Anonymous,

To repeat…

“But, again, I wish you well on your path. Just try not to get too fundamentalist and end up at the control of a Boeing 767 knowing how to take off but not how to land. Please be sure to know how to land!”

From your many posts here in the past, I rest my case. You surely don't want to end up wearing a dress for the Patron Saint of Lock Step Brain Chemistry Fundamentalists – Boeing 767 Pilot Mohammad Atta – sharing a concrete cell for all of eternity do you? I suggest studying the Sufis. Rumi is a good one. So was Baha'u'llah before his grandson failed to seek treatment for depression.

Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry that the Bahais gave you such a difficult time. Hopefully any Bahai reading this will act with more wisdom should they find themselves in a similiar situation in the future.

Yes, I think these actions that you described seem to be from those who feel they need to follow rules and it seems from what you have written the LSA went further, in taking the step to require a divorce: very odd if you ask me. I can understand Bahais wishing not to be hypocritical about the marriage law requiring parental permission but from what you are writing the problem was in the way you were treated by people, not that people were trying to be honest about a Bahai law.
It seems Bahais do fall into the trap of treating Bahai law like a big stick to hit people over the head with rather trying to see what is the principle involved (in your case, family unity) and work on that to find the best resolution for all concerned. Threats are never a good way to deal with others.
It is one thing to be honest and another to be mean or judgemental. Religion, 'Adul-Baha said (somewhere, sorry no time to look it up) is a tool – a means.
And a tool is only as good as the person uses it. So Bahais need to think about how we apply the Bahai laws and why we have them. And if it still came to the LSA removing your husband's voting rights but in a spirit of compassion and openess, I am sure that you wouldn't be a hurt as you are now. In fact you could be participating in some aspects of the Bahai community, in openess as the spouse of someone without voting rights, but instead you feel excluded more than ever because of these actions. I hope your husband can find peace in serving humanity.

Sounds like you haven't. Maybe you need to start on the 7 valleys. Good luck!

Do you mean principles such as the independent investigation of truth? I find that principle is skewed more inside the Bahai community and held in the highest regard on this site. But to each his own. And thank you, God has led me to the the queerly forward path.

Just a couple of thoughts:

The first duty prescribed by God for His servants isthe recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who
representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are
inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 19)

Almost all Baha’is honestly admit that they do not fulfill this paragraph, and for most it is the second duty that is the problem. But the purpose of life is to quietly and patiently struggle to achieve it. Then there are those who feel it is their job to go on the internet and broadcast far and wide their discontent with whatever goes against their own likes or ideas. I believe Baha’u'llah referred to these as “idle thoughts and vain imaginings”.

We have all had experiences where the Administration, the community, or other Baha’is have done things that we judge to be unjust, unthoughtful, uncaring, or just plain old wrong. What to do? Well, if we are trying to satisfy those twin duties, we will look within the Writings to find the right way. I can say, with absolute certainty, that there is nothing there to justify what you are doing with this website.

Yes, you say you are searching for the truth and expressing your own opinions. Yet you are a very long way from the spirit of truth-seeking and consultation that is embodied in the Writings. Did you not read what ‘Abdu’l-Baha said about criticism and complaining? Did you not read what Baha’u'llah said about the conditions of truth-seeking? What, in fact, do you know about any of the situations where you attacked the institutions? Since much of it is confidential, and everything else is second-hand, you cannot say that you know the truth, and yet you have judged anyway.

We are encouraged to see with God’s eyes and not with our own. The US Constitution has no bearing on the Cause of God. The UN Charter of Human Rights doesn’t either. The search for truth is important in our faith because it is a spiritual imperative that guides us to unity. We resolve things by working together for the benefit of all, and not by agitating and insisting on personal desires.

It wouldn’t even be so bad if what you were doing could be called constructive criticism. But you don’t apply rational and authoritative arguments to suggest a better way for the Administrative Order, you just apply common sarcasm to belittle what others do.

You cite evidence that interest in the Faith is waning on the internet. I suggest to you that it has more to do with the kind of malicious detraction served up by yourself and others who come into the Faith with old-world baggage that prompts you to sling mud at those who have been duly invested with the authority by which they act. Such behaviour is clearly forbidden in the Writings even when it is aimed at secular authority, let alone when it targets the Divine Institutions created by the Pen of Baha’u'llah himself.

