Expanding on the diversity of topics explored in the previous day, the Association for Baha’i Studies Conference continued on Saturday 18 August with breakout sessions featuring presentations on the arts, communication, sustainable development, education, philosophy, and science and religion, among other topics.
In the bioethics and health sciences session, speakers drew attention to the overlapping and complementary nature of science and religion.
In his talk on depression, Dr. Philip Squires drew parallels between the goals of human developmental stages and the purpose of life as described by the Bahá’í writings.
“The world over, children develop in the same way,” said Squires. Linking reactive depression in children to a perceived inability to fulfill one’s purpose in life, Squires suggested novel treatment for depression relative to each stage of life.
For depressed infants (0–2 years), whose purpose is to attach to a maternal figure and gain a sense of trust, love is what is most needed; for depressed children (2–7 years), the focus should be on cooperation, sharing, and play, said Squires. Each stage of life develops important capacities which prepare us for the next. Thus the intellectual skills of youth (7–15 years), like the power of expression and moral understanding, prepare us for adulthood.
According to Squires, it makes sense both developmentally and spiritually to cultivate our human capacities to love, play, know, and serve. These are fundamental to living a happy and fulfilling life.
In a subsequent talk the same session, Dr. Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian further emphasized the importance of building bridges between science and religion. In his presentation on prayer and healing, he encouraged listeners to view science and religion neither as completely separate nor as subsystems of each other, but instead as equally valid sources of knowledge about reality.
Dr. Ghadirian critiqued medical science’s largely materialistic approach to healing, which employs only tools and techniques of the physical body, as being unable to adequately measure the healing power of prayer—a power which may result from unseen factors such as love, sincerity, kindness, and attunement of the heart.
Taking a more global view, Dr. Ashley Roberts argued for a coupling of spiritual care and understanding with scientific accuracy. Identifying faith-based organizations as major players in global health care and the treatment of AIDS, Roberts advocated for increased partnerships with other public health organizations.
This breakout session was one of the most popular on Saturday, with the large number of attendees prompting a move from the original conference room into the main hall.