True Bahá'í

What happened to the independent investigation of truth?

By Janet Steele
Guest Blogger

To the followers of the headless "UHJ":

The first principal of the Faith is being attacked by your organization.

The "UHJ" is dictating what you can read, who you associate with and what your personal relationships should be. Can you truly support an organization that is virtually eliminating a fundamental principal of the Faith that you love? What other principals of this Faith will become obsolete so they can stay in control?  The "UHJ" has taken away the Living Guardianship from you and now they are taking away your independence to search for truth.  What else will they take from you? How would it be if scientific study were conducted this way?

I'm guessing we would still think that the world was flat. We do not live in a flat world.

Read the "Tablet to the True Seeker", "The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha" and the one and only Proclamation of Shoghi Effendi.

The search for Truth does not end when we find the Faith, it begins.

I pray that the friends are fearless and brave in their quest for Divine Truth and that your search be fruitful.

I am an Orthodox Bahá'í and I would not have it any other way

In her YouTube debut, Megan Kathleen Olsen delivers this moving YouTube version of her essay "Being an Orthodox Bahá'í" (originally published here on 24 March 2008).

Stand in Support of the Guardian!

The sans-Guardian Bahá’ís take great comfort in the fact that the Orthodox Bahá’ís are so few in number.  At first glance one might think that the cause is hopeless and all effort is futile when you consider how few Bahá’ís there are in the world, and then out of that small number, it is rare to find very many who follow Joel B. Marangella, the Guardian of the Cause.  It matters not at all that there are so few of us.

Mason Remey, the second Guardian, wrote in his Second Encyclical Letter:

"The way of the Bahá’í Faith is difficult. At all times one must be awake to its perils, and particularly so in times of crisis such as the one in which the Faith now finds itself; for, at this present time, the very existence and the future of the Faith upon earth hangs in the balance. Should the Guardianship of the Faith lapse and the line be allowed to break (as these violators are making every effort to accomplish), the line of Guardianship will be broken, infallibility will be lost to the Faith, and all hopes will be lost for the Kingdom of God upon Earth.

"Such a condition we must not allow to happen. Even though we be but a mere handful – a very small number of followers faithful to the Covenant and the Administration of the Guardianship – we, with all the world in violation against us, must stand together and support the Guardianship.

"We must stand in firmness for the Guardianship, that is, the Administration of our Faith. Not only must we do this for our own sakes and for the present existence of our Faith; but it must be done for the Faith in the ages to come, for if we fail now and allow the Guardianship to pass out of existence and this spiritual line of heritage to become extinct, future generations will have no Cause. All infallible divine guidance will be at an end.

"Therefore, Friends of the Bahá’í Faith, arise and maintain the life center – the heart and the soul of the Abhá Kingdom upon earth that is the Guardianship – for only by our so doing will the Cause of El Abhá be saved for this world. Even though all the rest of the world be against us, nothing can destroy this Cause so long as even a small few believers stand in support of the Guardian and the continued Guardianship of the Bahá’í Faith."

We stand in support of the Guardian.  Join us!

The Guardian's web site:
http://www.bahai-guardian.com/

For heaven's sake, think for yourself!

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."  Mark Twain - Notebook, 1904

I always thought the above quote was an astute observation.  If you find yourself in the grip of group-think, believing things and following along because everybody else does, then I think it is time to pause and reflect upon whether it is time for reform.  Group-think allows people to feel safe holding opinions that are just plain wrong and eliminating the need to examine one's beliefs or opinions.  "Everybody knows that...." is the refuge of fools.

"Everybody knows that" the Guardian must be an Aghsán.

"Everybody knows that" the Guardian must be able to speak Arabic or Persian.

"Everybody knows that" there was no promise that the Guardianship would continue into the future.

"Everybody knows that" the Hands, after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, acted in good faith to take leadership of the Faith until the UHJ could be elected.

"Everybody knows that" the Hands had an elevated spiritual station and therefore it would be absurd to believe that their actions violated the Covenant.

I don't know these things so I don't think that "everybody knows" them.  I think that upon examination these statements are proved to be false, that they are not consistent with the fundamental verities of the Faith as identified by Shoghi Effendi in The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.  The fact that many people believe them is not relevant to me.  Nobody has been able to satisfy me that these are the correct teachings of the Faith.

The principle of independent investigation of truth means that you make your own inquiries before you accept any statement as true.  Think for yourself.  It is one of the principles revealed by Bahá'u'lláh for living in this Day.

"Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"  Mark Twain - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Jeffrey