So you claim to be a Baha’i, a follower of Baha’u'llah. Actions speak far louder than words.

Right on target, Peyam – as I have said before, this site is a great help to faith for me, definitely not a hindrance. If open discussion were encouraged and TRUSTED among the Baha’is, the Faith would be vibrant and alive, a living stream rather than the stagnant pool which it so often seems to be in local communities.

Barb

Has anyone ever mentioned what a condescending prat you are? The writer will not be listened to if he goes through the ‘official Baha’i channels’.

I posted an introduction to the paradigmatic shift in the Baha’i community, the new culture of learning and growth that is at the heart of this paradigm, three years ago. I did this posting at several internet sites and have revised that post many times in these last three years as developments in the paradigm have come about, as new messages from Bahá’í institutions have been published and as many individuals have commented verbally and in print on this new Baha’i culture. It seemed like a good idea to give readers some specific steps on how to access this now revised article, what is now a book of 180,000 words and nearly 400 pages and is found at Baha’i Library Online(BLO).

With the publication at Ridvan of 2010 of an 8,000 word message from the Universal House of Justice–one of the longest messages of the Formative Age since a charismatic Force in the Person of Baha’u’llah was institutionalized in the Person of Abdul-Baha and then in the Guardianship and, in 1963, effloresced in that apex of Baha’i administration—the Universal House of Justice, there has been much added to this book.

In the time this book has been on the internet there have been many thousand views of this analysis, this statement on the new paradigm at the few sites where it has been posted. In addition to googling “Baha’i Culture of Learning and Growth” and accessing this article in the process at several internet sites, readers can find this piece of writing at BLO by clicking on the following:

bahai-library.org/file.php?file=price_culture_learning_paradigm

Readers can also access the latest edition of this article at BLO by taking the following steps: (i) type Baha’i Library Online or Baha’i Academics Resource Library into your search engine; (ii) click on the small box “By author” at the top of the access page at BLO; (iii) type “Price” into the small box that then appears and click on the word “Go;” and then (iv) scroll down to article/document item #44 and (v) click on that item and read to your heart’s content. When your eyes and your mind start to glaze over, stop reading. The article can be downloaded free and you will then have access to this book, this context for all this new paradigmatic terminology that has come into the Baha’i community in the last 15 years and especially, as I say, with an integration of relevant passages from the latest House message.

My statement, my book, is a personal one, does not assume an adversarial attitude, attempts to give birth of as fine an etiquette of expression as I can muster and, I like to think, possesses both candour and critical thought on the one hand and praise and delight at the many interrelated processes involved in the execution of this paradigm on the other. I invite readers to what I also like to think is “a context on which relevant fundamental questions” regarding this new paradigm may be discussed within the Baha’i community. But, in the end, my writing, my words and all of the quotations I place in contexts to illustrate what I want to illustrate–amount to my take on this new Baha’i paradigm after a decade and a half of its implementation. My book possesses no authority. Indeed, such a remark hardly needs saying.

One of the advantages of the BLO site is the freedom it gives to a writer to update his or her article or book right on the site in an ongoing process as new insights from major thinkers in the Baha’i community and information from the elected and appointed institutions of the Cause comes to hand. If time and the inclination permit, check it out. No worries, no obligation, just if it interests you. You may find the piece of writing too long as I’m sure many readers do. It is certainly a view from the inside, but it is just one person’s view building as it does on the ideas and writings of others: Bahá’í institutions and individuals. We each have a different experience on the inside of this paradigm, on the inside of this Faith or, indeed, living on the inside of our global society. You may find this book too personal due to the fact that I attempt to answer the questions: “where do I fit into this new paradigm?” “what have I done?” and “where am I going in my service to the wider community and in the exercise of my spiritual obligation to teach the Cause. After a few paragraphs of reading, you will get the flavour of the exercise. Just keep reading if your mind and spirit are enjoying the process.

Baquia,

I was a “Potential Bahai” for a few years, but alas could not sign the card because, like you, I wrestled with the same issues and drew similar conclusions. You are clearly a thoughtful, intelligent person.

Thanks for starting this site. Not all Bahai’s leave the faith because they lose faith. Bahaullah left the faith of the Babis. No one is accusing Him of losing faith. He was driven out of the faith through the disunity of His presence. 

