Response to Facebook discussion on the Covenant

My dear friend, Martin, who has created his own Orthodox Baha'i group on Facebook sent me the latest discussions about the Covenant and the Orthodox Baha'is, and I thought I would respond here.

Martin:
Dear friends,

Some discussions on the Orthodox Baha'is occur in the group Baha'is on Facebook. I quote here that discussion. Love!

Maher:
I'm not a Baha'i, but I find that this religion is great in it's rules (while I'm not sure if it's true), except one thing, the usual Baha'is and the Orthodox Baha'is don't even talk to each other, just like to know why....thx

Jeffrey:
Not quite true, Maher. The Orthodox Baha'is do not shun the "usual Baha'is" but they shun us.  They shun anyone who will even talk to us. They have taken the teachings of the Faith that were meant to protect the Faith from violation and they have twisted them in order to further their own violation.  They shun us in an attempt to silence the truth.

Replies
by Adib
We don't shun them as if they do not exist in this world. We can still work with them in regards to business matters and so forth (I need to fnid the quotes for all this).
But Baha'u'llah stated that Covenant Breakers are poison to the Cause of the Baha'i Faith. Not saying that the individuals are hideous or anything, but the concepts they are taught and carry have negative influence on the general Baha'i population.
Anyway, this is my opinion.

I guess we need more information on this one :)

Jeffrey:
You certainly do need more information.  If you are going to talk about what Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha said about covenant breakers, you need to stop and think with your own minds for a minute and ask yourselves how they defined what is a covenant breaker. If you went back and studied this, you would find that it is the so-called "usual Baha'is" who are the covenant breakers and poison to the Cause.  Why?  Because covenant breaking is opposition to the Center.  That is, opposition to Abdu'l-Baha and then to the Guardian of the Cause.  Covenant breaking means opposition to the Guardian.  After the Hands deposed the Guardian and the original embryonic UHJ established by Shoghi Effendi, they substituted the Center for their own headless UHJ. All of a sudden, the definition of a covenant breaker became one who opposes their illegitimate UHJ. The UHJ of the original teachings had a Guardian as its head, but their UHJ has no Guardian.  They are opposed to the true Faith.

by Patsy
Generally a covenant breaker is someone who disputes the authority of the Covenant. Baha'u'llah appointed Abdu'l Baha. With most of His family turning away from that truth (the wheat from the chaff) Abdu'l Baha went about His Fathers business. Later He appointed Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian and the same thing happened. When Shoghi Effendi died, one of the Hands decided he was the next Guardian. The other Hands worked to follow Shoghi Effendi's plans and to establish the Universal House of Justice. In each of these scenarios, someone demanded power and authority. But those who were given that power and authority never once used it for their own good.
I have a feeling "Orthodox" followed Mason Remy, the Hand. I saw it
once in the New York phone book when I was a Baha'i of 2 weeks and
stuck in NY. My instinct told me it wasn't right. I guess for me it's like drinking coffee while driving, it's a dangerous distraction, and you could get burned.
The scholars on this discussion board have likely found all their
quotes by now and will be with you shortly.
(Darn! Whenever I put my tongue in my cheek, I bite it!)

The Will and Testament of Abdul-Baha did not establish merely the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi.  He established an Institution that is one of the twin pillars of the Baha'i Commonwealth, to be occupied by a living man throughout the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. He appointed Shoghi Effendi as the first Guardian.

One of the Hands did not decide he was the Guardian.  Rather, he announced that Shoghi Effendi had indicated his successor by appointing Mason Remey to be the head of the embryonic UHJ, an office that could only be held by a future Guardian.  Upon Shoghi Effendi's death, Mason Remey became the Guardian and the International Baha'i Council, as established by Shoghi Effendi, was activated and the twin pillars began operating as the head of the Faith.  The group of renegade Hands, led by Ruhiyyih Khanum would not accept anyone as Guardian after Shoghi Effendi, engineered a coup to declare the Guardianship as ended and they secretly plotted to elect a UHJ without a Guardian as its head.  When Mason Remey stood up against the violation of the Faith, they put him out of the Faith, opposing the Guardian and breaking the Covenant.

The ones who "grabbed power and authority" was not Mason Remey and his followers. It was the Hands and all of you who have followed them into violation of the Covenant and opposition to the Guardian of the Cause.

by Sean:
Maher if there's one thing I hope that you know about the Bahai Faith is that it teaches that what the world needs now most is UNITY.

The whole purpose of the Bahai Faith is Unity. Unite all races, religions, creeds, tribes, and peoples together.

To achieve that aim Baha'u'llah made sure to preventive the schism that religions of the past suffered immediately after the founder died.

Baha'u'llah named Abdu'l-Baha as his successor. Abdu'l-Baha in turn named Shoghi Effendi the Guardian of the Bahai Faith in his Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi in turn laid the stage for the election of the Universal House of Justice which Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha had already written about as the head of the Bahai Faith.

