Scott Hakala is an active Baha'i working for the Baha'i Internet Agency for the propagation and defense of the Baha'i faith on Internet forum Quora.
He writes answers to questions related to the Baha'i faith. This time he tried to answer a question about Bayani Faith. Thanks to N. Wahid Azal for correcting him and exposing this kind of Brainwashed Haifan Baha'i once again.
Download the PDF
Link to Wahid Azal's article
Invoking the Seven Worlds: An acrostic prayer by Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nūrī Ṣubḥ-i-Azal
Update 1 : Scott deletes the comments of N. Wahid Azal
Update 2 : N. Wahid Azal's last comment to Scott Hakala
Very funny. Of course since my identity is public, you would know that I have full time employment and only post on Quota recently in my free time. I don't even know what the so-called Baha'i Internet Agency is and have never communicated with or spoken with such an organization. Please realize that comments deleted on Quota are deleted for violating Quotas policies which is an indictment of Wahid Azal, not me. I have no ability to influence Quotas policies. Of course, accusing me falsely if having affiliations I do not have and conspiracies that do not exist is oar for the course. I bet my response gets deleted after Mr. Azal or more properly N, Hazini complains about his posts being deleted on Quota.
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Deletehttp://bahaism.blogspot.com/2012/04/bahai-internet-agency.html
Deletehttps://www.scribd.com/document/235458904/Baha-i-Internet-Agency-SourceWatch
http://bahaicause.blogspot.com/2009/11/bahai-internet-agency-bahai-internet.html
Based on my own experiences with both Wahid Azal himself and with various Baha'is across the internet, I find Azal far more credible than you, Mr. Hakala. The "history" writers of your cult are notorious for damage control that would have impressed Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister for Nazi Germany.
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DeleteAs for the Baha'i Faith being a cult, it is the opposite of a cult. You can read my answer on this sort of inappropriate name calling, which is what it is, https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Bah%C3%A1%C3%AD-Faith-a-cult/answer/Scott-Hakala. I suspect you've been reading too much of the disinformation and poison spewing forth on the Internet based on your comments. What you are suggesting is both sick and disgusting. It denigrates many fine people that sacrificed much and sincerely wrote what they believe to be true, including the Guardian of the Faith Shoghi Effendi. Truly, this is a spiritual sickness and disease. As Baha'u'llah wrote in the Tablet of Ahmad: "Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity."
DeleteNow I understand more fully what all those letters form the House of Justice about individual rights and responsibilities and scholarship were all about in the last 20+ years.
Delete"It is not surprising that individual Bahá'ís hold and express different and sometimes defective understandings of the Teachings; this is but an evidence of the magnitude of the change that this Revelation is to effect in human consciousness. As believers with various insights into the Teachings converse -- with patience, tolerance and open and unbiased minds -- a deepening of comprehension should take place. The strident insistence on individual views, however, can lead to contention, which is detrimental not only to the spirit of Bahá'í association and collaboration but to the search for truth itself.
Beyond contention, moreover, is the condition in which a person is so immovably attached to one erroneous viewpoint that his insistence upon it amounts to an effort to change the essential character of the Faith. This kind of behaviour, if permitted to continue unchecked, could produce disruption in the Bahá'í community, giving birth to countless sects as it has done in previous Dispensations."
"The problem which aroused the concern of the House of Justice, and has been the subject of a number of communications, was the systematic corruption of Bahá'í discourse in certain of the Internet discussion groups, a design which became increasingly apparent to many of the Bahá'í participants and whose first victim, if it were to succeed, would be Bahá'í scholarship itself. The element which exacerbated a dispute which had been simmering during the past two decades and erupted on the Internet was the participation of some persons who, while nominally Bahá'ís, cherished their own programs and designed to make use of the Bahá'í Cause for the advancement of these programs. To this end they strove to change the essential characteristics of that Cause. This behaviour has been abundantly confirmed by statements made and actions taken by certain of the involved individuals since they withdrew from the Bahá'í community. They sought to use the language, the occasions and the credibility of scholarly activity to lend a counterfeit authority to a private enterprise which was essentially ideological in nature and self-motivated in origin. Even if their original aims were idealistic in nature -- no matter how ill-informed and erroneous in concept -- they had evolved in practice into an assault on the Covenant which Bahá'u'lláh has created as a stronghold within which His Cause would evolve as He intends. The purpose of some of those responsible would seem to be that, by diminishing the station of Bahá'u'lláh -- a disservice done to previous Manifestations by people similarly inclined --, by casting doubt on the authority conferred on `Abdu'l-Bahá, the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice, and by calling into question the integrity of Bahá'í administrative processes, they would be able to persuade a number of unwary followers that the Bahá'í Faith is in fact not a Divine Revelation but a kind of socio-political system being manipulated by ambitious individuals.
