JJ, what kind of covenant do you call this?

None of your business

None of your business.

Now answer a few of mine,

1) Who are you and what is your real name?

2)  What creed or organization do you belong to?

3) What position do you occupy?

4) Are you now or have you ever worked on behalf of the Baha'i Internet Agency headed by Matthew Weinberg at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, occupied Palestine?

 5) Why do you see the need in hiding behind a pseudonym and masking your identity?

6) What are your goals to that end?

7) What is your primary motivation in ascertaining logistical information about my group?

8) Are you a sayanim and work for Mossad?

9) Is your organization attempting to manufacture consent through fictitious and exagerrated narratives about persecution in Iran?

10) What would you consider your motivation to that end?

11) Is your organization attempting to foment international discord and lobby for a pre-emptive military strike on Iran?

12) What is your position on the current policy of President Obama in wishing engagement with Iran?

13) Do you believe that Baha'ism should replace the national religion in Iran, and is your organization attempting to replace the mullah's theocracy with a Baha'i theocracy? 

Don't get frustrated. Just answer the questions. Looking in the mirror of your organizational duplicity and Stalinism can't be that bad. Or can it?

See Sourcewatch entry, Baha'i Faith.

NUR - Just answer these questions...

1) How many people in your group?

2) Are you a clergyman in this group?

3) How often do you meet?

4) Where do most of these people live?

5) Is this group growing in numbers or dwindling?

6) What are the goals of this group?

7) How does this group organize itself or does it have a community?

8) Is this group recognized by any organization or civil or international body?

9) Is this group persecuted in Iran or elsewhere? If so, can you reference any evidence to support this claim?

10) What would be considered an achievement for this group?

11) Could you tell us some of the principles of your Faith?

Don't get frustrated, just answer these questions.  Looking in the mirror can't be that bad.  (or is it?)

DETNUR

In English Please

Kindly re-post the Persian matter in English.

Removal of Administrative Rights!= طرد

طرد به شکلهای مختلف در جامعه وجود دارد . در مدارس، دانشگاه ها ، ادارات ، حکومت و خانواده اگر دانش آموز و یا دانشجویی از قوانین موجود و وضع شده سرپیچی نماید با روشهای دیگری او را آگاه و اگر نتیجه نبخشید به جهت حفظ محیط تحصیلی آن فرد اخراج می گردد . یا به عبارتی از محیط دانشگاه یا مدرسه طرد می شود . کانون خانواده را در نظر آورید اگر فرزند خانواده بخواهد قوانین منزل را که به جهت حفظ نظم و آرامش ، برای همه در نظر گرفته شده ، برهم زند والدین ابتداء با روش های مختلف سعی در آگاه کردن فرزند خود می نمایند و اگر موثر نباشد او را از بعضی امور دور و منع می کنند .

حکم طرد تنها در بین روابط انسانی نیست بلکه از لحاظ جسمانی و روانی هم شامل می گردد . در جامعه انواع بیماریهای خطرناک و مسری مانند جذام ، تیفوس ، سارس و.... وجود دارد . یا افراد معتاد ، مجنون ، اشرار ، سارقین و ... هستند که هر یک از سازمانهای مخصوص به جهت حفظ امنیّت و آرامش و سلامتی جامعه و مردم به طرق مختلف این افراد را از سایرین دور و به عبارتی طرد می نماید.حتّی در مسابقات ورزشی اگر ورزشکار از قبول قوانین امتناع ورزد از گروه طرد می شود .بنابراین افراد در هر مکان و در هر دسته و به هر علّتی در کنار هم قرار بگیرند برای بقای خود و زندگی راحت یک سری قوانینن را در بین خود وضع نموه تا این پیوند از هم نگسلد و اختلالی در آن ایجاد نشود . پس نمی توان طرد را امری بدوی انگاشت زیرا لازمهء امنیّت و اتحاد است و برای ادامهء حیات ضروری و عدم آن سبب هرج و مرج و انشقاق می شود.