In the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha it is stated

O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words: -- "The child is the secret essence of its sire," that is, should he not inherit of the  spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he (the guardian of the Cause of God), choose another branch to succeed him.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 443)

Unfortunately, Shoghi Effendi died without warning and without naming
a successor. The Hands of the Cause of God, unanimously affirmed that
Shoghi Effendi had died without leaving behind a successor (they
looked very hard!). Even Charles Mason Remey, a later Archbreaker of
the Covenant wrote and affirmed that Shoghi Effendi had died without
leaving a successor.

Shoghi Effendi called the Hands of the Cause of God "the Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth, who have been invested by the unerring Pen of the Center of His Covenant with the dual function of guarding over the security, and of insuring the propagation, of His Father's Faith."

(Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World - 1950-1957, p. 127)

As such, after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, they held together the faith and continued Shoghi Effendi's plans for the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.

Unfortunately, although Charles Mason Remey was a highly praised Bahai, he fell into pride and arrogantly declared that he was the next Guardian of the Bahai Faith and that the Hands should stop trying to elect the Universal House of Justice.

Charles Mason Remey never addressed the fact the requirement that a
Guardian must be a "branch", a direct descendant of Baha'u'llah. Sometimes Covenant Breakers try to say that a branch does not mean a
descendant of Baha'u'llah but this directly contradicts Shoghi Effendi's affirmation (or what we already knew)

1548. The Term 'Afnan' Refers to Believers of the Bab

"The term 'Afnan' means literally small branch, and refers to the
relatives of the Báb, both men and women. As the Báb's only son died
while in infancy, the former had no direct descendants. The 'Afnan'
are, therefore, all indirectly related to the Báb.

"As to 'Aghsan', it also means branch. But is a bigger branch than 'Afnan'. It refers to Bahá'u'lláh's descendants."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, September 25, 1934)
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 470)

Trying to divide the Faith of God is repeatedly referred to as a transgression against Him. One such quote says...

All must be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within
or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and
seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him,
for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 12)

and...

They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the
precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the
maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. He
that turneth away from them, is accounted among the abject and
foolish. We, verily, have commanded you to refuse the dictates of your
evil passions and corrupt desires, and not to transgress the bounds
which the Pen of the Most High hath fixed, for these are the breath of
life unto all created things. The seas of Divine wisdom and divine
utterance have risen under the breath of the breeze of the All-
Merciful. Hasten to drink your fill, O men of understanding! They that
have violated the Covenant of God by breaking His commandments, and
have turned back on their heels, these have erred grievously in the
sight of God, the All-Possessing, the Most High.

O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the
lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My
mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of
the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste
the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have
willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his
possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the
truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the day spring of
His bountiful care and loving-kindness.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 331)

Regarding why Bahais are not to associate with Covenant Breakers, I
hope that the following quote will adequately answer your question.

45 COVENANT BREAKERS (Shun)

"... Bahá'u'lláh and the Master in many places and very emphatically
have told us to shun entirely all Covenant breakers as they are
afflicted with what we might try and define as a contagious spiritual
disease; they have also told us, however, to pray for them. These
souls are not lost forever. In the Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh says that God
will forgive Mirza Yahya if he repents. It follows, therefore, that
God will forgive any soul if he repents. Most of them don't want to
repent, unfortunately. If the leaders can be forgiven it goes without
saying that their followers can also be forgiven...

"Also, it has nothing to do with unity in the Cause; if a man cuts a
cancer out of his body to preserve his health and very life, no one
would suggest that for the sake of unity it should be reintroduced
into the otherwise healthy organism. On the contrary, what was once a
part of him has so radically changed as to have become a poison."

(Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 16)

Let me know if I can be of any more help Maher. Have a great day.

Jeffrey:
I feel like I have been bombarded with distortion and twisted meanings, and the fact that they employ these tactics in order to establish their leadership is proof enough to me that they are false and they have usurped the authority of the true head of the Faith, and then have the audacity to call those of use who have remained faithful to the Guardianship as covenant breakers and poison.

I will respond to each of the points raised in this sickening repudiation of the Guardianship of the Cause.

It is true that the Baha'i Faith is about unity.  But you have conveniently forgotten that Abdul-Baha has clearly directed us that unity can only be achieved by obedience to the Guardian: "The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will  become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition. Beware, beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Bahá'u'lláh) be repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed and poisoned others. No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold, will he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of Baha." Will and Testament, pp. 11-12

Shoghi Effendi did in fact appoint his successor, in his own lifetime, as the Will and Testament required him to do.  He appointed Mason Remey to head the IBC, the embyronic UHJ created by Shoghi Effendi in its inactive state.  Mason Remey and the other Hands announced that they did not find a will appointing a Guardian.  They did not announce there was no Guardian. To the contrary, their decision to abolish the Guardianship was kept a secret at the time.  Mason Remey argued against the Hand's violation for two years before he finally publicly denounced their violation.

The Hands did not carry out Shoghi Effendi's wishes.  There is nothing in any of the writings of Shoghi Effendi to intimate that the Hands were to seize administrative authority over the Cause, to declare Mason Remey as a covenant breaker and to install a headless UHJ.  The Hands usurped their authority, on a weak argument that Shoghi Effendi had referred to them as Chief Stewards.  The reality is the Hands had no authority and they violated the Covenant.

