Baháʼí Faith in Tonga
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The Baháʼí Faith in Tonga started after being set as a goal to introduce the religion in 1953,
Early days
In 1953 the twelve existing
Australian Stanley P. Bolton was the first Baháʼí to arrive in Tonga — he arrived on 25 January 1954.
By 1956 there were indigenous Baháʼí converts on the islands;
Lisiata Maka, a legal adviser in Tonga's lower and supreme courts, became a Baháʼí in 1957 and was elected to the Regional National Assembly, and was later appointed to the
Growth
The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Tonga was of Nuku'alofa in 1958,
Tonga developed international administrative relationships in tandem with its internal growth. Mr. Latu Tu 'Akihekolo represented Tongan Baháʼís to an Baháʼí International Conference in Japan in 1958.[9] Tonga was allocated delegates for the election of the regional Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific from 1959 to 1963.[1] Eventually Tonga and the Cook Islands alone shared a regional National Assembly starting in 1970 and the Cook Islands Baháʼí community formed their own National Assembly in 1985.[10]
Baháʼí pioneers continued to make their presence felt in Tonga whether their stay was short or long. Margaret Rowling was almost constantly traveling to Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Nouméa and the Cook Islands between 1956 and 1975.[8] During 1974-79 Australian pioneers embarked to many of the Pacific islands including Tonga.[11] Tongan Baháʼís have also traveled to other lands; in addition to the travelers and travels mentioned above there have also been two exchange students from Tonga attended the Daystar International School, the first development project of the National Spiritual Assembly of Japan.[12]
In 2004, during the golden jubilee of the Baháʼí community of Tonga, there were 29 local spiritual assemblies and the community has had visits over the years from prominent Baha'is —
Celebrations held for the golden anniversary of the Baháʼí Faith in Tonga included the attendance of then Crown Prince Tupouto'a, Native American artist Kevin Locke as well as choirs, dance troops, tribal story tellers and hundreds of participants.[2] The brother of then Crown Prince Topouto'a, the Honoroble Ma'atu, died on 17 February 2004 after suffering a heart attack. Representatives of the Baháʼí community accepted an invitation to offer prayers at the memorial service held on 24 February[2] and was survived by his wife Alaileula, the granddaughter of the late Malietoa Tanumafili II, former Head of State of Samoa, also a member of the Baháʼí Faith.[13]
Opposition in Tonga
While the Baháʼí community has grown in the country, there has also been opposition. In 1973, the Wesleyan Church of Niua Toputapu published an anti-Baháʼí polemic "The Baha'i Faith Answered by Christianity".[14]
Furthermore, even as late as 2008 the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) maintains policy guidelines regarding the broadcast of religious programming on Radio Tonga. The TBC guidelines state that in view of "the character of the listening public" those who preach on Radio Tonga must confine their preaching "within the limits of the mainstream Christian tradition." Due to this policy, the TBC does not allow discussions by members of the Baháʼí Faith of its founder, Baháʼu'lláh, by name, or of the tenets of their religions. Members of the Baháʼí Faith utilize a privately owned radio station for program activities and the announcement of functions.[7]
Demographics
In 1983, Baháʼí sources claimed they constituted 3.9% of the national population and by 1987 the number of Baháʼís was at 6.3%.
Multiplying involvements
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in
In October 2007, ʻIlifeleti Tovo of Kolomotuʻa was elected President of the University of the South Pacific Students Association (USPSA) despite not being affiliated with a political party. The Baháʼí Faith does not condone party affiliations and Tovo resigned his party affiliation "...because I did not want to break my religious rules and ethics".[25][26] In 2008, Tovo strongly criticized the salary range of University officers and was censured[27] but salaries were adjusted downward by 45-65%.[28]
There also exists the 1844 Rock band composed of Tongan Baháʼís whose style is religious rock.[29]
See also
- History of Tonga
- Religion in Tonga
- Baháʼí Faith in Samoa
Further reading
- Blanks, D. (1997). "The Angel of Ha'apai." Herald of the South 47: 8–9. (Story of Ona Koppe, Tonga)
- Sier, Maureen (1996). The Bahais of Western Samoa and Tonga and Their Impact Upon Local Culture. Aberdeen University.
- Tu'itahi, Sione H. "'Women's Status Cited by Baha'i in Tonga Meet'." Pacific Magazine (Dec. 1985).
References
- ^ a b c d Hassall, Graham (1992), "Pacific Baha'i Communities 1950-1964", in H. Rubinstein, Donald (ed.), Pacific History: Papers from the 8th Pacific History Association Conference, University of Guam Press & Micronesian Area Research Center, Guam, pp. 73–95
- ^ a b c d e f Tuitahi, Sione; Bolouri, Sohrab (2004-01-28), "Tongan Baha'is parade to the palace", Baháʼí World News Service
- ^ a b c d e Hassall, Graham (1996), "Baha'i Faith in the Asia Pacific Issues and Prospects", Baháʼí Studies Review, vol. 6, pp. 1–10
- ^ a b Hands of the Cause. "The Baháʼí Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963". pp. 19–20, 52.
- ^ Baháʼí International Community (2006-07-17), "Ocean of Light School celebrates 10th anniversary", Baháʼí World News Service
- ^ ISBN 9789004322141.
- ^ a b c Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2006-09-15). "International Religious Freedom Report - Tonga". United States State Department. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ ISBN 0-85398-234-1
- ^ Sims, Barbara R. (1989), Traces that Remain: A Pictorial History of the Early Days of the Baháʼí Faith Among the Japanese, Baháʼí Publishing Trust, Japan, p. 215
- ^ Hassall, Graham; Universal House of Justice. "National Spiritual Assemblies statistics 1923-1999". Assorted Resource Tools. Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ Hassall, Graham (2001). "The Baháʼí Faith in Australia". Asia Pacific Baháʼí Studies. Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ Hassall, Graham; William, Barnes (1998-07-12), "Baháʼí Communities in the Asia-Pacific: Performing Common Theology and Cultural Diversity on a 'Spiritual Axis'", Association for Baháʼí Studies Australia and New Zealand Conference, Auckland, Association for Baháʼí Studies Australia and New Zealand
- ^ Baháʼí International Community (2003-01-25), "Prince praises school at opening of new buildings", Baháʼí World News Service
- ^ MacEoin, Denis; William Collins. "Anti-Baha'i Polemics". The Babi and Baha'i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press's ongoing series of Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies. entry #773. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
- ^ Sources: Year 2000 Estimated Baha'i statistics from: David Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2000;[clarification needed] Total population statistics, mid-2000 from Population Reference Bureau [1] and The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004.
- ^ "Tonga Facts and Figures", Encarta, vol. Online, Microsoft, 2008, archived from the original on 2009-10-28, retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ CENSUS96 Admin, Tonga Department of Statistics, 11/15/2011, pages xxii
- ^ 2006 Administrative And Basic Tables Vol1, Tonga Department of Statistics, 11/15/2011, page 48
- ^ Census Report 2011 Vol.1 rev., Tonga Department of Statistics, 11/07/2013, page 39
- ^ a b Momen, Moojan. "History of the Baha'i Faith in Iran". draft "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi (1997), "Education of women and socio-economic development", Baháʼí Studies Review, 7 (1).
- .
- ^ Stevenson, Sara (2006), Teaching Tonga, archived from the original on 2008-04-18, retrieved 2008-09-15
- ^ Watters, Nancy (2002), South Pacific Tour 2002, archived from the original on 2008-08-27, retrieved 2008-09-15
- ^ Tonga-Now (2007-11-13), THS Class of 1984-1989, retrieved 2008-09-15
- ^ Tonga-Now (November 2007), Tongan Elected USP Student Association President, retrieved 2008-09-15
- ^ Fiji Sun Online (2008-04-23), "'Ilifeleti Tovo fined, gagged", USPSA Announcements, archived from the original on October 28, 2008
- ^ "USPSA silent on pay cut", Sun (Fiji) News, 2008-07-19
- ^ Kaʻili, ʻAnapesi (2005), PT Exclusive Interview with Band 1844, archived from the original on 2007-10-30, retrieved 2008-09-15