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From: jrcole@umich.edu <jrcole@umich.edu> Subject: Re: Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedom of Conscience Date: Wednesday, February 10, 1999 11:09 AM Dear Kathy: There is a third possibility you are not accounting for. It is that my information comes from an impeccable eyewitness whom I know was there and is completely credible; but that if I revealed the person's name, the Baha'i authorities would come down on her like a ton of bricks. The Baha'i institutions, including the counselors that say they have no authority, use threats of shunning and ostracism to control people. It can have serious consequences. What if this person were shunned or forced out of the faith and it broke up her marriage and badly affected her children? Why should I do that to someone, just to prove that what I am saying is credible? People who don't want to accept my credibility won't accept it anyway. However, just because I cannot reveal my source does not mean I should not reveal my information. I know it is not gossip. The Baha'i electoral system at the national level in the U.S. has been subject to all sorts of manipulation for at least 30 years, and this is widely known by insiders and condoned by most of them. Dissatisfaction with this situation was one of the reasons that the house of justice basically threatened to dissolve the US NSA in May, 1994, if it did not shape up. Journalists frequently go to press with information they are sure of, even when they cannot in good conscience reveal their sources. I am a full professor of history at a major university; my dossier was intensively scrutinized numerous times by academics at other universities and at my own in several divisions before I was put in my present position. I didn't get here by publishing false or unsubstantiatable information. And anyone who wants to disregard what I say is welcome to. cheers Juan In article <36e76943.381914935@news.newsguy.com>, kathy@scconsult.com (Kathy Pascoe) wrote: > On Tue, 09 Feb 1999 05:24:50 GMT, jrcole@umich.edu wrote: > > > A high African-American official in Wilmette, I am reliably informed, once > > considered having Ms. Deas prevented from coming out on the stage at the > > National Convention before the vote, which would have been a signal to the > > delegates to elect someone else. > > I noted in another post that I feel a certain amount of inherent > sympathy for anyone questioning your actions, given that strong faith > won't be swayed. The reason you might have some difficulty swaying the > faith of others would be the use of unsupported innuendo. You need to > either name the person who shared that piece of information, or you need > to discard it as the gossip it is. > -- > Kathy Pascoe ~ kathy@scconsult.com (at home) > Confused about newsgroups? Visit <news:news.newusers.questions> > Juan Cole History, U of Michigan https://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai.htm -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- https://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own Homepage |