The argument that only an Aghsan could be a Guardian is false.  This refers to the Sons of Baha'u'llah.  It was Abdu'l-Baha who changed the successor of the Cause from the Aghsan to the Guardianship.  The Master made it clear that the position was appointed.  Nobody can oppose the Guardian's choice of successor.  On the pretext that Mason Remey was not qualified to hold office, the Hands rejected the Guardian's choice.

by Maher:
So don't you talk to them as people? or you just don't talk to them
abt religion?

I mean if an Orthodox-Baha'i is with you, what do you do?

Anyway I guess that God looks into the person's deeds not religion, I
think God knows if we wanna be bad or wanna be good, and usually
people don't believe in the same thing, everyone's perfect belief
system is different from the other. So we should respect each other,
and understand that the only goal most people are going to is the
ultimate truth (God).

Jeffrey:
The shunning practiced by the large group of Baha'is is used as a cult like practice to keep people from knowing the truth.  If you associate with someone they claim is a covenant breaker, they will threaten to shun you unless you agree to stop associating.  They break apart families and they use manipulation and threats to hold on to their authority.  I agree that we should all respect each other's right to practice our religion as we see fit.  But this group does not agree.  In fact they have taken us to Court to try to prevent us from calling ourselves "Baha'i."

Comments

[John]

Clearly, the Orthodox Baha'is have a clear right and responsibility to practice their Faith. No matter how small, no matter how persecuted, they are true to their beliefs. They are firm and steadfast. Wow! Such a rare trait these days.

The larger group of Baha'is (based in Haifa) is clearly violating Baha'u'llah's commandments in regards to diversity, toleration, and respect by persecuting the smaller, more steadfast Orthodox Baha'is (remember the Spanish Inquisition!)

It really irks me (the persecution/ harassment) because it is unjust.

I have lost much respect for my Baha'i peers who are involved in this pogrom persecuting this people. I'm ashamed of their actions, and how quick they shun and backbite. I'm perplexed they won't admit to the shunning and backbiting.

The more I investigate the more the Orthodox Baha'is stand out to me as being the True Baha'is that are truly firm in the Covenant of Baha'u'llah.

Even though I am still officially a card-carrying member of the "Haifan Community" I respect the Orthodox Community more every year I investigate their plight.

I've never met an orthodox Baha'i in person, but hope to visit a community one day. Being a parent with small children and my Christian wife's having been burnt/snubbed by the "so-called" mainstream Baha'is then it really isn't the best time for such a road trip/investigation.

Orthodox Baha'is seem much more sincere, honest, and truthful. They reflect more the Virtues that Baha'u'llah says we should strive to acquire. Sadly, it seems to be an aging community- based on the videos and websites I see. Aged or not- consistently I find members to be very much on fire with the Love of Baha and youthful and rich in Spirit.

Reading the post there is much knowledge and truth to be learned from these people. I hope to read more post in the future on their sites.

This should not be a group persecuted by any legal system. Ever! That is a joke! They have firm positions and should be respected as such- as much at least as we should expect the Catholics to accept the Mormons or Baptist. Would it be okay if the Catholics established a persecution on the Baptists in this day and age? Well, then we are so many so-called fellow Baha'is so accepting of a pogrom designed to culturally destroy a Minority Baha'i Community with an established Identity of over 50 years??? That's not very Baha'i of them!

Thank you,

John
- Georgia

[Jeffrey]

John,

You and your family would be lovingly welcomed to our conferences which are held in June and October of every year, usually in Albuquerque, New Mexico because that is a central location for many of the believers in the United States.

There are some young people in the Faith, but we are a small band of faithful believers just trying to keep the true Faith alive. You will find that our conferences are something like a family reunion, and everyone, and all opinions, all topics, are welcome. You will find this most refreshing compared to the Baha'i experiences you are accustomed to.

[Jeffrey]

John,

I thought I should add that the elders of our Faith in our first videos are people who were there when some of the events took place that sre critical to understanding our positions. So we value our elders. But your comment has been heard and we are working on getting some of our young people on YouTube.

[John]

In the meanwhile, how can I visit an Orthodox Baha'i on Facebook? Can't find a link, and I've looked for one. Thanks

[Jeffrey]

Sorry about that. The link is here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19223191376

[Frank Schlatter]

Sean wrote earlier:

Unfortunately, although Charles Mason Remey was a highly praised Bahai, he fell into pride and arrogantly declared that he was the next Guardian of the Bahai Faith and that the Hands should stop trying to elect the Universal House of Justice.

_____

It's clear to me that Sean did not ever meet Mason Remey; nor did he read what Mason Remey wrote. Had he done either of these things, he would have realized that characterising Mason Remey as prideful and arrogant is abolutely wrong.

Having associated with Mason Remey during his ministry as the second Guardian and having read his writings, I realize that when people today put him down, they are probably passing along the unfounded judgments that others made about Mason Remey to justify their have turned away from him.

Sincerely,

Frank