The Baha’i
Administrative Order, developed by Shoghi Effendi, and derived from the
writings of Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l-Baha, is a badly flawed and
ineffective mode of government, which would naturally take over an area
if the Baha’is ever became the majority of any place on Earth. Here’s
why that must NEVER happen:
First, Baha’i elections are run in such a way that there are no
nominations, campaigning is forbidden, and the top nine members that
get the most votes are elected. As a result, incumbents are virtually
guaranteed to win, turnover is extremely low, and the policies of
adminstrative bodies cannot be challenged by outsiders at elections.
There is no freedom in such elections.
Second, consider this quote from Baha’u’llah himself:
Consider the pettiness of
men’s minds. They ask for that which injureth them, and cast away the
thing that profiteth them. They are, indeed, of those that are far
astray. We find some men desiring liberty, and priding themselves
therein. Such men are in the depths of ignorance.
Liberty must, in the end,
lead to sedition, whose flames none can quench. Thus warneth you He Who
is the Reckoner, the All-Knowing. Know ye that the embodiment of
liberty and its symbol is the animal. That which beseemeth man is
submission unto such restraints as will protect him from his own
ignorance, and guard him against the harm of the mischief-maker.
Liberty causeth man to overstep the bounds of propriety, and to
infringe on the dignity of his station. It debaseth him to the level of
extreme depravity and wickedness.
Regard men as a flock of
sheep that need a shepherd for their protection. This, verily, is the
truth, the certain truth. We approve of liberty in certain
circumstances, and refuse to sanction it in others. We, verily, are the
All-Knowing.
Say: True liberty
consisteth in man’s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know
it. Were men to observe that which We have sent down unto them from the
Heaven of Revelation, they would, of a certainty, attain unto perfect
liberty. Happy is the man that hath apprehended the Purpose of God in
whatever He hath revealed from the Heaven of His Will, that pervadeth
all created things. Say: The liberty that profiteth you is to be found
nowhere except in complete servitude unto God, the Eternal Truth. Whoso
hath tasted of its sweetness will refuse to barter it for all the
dominion of earth and heaven.
I think George Orwell would call this sort of thing “doublespeak”.
Of course, if you are a Libertarian, this is total nonsense to you. War
is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. NOT!
Third, Baha’ullah himself made many laws in his writings that for
Baha’is can never be challenged or overturned, not even by Baha’i
administration bodies. Even worse, the interpretation of those laws by
Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi also cannot be challenged or overturned.
The legislative functions of those bodies, including the Universal
House of Justice, are thus extremely limited. Baha’is have NO real
freedom!
Consider this testimony from another ex-Baha’i:
I used to be a member of
the Baha’i Faith, and though it has some very good points, it
ultimately fails to pass the test of independent investigation. Baha’is
usually seek an image as being very liberal and open-minded, to attract
seekers no doubt. Once within the community however, you are very
limited in terms of how you should feel about any aspect of life… it
has to be the “Baha’i Way” or no way. In fact, you may find yourself in
a ridiculous situation if you have unique family situations…
Are you adopted? Oh, too
bad if you were wanting to get married…. Better hope you can track down
your biological parents, or you will face a real nightmare, because you
need their permission before you can marry if they are still living. If
they, let’s say, don’t like “negroes” and you want to marry
interracially, then despite the fact that they have never seen you
before in their lives (because they dumped you at an orphanage) you are
forbidden to marry, and face severe penalities if you do so anyways.
Have you, or anyone you know, had an experience where you faced a four
fold conflict with: the love of your life, a biological parent you’ve
never met (or a hard-headed parent with predjuices against your love’s
race), the Baha’i religious administration, and your own conscience.
Nowhere does the injustice and absurdity of Baha’i law become more
obvious than on the issue of homosexuality. This statement from Shoghi
Effendi about homosexuality is truly moronic:
No matter how devoted and
fine the love may be between people of the same sex, to let it find
expression in sexual acts is wrong. To say that it is ideal is no
excuse. Immorality of every sort is really forbidden by Baha’u’llah,
and homosexual relationships he looks upon as such, besides being
against nature…To be afflicted this way is a great burden to a
conscientious soul. But through the advice and help doctors, through a
strong and determined effort, and through prayer, a soul can overcome
this handicap.
There
is not a shred of evidence for the assertion in the last sentence. Yet,
as a Baha’i, one must accept that claim as absolute truth and ignore
the evidence that suggests otherwise. Why? Simply because Shoghi
Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, was said to be infallible!
The Universal House of Justice (UHJ) says about the same issue:
http://bahai-library.org/uhj/homosexuality.uhj.html
The Universal House of
Justice is authorized to change or repeal its own legislation as
conditions change, thus providing Baha’i law with an essential element
of flexibility, but it cannot abrogate or change any of the laws which
are explicitly laid down in the sacred Texts. It follows, then that the
House of Justice has no authority to change this clear teaching on
homosexual practice.
Then why bother to have a UHJ at all? It is toothless!
The
view that homosexuality is a condition that is not amenable to change
is to be questioned by Baha’is. There are, of course, many kinds and
degrees of homosexuality, and overcoming extreme conditions is sure to
be more difficult than overcoming others. Nevertheless, as noted
earlier, the Guardian has stated that “through the advice and help of
doctors, through a strong and determined effort, and through prayer, a
soul can overcome this handicap.”
The statistics which indicate that homosexuality is incurable are
undoubtedly distorted by the fact that many of those who overcome the
problem never speak about it in public, and others solve their problems
without even consulting professional counselors.
Again,
no evidence, just assertions. The fact that there is a homosexual
community even in the face of overwhelming opposition from conservative
religious and political forces means that we must reject the Baha’i
assumptions in the name of true justice.
From the same letter by the UHJ:
To regard homosexuals
with prejudice and disdain would be entirely against the spirit of
Baha’i Teachings. The doors are open for all of humanity to enter the
Cause of God, irrespective of their present circumstances; this
invitation applies to homosexuals as well as to any others who are
engaged in practices contrary to the Baha’i Teachings.
More doublespeak. No thanks, we need better honesty than that.
We need to free ourselves from this sort of dogmatic extremism, not
allow ourselves to be led into it once more by idealistic seduction. Do
Baha’i teachers tell seekers about their teachings of homosexuality? If
I were gay, I would never join any religion that didn’t respect a basic
part of my character!