This is still a problem today. There is a sense of political correctness lead by the ‘prominent’ members. Because of their ‘prominence’ their political views are seen as infallible. So, all who disagree with the ‘prominent’ ones are driven out of the faith. Not by the political ‘power’ of the ‘prominent’ ones, but by the persecuted one’s sense of not wanting to be a cause of disunity. 

In Bahaullah’s time, Mirza Yaya, held the reigns of political power. God allowed Mirza Yaya to mislead the faithful. 

Now the Bahai faith is infested with thousands of Mirza Yayas who drive out, in disgrace, all who disagree with them. The UHJ is doing nothing about it. Assuming that the UHJ is infallible, this is according to God’s Divine plan. Why? Who knows. It is just the way it is. Perhaps there is a Divine lesson to be learned? 

To all who think the administrators of the faith are ‘living the life’, think again. It is taught that the fortunes of the faith hinge upon the faithful ‘living the life’. The fortunes of the faith have stagnated and declined. Of this, there is no doubt in my mind. The Bahais remain largely ignored by the masses. Only the rare politician will be seen in the shadows quietly patting their backs to get votes. 

As, to the OP’s assertion of the administration’s obsession with numbers… I agree. They see the numbers as the objective and goal. The numbers are only a measuring stick for those qualities that cannot be measured. Those qualities, like ‘living the life’, are the real goal, but cannot be measured except by the Father himself. The numbers show stagnation and perhaps decline.

Where are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs? No where. Are there plans: nope. Why not? Hmmm. I guess it’s not important. There are other things more important. What, I have no clue. 

This is a curious state of affairs, since we were promised that the completion of the Arc would create a new momentum and power. I have to ask myself… The power was not to cause entry of troops. So, there must be some other power yet to be comprehended. We will find out in the years to come. 

Another thing that is interesting. As a seeker, I was showered with something that seemed like love (it wasn’t love). Throughout my term of membership I was seen as a threat. To what? I can only assume to their political power and ambitions. It is really laughable that members of such a small organization with virtually no power over anything is so obsessed with the accumulation of power. 

Yes, I am one of those driven from the Faith and labeled a covenant breaker because, as the treasurer, I questioned the financial manipulations of the Bahai fund by a ‘prominent’ Bahai. Before I was elected treasurer the ‘manipulations’ were kept secret from the community. Even though the ‘manipulations’ were supposedly legal and ethical they were kept secret. If the ‘manipulations’ were so legitimate, why was not the whole community allowed and encouraged to partake in the financial gold mine as well? Even after I brought up the issue the community was kept in the dark about what happened. It seems that only the ‘prominent’ Bahais are allowed to manipulate the funds for financial gains. 

When I demanded the NSA send in a Continental Counselor to mediate they refused, saying my issue was too petty. I am being accused of covenant breaking and that apparently is too petty. When I demanded the NSA refund my contributions to the funds over the years because they breached their contract. They refused. Their money was too precious to them. They would rather keep the tainted money. 

I am not bitter about it. It is all part of God’s plan. The ‘prominent’ Bahais are not the enemy, they are the test. I left them with their misery and continued my spiritual journey. And, I will not come back until the time is right; until, they can learn to disagree with others without causing disunity. Until they feel that their financial dealings with the Funds can be brought out in the open. And, until then no one will pay a bit of attention to them.

