(Fantasy takes a Holiday)
Our First Amendment grants the Baha'i Faith the right to exist and the freedom to exercise itself as a religion. American Baha'is should be jumping for joy that they live in the United States, where these freedoms are so old they are often taken for granted. But no! They rally against other governments for the right of their brethren to enjoy First Amendment rights. Might it not be wiser to promote the freedoms permitted them here, under the Bill of Rights?
The Baha'i Faith in America refuses to swallow the entire First Amendment. It prohibits its followers freedom of speech, even though its Writings declare that freedom of expression is the bedrock of the foundation of their faith. But the movement of the pen of one ranking Baha'i administrator can and does cut that freedom off and remove the rights of the person who has dared to speak.
Prohibited speech seldom expresses hatred of the Faith or its laws or its institutions. Rather it is most often the expression of a Baha'i who has thoughtfully considered a problem, or researched the Writings on a specific topic. When his findings differ from the administrator's, when they suggest a new way to solve an old and persistent problem, or when the Baha'i dares to report the violation of Baha'i law to his Administration, that Baha'i will have his rights removed. On the word and opinion of just one administrator, gossip and slander can be pumped into Baha'i administration until that Baha'i is welcome nowhere.
How can such a religion, unsurpassed in its beauty and strength, timely in its love of justice and providing for a system of administration to last a thousand years, allow its enemies to flourish within its fold?
One explanation is this: The Baha'i Faith in the United States is in the United States. Baha'i authoritative texts state that, for all its preciousness and nearness to the heart of God, it is yet a land steeped in materialism. Baha'is are warned again and again to learn to recognize materialism and to avoid it. Here is where the Baha'i administration and its adherents part company with their text.
To a generation of Baha'is raised and surrounded with a material wealth previously unknown in the history of the world, those Baha'is who demonstrate and possess material superiority to the rest are the ones who hold authority over the others by reason of their election and appointment to powerful administrative positions. Somehow this group of Baha'is looked upon the outer shell of themselves and determined that what Baha'u'llah meant by inner wealth was really outer wealth. The Baha'i officials do emanate a pretence of spirituality: their clothes are spotless and well-tailored; they are photogenic; their names and addresses and relatives meet the material standards of money and blood. Examine their decisions and rulings, see who's rights are removed and how, learn how Baha'i law and due process are trampled to achieve a personal victory for the administrator.
The Administrators of the Baha'i Faith in America today severely abridge the freedom of speech of the rank and file. As opposed to Baha'i authoritative texts, believers offensive to an administratior are forbidden access to Baha'i community life activities and institutions. And there is absolutely no mechanism in today's Administration whereby a believer will be permitted to petition for redress of grievances or appeal to a higher institution. Such a mechanism exists on paper only - a terrible lure to a seeker used to injustice. Appeals to a higher level of administration must be placed by the lower institution which has injured the believer in the first place!
Finally, as we have stated so many times in these pages, administrative actions can be and are taken that are covert, flagrantly against Baha'i law, and ensure that the complainant himself will be shunned without even the least word from his administration.
The Baha'i Faith appeals to a liberal population not unlike the Wiccan, etc. whose adherents declare all kinds of positions on every type of subject without knowing or caring to find out what their own Word of God says about it. This in itself is virtually an effortless task for anyone having access to the Internet. It could be said that the entire thrust of the Baha'i Revelation is designed for a spiritual revolution of the planet, a "new race of men," a population that will be trained to know the difference between spirit and matter. In the things that matter their should be no doubt; one should be educated so that he can tell truth from lies, even as he distinguishes sun from shadow." That is no liberal -academic catchphrase. Distinguishing truth from falsehood will not take money or relatives or a good address, but a spirit within. The same spirit Baha'is decry in the Christians and their culture in the U.S. is the very same spirit they need within themselves. They could get it, and get it in the vast numbers they crave, if they would just remember to love their homeland more than they love the suits they selected to rule over them.
The Baha'i Faith in America refuses to swallow the entire First Amendment. It prohibits its followers freedom of speech, even though its Writings declare that freedom of expression is the bedrock of the foundation of their faith. But the movement of the pen of one ranking Baha'i administrator can and does cut that freedom off and remove the rights of the person who has dared to speak.
Prohibited speech seldom expresses hatred of the Faith or its laws or its institutions. Rather it is most often the expression of a Baha'i who has thoughtfully considered a problem, or researched the Writings on a specific topic. When his findings differ from the administrator's, when they suggest a new way to solve an old and persistent problem, or when the Baha'i dares to report the violation of Baha'i law to his Administration, that Baha'i will have his rights removed. On the word and opinion of just one administrator, gossip and slander can be pumped into Baha'i administration until that Baha'i is welcome nowhere.
How can such a religion, unsurpassed in its beauty and strength, timely in its love of justice and providing for a system of administration to last a thousand years, allow its enemies to flourish within its fold?
One explanation is this: The Baha'i Faith in the United States is in the United States. Baha'i authoritative texts state that, for all its preciousness and nearness to the heart of God, it is yet a land steeped in materialism. Baha'is are warned again and again to learn to recognize materialism and to avoid it. Here is where the Baha'i administration and its adherents part company with their text.
To a generation of Baha'is raised and surrounded with a material wealth previously unknown in the history of the world, those Baha'is who demonstrate and possess material superiority to the rest are the ones who hold authority over the others by reason of their election and appointment to powerful administrative positions. Somehow this group of Baha'is looked upon the outer shell of themselves and determined that what Baha'u'llah meant by inner wealth was really outer wealth. The Baha'i officials do emanate a pretence of spirituality: their clothes are spotless and well-tailored; they are photogenic; their names and addresses and relatives meet the material standards of money and blood. Examine their decisions and rulings, see who's rights are removed and how, learn how Baha'i law and due process are trampled to achieve a personal victory for the administrator.
The Administrators of the Baha'i Faith in America today severely abridge the freedom of speech of the rank and file. As opposed to Baha'i authoritative texts, believers offensive to an administratior are forbidden access to Baha'i community life activities and institutions. And there is absolutely no mechanism in today's Administration whereby a believer will be permitted to petition for redress of grievances or appeal to a higher institution. Such a mechanism exists on paper only - a terrible lure to a seeker used to injustice. Appeals to a higher level of administration must be placed by the lower institution which has injured the believer in the first place!
Finally, as we have stated so many times in these pages, administrative actions can be and are taken that are covert, flagrantly against Baha'i law, and ensure that the complainant himself will be shunned without even the least word from his administration.
The Baha'i Faith appeals to a liberal population not unlike the Wiccan, etc. whose adherents declare all kinds of positions on every type of subject without knowing or caring to find out what their own Word of God says about it. This in itself is virtually an effortless task for anyone having access to the Internet. It could be said that the entire thrust of the Baha'i Revelation is designed for a spiritual revolution of the planet, a "new race of men," a population that will be trained to know the difference between spirit and matter. In the things that matter their should be no doubt; one should be educated so that he can tell truth from lies, even as he distinguishes sun from shadow." That is no liberal -academic catchphrase. Distinguishing truth from falsehood will not take money or relatives or a good address, but a spirit within. The same spirit Baha'is decry in the Christians and their culture in the U.S. is the very same spirit they need within themselves. They could get it, and get it in the vast numbers they crave, if they would just remember to love their homeland more than they love the suits they selected to rule over them.
PRAYER FOR AMERICA
O Thou kind Lord! This gathering is turning to Thee. These hearts are radiant with Thy love. These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of Thy glad-tidings. O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make is precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal. --'Abdu'l-Baha Baha'i Prayers, Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, IL p. 26
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