در مقاله ایی با عنوان ( طرد ، تنبیهی زجرآور مربوط به جوامع ابتدایی ) که در تاریخ جمعه 10 آذر 1385 توسط سر دبیر در سایت ( پژوهشی پیرامون بهائیّت ) آمده ، نویسنده وجود چنین تنبیه و اخراجی را با اهداف متعالی دیانت بهایی متناقض می داند . که ظاهرا نمی توان قبول نمود که آئینی خود را جهانی معرفی نماید " منادی وحدت عالم انسانی " و " مبلّغ وحدت ادیان " باشد ، خود را " متناسب با ارزشهای دنیای جدید معرفی کند " امّا از طرفی دیگر طرد روحانی دارد " و اشاره گردیده " چنین مجازاتهایی یادآور ساز و کار تشکیلات مخوفی مثل کمونیسم یا سازمان
//www.noghtenazar17.info/node/265

Mason Remey!بررسی ادعاهای میسن ریمی 2

بررسی ادعاهای میسن ریمی 2

کاویان صادق زاده میلانی

در پیش آوردم که حضرت ولی امرالله شوقی افندی از آنجا که جایگزین واجد شرایطی نداشتند که صلاحیت مربوط به ولایت و خصوصیت روحانی الولد سرّ ابیه (فرزندی که جانشین با کفایت پدر باشد) و خصائل اخلاقی ممتاز او را نیز دارا باشد از اعلام جانشین خودداری کرد. خودداری شوقی افندی از نگاشتن وصیت و عدم انتصاب و معرفی عمومی ولی امر دیگری که جایگزین او شود بیانگر این است که اراده او بر آن تعلق گرفته بود که ولی امر دیگری نداشته باشیم. پایان گرفتن سلسلۀ اغصان تعجبی نمی بایست داشته باشد چون در کتاب اقدس نیز این مهم آورده شده بود.[1]

در این سری آیات حضرت بهاالله خاتمه سلسله ولایت اغصان و احتمال تشکیل بیت عدل بدون حضور اغصان را مطرح می کنند و می فرمایند که اگر بین سلسله اغصان و تشکیل بیت عدل فاصله بود آنگاه اوقاف بهائی به دست اهل بهاء، یعنی هیئت ایادیان امر الله
//www.negah32.info/index.php?option=com_conte...

Mason Remey!-بررسی ادعاهای میسن ریمی 1

بررسی ادعاهای میسن ریمی 1

کاویان صادق زاده میلانی

ریمی یکی از ایادیان امر بود که توسط شوقی افندی ولی امر دین بهائی به عنوان ایادی منصوب شد. بنابر دستور حضرت عبدالبهاء در الواح وصایا ولی امر لازم بود در زمان حیات خود از میان یکی از اغصان (فرزندان مذکر نسل حضرت بهاءالله) را برای رهبری جامعه بهائی نامزد و پیشنهاد کند. این غصن (عربی: شاخه) عضو دائم بیت عدل و درعین حال تفسیر کنندۀ آیات الهی بشمارمی آید. تقدیر چنان رقم خورد که نسل اغصان، یعنی فرزندان ذکور بهاءالله، که مومن به میثاق او مانده باشند در دورۀ ولایت شوقی افندی به پایان رسید و طبق پیشبینی حضرت بهاءالله در کتاب اقدس نسل اغصان به پایان رسید و مطابق دستور پیامبر بهائی بیت عدل تشکیل و مسئولیت تشریع و قانونگزاری و هدایت جامعه را به عهده گرفت.

در این میان میسن ریمی که به دلیل کهولت سن و شاید غم و افسردگی ناشی از مرگ زود هنگام شوقی افندی پس از گذشت چند سال و پذیرفتن اولیه ختم سلسلۀ ولایت، به فکر این افتاد که خودش را ولی امرالله دوم معرفی کند. حضرت ولی امرالله شوقی افندی که جایگزین واجد شرایطی نداشتند که صلاحیت مربوط به ولایت و خصوصیت روحانی الولد سرّ ابیه (فرزندی که جانشین با کفایت پدر باشد) و خصائل اخلاقی ممتاز او را نیز دارا باشد از اعلام جانشین خودداری کرد. خودداری شوقی افندی از نگاشتن وصیت و عدم انتصاب و معرفی عمومی ولی امر دیگری که جایگزین او شود بیانگر این است که اراده او بر آن تعلق گرفته بود که ولی امر دیگری نداشته باشیم. پایان گرفتن سلسلۀ اغصان تعجبی نمی بایست داشته باشد چون در کتاب اقدس نیز این مهم آورده شده بود. [1]