Human ingenuity is capable of the most extraordinary achievements.  This site presents another demonstration of the endless ability of people to come up with the most sophisticated means of furthering their agenda.  You could almost be congratulated for the way you have portrayed this site as somehow designed with good intentions towards the Baha’i Faith.  Let there be no misunderstanding: this website is a deeply damaging and hurtful assault on the religion.  I am sure that if I had been considering joining the Faith and had come upon this site that you would have succeeded in turning me away.  Because this kind of writing is a poison.  How glad I am that I became a believer long before the age of the internet.  I am also amazed to see that your frame of reference is the same as a well known group of ex-Baha’is who have spent apparently 1000s of hours on the internet attempting to spread your insinuation.  Are you by any chance fighting the ‘next generation’s’ battles already?  Your list of concerns reads like a list from other documents in the past.  In fact, I have a good idea who you actually are and if I am correct I am absolutely bewildered.  I apologise in advance for this, and I hope I have got it wrong.  But if I have guessed who you are then Janus would be a better psuedonym than Baquia!  (My means of guessing is based on a fairly cursory analysis of prose-style and content of multiple sources on the internet.  The claim that you are a Baha’i “in good standing” is also telling.)  And for the rest of you: how many of you are commenting using multiple pseudonyms?  Such a small circle!  Such brave radicals!  (I know that my sarcasm and ire have taken me well beyond the standards of courtesy and decency required of me as a Baha’i.  I’ll regret allowing myself to get so upset, but as I type I really am losing it.  This will also explain any weaknesses in my prose as I continue.)  Such well-educated, polyglot minds!  Such academic liberal objectivity!  You probably pride yourselves on hastening the decline of the Faith, as you see it, and in fact you are certainly helping to prove true the predictions made in the past about the kinds of ‘tests’ that would face believers in the West.  But you need to remember the following: either the Faith is from God or it is not.  If it is not then you are wasting your time!  Simply let those stupid believers, as you see it, fall into their foolishness and why don’t you go and enjoy yourself?  If this Faith is so broken, why are you so obsessed with it?  Go and get some new hobbies and you might feel better!  But if this Faith is from God, and the Truths that it proclaims are all Divine in origin, then you are ALSO WASTING YOUR TIME.  Yes, you may be able to turn away from seekers.  Yes, you may hasten the departure of a certain number of believers.  But you will not be able to alter the future outcome.  Who knows what may happen before ‘the divine standard is unfurled?’  The number of Baha’is in the world could shrink to 20 and still the victory may come!  Oh Lord, my God, I recently found some apparent predictions (in a pilgrim’s note) by Shoghi Effendi a little far-fetched.  He, for instance, is supposed to described a decline in the US Baha’i community, to the point where the US Baha’is end up merely as spectators.  A website like this is actually helping to create the impression that this prediction has come true!  Your attempt to spread a cancerous mentality is almost laughable, were it not so chilling.  You have made me very sad, but you have not altered by beliefs.  I am only writing in this manner because you have made your ideas so public.  I feel that I should simply ignore your site, but, on the other hand I really would like to stress that I do not recognise your portrait of the Baha’i Institutions as some kind of Orwellian construction.  My liberty has never been impinged, my thoughts have never been questioned, my conscience has never been challenged, my words have never been attacked, my input has never been ridiculed.  And this is not to say I don’t experience tests of my own.  (The discovery of your website is one such test.)  May I add a little from my own experience that may help to explain a different interpretation of why you claim to have experienced such a malaise?  (I use the word ‘claim’ because I wouldn’t be surprised if you are actually a website funded by the Iranian govt.!)  Anyway, I have actually in the past had some regrettable experiences in my relationships with other Baha’is.  For instance, I knew one who boasted about committing a fraud.  This then caused a new believer, stunned by the hyprocrisy, to leave the Faith.  In my view both people were wrong.  The fraudster was blatantly flouting the teachings of the Faith, but the person who left the Faith should have realised that a single person’s error does not reflect on the essential verity of a religion.  I could describe a few other situations.  In each case the foolishness of certain Baha’is has tests the faith of other believers.  But how many times has that test been caused by the stupidity, or inexperience, or naivety of another individual?  Every time!  And how many times has it been caused by systemic corruption in the Institutions that you claim to perceive?  Never!  I really must stress that even if all the members of all the worlds NSAs were hysterical control freaks (again, you are implying this, it seems), this does not in anyway invalidate the truth of the Faith.  It simply means we need to vote more intelligently.  Anyone of intelligence and a drop of objectivity and justice can readily discern that our votes could change the direction of the Faith in limitless ways.  Similarly, no one of intelligence could fail to discern that you are a classic example of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing that was addressed in the Hidden Words.  ”Ye are even as the star, which riseth ere the dawn, and which, though it seem radiant and luminous, leadeth the wayfarers of My city astray into the paths of perdition.”  Finally, I must return to my earlier point.  If this Faith is not divine in origin then we have a man-made system populated by dupes, about whom you ought not to care so much.  If, indeed, this Faith has stemmed from a Divine source, and Baha’u'llah was infused with the Holy Spirit, then the best you can hope for with this insidious attack is a temporary dent in the fortunes of the Faith.  And if you manage to precipitate a crisis within the religion please don’t be too proud of yourself too quickly.  Because a true religion will bounce back from such a crisis, in the fullness of time, stronger than before.  

I am sorry for writing in such stentorian terms, but if you wish to attempt publicly to unravel the tenets of this religion I feel that I must respond.   

