Thursday, September 30, 2021

September 29. On this date in 1906, Charles Wolcott was born. He would serve on the Universal House of Justice from 1963 to until his death in 1987, and before that on the International Bahá’í Council from 1961 to 1963 and the NSA of the U.S. from 1953 to 1961.

 


September 29. On this date in 1906, Charles Wolcott was born. He would serve on the Universal House of Justice from 1963 to until his death in 1987, and before that on the International Bahá’í Council from 1961 to 1963 and the NSA of the U.S. from 1953 to 1961.

January 26. On this date in Charles Wolcott, member of the Universal House of Justice, died in Haifa. Born in Flint, Michigan on September 29, 1906, Wolcott was a music composer who had a career in various Holywood film studios. In 1953 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. In 1960, when he was elected secretary of the National Assembly, he resigned from his position at MGM Studios and moved to Wilmette, Illinois. In 1961 he was elected to the International Bahá’í Council and moved to Haifa, Israel. He was elected to serve on the newly formed Universal House of Justice in 1963, a position he held until 1987 when he died in Haifa.

From 1960 until his death in 1987, a period of 27 years, Wolcott worked exclusively for the [Bahá’í Administrative Order](Bahá'í administration_. His career is typical for individuals in the Bahá’í hierarchy, whether in an elected office or in an appointed offce from which the higher elected officials invariably come from. 

At all levels, including the LSAs, Bahá’í leaders generally as if not more authoritarian than clergy from other religious faiths, which as Dale Husband points out, is one of the Four Ways to Create a Religion of Hypocrites:

  1. State that religion no longer needs clergy……and replace them with leaders that are as authoritarian as the clergy ever was.

  2. Claim that men and women should be equal……but then deny women membership in the all-powerful leadership council of the religion.

  3. Condemn as heretics those who believe in your religion but dare to challenge the claims of your religion’s current leadership, while at the same time claiming to welcome as friends the followers of other religions.

  4. Claim there is harmony between science and religion, but also claim that anything your leaders say is absolutely true, even if on topics science is expected to address. Any one of these makes a religion not worth following, but what do you do if you find a religion that has all four such contradictions

September 29. On this date in 1990, Harold Collis Featherstone, a Hand of the Cause of God, died in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he was visiting Bahá’ís.

 


September 29. On this date in 1990, Harold Collis Featherstone, a Hand of the Cause of God, died in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he was visiting Bahá’ís.

On May 13, 1913, Harold Collis Featherstone, later named a Hand of the Cause of God, was born in Quorn, Australia.

After spending a childhood in Adelaide, Collis Featherstone initially studied accounting but took up engineering in 1932. He worked for a large engineering firm and by the time he married his wife, Madge, in 1938, he was already a partner in an engineering business making pressed metal parts.

The Featherstone converted to the Bahá’í Faith in 1944. From 1949 to 1962, Collis Featherstone served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia.

In 1954 he was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Australia by Hand of the Cause of God Clara Dunn.

Shoghi Effendi appointed him a Hand of the Cause of God in October 1957.

He died on September 29, 1990 in Kathmandu, Nepal, while visiting the Bahá’ís there.

September 29. On this date in 1977, the UHJ wrote "the Guardian quotes many passages from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh lauding the principle of kingship and envisaging an increase of monarchies in the future."

 


September 29. On this date in 1977, the UHJ wrote "the Guardian quotes many passages from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh lauding the principle of kingship and envisaging an increase of monarchies in the future."

1470. Kingship in the Future

"As to your query whether or not there will be kingship throughout the world in future, the Universal House of Justice calls to your attention Shoghi Effendi's statement on page 219 of 'God Passes By':

'The establishment of a constitutional form of government, in which the ideals of republicanism and the majesty of kingship, characterized by Him as 'one of the signs of God', are combined, He recommends as a meritorious achievement.'

"In 'The Promised Day Is Come' on pages 73 to 76, the Guardian quotes many passages from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh lauding the principle of kingship and envisaging an increase of monarchies in the future. The House of Justice suggests that a study of this section of the book will provide you with the understanding you seek."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, September 29, 1977)

September 29. On this date in 1986, an NSA wrote the International Teaching Centre seeking guidance on an article titled "The Infallibility of the Prophets" which "concludes, by means of logical analysis, based in part on his understanding of an article by Mr. Juan Ricardo Coleon the Tablet of Wisdom, that Bahá’u’lláh, and indeed all the Prophets of God, are not infallible."

 


September 29. On this date in 1986, an NSA wrote the International Teaching Centre seeking guidance on an article titled "The Infallibility of the Prophets" which "concludes, by means of logical analysis, based in part on his understanding of an article by Mr. Juan Ricardo Coleon the Tablet of Wisdom, that Bahá’u’lláh, and indeed all the Prophets of God, are not infallible."

