20 MORE religions and faith practices 51

Robyn Lebron

It is also of great importance that the parents themselves set the
example for the conduct, morals and values that they are teaching the
children, for children learn by example as much as or even more than
through words. If the parents want their children to be truthful, then
they must be truthful; if they want their children to be free of racism,
then they must also be untainted by it; if they want their children to
learn the equality of women and men, then the husband and wife must
show that quality in their dealings with each other.18
Divorce is allowed but strongly discouraged. Before a divorce can
be granted, the couple is required to spend at least a year apart—“year
of patience”—while they attempt to reconcile.

Death and Afterlife
Death is regarded by Bahá’ís as a stage in one’s eternal life. It is the
point that marks one’s passage to the next world. The body that has been
the temple within which the human soul has resided should be treated
with respect and the funeral ceremonies carried out with dignity and
honour. Cremation is forbidden.19
According to Bahá’í teachings, we are all spiritual beings. Although
human beings exist on earth in physical bodies, the essential identity of
each person is defined by an invisible, rational, and everlasting soul. The
soul lives on after the body’s death, embarking on a spiritual journey
towards God through many worlds or planes of existence, where its
spiritual development in the physical world becomes a basis for
judgment and advancement in the spiritual world.20
Heaven and hell are believed to be spiritual states of nearness or
distance from God that describe our continued relationships in this
world and the next. If the soul fails to develop, one remains distant
from God. This condition of remoteness from God can in some sense

be understood as a ‘hell.’ Thus, heaven and hell are regarded not as
literal places but descriptions of one’s spiritual progress toward the light
of God.21 They do acknowledge that the exact nature of the afterlife
remains a mystery.

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