In my previous rant on Code Reds I mentioned that I would talk about a specific case that I found out about recently. To be honest with you, I’ve had a difficult time in deciding whether to write about this or not. The reason is that I do not want to use the real name of the people involved and I know that right off the bat this will make it suspect to many. I suppose its about trust. Many of you may think that I’m making this up or exaggerating. But I finally decided to just tell it and let you decide.The deciding factor for me was that by telling this story, I knew it would bring to your attention the reality that many Baha’is around the world do experience Code Reds but because they decide to simply withdraw into themselves and leave the community, or to forgive and forget the transgression, you never hear about it. The cases that the Baha’i internet world is familiar with are just those who decided to make a public stand against such bullying and call the Baha’i administration to account. But I think for every one of those, there are maybe 5 or more of the non-public type. Their hurt is real and their stories are real too. But we just never hear about them.

Paul is a man who has not met a meal he didn’t like in a while. He’s not as round as he is tall, but he’s working on it. His face is well worn with wrinkles, probably because he likes to really enunciate when he talks and probably because he can’t help but smile all the time. And don’t be surprised if he grabs your shoulder or nudges you when he talks. Its those times that he’s trying to impress upon you an important point he’s making.

Paul and his family have been Baha’is for more than 40 years now. In fact, you could say that he was one of the original pillars of his community. In those early years, he might tell you, it was glorious. There were so many teaching opportunities, so many challenges. So much to do. And teach he did. In fact, the vast majority of the Baha’is who later came into their community were either as a result of direct contact with Paul and his family or through teaching projects that he organized.

His family is now quite large. His kids have grown up and have kids of their own. This makes Paul very happy. To have a few generations around him and to see them embrace the Baha’i Faith, that is what really matters to him.

Another thing you will notice when you meet Paul is that he is a very outspoken person. If he’s thinking it, he’ll probably tell you about it. Maybe that’s why he was such a great teacher of the Cause. He loves Baha’u'llah and often carries a book or two to read by Him in those short moments when there’s nothing else to do. And he loves to quote stuff.

A few years ago Paul got into mounting trouble with the Baha’i administration. Why? I guess it was his outspoken nature. When he would see something wrong, he would bring it to the attention of the assembly and suggest they do something about it. He had been a long time member of the institution himself and couldn’t understand why they didn’t see the same things that he plainly saw.

And what did he see that bothered him? That the community was not growing (and in fact shrinking); that the LSA’s authority had been superceded by ABM and other members of the appointed arm; that Ruhi wasn’t really helping the community to grow; that the vitality which was in the community not long ago had evaporated.

As Paul kept bringing these issues up, the LSA and the ABMs became more and more uncomfortable. They just didn’t want to talk about these things. They tried to tell him to just let it go. But Paul loved the Faith too much, he loved Baha’u'llah too much. He couldn’t just let it go after 40 years and after seeing his community bloom and grow from just a few Baha’is (and now decline). Paul couldn’t understand why they were seeing him as a ‘troublemaker’. All he was concerned about was how to help his community and Faith. Just like he had done from the first day he became a Baha’i.

So he didn’t let up.

One day, not long after, he was invited to have a sit down meeting with the ABM of the area. The ABM was a young Persian man (in his late 20s) and he was sitting down in front of Paul. In that meeting the ABM explained to Paul that his pattern of behaviour and speech had been brought to his attention and that he was worried about Paul’s spiritual health. He explained that Paul was walking a very fine line. That if he insisted on continuing this way there was really no other choice than to inform the Counsellors and the ITC, who would not look too kindly on the whole matter. The ABM told Paul that his conduct and speech were a sign that he was covenantally weak. And he recommended that Paul deepen about the covenant and the necessity of Baha’is to obey the institutions.

Paul was asked for the unity of the Faith and his own wellbeing to stop saying those things. To stop criticising Ruhi and questioning why the whole community should be taking the courses. And he should stop burdening the LSA with his other suggestions and ideas. The LSA knew what was best for the community and they, in consultation with the ABM would fulfil their responsabilities.

In this meeting Paul asked to see a copy of the Ruhi books. The ABM declined saying ‘We know that all you want to do is to further criticise and attack the Ruhi courses. That’s why I’ve instructed everyone to not give you or sell you any Ruhi books.’ Needless to say, Paul exited that meeting quite shaken.

When he went home and told his family they had a rough time believing him. The result was that Paul’s loving wife decided to withdraw from the Baha’i community and to not participate in any activities or functions. His children likewise. Only Paul himself and some of his grandchildren still come to Baha’i functions and events.

The news of this meeting quickly made its round in the community. It was all everyone could talk about. On one hand they all knew Paul and who he was, on the other hand, they also heard that the decision of the ABM was very clear. Pretty soon, people began to whisper and talk whenever Paul would raise his hand to make a suggestion at feast.

Looking into Paul’s eyes, you can see the sadness this whole mess has caused him. But remarkably, you also see that he hasn’t lost the twinkle that was there before. He’s still in love with Baha’u'llah and he is still devoted to the Faith. He brushes aside any comments for appeal or seeking justice. He only says, these things are not important.

