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How the artificial breaking up of the Baha'i communities ensures that incumbents never get unseated from the NSA
Ever since 2005 the Baha'i communities have been broken up into unreasonably small jurisdictions (called "communities"), and it is rare to meet Baha'is outside of these jurisdictions, even though they might only be a short drive away. While these small jurisdictions existed before 2005, they were ignored in some aspects, and it was common for Baha'is to hold Sunday gatherings whose attendees were not restricted to the boundaries of the jurisdiction, so you got to meet with more Baha'is on a regular basis. But today the Baha'i administration antagonizes any kind of regularly occuring intercommunity activities, so you only get to meet with the Baha'is in your jurisdiction.
Personally I hardly know the names of any Baha'is outside my jurisdiction, because I never see them. But the few people I do know outside of my jurisdiction are the "appointees" such as Regional Council Members, Auxiliary Board Members, and the like. These people from the appointed arm have duties in all jurisdictions, so all Baha'is know them.
One time at a Unit Convention (I believe it was in 2018), I witnessed something very rare in the Baha'i Faith: There was a very intelligent man who understood all the problems of the Baha'i administration, and attacked several of the NSA members by name, and attacked the system itself. He was someone with a long history in the Baha'i Faith, who had even served as a delegate decades ago. I never heard a long-standing Baha'i attack the Bahai administration so bluntly and so intelligently. Hearing his attacks of the Baha'i administration was a major turning point for me because at that point I still had faith in the Baha'i administration, and hearing him was what made me start questioning it.
Years later, I wanted to vote for him to be the delegate, but there was a problem: I did not know his name. The only people outside of my community whose names I knew were appointees of the Baha'i administration, and lo and behold they were the ones who were elected to be the delegates.
So if the system is one where electors of the NSA (i.e. the delegates) are very heavily likely to be people the NSA appointed, the electors are likely to be content with the NSA, and not vote to unseat any of its members.
Ridvan Message 2022
The highlight:
Since we addressed our 30 December 2021 message to the Counsellors’ Conference, National Spiritual Assemblies and Regional Bahá’í Councils have been earnestly assessing the possibilities for intensifying the process of growth in the clusters within their jurisdiction during the Nine Year Plan. We feel it would be helpful, for the purpose of gauging the progress made over time, to view the Plan as unfolding in two phases of four and five years’ duration, and National Assemblies were invited to consider the advances they expect to see in their respective communities by Riḍván 2026 and then by Riḍván 2031. This exercise also involved a re-evaluation of cluster boundaries, and the outcome of these adjustments is that the total number of clusters in the world has risen by a quarter and now stands at over 22,000. Judging by the forecasts received, it is estimated that, by the end of the Plan, a programme of growth at some level of development will exist in around 14,000 of these clusters. From among them, the number where the programme of growth could be considered intensive is projected to climb to 11,000 over the same time period. And of these, it is anticipated that the number of clusters where the third milestone has been passed will rise above 5,000 by 2031. Without question, to make such advances will entail colossal effort over the entire duration of the Plan. Yet we find these to be worthy aspirations towards which to strive, for they represent an ambitious but serious appraisal of what lies within reach.
So the brand new cycle of plans and inauguration of a new epoch of the Divine Plan means.......
Doing core activities to tick the IPG box in X number of clusters by five years time. Just like every plan since the 90's.
Very epic, thank you UHJ.
Also I like the wishy washy wording of "the number where the programme of growth could be considered intensive". So they could also not be considered intensive? What the hell is this nonsense!
As societies experience stresses of various kinds, the followers of the Abhá Beauty must stand out more and more for their qualities of resilience and rationality, for their standard of conduct and their adherence to principle, and for the compassion, detachment, and forbearance they demonstrate in their pursuit of unity.
For all these delusions of the Baha'is "standing out" I can guarantee you much like the past 200 years 99.99% of the world does not know or care about the Baha'i Faith and an even greater percentage could not give two stuffs about the 'Institute Process'.
Time and again, the distinctive characteristics and attitudes shown by the believers in periods of acute difficulty have prompted people to turn to Bahá’ís for explanation, counsel, and support, especially when the life of a society has been upset by peril and unforeseen disruptions.