Your own familiarity with these same persons' behaviour will have provided you with ample illustration of the violence being done by their public and private statements to Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, which they profess to honour, and to the cause of scholarship, which they profess to serve. We cannot separate method from spirit and character." Letter dated 8 Feb. 1998 to an Individual from the House of Justice
Yup. They got that right.
Dale,
DeleteI read what you wrote a while back about me in a reply common and the Baha’i Faith on an well-known anti-Baha’i Internet site at http://bahaism.blogspot.com/2017/09/nima-wahid-azals-response-to-brainded.html . You may not remember me, but I do live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and actually did meet you, as did my wife, when you were a Baha’i.
You and others made a series of false and scandalous claims both against me and the Baha’i Faith and its institutions. You cannot claim to be moral or honest and make such statements in good faith without investigating the truth. Please go and read my comments and then e-mail or contact me directly. I’d rather discuss by phone or in person such things.
I don’t really understand your perspective. A reply to you from other long-time Baha’is should have clued you in that you are on the wrong path. You have every right to choose your beliefs but when you resort to false and defamatory statements put out by marginal groups and disaffected indviduals with little or no credibility or, frankly, sponsored by or associated with Iran and its active campaign against the Baha’i Faith, you do yourself and others a great disservice and harm.
Falsely accusing people of things that they are not and never would be guilty of and falsely or misleadingly attacking another religion is not appropriate. Doctoring images is also not appropriate. Name calling is not appropriate. It is immoral, disgusting and unwarranted. When people engage in backbiting and gossip and conspiracy theories it kills their soul (something I learned long ago as a result of a near-death experience before becoming a Baha’i).
If you are honest and sincere you will take the time to realize just how wrong and poisoned you have been in attacking me personally but especially the Baha’i Faith. Most of what is written on that and other sites you have linked to or visited is frankly so clearly wrong and dishonest as to call into question any credibility..
Scott David Hakala
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DeleteMr. Hakala,
DeleteFirst of all, please don't make any more copies of this comment of yours above and try to post them on my own blog ( https://dalehusband.com/ ) and specifically to post them on a blog entry that has nothing to do with you. ( https://dalehusband.com/2017/09/29/i-have-published-a-book/ )
Second, accusing me of lacking honesty and sincerity is ironic considering you defend a religion that is full of unfounded nonsense that produces hypocrisy by its very nature, as noted here. ( https://dalehusband.com/2014/05/11/four-ways-to-create-a-religion-of-hypocrites/ ) Your arrogance is amazing, to put it politely.
Third, no I do not remember you, and the possibility of you meeting me at any time is irrelevant. Do not try to mess with my head like that again; I will not be intimidated by that.
Fourth, I became a Baha'i because of both ignorance about the Faith's true cultish nature and because of "love-bombing" by Baha'is that is typical of cultists seeking converts. I left the Baha'i Faith gradually as a result of having more and more questions about it that made it clear eventually that things in it simply did not add up to objective truth.
Fifth, have you even bothered to read my writings on the Baha'i Faith? ( https://dalehusband.com/category/religion/bahai-faith/ ) If you can dig through all of them and still profess loyalty to the Universal House of "Justice" and its ridiculous claims of being infallible and having the answers to the world's problems, then I really see no more point in dealing with you. You are either a liar or an idiot and either way I have only contempt for you. The world needs better things than the Baha'i Faith and better people than you to save it!