Wow. You are brave and I admire your candid response. I am a Bahai in officially good standing but perhaps I should not be – so I do not associate or speak of myself as a Bahai publicly as to protect the Faith from my waywardness. LOL – but it’s true.  I fell away from the daily practice and community involvement for many of the reasons you stated plus many of my own. It’s been a struggle of faith for me for a very long time. I don’t quite know what to believe anymore but if there is a religion from the Creator, I do believe it’s the Bahai Faith and I stand by that. And I love Baha’u'llah – enough not to try to represent his teachings. But I pray, I talk to Him, I teach my child prayers and see the world through the eyes of Unity in Diversity. I used to be the staunchest of believers and now I stand on the fence with favor and the utmost respect and love for the Faith. I really found your courage inspiring – it’s part of what I became a Bahai for in the first place – a freedom that spoke to my heart. Thank you for representing the marginal folks. I guess God still loves us too.

Ramin, the problem with what you just argued is that science once held true the assertion that homosexuality was an “illness” to be overcome – which is where exactly Shoghi Effendi got his information from and even vocabulary to opine about this matter. However, since then science has used empirical evidence and the scientific method coupled with observation to say that this previous school of thought was erroneous. You see, science marches forward, not backwards.
What you are suggesting is not that science will “catch up” but that it will revert to a previously held position where it had less data, less evidence and less insight about physiology, neurology, psychology, etc. That is just as likely to happen as reverting back to believing that the earth is flat or that disease is caused by “evil spirits”.
Finally, I’m troubled by your mangling of the Baha’i Faith’s views on science. As Baha’is we have tremendous respect for science going so far as equating it with Revelation. To denigrate it this way is a facile attempt at reconciling a troubling dichotomy that it presents.
Another reconciliation attempt which does not violate the sanctity of science within Baha’i theology is to recognize that the Baha’i Faith’s views on this matter are far from clear. They are in fact very poorly understood and can be summarized by the parroting of the words of the Guardian without any further inclination towards true understanding.
My own imperfect attempts at beginning a true process of understanding of this topic can be found here in case anyone is interested: “Baha’u'llah and the Subject of Boys”
This is but a crude beginning and will be supplemented by further posts as the subject is explored in depth.

Ramin, I’m not sure what you mean by “remedicalized” – I assume you mean reverting to the previous position that homosexuality is an illness and that people so “afflicted” can change their sexual orientation. If that is what you mean to say, then it is a done deal. Similar to other contentious issues, for example, climate change, science has spoken with an emphatic voice. All major international and national health organizations reject the classification of homosexuality as an illness and even go further to say that attempts at conversion are harmful. Whether we choose to ignore this or listen is another matter.

That is the matter as far as science is concerned.

As you say the main theological issue is this, what does the Baha’i Faith say, exactly, about homosexuality?

It is here that we may differ in our understandings. It is possible that we are both wrong, or that one of us is wrong and the other correct. My suggestion is this, rather than using the covenant as a cudgel (a heinous abuse of such a beautiful concept I’m sure you’ll agree), why don’t we actually investigate the truth of the matter and see what the Baha’i Faith actually says?

It is towards this intention that this blog exists and as stated previously, hopefully soon more will be posted. Thank you for your visit and comment. Please watch this space for more upcoming posts.

“I cannot budge from my understanding of the Covenant.”
Did someone ask you to? if so, please point out where.

“As far as what the international health organizations state about homosexuality, I think peer-reviewed literature is a far more accurate source of information.”

What do you think such organizations base their policy upon if not exactly such sources? It is you who is ignoring peer-reviewed literature in suggesting that sexual orientation is an “illness” to be overcome.

“The fact remains that science does not understand the origins of sexual orientation, the extent to which it is affected by our genetic make-up interacting with society, or a myriad other causes.”

True, however, perfect understanding of any physiological issue is a red-herring because it is impossible. In that sense it can be compared to its twin in the spiritual realm, irfan.

Even today scientists are pushing the boundaries of our understanding in such well established fields like “germ theory” which has branched off into microbiology, antibiotics, etc. What we know today far far outreaches what we knew in the past and what we will know in the future will equally outshine what we know today. That is the very nature of scientific progress: every advancing.

To imply that because we don’t have a perfect understanding of sexual orientation, then there is a possibility that everything we do know up to now is false is ludicrous. It betrays a lack of familiarity with the manner in which science moves forward, each step building upon known facts established previously.