Can anyone name even ONE time anyone has turned to the Baha'is like this? I know people say stuff like "In the Solomon Islands the President asks the Baha'is to make all his decisions for him" at the Feast where nobody can really be negative without being public enemy No. 1 but is there literally a single independently verified source which suggests a government official has ever even acknowledged the Faith without being lobbied by the external affairs committee? I'm not counting Heads of State visiting the Baha'i gardens in Israel personally as that seems more like a tourist trap type thing.
The Baha'i Faiths actual record when the "life of society has been upset by peril" is doing jack shit in the USA during the civil rights era, doing jack shit in South Africa during apartheid, doing jack shit in Chile under Pinochet (other than meeting with him), doing jack shit in Nazi Germany other than begging Hitler for attention (and in the case of Adelbert Muhlschlegel literally joining the Nazi Party).
In times of social peril the Baha'is have a proven track record of sitting on their hands and dying on the hill of apolitical non-involvement and holding a bunch of committee consultative meetings to advance the process of learning about advancing the grassroots of expanding the nucleus of entry by institute troops blah blah blah.
Moreover, we are conscious that the greater the friends’ efforts to promote the Word of God, the stronger the countervailing forces they will encounter, sooner or later, from various quarters. They must fortify their minds and spirits against the tests that are sure to come, lest these impair the integrity of their endeavours. But the believers know well that whatever storms lie ahead, the ark of the Cause is equal to them all.
This makes me think of this from an article on tell-tale signs of a cult:
Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/27/cults-definition-religion
If Pentecostal Christians can go around handling snakes and speaking in tongues without much more than people laughing at them I'm pretty sure Baha'is in the West are completely fine. Most Baha'is seem to think people not bowing to the authority of their 'Central Figures' and not using hagiographic language is being persecuted and hate speech though so maybe this is what the House is talking about and it isn't apocalyptic doom cult rhetoric. I must say "Drink the Kool-Aid" wouldn't be out of place at the end of that outburst though.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/u8hs4y/ridvan_message_2022/
Baha'is are idol worshipers
Baha'is do not resist the idolatry of the Baha'i administration because they are weak. They are afraid they would be declared "Covenant Breakers" if they were to practice their religion as Baha'u'llah instructed them to. So they play along with the idolatry, speak of the UHJ and its plans with a god-like reverence, and speak of the Institute Process like it some kind of a divine gift (e.g. "the Institute Process that the House of Justice has given us"). There might be some Baha'is that understand that this idol has been the source of so many delusions (e.g. "Entry by Troops", "community-building", which despite being purported to be outcomes of the Institute Process, are nowhere to be found in the Baha'i community in real life), but they do nothing to resist it because they are weak. The time has come for a strong one to appear and shatter this idol.
طوبی لقويّ کسّر اصنام الاوهام باسم ربّه مالک الانام
Blessed is the strong one who shatters the idols of delusions in the name of his Lord, the owner of the worlds
-Baha'u'llah
Good example of interfaith relations in the Baha'i Faith
"In connection with your question regarding the case of Mr. Mrs. ... and their daughter, the Guardian considers that your Assembly did quite right to deprive all three of their voting rights. Their conduct in carrying out a Moslem marriage in the circumstances set forth by you in your letter, and contrary to Baha'i law, are most reprehensible, to say the least, and if such actions are not strongly censured by the Baha'is, other friends may be encouraged in moments of weakness, to err."
(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Pakistan and Burma, March 10, 1951)
Dear muslims, we love you and we recognize your Holy Prophet and your Holy Book as such but as soon as you enter in the Bahá'í Faith, if you try to celebrate a marriage in the Islamic tradition we will cast out your entire family with much bahá'í love.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/u0wz10/good_example_of_interfaith_relations_in_the_baháí/
As you sow, so shall you reap
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| Abdul Baha's shrine is burning like hell-fire |
The Baha'is desecrated the grave of Diya'u'llah, the son of Baha'u'llah who was buried alongside his father, calling it 'purification' and 'cleansing'. Next they build this huge building in the vicinity for his other son. It is just karma that this happened.
