How do the Baha'is explain this?

Eid Ridvan Mubarak!

Regarding this post:

Just a friendly reminder that anyone concerned about the Baha'i Faith can easily access information about it online at the offical worldwide site: www.bahai.org.

One of the most sacred tenants of the Baha'i Faith is independent investigation of truth. Why not visit some Baha'is? Call 1-800-22-UNITE if you don't know where to look. (Baha'is are usually listed in the Yellow Pages)

Judge for yourself in the most forthright truth-seeking way; encounter the Baha'is themselves. It is the best way to judge this Faith and to allay whatever "fears" you have about this 166 year old world religion begun in Iran but now spread to every country in the world.

Today is a Baha'i Holy Day . . .Ridvan. Last night in our community no less than a dozen people celebrated their first Ridvan with members who are six generation Baha'i. These new Baha'is had the same reaction as the long-time Baha'is: tears of joy streamed down their faces for having found this utterly beautiful, peaceful Teaching.

Experience is the best teacher; experience the Baha'is Faith. Come out from behind your keyboard and call some Baha'is. Meet them and ask difficult questions. Fears aside, you must admit that the Baha'i Faith continues to grow and grow . . .there must be a reason.

Eid Ridvan Mubarak!

Thank you Alborz. Still scared and chilled to the bone.

Alborz's explanation was better than the other poster who started attacking right off the bat with sarcastic quipps and rumor mongering. But I am still miffed and you are not answering the obvious point in all this here.

This document is encouraging your councillors to spy on people they determine to be trouble-makers. SAVAMA and other related institutions of the Islamic Republic likewise spy on people they determine to be trouble-makers. One can only speculate what course of actions are actually taken as a result of such spying. But who is to determine the definitions of trouble-making and who a trouble-maker is here to begin with? This is orwellian anti-democratic thinking all the way.

I also find the analogy of traffic laws and policing in relation to a religious doctrine and a religious community quite troubling here as well. This is exactly like the Islamic Republic. First this analogy insults the human intelligence to have the ultimate questions phrased in terms such trivial and utterly banal. Second how is this any different than similar analogies and understandings drawn in the name of the kind of Islam practiced by the mullahs in Iran? I don't find any difference here at all. Just like the mullahs your analogy likewise assumes that most human beings are by definition stupid and require micromanaging by some physical big brother whether it be shar'ia or councillor. Religion and the freedom to exercise it is not supposed to be about traffic regulations or similar. This is the problem that is the kind of religious thinking which got Iran into trouble to begin with.

Thanks for your more collected response, Alborz. But with your response my flags are flying even higher than before.

Very scary stuff! I hope people are reading all this.

Truthseeker,

You are the one attacking at the first place with the posted picture and your first comment "scary scary stuff". And the title of your blog "how Bahai's going to explain this?". Like look at me what I found and I am going to get the Bahai's !!! If you were a true truthseeker don't you think your approach should have been a little bit more respectful? I hope you got your answer if not convinced then in civilized manner discuss it. The way you started you shouldn't be so surprised to get a response like that of Frayarm.

Regard

Truthseeker, you deserve a thank you note.

The Baha'i administration is founded on two pillars, elected and appointed.  The "elected" pillar is made up of the local and national administrative bodies and the Universal House of Justice. The Counsellors are part of the appointed pillar, which serve the dual function of teaching and protecting the Faith. 

The portion of the document you have posted is part of a description of their responsibilities with regard to "protecting" the Faith.  A reading of the entire document describes the entire scope of their role.  A good read for anyone that is interested in Baha'i Administration and the spirit in which it is conducted.

Just as you would not drive on the wrong side of road or run a traffic light, for the safety of everyone on the road, you also don't do this because there is consequence.  That consequence is founded on the traffic laws which assures the ultimate safety and freedom of people using the roads.  Few would drive on the road if these laws did not exist.

What you have posted outlines the responsibilities of the Counsellors but the consequence, if any, is not in their hands.  They have no executive powers.  That lies with the institutions of the elected. This assures the balance between the two pillars of the administration and the community is protected against those whose sole purpose is to be destructive. 

The Baha'is, through their local community gatherings and district conventions have multiple opportunities to discuss issues, exchange ideas and consult on any topic.  Differing opinions are voice and discussed through a process of consultation.

Again, while you have asked for an explanation, the fact that you just signed up a 2 hours ago and made your debut post on this topic, there is every reason to suspect you sincerity.  But we'll see.

Alborz

PS. So far you have made a few comments like "scary stuff" and "chilled to my bones" and posted a photo, and yet have not shown anything to back it up. So much for your abilities in investigating a subject and then drawing a conclusion.  Since when has reading a sentence in a book given away the story?

While you claim to be truely interested in an explanation, the validity of that claim will soon become self-evident with your other posts. So far this post is consistent with your comments in other posts.  Assertions in the form of questions. So your profile is being formed as you write and you are clearly no student of religion! 

Excuse me? Is this the best you can do to explain?

With respect you do not know me or who I am. So please keep your assumptions to yourself.

I found this item surfing the net from a link originally put up here. It comes from what I assume is a Baha'i site and not from the Islamic Republic. I have read through the whole document and am chilled to the bone as to what it states. Instead of rationally explaining what it means you attack and make up rumors. And the explanation you gave is no different than the sorts of explanations the Islamic Republic usually gives about why it brands certain people spies.

If this document is a Baha'i document, which it obviously is, here it doesn't specifically discredit the Islamic Republic at all. They are already discredited. However it discredits you Baha'is. And since you begin immediately with an attack and a sarcastic response instead of a rational explanation it stands to reason that Iranians need to be equally weary of you Baha'is in the same way that we have grown weary of the Islamic Republic and the Mujahedin.

Good day to you. May we all try hard enough to unmask wolves in sheeps clothing like this.

You are trying too hard...

You are trying too hard.

Its simple...

Since Bahais have no Leader; they only have their democratically elected institutions who change every year; to protect them from the kind of malicious  and divisive poison its enemies manufacture.

As any parent would protect his/her child , so do Bahais who as elected servants, humbly give their time to serve their communities.

By posting this, you are posting a letter that shows, the civil manner in which Bahais deal with agitators like you.

The steps that are taken when an ambitious individual tries to divide and rule.. to cause mischief and disunity; It is like any other civilized institution it has laws, standards of conduct with lots of latitude, kindness and counseling.

You are proving how desperate is The Regime in iran, as a Paymaster in its effort to somehow discredit Bahais..

trying hard to be respectfully

get a life.. 

scary

scary scary stuff