در جلسۀ اول ایادیان به تاریخ 25 نوامبر 1957 ایادیان حاضر(26 از 27 ایادی ) در ارض اقدس در دستخط خود به تمام بهائیان عالم، در شرق و غرب، اعلان داشتند که از حضرت ولی امرالله وصیتی در دست نیست و نسل اغصان خاتمه یافته و ریمی نیز یکی از آن ایادیان و از امضا کنندگان آن دستخط بود. گرچه ریمی در چند سال بعد و به اغوای جوئل مارانجلا (که هم او میسن را در آینده کوتاهی از ولایت عزل و خود را منصوب ساخت) این امضا و این متن را تکذیب و توجیه کرد ولی به هر حال میسن در آن زمان از امضا کنندگان آن بود.

پس از آن ایادیان بنابردستور حضرت
//www.negah32.info/index.php?option=com_conte...

To Faryarm and Alborz

Dears,
could you please explain how Mirza Yahya, Charls Mason Remey, Fredrick Glayser, Neil Chase were/are IRI Agents ?

Love bombing and misdirection (raftan be-hashiyeh)

Once again our Haifan Bahai IT committee friend has hit the road to Karbala/zad be-dasht-i-karbala. People should note that one of the disengenuous tactics these people use is "love bombing" as a diffusion tactic. Many people unfamiliar with it are disarmed by it, but the deceptive disengenuity of the strategy should be noted since it attempts to invalidate and discredit in a highly flowery, sugar-coated way the original issue broached in order to misdirect it into tangential and irrelevant side-issues. Alborz can't directly address the fact that what the Baha'i administration did to Hamid Taheri and his family was no different than what the mullahs do to his community in Iran. He tries to paint this situation as misinformation because the Baha'is and their organization can never ever admit to wrongdoing. They are good at feigning victimhood/mazlum-nama'i when it suits their PR purposes to Western human rights organizations and the Western media, but when it comes to their own clearly and unequivocally documented trackrecord of unmitigated abuse towards other people, specifically critics and dissenters, they attempt to justify such abuse perpetrated with sanctimonious platitudes, sugar-coated misdirections, wooly silences and outright lies. This is what will also be in store for Iran, or anywhere else in the world, if these people are not kept honest and vigilant as regards the trackrecord of their own crimes.

 BTW Alborz, any time and anywhere that you people decide to have a live public, telecast debate with me about this and other issues, I am ready to rock'n'roll! So show me what you people are made of, and let's rock, baby!!

413

LIVING NUR 'ala NUR of the LIVING

I see someone might be interested in gnosis ('irfan). Both statements are correct statements, depending on your station of noetic perception (maqam). The LIVING NUR (nur-i-hayy) is equally the NUR of the LIVING (hayy-i-nur), especially since the trip through the spiralling tunnel is the journey of the self to the Self. There is a famous Arabic poem by Hallaj in his Arabic Diwan where he says, "I am He whom I love and He whom I love is I; We are two spirits in one body, nay, a single spirit embodied." Then there is a famous poem by my great maternal ancestor, Tahirih Qurrat'ul-'Ayn, where in her state of annihilation (fana) and subsistence (baqa') in the Primal Point (nuqta ula) she proclaims herself "khod parast" (a worshiper of her Self). But these are subtleties of gnosis (lata'if-i-ma'arifat) needing to be tasted not spoken...

413

Thank you again and again NUR !

It is bloggers like NUR that provide the opportunity for shedding light on a Faith that has been the subject of much misinformation.

To the extent that one can conclude from the limited information included in the letter, the specific concern appears to be directed at the participation of a person who is perceived to be speaking on behalf of the Baha'is, at least by association.  I am confident that reasonable folks can appreciate the fact that when one's views can be construed as the views of a entire community, or be representative in any way, then it is important that in fact one is authorized to make such representations.  

The Baha'i community in this regard functions in the same way as any group or organization in managing its representations.  This separates personal views from that of the views of the community.  The administrative bodies that are responsible for assuring that personal views are not misconstrued as the views of the community are the local and national administrative bodies, referred to as Spiritual Assemblies.

Each country has one National and many Local such bodies which are elected by the Baha'is of that country or locality.  While the concept is not unusual from an administrative perspective, it is unique in religious history. On the one hand it safeguards the unity and cohesion of the community in its purpose of advancing the principle of Unity in every endeavor.  On the other hand it maximizes individual freedoms by being mindful of the freedoms of the community.  A subtle and yet key point is that my individual freedom cannot be defined independent of the freedom of the community in which I live.  Imagine driving on the roads without any rules and regulations.  Chaos, damage to property, and injuries would ensue.