Abdul Baha did not even consider Diya'u'llah a covenant breaker. He is not mentioned in his Will and Testament. Only Shoghi Effendi later made him a covenant breaker, so only then did they remove his grave.
I doubt that Abdul Baha, who only saw himself as a servant, would want an enormous shrine like this. I also doubt that he deserves it, considering the way he treated his family.
And on top of all, nobody actually died. The only thing that happened was that the Baha'is lost money and their reputation got damaged.
How a perfect charlatan acts when questioned?
"After the year 1917 there is coming a very great catastrophe in the world".
Pressing the issue, I followed up with the question:
"Will it be anything like an earthquake such as the explosion of Kratatowa (which I remembered having heard something about as a small boy) or the Martinique or the Messina disasters?"
Other disasters were mentioned, to all of which the Master replied:
"Earthquakes such as these are frequent and will continue to be in the future as they have been in the past, but this great catastrophe of which I speak will be of a scale so much greater than these you mention as not to be comparable with them."
Continued He:
"In the past, there have been great catastrophies that have completely wiped out and effaced whole poeples and civilizations from off the earth; leaving no vestige not trace whatsoever of their existence. Of such a nature will be this great catastrophe that is to come."
At this point I asked still another question:
"Would this be soon after 1917, or in the distant future?"
to which the Master replied: "Not soon after nor distant." Here closed the issue; the Master turning the conversation to other matters.
(The Great Global Catastrophe - Amherst magazine , Wisconsin, December 1962)
PEACE & UNITY OF NATIONS!!????
I am providing a handful out of many AUTHORITATIVE writings and messages from all levels of leadership of the Bahai religion that promised the establishment of the Lesser Peace and Unity of Nations would take place before the year 2000. Mr. Hooper Dunbar, former member of the UHJ said we do not know why the Lesser Peace did not take place? You can see that answer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-v7hKI29ok Any fair-minded, honest observer must conclude that this prophecy simply failed to come true. It was not a correct prophecy.
The founder of the Bahai faith offered this advice:
“The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and tranquility of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally recognized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world's Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. (Bahaullah, Gleanings from the Writings)
“The fifth candle is the unity of nations – a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common Fatherland.” (Abdul Baha, Tablet of Seven Candles)
Montreal Daily Star newspaper reported:
"Are there any signs that the permanent peace of the world will be established in anything like a reasonable period?" `Abdu'l-Bahá was asked. "It will be established in this century," He answered. "It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it." (Abdu'l-Bahá in Canada (Ontario: Bahá'í Canada Publications, 1987, p. 35).
“They must make the Cause of Peace the object of general consultation, and seek by every means in their power to establish a Union of the nations of the world. They must conclude a binding treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human race. This supreme and noble undertaking—the real source of the peace and well-being of all the world—should be regarded as sacred by all that dwell on earth. All the forces of humanity must be mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most Great Covenant. In this all-embracing Pact the limits and frontiers of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the principles underlying the relations of governments towards one another definitely laid down, and all international agreements and obligations ascertained. In like manner, the size of the armaments of every government should be strictly limited, for if the preparations for war and the military forces of any nation should be allowed to increase, they will arouse the suspicion of others. The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed that if any government later violate any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission, nay the human race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its disposal, to destroy that government. Should this greatest of all remedies be applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover from its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure.”
(Abdul-Baha, The establishment of a global commonwealth of nations 1875)
Abbass Effendi explained what is the Lesser Peace:
1- Binding treaty for peace
2- Get it approved universally
3- Mobilize all the forces of humanity to ensure the stability and permanence of this peace
4- Clearly fix the limits and frontiers of each and every nation (Good luck with that!)
5- Lay down principles underlying the relations of governments
6- All international agreements and obligations ascertained
7- Strictly limit the size of the armaments of each government (Countries are lining up to agree)
8- If any government violates any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should destroy that Government (NATO alliance is one such effort in this failed recipe for peace)
"... It must, however long and tortuous the way, lead, through a series of victories and reverses, to the political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, to the emergence of a world government and the establishment of the Lesser Peace, as foretold by Bahá’u’lláh and foreshadowed by the Prophet Isaiah." (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, 1947)
Shoghi Effendi is viewed by the Haifa Baha’is as infallible. According to his prophecy we should have witnessed:
1- the political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
2- emergence of a world government
3- the establishment of the Lesser Peace
Obviously none of these has happened.
