June 12. On this date in 2006, the Universal House of Justice responded to an individual who had written them "about the expulsion of scholar Sen McGlinn, from Leiden, in the Netherlands, and about the boycott of Kalimat Press on the part of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America."

 

June 12. On this date in 2006, the Universal House of Justice responded to an individual who had written them "about the expulsion of scholar Sen McGlinn, from Leiden, in the Netherlands, and about the boycott of Kalimat Press on the part of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America."

Response from the Universal House of Justice to the above letter, June 2006 Transmitted by email

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice has received your email letter dated 21 May 2006, and we have been asked to convey the following in response.

Your inquiry about the decision concerning the Bahá’í membership of Mr. Sen McGlinn contains quotations on a number of topics, such as the importance of knowledge and the role of learned individuals in this dispensation. [Note: McGlinn's name retained with permission; letter first posted on his own website. (-J.W., 2014)]

The House of Justice feels that the objections you raise could be resolved if you were to conduct an equally thorough review of the complementary statements in the Writings that shed light on the process of the acquisition and use of knowledge, admonish the learned, and set out the provisions of the Covenant that safeguard the integrity of the Faith.

Every individual has the right to hold and express personal views. This does not mean, however, that whatever is said is consistent with the Bahá’í Teachings. Bahá’u’lláh has established the criteria for understanding and practicing His Faith, and no one who professes to be a Bahá’í can systematically propagate personal interpretations that violate these criteria.

An individual who insists upon a personal view in an effort to change the essential character of the Faith places himself outside the circle of Bahá’í belief. Concerns with Mr. McGlinn’s actions have nothing to do with his treatment of topics such as church and state; yet, the extent that he uses these themes as a vehicle to justify and broaden his presumed authority to "criticize, clarify, purify and strengthen the ideas of the Bahá’í community" cannot be ignored.

You have also inquired about the decision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States not to market the books of Kalimát Press through Bahá’í agencies in that country.

Individuals and institutions have not been prevented from purchasing Kalimát’s books or from keeping them in their libraries. Rather, the National Assembly has simply decided that Bahá’í agencies will not sell them.

The use of the word "boycott" in this connection misrepresents the action taken by the National Assembly. The general policy in this regard, well known to Bahá’í institutions and publishers of Bahá’í books, is that even after a text is reviewed, publishers do not have the right to expect that a National Spiritual Assembly, through its Publishing Trust or any other agency, will stock, promote or advertise the publication or offer it for sale.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat