...no more than pseudo Bahá'ís

Shoghi Effendi... has stipulated that one of the essential requirements that must be fulfilled to be accepted as a Bahá'í is: "Steadfast adherence to every clause of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's sacred Will."

This Will calls for an unbroken line of Guardians of the Cause of God as long as the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh endures, each of whom, following the appointment of the first Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, inherits the Guardianship solely through an appointment made by his predecessor "in his own life-time." (i.e., not by testamentary document)

This Will states that "The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God." and enjoins all "to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him."

Moreover, this Will stipulates that the Guardian of the Cause of God presides as "the sacred head and the distinguished member for life" of the Universal House of Justice" and provides him with the sole authority to appoint Hands of the Cause.

In the light of the foregoing, it is crystal clear that those individuals who identify themselves as Bahá'ís but belong to an organization that does not have a living Guardian of the Cause of God as the Head of the Faith-"the Center of the Cause"-and the "sacred head" of its Universal House of Justice, as stipulated under the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are seriously deluded and, however blindly, are blatantly misrepresenting themselves as Bahá'ís, who, undeniably, at best, are no more than pseudo Bahá'ís.

Joel B. Marangella
http://www.bahai-guardian.com/pseudo.html