Caste System in Baha'i Faith

Currently, the Baha'is think of humanity as being divided into a few official groups or castes. I have organized them in a list from "best" to "worst" based on how many rights they would have in a future Baha'i world order:

1. Baha'i in good standing
2. Baha'i with administrative rights removed
3. non-Baha'i
4. Covenant-breaker

If you include more subtle gradations, which may possibly acquire a greater degree of official status in the future, the list would look like this:

  1. Baha'i in good standing, active
  2. Baha'i in good standing, inactive
  3. Baha'i with some administrative rights removed
  4. Baha'i with all administrative rights removed (Feast attendance, voting, eligibility for election, contribution to Funds, contribution to Huququ'llah, plus anything I'm forgetting to mention)
  5. non-Baha'i (never been a Baha'i)
  6. ex-Baha'i, left voluntarily (not an opponent)
  7. ex-Baha'i, membership revoked/expelled by UHJ (not an opponent)
  8. opponent or enemy of the faith, non-Baha'i
  9. opponent or enemy of the faith, ex-Baha'i
  10. child or grandchild of Covenant-breaker, not practicing in Covenant-breaker organization
  11. Covenant-breaker, not officially declared by UHJ but member of Covenant-breaker organization
  12. Covenant-breaker, officially declared by UHJ
Groups 10-12 constitute the Baha'i version of the "untouchable caste." Groups 4-12 (the vast majority of categories) would not have the right to vote in elections for the highest governmental
positions, i.e. the Baha'i Houses of Justice that would have final authority at the local, national, and international levels.

How's that for unity of all people, huh?

Best,
Eric Stetson
(Group 11 - I think ;)

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. I don't know what your understanding of "caste" is, but everything you're talking about are temporary administrative measures that can be changed depending on the action of the individual himself. Baha'is don't even have a word for people who are not Baha'is, no labels like heathen, pagan, infidel, gentile to indicate they are separate.
    - dlherrmann

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  3. These are not categories by which Baha'is classify humanity nor does your first list constitute a 'caste' system. It merely defines ones membership standing within the Baha'i community. As for how many rights non-Baha'is would have within a theoretical Baha'i polity, both Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi were emphatic that the rights even of Covenant breakers, must be upheld.

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  4. Hateful rantings of Baha

    http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TU/tu-6.html

    4.7
    O servants! This nether world is the abode of demons: Guard yourselves from approaching them. By demons is meant those wayward souls who,
    with the burden of their evil deeds, slumber in the chambers of oblivion. Their sleep is preferable to their wakefulness, and their death is better than their life.

    ReplyDelete

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