“The raising of this Edifice will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice. These Edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc, and following a harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting-places of the Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her sex in the Bahá’í Dispensation, of her Brother, offered up as a ransom by Bahá’u’lláh for the quickening of the world and its unification, and of their Mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen “consort in all the worlds of God.” The ultimate completion of this stupendous undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely-appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced as far back as the concluding years of the Heroic Age of the Faith.
This vast and irresistible process, unexampled in the spiritual history of mankind, and which will synchronize with two no less significant developments—the establishment of the Lesser Peace and the evolution of Bahá’í national and local institutions—the one outside and the other within the Bahá’í world—will attain its final consummation, in the Golden Age of the Faith, through the raising of the standard of the Most Great Peace, and the emergence, in the plenitude of its power and glory, of the focal Center of the agencies constituting the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. The final establishment of this seat of the future Bahá’í World Commonwealth will signalize at once the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Founder of our Faith and the advent of the Kingdom of the Father repeatedly lauded and promised by Jesus Christ.” (Shoghi Effendi Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950–1957 dated November 27, 1954)
This long paragraph lays out the following sequence:
1- Completion of the construction of the Arc
2- culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely-appointed Administrative Order
3- Lesser Peace
Only the construction work on some buildings were completed and nothing else came to be!
“It is true that ‘Abdu’l-Baha made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: “The fifth candle is the unity of nations — a unity which, in this century, will be securely established. (Messages of Universal House of Justice (UHJ) 1963-68, Page 281)
“Abdu’l-Baha anticipated that the Lesser Peace could be established before the end of the twentieth century.” (Messages of UHJ April 15, 1976)
These two messages from the also-infallible Universal House of Justice say:
1- Unity of nations will happen in the 20th century
2- Lesser Peace established before end of 20th century
These reassurances failed to materialize.
“It is true that `Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: "The fifth candle is the unity of nations--a unity which, in this century, will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland." And, in The Promised Day Is Come, following a similar statement quoted from Some Answered Questions, Shoghi Effendi makes this comment: "This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as Abdu'l-Bahá assures us, will, in this century, be securely established." (Letter of UHJ 29 July 1974)
Abdul-Baha assured everyone that World unity will be securely established in the 20th century. Some 22 years after the 20th century, we are witnessing horrific wars in various corners and the threat of a full on nuclear war has never been greater.
“We know, however, that peace will come in stages. First, there will come the Lesser Peace, when the unity of nations will be achieved, then gradually the Most Great Peace--the spiritual as well as social and political unity of mankind, when the Bahá'í World Commonwealth, operating in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances of the Most Holy Book of the Bahá'í Revelation, will have been established through the efforts of the Bahá'ís.” (Letter of UHJ 31 January 1985)
This lays out the sequence:
1- Lesser Peace
2- Unity of Nations
3- Most Great Peace
None of these have happened.
Obviously none of these happened. Just one single disagreement is the South China Sea (an area of 3 million square kilometers) is claimed by seven sovereign nations. Wikipedia lists 254 territorial disputes. I just learnt that even the US and Canada have seven ongoing disputes about territory! The Russian war in Ukraine is another rude reminder.
“The holding of this mighty convocation is long overdue. With all the ardour of our hearts, we appeal to the leaders of all nations to seize this opportune moment and take irreversible steps to convoke this world meeting. All the forces of history impel the human race towards this act which will mark for all time the dawn of its long-awaited maturity. Will not the United Nations, with the full support of its membership, rise to the high purposes of such a crowning event?” (UHJ, The Promise of World Peace, October 1985)
The Answer turned out to be: No, world peace is not within reach of the United Nations. .
The twentieth century ended 22 years ago and NONE of these prophecies came true, except the construction of some buildings by the Bahais in Haifa, Israel. There is no world Government. No Lesser Peace. No Unity of Nations. No political unification of the East (think Middle East or China) with the West (think USA). *** Political Unification *** just imagine! Even the holding of a mighty convocation did not take place. These prophecies were nothing but a series of pipedreams for which many people gave their wealth, their time, and in some cases their lives in the service of Bahai faith. Would the leadership have enough integrity to admit that the prophecies were nothing but a fib and disband ?
https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/ty62j4/peace_unity_of_nations/
Why I started to question the alleged doctrine of the Lesser Covenant?
