Baha'i Authorities' Persecution of Scholars - Continental Board of Counsellors Baha'i Faith

The Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience

Letter setting out the Official Baha'i Theology as Fundamentalism and Literalism

    . . . and Claiming the Right to Silence Baha'i Scholars

      Continental Board of Counsellors
      for the
      Protection and Propagation of the Baha'i Faith in the Americas

      16 July 1996

      Dear X:

      When I telephoned last May to ask for a second meeting to discuss in
      greater depth a number of concerns touched on in our earlier consultation, you
      indicated that you would prefer that I put these issues in writing. This letter,
      which has benefited from the comments of the International Teaching Center,
      seeks to respond to your request.

      As I explained, my reason for the proposed meeting was a desire to
      assist you in understanding how a number of your postings to the members of
      [an] internet forum . . . were in conflict with theTeachings of the
      Baha'i Faith, and how their persistent promotion by you was
      becoming harmful to its interests. As you know, a special responsibility for the
      protection of the Faith is one of the primary functions assigned to
      the institution of the Counsellors.

      While I have not archived your . . . postings, I retained a handful
      of them which seemed to me particularly inappropriate and disquieting in the
      context of a discussion ostensibly intended as a serious study of Baha'u'llah's
      Message. Copies of some of these which illustrate the issues mentioned here
      are enclosed for your reference.

      Essentially, your statements convey an image of the Faith in which the
      Covenant, although it is fundamental to Baha'u'llah's Message, has little
      substance beyond a kind of nominal legitimacy and certain very narrowly
      defined functions assigned to its central institutions. The broad and unique
      authority explicitly conferred on the Guardianship and the Universal House of
      Justice in the Writings of the Founders of the Faith is systematically whittled
      down to a point that would, if taken seriously, paralyze the ability of the Cause
      to carry out the mission laid on it by its Founder.

      The issue is not one of your having views which may be incompatible
      with the Teachings. Baha'i life is a continuing endeavor to understand and
      implement the truths of the Revelation of God to which we are committed. Nor
      would expressions of opinion during discussions among groups of Baha'is,
      however misleading or objectionable some of these comments might seem to
      many members of the community, normally be matters that the institutions of
      the Faith would feel responsible to take up. What has aroused the concern of
      the International Teaching Centre with respect to your . . . interventions,
      and has disturbed many of your fellow believers, has rather been a pattern of
      comment that appears to reflect a calculated and determined effort on your
      part, in the name of detached scholarly discussion, to impose on the
      presentation of Baha'u'llah's Message a strongly held ideological view that
      contradicts the authoritative and explicit interpretation of Baha'i Texts . . .
      these comments left me with the impression that you feel no compunction in
      disagreeing with Baha'u'llah and `Abdul-Baha themselves when their
      statements come into conflict with your strongly held personal convictions . . .

      In a statement posted over a year and a half ago--and repeated this past
      May . . . you explained with great frankness the beliefs that motivate you.
      Please let me be equally candid, then, in expressing my opinion that, if you
      were today to advance such views in support of an application for enrollment
      in the Baha'i Faith, no Baha'i Assembly would accept your application or
      regard you as fulfilling the basic requirements for Baha'i membership set out
      by the Guardian:

      "Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and the
      True Exemplar of the Baha'i Cause, as set forth in Abdul-Baha's
      Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever
      has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every
      clause of our Beloved's sacred Will; and close association with the spirit
      as well as the form of the present day Baha'i administration throughout
      the world--these I conceive to be the fundamental and primary considerations
      that must be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching
      such a vital decision."

      I regret the bald tone of this necessarily brief and constrained
      presentation of my concerns as a Counsellor. As I say, it seemed to me greatly
      to be preferred if we could have discussed such important matters face to face,
      in an unhurried atmosphere of respect both for your personal convictions and
      the integrity of the Faith's Teachings. You are the only one who can know
      whether in your heart you do indeed believe in Baha'u'llah as the
      Manifestation of God to our age. Baha'i institutions do not have the right
      to pry into believers' innermost convictions, but they do have the obligation
      to counsel individuals whose dissemination of personal beliefs is doing harm
      to the interests of the Faith.

      The International Teaching Centre has asked me--with the knowledge of
      the Universal House of Justice--to warn you that your promulgation of views
      contrary to the Teachings was damaging to the Cause. If you were to resume
      in any fashion this course of action, the effect would be to bring you into direct
      conflict with the Covenant.

      With sincerity and concern,

      Stephen Birkland, Member
      Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas

      cc: The International Teaching Centre
      Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas
      National Spiritual Assembly of the United States




      Editor's Note: This letter was sent to a Baha'i academic a couple years after electronic mail fora began making a big impact on the Baha'i community. The 'ideology' of which the author stands accused appears to be classical Liberalism, in the sense of devotion to human rights, parliamentary governance and procedure, reason, and academic scholarship. One can only speculate as to what ideology is being urged on the author, but it is not, obviously, one of the Left, and if you subtract both Liberalism and Marxism from the main available ideologies, you are probably left with some form of Fascism. Those not versed in Baha'i technical terminology or practices will need to be informed that the last paragraph contains a threat to have this individual shunned by all Baha'is (i.e. his family, long-time friends and readers) if he does not fall silent.






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