June 26. On this date in 1956, Shoghi Effendi told the NSA of Canada apply "the sanction of suspension of voting rights to people who marry without the consent of parents...not a question of the child not knowing the present whereabouts of its parents...if the parents are alive, they must be asked."

 

June 26. On this date in 1956, Shoghi Effendi told (also here) the NSA of Canada apply "the sanction of suspension of voting rights to people who marry without the consent of parents...not a question of the child not knowing the present whereabouts of its parents...if the parents are alive, they must be asked."

1243. If Parents Are Alive, Consent Must Be Obtained

"Regarding your question of applying the sanction of suspension of voting rights to people who marry without the consent of parents, this should be done from now on. The law of the Aqdas is explicit and not open to any ambiguity at all. As long as the parents are alive, the consent must be obtained; it is not conditioned on their relationship to their children. If the whereabouts of the parents is not known legally, in other words, if they are legally dead, then it is not necessary for the children to obtain their consent, obviously. It is not a question of the child not knowing the present whereabouts of its parents, it is a question of a legal thing--if the parents are alive, they must be asked."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, June 26, 1956: Bahá'í News, No. 335, January 1959, p. 2)