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| Inhumane Baha'i Sanctions |
I left the Baha’i faith because they shunned a former member. The reason for the shunning was that she had lied when she was trying to leave an oppressive regime. She told the officer at the airport that she was Muslim like her eight-year-old son and husband. Baha’i leaders said she should have told the truth about being Baha’i, even though she would have become a martyr. Yes, she knew for sure that they would have killed her. She should have endured this for her faith. She should have left her son motherless in order to be an example to the world.
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/04/choosing-motherhood-over-martyrdom/478641/
Bahá'ís have always held to the principle that when challenged they should 'stand up and be counted', as the modern expression is, and not purchase their safety by denying that which is most important to them in this world and the next. The principle is well known to the Iranian Bahá'ís and is upheld by the overwhelming majority of them when the penalty is martyrdom.
Those Bahá'ís who have left Iran by official routes since the governmental regulations changed have made a conscious choice. While the majority of their fellow-believers have preferred to face all manner of difficulties, rather than deny their faith, these people have chosen to make this denial rather than face whatever problems were before them. They have left Iran freely, with the permission of the authorities as Muslims. They have chosen freedom and comparative ease at the cost of giving away their faith, and have got what they wanted. Some, however, once they are free, want to have their membership in the Bahá'í community back again. The attitude of the Bahá'í institutions in refusing to immediately readmit them should not be regarded as a vindictive punishment. These institutions are simply saying: 'You have shown the insincerity of your belief by denying it for your personal advantage, we are not going to readmit you to the Bahá'í community until we have some confidence that you are sincerely repentant of such an act. In the meantime you can abide by the choice you yourself have made.'
https://bahai-library.com/uhj_dissimulation_iran_emmigrants
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