This is a modified version of an originally a post I made to Talisman

If you’ve been around enough in Baha’i circles you have the unfortunate circumstance to see some unpleasantries. Nothing unusual in that, all organizations no matter their nature or size have some negative stuff. What I mean by that general term are situations where misunderstandings or misapplications of procedure or regulations puts a Baha’i in disagreement with the AO (or some of their agencies and bodies). In each of these cases it is the individual who is bullied and pushed around (no matter what the circumstances, the AO never acknowledges that it may be wrong or mistaken). Sadly, there have been many of these over the years and with the marvel of the internet, Baha’is have been able to read about such cases where they wouldn’t normally be privy to the information.

After being exposed to quite a few of these ugly experiences (mine and others) I found a common denominator that seems to run through all of them. And that is when the person wronged tells their side, they are pelted with demands of ‘proof’. No matter what they say, defenders of the AO will not accept anything except their version of ‘proof’. That is they want a certain condition or conditions to be fulfilled before they will consider the possiblity that the AO did anything remotely wrong or damaging to an individual believer. We saw this with the tragic case of Shirin, where the only thing that seemed to help was the threat of public exposure for the irresponsible and borderline criminal behaviour of the AO.

I can understand the intention of such demands for proof. No one likes it when someone comes up with empty allegations and accusations. Believe me, I’ve been on the receiving end of it quite a bit and its not a great feeling. What I disagree with is the demand that the proof furnished be in an exact type and format. In fact, this whole thing made me immediately think of a scene in “A Few Good Men”. If you haven’t seen it, the general premise of the movie is an investigation into the suspicious death of a soldier in Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo). We learn that the incident which caused his death is called a ‘code red’ and is intended to be an internal mechanism to force conformity and loyalty within the unit.

The scene that I refer to is in the military trial where the defense attorney (Kevin Bacon as ROSS)tries to sabotage the prosecutor’s (Tom Cruise as KAFEE) whole strategy by attempting to deny that a ‘code red’ even exists. Here is the relevant part out of the script:

ROSS takes three books out of his briefcase and puts them on
the table. He brings one to HOWARD.

ROSS
Corporal Howard, I hold here The Marine
Guide and General Information Handbook for
New Recruits. Are you familiar with this
book?

HOWARD
Yes sir.

ROSS
Have you read it?

HOWARD
Yes sir.

ROSS
Good.
(hands him the book)
Would you turn to the chapter that deals
with code reds, please.

HOWARD
Sir?

ROSS
Just flip to the page in that book that
discusses code reds.

HOWARD
Sir, you see, Code Red is a term we use–
it’s just used down at GITMO, sir. I
don’t know if it actually–

ROSS has produced another book.

ROSS
We’re in luck, then. The Marine Corps
Guide for Sentry Duty, NAVY BASE
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I assume we’ll find
the term code red and its definition in
this book, am I correct?

HOWARD
No sir.

ROSS
No? Corporal Howard, I’m a marine. Is
their no book, no manual or pamphlet, no
set of orders or regulations that let me
know that, as a marine, one of my duties
is to perform code reds?

HOWARD
(pause)
No sir. No books, sir.

ROSS
No further questions.

ROSS sits. KAFFEE walks over to ROSS‘s table and picks
up one of the books. He brings it to HOWARD.

KAFFEE
Corporal, would you turn to the page in
this book that says where the enlisted
men’s mess hall is?

HOWARD
Lt. Kaffee, that’s not in the book, sir.

KAFFEE
I don’t understand, how did you know where
the enlisted men’s mess hall was if it’s
not in this book?

HOWARD
I guess I just followed the crowd at chow
time, sir.

KAFFEE
No more questions.

KAFFEE chucks the book back on ROSS‘s desk.

What’s my point? Well, ‘code reds’ by their very nature are not written down or documentable. But that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Unfortunately, there have been ‘code reds’ in the Baha’i Faith, which causes me great anquish and sadness. The latest one that we all found out about was Larry’s case.

My heart goes out to anyone who has been the victim of the misguided, who in their false understanding of the AO, have chosen to inflict upon them their imperfect understanding and demand conformity.

Some deny emphatically that such bullying happens within the Baha’i community but many others concede that such ‘code reds’ do, unfortunately, occur within the Baha’i Faith, but they say, if such incidences do occur, they are but the personal and mistaken acts of individuals and do not reflect at all on the AO or the Faith. Basically, I agree with this. Individuals can make mistakes and we should not generalize and blame the AO or the Faith for their errors.

But here is my problem with such reasoning in this case. Were such ‘code reds’ to occur once or twice in a blue moon, I could forgive it and look the other way. Were such ‘code reds’ to be condemned later by the AO and the persons instigating them chastised, and removed from offices of authority and power, I could forgive it and look the otherway. Were such ‘code reds’ to be reversed, the victim given a full, written and official apology, I could forgive it and look the other way.

However, when instead I see that there is a protracted pattern of bullying by people in the AO and nothing has been done about it, it concerns me. When I see that those individual’s are not punished but instead are given a silent message of approval and often are promoted to higher office and authority, it concerns me. When I see that such bullying behaviour is quitely encouraged (Baha’is are asked to be ever vigilant and spy on their fellow believers), I am alarmed and saddened. Then I can no longer, in good conscience, separate the persons who are doing those things and saying those things, and the AO itself.

In my next few posts I hope to tell the story of a ‘code red’ that I learned about just recently. To protect the innocent I will not use the names of the persons involved or the location. But it is a true story and I want to tell it because it illustrates that for every ‘code red’ that we do hear about (such as Larry’s or Alison’s or Juan’s….) there are many, many others who we don’t.