Clearly, the specific blog is intended to create an impression which is wholly false in one sense, and yet well accepted and justified.  It is well accepted and justified because it counsels the person addressed in the letter that their activity needs to cease in the context of the negative impact it has on the community.  It also points to an alternative which allows the person to continue but not as a member of community.  Here again, individual freedoms are preserved even in the case of a community which has had a century and a half of misinformation to contend with and which to this day is the object of a concerted effort for its annihilation.

If only we acknowledged our individual freedom in the context of maximizing freedom in the communities in which we live, much of the challenges we face today would be overcome.

So, once again, thank you NUR !

Alborz

"there is the Living NUR at the end of the spiralling tunnel"

Should it not be the Nur of the Living, not the living NUR, unless your talking about yourself at the end of the espiralling tunnel.
Just wonderin

Killing slowly

The Haifan Bahais have inherited a very sophisticated slew of techniques and an arsenal of deadly effective psychological warfare they regularly employ against non-comformists and dissenters alike - and the history on this is well documented.  Having lived and survived through it personally, I think killing someone outright is a far more humane thing to do because then it is all over and you are free forever. Violence is not only physical, and political violence need not be physical at all - as the Communist states of Eastern Europe proved. Panopticon methods are usually far more effective ways of socially engineering psychological control mechanisms to keep a given population from revolting against their tormentors. The mullahs themselves are using a version of this by keeping people addicted to hard narcotics like opium and everyone else in a sort of mass mental and psychological paralysis - note the increasing percentage of mental illness in Iran.

The methods of violence the Haifan Bahai organization employ are similar utilizing a prolonged and excruciating form of torture, first, by destroying a person's family and social networks then going on to faciliate a person's complete social destruction by systematic methods of slander, vilification and libel; then using this as a pretext to annihilate the economic existence of said individual. The technique the Haifan Bahais use has been categorized in another context by social scientist Ralph Mannheim in his work Ideology & Utopia, where he says,

"Political discussion [of entrenched power] possesses a character
fundamentally different from academic discussion. It seeks not only to be in the right but also to demolish the basis of the opponent's
social and intellectual existence. . .Political conflict, since it is
from the very beginning a rationalized form of the struggle for social predominance, attacks the social status of the opponent, his public
prestige, and his self-confidence" (Karl Mannheim, IDEOLOGY AND
UTOPIA, p. 38). "

The Haifan Bahais then take this a step further and attempt to destroy the basis of their opponents economic existence (not to mention spiritual existence) as well. Abdu'l-Husayn Ayati AVARIH, Fayzullah Subhi and recently Mahnaz Raufi have extensively related their personal experiences on how this has been done to them. As bad as the methods of the mullahs are, and as despicable as those fascists are, at least you know at the end of it that if they are going to kill you there is the Living NUR at the end of the spiralling tunnel. Not so with these Haifan Bahais who will maliciously prolong the agony as long as possible - and then continue doing so long after you're dead. These people are far worse. And since you invoke figures from the history of Islam, to me these people exude the malice, sleaze and duplicity of the Sufyanis.

413

An Observation

The Bahai Community that blogs for Iranian.com has a tendency to portray all the 'Positive' aspects of the Bahai faith.

When people such as this guy, Nur, or others, write blogs that shed light on the 'Negative' aspects of the Bahai faith, they are systematically attacked. Not by a logical response, but by bringing up ludicrous accusations regarding the motivations of the blogger, etc.

I have to say, sadly, that such behavior only 'Reinforces' the notion in people's minds that the Bahai Faith is showing itself more and more like a 'Cult', rather than a regular respected religion. The Bahais have to understand, that by such behavior, You really become your own worst Enemy!

....what would

they do to him were he a mosalman under the care of IRI and he would not take his islamic responsibilitis seriously? would they take his islamic administrative rights (which does not exist)away, or would they put him to death.
well who is fair and who is the real control freak.

I pitty those souls who go down the well with your rope, eventhough there are not many who would.
You are niether of Mohammad nor of Ali, or of Allah.
Mow-Avi-Yeh used to pull these kind of tricks on Ali.

Thank Ahmad Karimpour

26/08/02

Dear Friends,

I read your letter dated 20/08/02 with disgust and have decided to
respond to you in English and set the record straight concerning the
violation of my human and Baha'i rights and your continued coercive and intimidatory behaviour.

Your initial correspondence to this servant contained false and
inaccurate allegations. You failed to conduct an independent enquiry and find out the merits of the case presented to you. You recorded as factual the rumours forwarded to you by a number of ill-intentioned and attention-seeking individuals, some of whom are regarded as the "learned!". You accepted the unsubstantiated gossips of wrong-doers and did not bother to hear my side of the argument. On this count you have failed in one of the basic teachings of our beloved faith: the Independent Investigation of the Truth.

You demanded from me, to recant my alleged association with an
organisation I know nothing about and threatened me with sanctions of I did not comply. Though I objected to your bias and prejudice so clearly evident from the tone of your letter, I drafted a short reply and complied with your wishes. I did so purely out of my love for Baha'u'llah and the martyrs of the Faith, whom I had the pleasure of knowing.

Yet in your most recent reply, you once again threaten me with
sanctions even though I have complied with your every request. I take refuge in God from your harassments. Your tactics of thought control, inquisition, violation of my individual rights (innocent until proven guilty), intimidation, threats and sanctions are in complete violation of the role and function of a Spiritual Assembly as foretold by Abd'ul Baha and Shoghi Effendi. Your actions resemble the 14th century Inquisition by the Roman Catholic priests.

Your continued harassment of this servant on false charges, have drawn a wedge in our family and resulted in the desertion of the Faith by my daughter - something even the mullahs were incapable of doing.

You have demonstrated to be a puppet in the hands of a few un-elected evil individuals with fancy titles. Persons who can say what they like and commit what wrong-doings they can without being questioned. I ask you, to whom shall we turn to, if these individuals one day rape our children? Why are they above the law?

Anyone who questions their evil methods and intentions, is labelled a "covenant breaker" and cast out of the Faith. Disagreement with them is seen as "trying to build a following" or "campaigning against the covenant". Free speech and expressions of opinion are stifled through the imposition of a soviet style conformity with the system. One is persecuted for thinking independently and threatened with sanctions. Big Brother is watching every where and George Orwell's 1984 is re-lived before our very eyes.

In the mean time "Entry by Troops" becomes "Desertion by Troops" and even the thought-police are not able to halt the un-precedented desertions from the faith that we are witnessing today. Justice and
equality amongst the Bahai's has given way to the creation of a new class of clergy with unlimited powers to silence any signs of
independent thinking or free enquiry.

In attempting to impose their vain imaginings on individuals, the
racist policies of Apartheid and Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party are practiced in disguise.

For the record, I wish to state the following:

1 - If you intend to cast me out of the faith (and yet have no solid
reason for doing so), feel free to let me know. My daughters and I
will happily resign en masse and grant your wish.

2 - If this event takes place, I reserve my full rights as an
Australian citizen and a free individual to raise my case and demand
justice through other sources / authorities.

You can never control my heart and faith. I came a Baha'i many decades ago and successfully endured countless sessions of thought-trials with the mullahs. Your continued threats and intimidations pale insignificance compared with what I endured in the Islamic prisons for being a Baha'i.

I make a clear distinction between the Faith of Baha'u'llah and the
evil intentions of those who seek leadership positions within the
Baha'i administration. Oppression will always be evident in the light
of history.

You have failed to be the "loving shepherds" you are meant to be.
Choosing to play politics and please the un-elected few is in direct
contravention of what you are elected for.

Regards,

Ahmad Karimpour
Perth - WA

While Bahai IT committee hack congratulate each other...

Like I said, when these people are faced by embarrassing facts and thorny issues, they hit the road to Karbala/mizanan bi-dasht-i-karbala...People should also note that most of these Bahai IT committee hacks online are MOZDURs, i.e. they get paid or receive some other kind of remuneration to defend their indefensible cult just as hezbollahis do with the IRI.  It should also be noted that the alias Alborz on the USENET group soc.culture.iranian has been used by an archdefender of the Islamic Republic.

