortress' is their cult. They want to fortify the boundaries of their cult so that you, and your decedents will never be able to leave it. They don't really care about you, oh soon to be newlywed couple, except as a means to that end.
And what do you see when you glimpse into this window?
That it's a load of useless, probably dangerous garbage, just like the others.
Somehow the Baha'i manage to take some of the worst parts of islam, christianity, judaism and modern secular societies and twist them into their own system. And it is explicit in citing the Qur'an, which is a red flag. Why bother with Baha'i as a faith, if it cites the Qur'an, which is supposed to be the final prophet? Who does this Abdul Baha think he is, and what does he think he's doing, if his followers are explicitly following Islam, but an innovator, allowing committee rule to blemish the perfection they so openly seek? A world order, at peace, sure...but that's nothing new from Islam. Wikipedia claims that Baha'is aren't a syncretic religion, but this book is pretty compelling contradicting evidence otherwise. It's what you would get if you allowed a highschool kid with no education to copy/paste somewhat convincing quotes of other religions together into one book and slap their name on it. It's *embarrassingly* bad advice when compared to something like, say, the other book I was reading on relationships at the same time.
Though there's some positives to this book (it's explicitly pro-racemixing, pro-love, etc) it's mostly about god. Which I guess makes sense but I really feel bad for the couples who are given this to read rather than, say, something that would *actually* help make their marriage into a fortress.
Here's a tip for those of you who are suggested to read this : relationships are about communication, compromise, and learning to have and work with boundaries. Long-term relationships involve learning about yourself, and your partner. If your god is interfering with your ability to fully communicate, to fully understand, and to fully be whole human beings...your god is interfering with your relationship. You don't *need* a god to have a relationship, to have a successful relationship, to be happy, or really anything. The insistence on the opposite is easily disproved by actually surveying relationships, in the wild, as they start, end and continue. The path to a successful marriage *isn't* by relying on god as a crutch in your relationship, as this book suggests - it's hard work maintaining a relationship, but is often possible.
tl;dr The 'fortress' is their cult. They want to fortify the boundaries of their cult so that you, and your decedents will never be able to leave it. They don't really care about you, oh soon to be newlywed couple, except as a means to that end.
January 2, 2025
Giving this a neutral rating of 3 stars. For someone who is not religious at all, this book wasn't too hard to digest. A small book with large margins and short chapters containing layman's terms summaries and Baha`i quotes.
February 5, 2024
Lots of interesting ideas and wisdom about marriage.
May 2, 2025
“May you become the quintessence of love. May you prove to be… the cause of unity and fellowship in the world of humanity, for today mankind has the greatest need of love…”
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews