True Bahá'í

What hope is left?

The promise of the Bahai Revelation was the universal tolerance and acceptance of all humanity that its teachings championed.  Never before was there a religion that so brilliantly espoused the unity and brotherhood of men and women of all nations, races, and creeds. 

More than that, the teachings of the Bahai Revelation were spiritually refreshing.  The awe inspiring life and teachings of Abdu'l-Baha impressed many with His teachings that all of reality fundamentally was an expression of the Holy Spirit from the lowest forms of life up through to humanity, and that the physical world was but the shadow of an even more vast and powerful spiritual world.  With this teaching as the foundation, the Master espoused a religion of brotherly love, tolerance, and world unity that was the last hope for a distressed humanity.

How unfortunate that the followers of this religion have so utterly failed to live up to the standards upon which this Cause was founded.  The world today sees a Faith in which Bahais sue other Bahais over the right of the minority Bahais to even identify themselves with Baha'u'llah. We see a Faith strangleholded by a corrupt and paranoid leadership that seeks to control its followers and crush its enemies. 

All of the ideals and spiritual truths upon which the religion was founded are presently nothing more than empty words.  The Bahai Faith has become a pathetic shell of its once glorious promise.  Whatever happened to the idea that "the souls of the people of Baha, who  have entered and been established within the Crimson Ark, shall associate and commune intimately one with another, and shall be so closely associated in their lives, their aspirations, their aims and strivings as to be even as one soul"?  (Gleanings, p. 169-70).  The fundamental verities of the Cause of God have been neglected and abandoned.  The organization of Bahais that now occupies the World Center is the refuge for bitter, close-minded fanatics unable to even express themselves openly and in good faith.

I urge all Bahais of every denomination to come together and abandon the estrangement and hatred for one another.  Do not let your leadership keep you from associating with the followers of all religions, including other denominations of Bahai.  Let us look to our common love for and belief in Baha'u'llah and turn away from the bitter disputes that have divided us.  Tolerance means that each and every one of us can believe what we will about these matters but that should not prevent us from communicating with one another in a spirit of love and fellowship, and mutual understanding.  If the Bahais can be so bitterly divided, then what hope is left for this Faith to serve as a focal point for the unity of the planet?  What hope is left for the survival of humanity when the Message of its deliverance has been diluted by hatred and division?

"Look about thee at the world: here unity, mutual attraction, gathering together, engender life, but disunity and inharmony spell death."  Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 31

True Bahai unity: disputes are essential for arriving at truth

What first attracted me to the Bahai religion were its teachings on the rule of law as a means of peace and justice between nations, the independent investigation of reality as the basis of unity between individuals, and the idea of consultation.

Unity of nations cannot be achieved without the rule of law and justice between the peoples of the world.  Without justice and the rule of law, war is inevitable.  "An arbitral court of justice shall be established by which international disputes are to be settled. Through this means all possibility of discord and war between the nations will be obviated." Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 317.  This fundamental teaching is so obvious today.  The time is so ripe for justice to reign in the affairs of the world.  However, nations are just assemblies of persons, so if unity and justice is to be achieved, we must look to the teachings of how individuals are to become united.

Baha'u'llah taught that unity of individual persons requires that each of us think for ourselves, investigate reality and truth for ourselves, and that we do not follow traditions or the opinions of clergy members.  Too many Baha'is today, under the yoke of their bogus UHJ (presently residing in Haifa), are unable or unwilling to think for themselves.  Every obscure question of how they should think or behave is presented to their so-called Universal House of Justice.  The dictatorial pronouncements of this body are eagerly anticipated and studied.  The unity that this bogus UHJ enforces is one of single-minded thinking.  According to its formula, the community remains united by agreement with its dictates. Don't think your own thoughts.  Think our thoughts and thus the robotic unity of community will be maintained. It is disagreement that is the source of disunity, according to the bogus UHJ.  Therefore they espouse the belief that no matter how wrong they might be, every community member must accept their dictates as being the divine truth, or else that member must be expelled for the sake of unity.

"[D]isputes are forbidden in the community" says the UHJ's Secretary General, Albert Lincoln (quoted from the documentary film "Bahais in My Backyard), disregarding Baha'u'llah's unique and distinctive method for achieving unity.  The unity envisaged by Baha'u'llah was not one in which all of humanity was required to think the same thoughts and conform its behavior to the dictates of an elite leadership.  To the contrary, Baha'u'llah's vision was for a commonwealth of free people, with no clergy to tell persons what to think or how to behave.  Instead of unity of thinking, Baha'u'llah command His followers to resolve all problems and all disputes by using the principles of consultation.

The central idea of consultation is that each person expresses with absolute freedom his or her own opinion and arguments. Each person remains detached from the views being expressed so that no personal attacks are made nor is anyone injured by a dissenting viewpoint. Every effort is made to arrive at a consensus. "The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions." Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 86.  In this way, problems and disputes are resolved in a manner whereby every participant can get behind the ultimate decision, knowing that every viewpoint was carefully considered and that the truth has emerged.

What a liberating philosophy brought by Baha'u'llah.  It seems that while dispute and contention is built into the human mind, it is precisely that same clash of opinions, when presented using the proper procedures of consultation, that transforms the long-standing practice of humanity to disagree as a means of arriving at the truth.  How else will humanity achieve peace and justice than to transform its very contentiousness into the means for solving all of the world's problems?