And now for the UHJ Letter to Omid Taheri (Taheri's son):

The Universal House of Justice
Department of Secretariat

20 February 2003

Transmitted by email: o...@iinet.net.au

Mr. Omeed Taheri
Australia

Dear Baha'i Friend,

    Your email letter of 21 December 2002, sent on behalf of your
sisters Mrs Mahshid Taheri-Jones and Dr. Guity Taheri in addition to
yourself, has been received. We have been asked to provide the
following response.

   The Universal House of Justice understands your distress at the
action taken by the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia in
removing the administrative rights of your father, Mr Hamid Taheri,
and your ardent desire to have this action rescinded. However, it has decided, after a detailed examination of this matter, that the
decision of the National Assembly should be upheld and that he should remain deprived of these rights.

   In accordance with the procedure set out in Section VIII of the
By-Laws to "The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice", an
appeal against such a National Spiritual Assembly decision should be made by the individual concerned, who would, in the first instance,
approach his National Spiritual Assembly for reconsideration or
submission of his appeal to the House of Justice. In this instance,
the House of Justice decided to investigate the circumstances
surrounding the removal of Mr. Taheri's rights, despite the fact that
there was no indication of his having initiated an appeal.

   Mr Taheri's administrative rights were removed in August 2002 for his failure to adhere to a commitment to the National Assembly in May 2002 in which he signed. Just before the National Assembly took this action its Secretary had ascertained, through a telephone call to Mr. Taheri, that he was determined not to follow the Assembly's instructions and that he was aware of the possible consequences of his disobedience.

   Following its receipt of your letter, the House of Justice asked
the National Assembly to inquire further into Mr Taheri's attitudes.

   The House of Justice is most concerned about Mr. Taheri's attitude
to the institutions of the Cause. It hopes that his own study of the
authoritative texts of the Faith concerning the Covenant and the
institutions to which it gives rise will enable him to make the
necessary changes in attitudes and conduct which would open the way to restoration of his rights. Your own example of unyielding adherence to the principles of the Faith, as well as your wholehearted support of the decisions of the National Assembly, could well play an important role in encouraging him to make the required alterations to his thinking.

   Your letter raises the issue of the plan of the National Assembly
to publish in the national Baha'i newsletter an announcement of the
removal of his administrative rights. In general such matters are left to the discretion of a National Spiritual Assembly, which is asked to consider the particular circumstances in each instance, including the possibility of the believer concerned visiting other Baha'i communities which might not be aware of his Baha'i status.

   As regards Mr Taheri, there is good reason for an announcement to be published in the national newsletter, in light of his recent
extensive travels.

   The Universal House of Justice recognizes that you are apprehensive about the effect on members of the family when it becomes more widely known that your father's administrative rights have been removed. It urges your to reflect on the seriousness of his actions, and to strive to obtain a deeper insight into the damaging effect that his attitude towards the Baha'i institutions could have on other believers who might not be well deepened in the Faith, if they are not ware of his Baha'i status.

   Your are assured of the prayers of the Universal House of Justice
in the Holy Shrines at this time of difficulty for you.

With loving Baha'i greetings,
Department of the Secretariat

cc. National Spiritual Assembly of Australia (by email)

Simply misdirected...

Faryarm is using a classic tactic of misdirection and sleight of hand: a tactic that members of the Haifan Bahai Internet Committee (which he is undoubtedly a member of) regularly employ to not answer a pointed question or a thorny issue that is embarrassing to their organization by jumping to discredit rather than addressing. In Persian we call this "bi-hashiye raftan" or "zadan be-dasht-i-karbala." Like the now discredited Mojahedin-i-Khalq cult, they attack the messenger and then attempt to sling mud by suggesting that the exposer is an agent of the mullahs. I remember once upon a short time ago that bona fide student opposition representatives on the now defunct Jebhe Melli boards were being cast as agents of the mullahs because they dared to disagree with the ludicrous ideological slant and Stalinism of MEK/MKO cultists. The MKO/MEK would do this while the real hezbollahis would be sitting back, clapping and rubbing their hands in glee. With Faryarm and his clique and coterie of deputized Haifan Baha'i hacks here we are dealing with exactly the same phenomenon. They attempt to shoot the messenger without remotely attempting to address the issue. American Frederick Glaysher, the leader of the Reform Bahai sect, has characterized this as the Baha'i Technique:

//www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/technique.htm

Here are the facts: Hamid Taheri (now close to 90 years old) is a now former Baha'i living in the city of Perth, in the state of Western Australia. In Naw-Ruz of 2002 he was invited - along with a few other people - to read poetry from Mowlana and Hafiz on a Perth local cable access station hosting a weekly cultural program in Persian. The gentleman who hosted the program is an average Iranian living in exile who, while not a Baha'i himself, at the time was attempting to reach out to the Iranian Baha'i community in his local area by getting them involved in an across the board Persian cultural event and association. There was nothing remotely political or divisive about this gentleman or his activities or what he was trying to do. This gentleman had even gone out of his way to send his own non-Bahai children to Baha'i children's classes in the Perth area. It appears, however, that two Baha'i administrators in Perth - Manijeh Rayhani and Alan Waters - had a personal grudge against both this man, Hamid Taheri and all those associated with them. 

 Hamid Taheri appeared on the 2002 Naw Ruz program reading poetry. Immediately after the event he started receiving phone calls from the then secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia threatening him that if he did not publically and in writing discontinue his association with the Iranian gentleman and his television program, as well as repudiating in writing his activities thus far, his Baha'i rights would be taken away and he would be sanctioned, i.e. in Persian this is called tard-i-edari and it is a form of disfellowship and quasi-excommunication from the Baha'i community. Apparently during one of these telephone conversations, Stephan Hall had even threatened to tear apart Hamid Taheri's family after which Hamid Taheri suffered a heart-attack and so had to be hospitalized during the Fall of 2002. The letter I posted was one of the first communications in writing from Stephan Hall to him. Hamid Taheri sent me the entire file of this case and I have regularly kept in contact with him from pretty much the Fall of 2002. Taheri kept to his guns and he was soon thereafter disfellowshiped by the Baha'i adminmistration on the direct orders of UHJ, and specifically Peter Khan (one of its members).

 One leverage that the Australian and international Baha'i administration had over Taheri and his family was the fact that one of Taheri's own daughters had been appointed a Baha'i administrator herself. She was appointed what is called an Auxilliary Board Member for Protection. Rather than siding with her own father, this daughter publically sided with the Baha'i administration instead and was instrumental in having her own father disfellowshiped and shunned. However her own son thereafter turned against his own mother and even at one point tried to committ suicide as a form of protest and publicity. I can post some of the other communication in this case, as well as the unanswered letter of Mr Ahmad Ahmad Karimpour who was similarly targetted by the UHJ and the Australian Baha'i administration, if people are interested.

That said, I know there are Baha'is involved in television programs with Iranians of all walks of life and all over the place. One of the partners and investors in Zia Atabai's NITV was a Baha'i. And it should be noted that while this was going on Homa Mahmoudi (a Bahai) was hosting her own program on NITV, where on one program in 2002 she hosted the Baha'i Meshkin family from Perth! There are countless other Baha'is involved in the media similarly elsewhere. The point here is the double-standards, hypocrisy, arrogance and heavy-handedness of the Baha'i officialdom and their attempts to silence anyone and everyone they don't like who doesn't tow their line or kowtow to them.  

As for my background, I am an ex-Bahai and presently a Bayani (what the Baha'is pejoratively call Azali). Here is one my blogs,

//wahidazal.blogspot.com/

It should also be noted that Jahanshah Javid and I have actually known each other in real life. We were both at the University of New Mexico at the same time and I remember very well when he was one of the editors for the campus paper the Daily Lobo. Perhaps JJ will remember one of the articles I once submitted to the Daily Lobo critical of the Islamic Republic and outright calling for its overthorw under the alias Kaveh Ahangar. As I recall he rejected my first draft whereas another editor then accepted a second draft and published it. My, how times and people change! But there are a few things I'd like to say to JJ, man to man, old college friend to old college friend, and preferably in private.

413

Thank you Alborz, for turning on the "light".

Thank you Alborz, for turning on the light.

and thanks again for your eloquence;

not to mention, you are much kinder than I :)

faryarm

I have to thank NUR !

It is bloggers like NUR that provide the opportunity for shedding light on a Faith that has been the subject of much misinformation.

To the extent that one can conclude from the limited information included in the letter, the specific concern appears to be directed at the participation of a person who is perceived to be speaking on behalf of the Baha'is, at least by association.  I am confident that reasonable folks can appreciate the fact that when one's views can be construed as the views of a entire community, or be representative in any way, then it is important that in fact one is authorized to make such representations.  

