Baha’i Rants

Ridvan ushers in not just a great festival for the Baha’i world but also the annual National Conventions where we get a chance to reflect on the year past, accomplishments and future goals. As well as to elect the 9 members of our national governing bodies. Yes, it is springtime and incumbency is in the air.

With the retirement of Dorothy Nelson, the US NSA was given a rare opportunity to welcome a new member: Ms. Valerie Dana from Colorado. She is an attorney at law and until 2004 she was a director of the Mona Foundation.

Except for this new member, the same 8 incumbents were re-elected and not surprisingly, in almost the same order of votes: Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, David F. Young, Kenneth E. Bowers, Juana C. Conrad, William Roberts, Muin Afnani, Erica Toussaint, Robert C. Henderson

US NSA with new member, Valerie Dana

The national convention in Canada had similar results except that two previous members retired, allowing for two new members to be elected. Elizabeth Wright was elected to the NSA of Canada in January 2009 as a result of a by-election caused by the resignation of Fariborz Sahba. From 2004 onward, Mr. Sahba had been a member of the national governing body and acted as the Treasurer. So although technically Wright was re-elected, I still count her as a new member because of the circumstances.

The second new member is Deloria Bighorn, replacing the retiring Mark Wedge who had been serving on the NSA for 10 consecutive years. Similar to the longstanding member she replaced and Valerie Dana, Ms. Bighorn is a North American native. Previously she acted as the Director of Aboriginal Affairs for the NSA of Canada, as well as working as a counselor at the now closed Maxwell Baha’i School.

Elizabeth Wright, Gerald Filson, Deloria Bighorn

The 7 re-elected incumbents are: Karen McKye, Todd Smith, Borna Noureddin, Judy Filson, Enayat Rawhani, Gordon Naylor, Elizabeth Wright and Susanne Tamas (in descending order of votes). Deloria Bighorn received the lowest number of votes which is in keeping with the traditional experience for new members.

Because incumbency is so prevalent, it is rare to see 2 new members in one election. Usually we see either no change, with all previous members re-elected or just one new face due to retirement. The last time we saw 2 new members, as is the case this year, was in 1999. The longest serving members of the Canadian NSA are Judy Filson and Enayat Rohani. The average consecutive years in office is 8 – meaning that the average member of the NSA of Canada has been a member for 8 years consecutively. Due to the 2 new members, this represents a slight decrease from last year’s number of 8.6 years.

There is a happy medium between too many years and too few years. If members are changing quickly, then they don’t have time to learn, make connections and to be able to take up the heavy responsibility that comes with being an NSA member. On the other hand, if membership is hardly changing at all, as we are seeing now, the disadvantages are that people get burned out, devolve into group-think, run out of ideas, form cliques and fiefdoms, etc. For this reason, it is difficult to draw the line and give a specific number of years, for example.

But when we are seeing that the only way new blood can be introduced into an NSA by the decision of an incumbent to retire due to old age, then it is safe to suggest that the pendulum has swung to an extreme. Of course, we are talking about a free election here. No one is forcing the Baha’is of the US and Canada to elect the same people over and over again.

And yet they do. There is an inherent flaw in the structure of the elections which needs be addressed. It is at this point that fellow Baha’is usually bristle with affront and close their minds. Which is unfortunate since the administrative processes are an evolving and organic framework. Even a cursory study of them and their history would attest to the fact that they are not set in stone and shouldn’t be – especially if they start to produce harmful results. They are the servants to the community, not the other way around.

To understand the flaw and how it can be remedied, please refer to a previous discussion: Baha’i Elections – How to Improve Them.

Related:

• Explaining Incumbency in Baha’i Elections
• 2007 NSA Elections
• 2006 NSA Elections

Below is a recent letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of New Zealand to clarify doubts about door-to-door teaching as well as “direct teaching”. I have heard this term (“direct teaching”) more and more but no one bothered to define what they meant by it. Towards the end of the letter, the NSA of NZ outlines their definition. Most helpful.

In the end, it comes down to using your own judgement and taking each and every opportunity to teach the Faith as a singular moment which can not be mass-produced. Sometimes the best thing is to say nothing, sometimes it is to challenge the person, sometimes it is to say a lot, sometimes almost nothing, sometimes to use logic, sometimes to use stories that evoke emotion, etc. Since we are talking about the most fundamental human endeavor, teaching is an art. Not a science.

