When the Islamic Republic’s equivalent of SS storm troopers came around knocking on doors and asking “Are there any of those misguided Baha’i infidels in your apartment building?” the neighbors said to themselves “Yeah, I know the folks upstairs are Baha’is, but, gee, theyre such nice folks. I like those people, so I won’t turn them in to the Gestapo,” and they answer “No, none that I know of, sir.”

It’s a little like the Holocaust story of Anne Frank, and the legendaruy Shindler’s List story. And it’s also another illustration of why we should follow the instructions we receive from the Center of the Covenant, even if we don’t understand exactly why. (I just posted a long rant under “Is the Universal House of Justice Infallible?” that addresses this same point.)

Fanatics in *any* faith, even the Baha’i one, can sour the cider by going overboard. Muhammad (uHbp) said in the Quran “Let there be no compulsion in religion,” and the average Mulsim is evidently comfortable
with that. The nutcases in charge in Iran will never see their own stupidity until they hit the dirt. All you have to do is read Nabil’s narrative to know that it works every time, if you just wait long enough.

Are there similar nutcases in the Baha’i Faith? Probably, but they, too, shall pass. Because we are all human, even meembers of the LSAs, NSAs and — let’s be honest — the Universal House of Justice, can be mistaken sometimes. We have to do the best we can, and surprisingly enough, the humble ordinary streetsweepers and papermakers do very well indeed, even though their decisions may not be as far-reaching as the ones made by others.