The Baha'i community in this regard functions in the same way as any group or organization in managing its representations.  This separates personal views from that of the views of the community.  The administrative bodies that are responsible for assuring that personal views are not misconstrued as the views of the community are the local and national administrative bodies, referred to as Spiritual Assemblies.

Each country has one National and many Local such bodies which are elected by the Baha'is of that country or locality.  While the concept is not unusual from an administrative perspective, it is unique in religious history. On the one hand it safeguards the unity and cohesion of the community in its purpose of advancing the principle of Unity in every endeavor.  On the other hand it maximizes individual freedoms by being mindful of the freedoms of the community.  A subtle and yet key point is that my individual freedom cannot be defined independent of the freedom of the community in which I live.  Imagine driving on the roads without any rules and regulations.  Chaos, damage to property, and injuries would ensue.

Clearly, the specific blog is intended to create an impression which is wholly false in one sense, and yet well accepted and justified.  It is well accepted and justified because it counsels the person addressed in the letter that their activity needs to cease in the context of the negative impact it has on the community.  It also points to an alternative which allows the person to continue but not as a member of community.  Here again, individual freedoms are preserved even in the case of a community which has had a century and a half of misinformation to contend with and which to this day is the object of a concerted effort for its annihilation.

If only we acknowledged our individual freedom in the context of maximizing freedom in the communities in which we live, much of the challenges we face today would be overcome.

So, once again, thank you NUR !

Alborz

Before anybody judge....!!

Whatever Baha'i, Muzlems, Jews,etc Who is Hamid Taheri?Who are you (blogger)?Who was sponsor?
Maybe the sponsor was a Hezbo'llahi, perhaps an angel.
As someone has said there are many Baha'is who are involved in TV programs which are sponsored by Muzlems.
Religion is something PERSONAL.

"Khale zanaka blog"!!!

Simply Put....

As a Bahai and one very familiar with Exiled Persian media from its inception after the Revolution, there are many things that i would like to say in proclamation of the Bahai Faith and its defense , especially in these troubled times for our brothers and sisters in Iran.

But ,There is a difference between my Private expression and  public expressions of opinion  on Broadcast TV and Satellite stations by an individual Bahai; opnions that can be misconstrued to falsely represent the position of the entire Bahai World Community due to a whole range of reasons, from poor expression to sub standard production.

The most important principle and goal of the Bahai faith is the promotion of unity; Bahai Institutions will step in any time The name, standards and the unity of the community is threatened, as is the case with this imprudent individual, who perhaps is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame and limelight on TV and is either not familiar with the standards or simply drunk as a result of "shahvateh Tasvir"; a well known predicament that leads to feelings of self worship  when one becomes a face on TV and is offered free chelokabab at the local persian hub.

On another subject;

Friends of Bahais should be aware that, there are those who posing as genuine, are actually "mischief makers" with a mission, trying to cause confusion and disssnsion.

They appear under one name and despicable avatar, lose face and credibilty , then go back to the IRI intelligence task masters for guidance and return with another method that they think can divide and confuse the uninitiated.

All one has to do is to look at the blogs and post since december.

With unprecedented interest by the Iranian public in the Bahai teachings, the IRI has scrambled at every level both inside and outside Iran to create disinformation and confuse. 

These people are so desperate, they have nothing to say or contribute ; and that is what so easily gives them and their true intentions away.

best wishes to all

faryarm 

NUR

Can you tell us in simple terms what the problem is? I see that you find some of our resident Bahai(s) here as being self-righteous and arrogant which I agree with. It appears that you are a Bahai too?

You are using a lot of characters such as ` in your quotes and blogs and comments and it is confusing. Simple English.

Are there 2 sect of Bahaiism? How many are there and what are they called and what are the main difference(s)?

For example in Islam; Shiites believe Ali was the successor to Muhammad and Sunnis believe it was Omar.

What is the difference(s) between Bahaiis?

My observation...

This proves that Baha'is are fully controlled by their supreme body UHJ and if they don't comply to their orders they are termed as Covenant Breakers and shunned...
Where is freedom then ?

Many Iranian televisions...

I am not a Bahai, but as I know there are many Bahais who work with non-bahais at different Iranian televisions which are sponsored by Muslims.For instance VOA, AFN, Pars TV, Tasvire Iran, Shabkhiz,...