Can you imagine if, stopping by the blacksmith, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl would have been invited to a Ruhi class instead of having the irksome exchange he did have?

Here is the letter:

In its recent consultations the National Spiritual Assembly has thought deeply about the purpose underlying the calling of these 41 conferences. What message should we take from this action of the supreme institution of our Faith as we draw nearer to the end point of the Five Year Plan? What must we do in New Zealand if we are to meet our commitments to the Universal House of Justice and establish nine intensive programmes of growth?

Inescapably we come to the conclusion that the immediate and urgent need is that the recent calls for a massive upsurge in teaching efforts must be heeded and acted upon by increasing numbers of the friends.

In particular we must embrace the clear and unequivocal guidance from the central institutions in regard to the audacious employment of direct teaching methods.

Learning from clusters in diverse places around the world is showing empirical and positive benefits from adopting these teaching approaches and we have had the hint of successes in New Zealand as well.

One of the elements in many direct teaching projects is the practice of what is referred to as “door knocking.” The National Spiritual Assembly is aware that some of the friends feel anxious about the practice of Baha’i teachers making door-to-door visits on homes, because of their concern that this practice is “pushy” and perhaps amounts to proselytising, which is forbidden in the Teachings.
Continue reading ‘Door-to-Door Teaching: NSA Letter’

To the Baha’is of the World

This Naw-Ruz marks the centenary of one of the outstanding events in the Apostolic Age of the Baha’i Dispensation, the interment by ‘Abdu’l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Bab in their permanent resting place on God’s holy mountain. In the words of Abdu’l-Baha: “The most joyful tidings is this, that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab …after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquility has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel.”

In commemoration of that triumph of the Cause, the members of the Universal House of Justice, accompanied by the members of the International Teaching Centre, have today offered prayers of thanksgiving in the Shrine of the Bab on behalf of the worldwide Baha’i community, expressing gratitude for the unfailing divine protection vouchsafed to the Cause of God. In their solemn contemplation, their hearts were stirred as they recalled the indelible image of the Master left to posterity when, on this day a hundred years ago, having with His own hands laid that peerless Trust in its final place of repose, He rested His head upon the edge of the blessed casket of the Bab, and “sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him”. They remembered, too, the manifold obstacles with which He had been confronted in constructing this sacred edifice and His unbounded relief at having accomplished one of the principal objectives of His Ministry.

A century ago, the Faith was emerging from a period of severe crisis during which the incarceration of ‘Abdu’l-Baha by His inveterate antagonists in the Ottoman Empire had been renewed, a grievous assault on the unity of the Cause had been launched by the Covenant-breakers, and an upsurge in the persecution of the heroic Persian believers had produced a fresh wave of sacrifice. In the immediate future there lay dazzling victories. The strenuous and fate-laden journeys of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the western world would release incalculable spiritual powers destined to give rise to unprecedented progress of the Faith in the American and European continents He visited. The Tablets of the Divine Plan would set in motion processes designed to bring about, in due course, the spiritual transformation of the planet. The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha would establish the basis for a future world order.

Today the Cause of God is again confronted by cruel and relentless opponents seeking in vain to eradicate it in the land of its birth. However, this is occurring in a world far different from that of a hundred years ago, when the Faith was largely unknown and its defenders were few. From all parts of the world the followers of Baha’u'llah appeal for justice, while providing, in the example of their lives, compelling evidence of the absurdity of the accusations leveled against their Iranian brethren. In this appeal they are joined by fair-minded people of all backgrounds, including thousands of Iranians who express their concern at the denial of the human rights of their Baha’i compatriots.

The sacrifices of the Bab and the dawn-breakers of the Cause are yielding abundant fruit. Energized and confident, the followers of the Greatest Name throughout the world have mobilized their resources in a vast and concerted endeavour to offer the healing balm of Baha’u'llah’s Teachings to the multitudes of humanity. The magnificent progress achieved over the past century demonstrates the invincible power with which the Cause is endowed. It is but a portent of the ultimate realization of the oneness of humankind.

The Universal House of Justice

You can find the Naw Ruz letter from the House, here- translated in Persian and French – along with other relevant documents, reports and academic papers.

You know, I’m really blessed to have such amazing participants here. Although I may not agree with everyone, I’m thankful that each one of you is here, contributing your thoughts and asking some fascinating questions.

