Baha'is are the nicest, friendliest people.

And it's not surprising, given their core beliefs.

"All we do is designed to bring unity, a new civilization, heaven on earth," said Judith Washington, a member of the Baha'i Community in Lancaster.

Baha'is don't proselytize, and they avoid divisiveness like the plague.

They vote as independents and never discuss their votes, although they do contact elected officials to express their views.

"We don't engage in power politics,"  said Washington, a retired social worker who moved to Lancaster two years ago.

"That's not the way to change the world. The way to change the world is to change the conscience of the politicians to do what is moral and right."

Baha'is celebrate the first day of the 12-day Festival of Ridvan today.

The most holy day in the Baha'i calendar commemorates the anniversary of Baha'u'llah's declaration in 1863 that he was the "Promised One" of all earlier religions.

It's also the "most joyous day" of the year, said Stuart Smith, secretary of the community's spiritual assembly.

And that's saying something, because all Baha'i gatherings are celebrations.

"People do not need an intermediator, so we have no leader and no rituals," said Washington, who will host tonight's gathering because Lancaster does not have a Baha'i center.

She expects anywhere from eight to 30 people will attend.

As hostess, Washington will select some readings — from the hundreds of writings by Baha'u'llah, his son and historians — and some prayers and music. Socializing and celebrating will follow.

"As long as it's in the right spirit — good, reverent fellowship — people are free to express their love of Baha'u'llah," she said.

"Religion for Baha'is is not a set of doctrines. It's the core that connects the individual with the creator."

But first, the Lancaster Baha'is will elect an assembly, an annual event held on the first day of Ridvan.

According to Baha'i tradition, the election will be held through secret ballot and plurality vote, without candidacies, nominations or campaigning.

Smith, 56, of Lancaster, a proofreader who also teaches adults English as a second language, said he, his wife and Washington are "typical of the unity Baha'is want to see in the world."

He was Christian, his wife was Muslim and Washington was a Jew who became a Baha'i soon after marrying an African-American Baha'i who was raised a Baptist.

"The story of Ridvan, which means 'Paradise' in Arabic," Smith said, "starts in 1844 in Shiraz, Persia, (now Iran) when a young merchant known as Bab, meaning 'the gate,' who was renown for right behavior, trustworthiness, declared it was the right time for humanity to enter a new era of its spiritual history, that all races, faiths and nationalities should come together and live in peace, that the kingdom of God can become a reality on earth."

Members of the faith have been persecuted in Iran from the beginning and continuing until today.

The Bab was executed in 1850.

Baha'u'llah, meaning the "Glory of God," was banished to Baghdad in 1853.

"As the years passed, because of his spiritual grandeur and power, all come to respect him — rich, poor, young, old, Muslims, people of all religions, loved him," Smith said.

"In 1863, civil and religious authorities became envious and banished him to Constantinople."

Ridvan is his final 12 days in Baghdad.

"The expectation of the authorities was he would leave in humiliation," Smith said.

But a sultan allowed him to pitch a tent in his garden, where he said good-bye to his many followers with trumpets, roses and the singing of nightingales.

"He left on a magnificent stallion with throngs of people gathered around him," Smith said. "So really, he left in triumph. So this is joyous."

For more information, visit http://www.lancaster-bahai.org/.