An Open Ethnographic Project
"There is, indeed, only one way of understanding a cultural phenomenon which is alien to one's own ideological pattern, and that is to place oneself at its very center and from there to track down all the values that radiate from it"
Mircea Eliade in "The Forge and the Crucible", pg. 11
"...religious life has a tentative, fragile, causistical character that can easily be misinterpreted-- particularly by those who do not have any "insider" [emic] knowledge of a system they are studying but rather bring meaning prejudices from another system of action"
Anthony Blasi, 1990 Problematic of the Sociologists and People under Study in the Sociology of Religion [emphasis added]
… consultation must have for its object the investigation of truth. He who expresses an opinion should not voice it as correct and right but set it forth as a contribution to the consensus of opinion, for the light of reality becomes apparent when two opinions coincide. A spark is produced when flint and steel come together. Man should weigh his opinions with the utmost serenity, calmness and composure. Before expressing his own views he should carefully consider the views already advanced by others. If he finds that a previously expressed opinion is more true and worthy, he should accept it immediately and not willfully hold to an opinion of his own. By this excellent method he endeavors to arrive at unity and truth. Opposition and division are deplorable. (The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 72)
The following site is a independent academic project not affiliated with any particular institutional section of the Baha'i Faith or any sect thereof, or any BUPC group, I am not a member of any Baha'i organization although I was a member of the Baha'i Faith (BWF) for ten years. It focuses on the legacy of the small theological school established in Montana by the Baha'i teacher Dr. Leland Jensen. All are invited to submit materials to m.j.h.mccarron@gmail.com for consideration to be published on this site. The site presents epistles, correspondences, essays and other materials related to Dr. Jensen's Baha'i school of thought. The intention of the site is to present on-going research, ethnography and field studies that make available all the source material aside from individual interviews (do to privacy concerns) with culturual informants on the web, rather then stored away in closets, files and inaccessible archives, it is intended as a new way of doing ethnography where there is a modicum of myself telling a story but others can also tell stories and analysis based on the original source material gathered.
This site is currently edited by Michael McCarron. I am a software engineer by trade. I am a former Baha'i and Sufi and currently a revert to Irish Catholicism. This site is an active project that is continuously updated and edited on an ongoing basis, many pages are raw notes, and do not represent completed research or thoughts. This is an ongoing longitudinal study. On this site you will find various studies, papers, ethnographies, historical writings, participant observation field notes and theoretical writings about Dr. Jensen's teachings. I am attempting to present all materials gathered in a relatively transparent manner so others may draw their own conclusions from these materials. There is an ongoing works cited section at https://sites.google.com/site/causeofgod/home/field-notes/works-cite
If you want to study New Religious Movements, the American west is the place to be!
My current research area is Cybersecurity and Neuroweapons, which can be read of here: https://github.com/autonomous019/Battlespace-of-Mind