How can people follow a religion with a history like this?

According to the official Baha'i narrative, Baha'u'llah and his companions were exiled to Akka and were received by a hostile populace. Over time, so they say, Baha'u'llah's influence transformed them and they became friendly.

Here's what they don't tell you:

· Baha'u'llah and his followers were exiled to Akka after Bahai/ Azali conflict resulted in the murder of two Azalis and one Baha'i in Adrianople

· Several Azali's (followers of Baha'u'llah's rival) were exiled to Akka along with the Baha'is, and similarly several Baha'is were exiled to Cyprus alongside the Azalis.

· The Baha'is had a hostile reception from the locals as they knew about the murders in Adrianople (they would soon be vindicated)

· After around one month of the arrival of the Baha'is in Akka, several of Baha'u'llah's followers schemed to murder the Azali's

· Instead of obstructing this plan, Baha'u'llah withdrew into his room and refused to see anybody for a few days as his followers plotted the murders. Baha'u'llah could easily have blocked them -- after all, they believed he was god.

· Seven Baha'is knocked on the door of the residence where the Azali's lived and murdered three of them with a pistol and knife. Their names were Áká Ján Bey, Hájí Seyyid Muhammad of Isfahán, and Mírzá Rizá-Kulí of Tafrísh. Some accounts say six Azali's were murdered.

· The entire populace of Akka was in tumult and incredibly angry; their initial hostility was entirely vindicated.

o "As it happened, the three Azalis were lodged in a house fronting the Seraye. The sound of pistol shots, and of shouts and yelling, brought Salih Pasha, the Mutasarrif, from his house. And then pandemonium broke out. Aqa Rida writes: 'All, young and old, notables and humble folk, the Governor, the Chief of Police, and troops rose up, as if a powerful state had made an attack on them. Armed with stones and sticks, swords and rifles, they set out towards the house of the Blessed Perfection and the houses of the companions, arresting whomever they met. The Mutasarrif and his retinue and troops gathered around the house of the Blessed Perfection. It was now late in the afternoon . . .' "

· In addition to the 7 Baha'is who committed the murders, an additional 16 believers were jailed for their part. That's 23 Baha'is convicted and jailed in Akka for murder. Bear in mind that there were only 26 Baha'is exiled from Constantinople to Adrianople, and not many more arrived in Akka.

· Abdu'l-Baha interceded on behalf of the murderers to have their sentences reduced by one third.

· In the 'Most Holy Book' (Kitab-i-Aqdas), verse 184, Baha'u'llah boasts "Behold! God hath laid hold on him who led thee astray.", a reference to the recently murdered Azali Hájí Seyyid Muhammad of Isfahán who he believed led Azal astray. This effectively condones the murder.

· Baha'u'llah again condones the murders in his Tablet of Inquisition (Lawh-i Istintáq):

o "Verily the Mute [al-akhras, Isfahani] called himself 'Quddus' and hath claimed what the Evil Whisperer (al-khannas) claimed for himself. The other one [Aqá Ján] called himself the 'Sword of Truth' (sayfu'l-haqq);; he said: 'I, verily, am the conqueror of the cities'. God hath sent the one who hath smitten upon his mouth, so that all may firmly believe that through this Satan's tail hath been cut off by the sword of the Merciful (sayfu'r-rahmán)." - Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i Istintáq

· Another two bodies of Baha'u'llah's enemies were discovered in a shallow grave, due to the smell, in Akka near where the Baha'is were living. One was the chief tailor, Muhammad Khan, and the other Hajji Ibrahim. Baha'is claimed they died of cholera and were buried for medical reasons, and it was hushed up to avoid unsettling the populace who were already on edge about murders by Baha'is. However, several reliable sources suggest they were murdered in a dispute over money.

o In the Kashf-al-Hiyal, author Abd-al-Husayn-Ayati surnamed Awara, one time member of "the Hands of the Cause" and a prominent Bahai missionary, confirms the Hasht-Bihisht account and adds : The assassins were Ustad Muhammad Ali the Barber [of Isfahan] and his accomplices. He concludes: "And the reason for their murder was that they dared to say to Kalim, Baha's brother, that he demands the money from Iran by trickery and charlatanism and does not give it with interest. "

· Professor Edward Granville Browne remarked on the culture of "violence and unfairness" among the Baha'is in Akka in his book "A Year Among the Persians":

o "On my entrance they greeted me with an outburst of raillery, induced, as it appeared, by their belief that I was disposed to prefer the claims of Subh-i-Azal to those of Baha, and that I had been influenced in this by the Sheykh of Kum and his friends. I was at first utterly taken aback and somewhat alarmed at their vehemence, but anger at the unjust and intolerant attitude towards the Azalis which they took up presently came to my aid, and I reminded them that such violence and unfairness, so far from proving their case, could only make it appear the weaker. [...] I assure you that this fact has done more to incline me from Baha to Azal than anything which the Sheykh of Kum or his friends have said to me. It would be more to the point if, instead of talking in this violent and unreasonable manner, you would produce the Bayan (of which, ever since I came to Kirman, and indeed, to Persia, I have been vainly endeavouring to obtain a copy), and show me what the Bab has said about his successor." Browne, Edward Granville (1926). A Year Among the Persians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 578.

How can people follow a religion with a history like this?