Dale,
DeleteYour response was as I feared it might be. I had hoped you would have the courage to actually call me and discuss directly, rather than resorting to a caustic online debate which can only inflame. I actually did go through your site recently. Reading your site concerned me with its anger, hostility, and tone. I, frankly, found it confusing, offensive, and plain wrong about many things, not just the Baha'i Faith.
I had hoped that you would realize I was sincere and take some responsibility for joining in a personal,false, and disparaging attack on me and the Baha'i Faith, realizing that something is fundamentally wrong in such attacks. It is wrong (unethical and immoral) to attack persons and especially publicly and unfairly. It is illegal to alter or use copyrighted images (that picture was from my employer's site) in an impermissible or offensive manner without permission. If you do not see or realize that, then I cannot help you.
I really do wish you the best.
It is easy for people today with a few bucks and some brains to create blogs and web sites to promote whatever views they wish and it is easy to nitpick and find fault to attack other people, groups, and institutions so as to lift oneself up. (It does not really work). That is part of the current problem in our society right now. It just creates anger and hostility, never unity. Those posting such venomous content may not realize the full consequences of doing so and may not realize how many (or most) might see those things differently and react negatively to what they have posted. They may see or revel in the small following they believe they have (such is the human ego) but not see the greater revulsion in others. You have made a number of false and misleading statements about the Baha'i Faith and indirectly or directly about communities of people in particular that I know very well. It is both unfair to them and exaggerated on your part. Selling a book about it just feels wrong to me. Whether you believe what you wrote or not is your right. I frankly do not understand the anger and reaction. No one should feel misled; if you found out some things in the Faith later that you had difficulty accepting, that is perfectly fine. That does not and never made the Baha'i Faith a cult; it has none of the characteristics of a cult (including the false allegations of"love bombing" which I frankly do not see either). You have every right to believe what you will, but you DO have the obligation to fully and fairly investigate facts and understand them and you DO NOT have the right to slander, defame, or disparage others or a religion. What is clear is reliance on and poisoning of attitudes over time (just another form of online brainwashing frankly), some clearly based on material (much of its false) on other Internet sites antagonistic to the Baha'i Faith (often with hidden motives or affiliations by the way). I do not understand the inappropriate name calling and such caustic methods; they are signs of a weak argument and are both inappropriate and unacceptable.
DeleteOver almost 40 years now, I have discussed many of these issues with religious scholars and persons of a number of religious beliefs over the years and with many persons opposed to the Baha'i Faith. I have no desire to argue in circles or convert you. My only hope was that if you actually took the time to try to contact or call me directly, you would have seen I am quite normal and reasonable and that what is represented hear about me was false (in other words, you are being conned and buying into it) and that, even if you disagree with me, I am being honest and have reasonable bases for my belief. Maybe then some of your obvious unresolved anger and venom might go away and you might be happier in life. There are actually studies on the anger and resentment and antagonistic approaches of people that have changed beliefs or religion affiliation; it is sort of like a divorce. Some people get over it and others hang on to grudges and develop a sort of exaggerated anger and hatred that is unjustified and atypical.
Interesting that both you and Mr. Wahid Azal fka Nima Hazini have posted false, misleading, and disparaging information about me and the Baha'i Faith. Of course, the same image you used illegally and altered unethically is from my actual employment and proves that what you posted is false. Did you, also, note that you both apparently complain about getting answers and comments deleted off moderated Internet forums for violating their terms of use and policies? Nope! That is the real reason for this posting and the use of pejorative and disparaging language. Of course, this is nothing new, and it reveals the lack of integrity and dignity of you all and your blogs.
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DeleteMr Hakala, I say you are a liar since every public activity by Haifan Bahais is surveillanced and micromanaged by the so-called Bahai administration. Most Haifan Bahais are incapable of letting out a fart in public without the prior approval of some AO* apparatchick approving it. Of course you Bahais have a long, well documented history of lying about absolutely everything, gaslighting all discussions to the level of an artform and generally demonstrating to the world the depths to which human dishonesty can sink. So methinks the hack-ala doth protest too much.
Delete* Administrative Order
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DeleteNotice to Google has been sent regarding violation of terms of use and copyright violations including improperly altering images and harassment.
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