Once in a while, a question or comment is so thought provoking that it merits more than a simple reply from me but an attempt, no matter how feeble, to give it the exposition it deserves. So for that purpose (as well as to give it a relevant thread of its own, as the original blog post was on another subject), here is the featured question…

“Curious” asked:

My first question is why is there a need to go through an election for UHJ members if the complete Baha’i congregation is not suppose to question the UHJ decisions? In other words, if everyone is meant to assume that everything the UHJ does is absolutely correct, what is the logic in reelecting the members. Wouldn’t it just be obvious that the same members are kept in all the time? Shouldn’t the election just be for the case when a position opens on the UHJ? So why do the Writings call for elections?

After receiving a non-answer, Curious tried again:

I understand the UHJ members get old and tired and resign. That leaves a vacancy which I understand needs an election to fill. My question is why the need to reelect every 5 years (I believe)? If these 9 men are infallible on a collective level in their arbitration, why do they need to be reexamined via election? How does this create stability? It seems very time consuming and costly. And in the end aren’t they usually reelected anyway? So why did the Master and Guardian call for reelection? What is the true purpose?

Before I try to answer this question, let me say that the Baha’i community is starved today for such thinking and such questioning. We need less and less Baha’i Ruhi-style, spoonfed “answers” and more thought expanding questions. Compare and contrast the 1970’s LA Class‘ penchant for questions and Ruhi’s fetish for “answers”. Sigh.

For Pete’s sake! As Baha’is we have a whole month named after them… but how often do we really devote time and mental space to explore really good questions? Not enough. This is the biggest mistake that Baha’is make.

Now to attempt an answer. First, the Universal House of Justice is infallible, only under certain conditions. For example, we have guidance from Abdu’l-Baha regarding means by which the UHJ should come about and function. If those conditions and prerequisites are discarded, that is, if the process isn’t followed, then the result lacks the intended meaning.

Second, I don’t believe in the infallibility that you don’t believe in. By that I mean that probably the second biggest mistake that Baha’is make is to misunderstand the meaning of infallibility. This, no doubt, stems from the first mistake – for had they actually questioned and investigated, they would most assuredly find the truth. In actuality, “infallibility” does not mean “factual inerrancy”. Anyone who attempts to argue otherwise is not only ignoring simple logic but the Baha’i Writings themselves.

I thought we had taken things to the Nth degree when I proposed a Magic 8 Ball or a dart board for “infallible” decision making. But Curious‘ question takes things to another level by asking, if this body is “infallible” then why hold elections? Brilliant.

The reason why Curious‘ question is so useful is that if we are to attempt a real answer, it pulls away the superficial assumptions that we may have and forces us to really try to understand what is at the heart of the Baha’i Administration.

Yes, it is true that the UHJ membership for the vast majority, has been a life-long affair. At one point members were not even allowed to resign due to health or age but actually served until death. That has thankfully changed and we recently saw two members resign to enter retirement. However, this brings us to another issue. That the membership of the UHJ has come from a narrow subset of the Baha’i community. Even more damaging, this subset is itself appointed by the UHJ. So in effect we have the UHJ choosing candidates by appointing them to the ITC and then these (male) members of the ITC are elected to replace retiring UHJ members. This closed system is an accurate description of the current state of the Baha’i leadership but it doesn’t mean that it was meant to be this way, nor that this is ideal.

In fact, most recognize that this is detrimental to the well-being of the worldwide Baha’i community. For the past 20 or so years we are witness to an ossification at the highest levels. But who do we have to blame? Ourselves. We are the ones that elect the same members of the LSA over and over again. We are the ones that send the same Baha’is, year in, year out, to be delegates. Furthermore, this is clearly not what Abdu’l-Baha intended since the appointed arm and the elected arm of the BA were delineated in duty and responsibility, as well as authority, with no overlap whatsoever.

Finally, to return to some semblance of brevity: the Baha’i Writings call for regular elections because the purpose of the UHJ is the highest in the world – that of servitude.

Related Previous Discussions:
The Concept of Infallibility in the Baha’i Faith
Is the Universal House of Justice Infallible? (Part I)
Is the Universal House of Justice Infallible? (Part II)
Individual Conscience Within the Baha’i Faith
Meditations on Baha’u'llah: Infallibility 1
Meditations on Baha’u'llah: Infallibility 2
Meditations on Baha’u'llah: Infallibility 3
He cannot override…
Commentary on the Divine Unity