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| Site of multi-million dollar shrine being raised for Abdul Baha in Israel |
The doubts started to come when I began to think critically about religion and its purpose. Baha'u'llah says that the purpose of religion is "unity and concord amongst the people of the world" (note: the authorized translation says "peoples", putting an international spin on the quote, but the original Arabic just says "people" (ahl)). Religion is supposed to align people so that they work together. If you feel out of place in the world, then your religious community should be a place where you can fit in and be united with others.
But after moving to a new city, I found that the Baha'i Faith did not help with this. I looked at the local Baha'i newsletter and made an effort to attend Baha'i events, but I only met a few people, and they were all elderly people. A neighboring Baha'i center 2 hours away had weekly devotionals, so I started attending those and I was happy to see there were a couple people my age there, but they got discontinued for some reason. At one point I thought maybe people were just turning away from religion, because of the demonic influence of Western society. This is partly true, but not the whole picture, because I later found out that there actually were Baha'i activities going on, and inter-community Baha'i activities, with young people, but I was being left out of them. The reason I was being left out of them was because these activities were being organized by the Auxiliary Board member, and I was part of this clique.
Since I was not part of the Auxiliary Board member's clique, I thought I would try to start my own clique. I made a request to the nearest Baha'i center to hold a weekly study of Baha'u'lah's writings on Saturdays, since there were no regular events going on then. I thought that people would see this event was going on at the Baha'i Center on Saturdays and the ones who are interested in Baha'u'llah's writings would want to attend it, and gradually another clique would grow, made up of people who are interested in primary study of Baha'u'llah's writings. But to my great surprise and disappointment, this request was denied by the Baha'i Center. They said that to hold such a study at the Baha'i Center would detract from the Core Activities. This is in spite of the fact that the Baha'i Center is perpetually empty on Saturdays. At this point it became clear to me that there was no place for me to fit in to the Baha'i community. In order to meet people in the Baha'i community, I had to become a Ruhiite. I considered becoming a Ruhiite, but I figured that I probably would not fit in with the Ruhiites, because Ruhiites tend to have a certain personality that is not shared by me.
So it was my observation that the Baha'i community does a poor job of uniting people. The Baha'i community is not a place where diverse people can fit in and find own place. In order to fit in with the Baha'i community, you have to be a very specific kind of person. You have to be a Ruhiite: charismatic, extraverted, condescending, and a sycophant to religious authority. Being stupid also helps. If you are thoughtful, objective type, who is not particularly in awe of religious authority, then there is no place for for you.
I would have probably never started questioning the Baha'i religious leadership if the Baha'i Faith had given me any kind of social life as it had given my parents. But when the religion's leadership are running a shit show, you have to start questioning them, which in Baha'i terminology is called Breaking the Covenant. I only had the moral strength to start doubting this doctrine of the Covenant because my father instilled the oneness of God in me at a young age. He made it clear that Baha'u'llah was far greater than Abdul Baha, and that the one true God was far greater than Baha'u'llah. When I was a kid he would make remarks like "it is apparent from comparing Baha'u'llah's writings with Abdul Baha's writings how much greater Baha'u'llah is". Without this clear hierarchy in my mind, I may have found it pointless to even consider positions that are at odds with Abdul Baha, because to lose favor with Abdul Baha would be to lose the main religious entity I care about. But since I believed that Baha'u'llah was greater, and was more attached to him then Abdul Baha, I cared more about finding favor with Baha'u'llah, even if it is at odds with Abdul Baha.
So I studied Baha'u'llah's writings, and I found that this supposed doctrine of the Covenant, which is the doctrine that says that the Baha'i religious leadership always does the right thing and can never make mistakes, has absolutely no basis in Baha'u'llah's writings. This was somewhat of a pleasant surprise, because mainstream Baha'i sources always make it seem like this whole thing about Abdul Baha and the UHJ being infallible was something Baha'u'llah made very clear.
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