The Universal House of Justice Department of the Secretariat

26 November 1986

[To a National Spiritual Assembly]

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The International Teaching Centre has referred to the Universal House of Justice your letter of 29 September 1986 in which you seek comment on the draft of the letter you plan to send to the Local Spiritual Assembly of … for the guidance of … , a believer who has written an article entitled, “The Infallibility of the Prophets.”

The House of Justice has studied your draft response and …’s paper in which he concludes, by means of logical analysis, based in part on his understanding of an article by Mr. Juan Ricardo Cole on the Tablet of Wisdom, that Bahá’u’lláh, and indeed all the Prophets of God, are not infallible.… expresses the opinion that attempts to resolve apparent contradictions in the Writings by seeking a broader context only serve to create insoluble logical difficulties, and he indicates that he is aware that the Institutions of the Faith may not agree with his views causing his status as a Bahá’í to be called into question. We are instructed by the Universal House of Justice to make the following reply.

…’s article raises fundamental issues about the station of the Manifestations and Their authority, as well as about the nature of individual interpretation.

It is clear from a study of the Text that infallibility is an essential attribute of the Manifestation of God. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:

… the Most Great Infallibility is confined to the One Whose station is immeasurably exalted beyond ordinances or prohibitions and is sanctified from errors and omissions.…

… Were He to pronounce right to be wrong or denial to be belief, He speaketh the truth as bidden by God. This is a station wherein sins or trespasses neither exist nor are mentioned.

(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 108, 109)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Some Answered Questions, stresses the inseparability of “essential infallibility” from the Manifestation of God, and states:

… as the supreme Manifestations certainly possess essential infallibility, therefore whatever emanates from Them is identical with the truth, and conformable to reality. They are not under the shadow of the former laws. Whatever They say is the word of God, and whatever They perform is an upright action.

The following extract from a letter dated 11 January 1942 written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer underlines the vital link between Revelation and the infallibility of the Manifestation:

Regarding your Bahá’í friend who does not fully understand the infallibility of the Manifestation of God: You should influence that person to study the matter more deeply, and to realize that the whole theory of Divine Revelation rests on the infallibility of the Prophet, be He Christ, Muḥammad, Bahá’u’lláh, or one of the others. If They are not infallible, then They are not divine, and thus lose that essential link with God which, we believe, is the bond that educates men and causes all human progress.

As to the infallibility of the content of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation, … cites issues concerning the chronology of philosophical figures mentioned in Mr. Cole’s article in the World Order magazine in 1979, as a basis for questioning the infallibility of Bahá’u’lláh.… appears to have misconstrued the tenor of Mr. Cole’s article. Mr. Cole’s article does not challenge the infallibility of Bahá’u’lláh, on the contrary, he shows that Bahá’u’lláh, Himself, states in the Tablet of Wisdom that He is quoting the writings of past sages. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:

Thou knowest full well that We perused not the books which men possess and We acquired not the learning current amongst them, and yet whenever We desire to quote the sayings of the learned and of the wise, presently there will appear before the face of thy Lord in the form of a tablet all that which hath appeared in the world and is revealed in the Holy Books and Scriptures. Thus do We set down in writing that which the eye perceiveth. Verily His knowledge encompasseth the earth and the heavens.

(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 149)

Mr. Cole confirms this statement by comparison of the texts concerned. There is nothing in the text of this Tablet to show conclusively whether, by quoting these passages, Bahá’u’lláh was intending to confirm their assertions, or whether He was merely referring to historical authorities that were accepted by the audience He was addressing. It must be borne in mind that accounts of past events as recorded by historians of the East do not always agree with the accounts set down by chroniclers in other parts of the world. Perhaps in the future studies will be undertaken to ascertain the facts scientifically, if this is at all possible.

In reference to His Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh provides the following assurance that when viewed from the perspective of the Manifestation, the divine purpose of the verses will become apparent and questions will be resolved:

The verses are sent down at one time in a form that is untroubled by the rules of grammarians, transcending what the minds of men have yet conceived; and at another time they are sent down in a style that conformeth to the standards of men. Thy Lord, verily, is potent over whatsoever He willeth by virtue of His words “Be, and it is.” Wert thou to view them with Mine eyes thou wouldst see that they are in conformity with the most consummate rules, and wouldst give thanks to the Lord, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.

(Newly translated)

As to the question of individual interpretation, while individual interpretation is the fruit of man’s rational power and conducive to a better understanding of the teachings, the application of logical analysis has inherent limitations. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated:

Therefore, if the criterion of reason or intellect constituted a correct and infallible standard of judgment, those who tested and applied it should have arrived at the same conclusions. As they differ and are contradictory in conclusions, it is an evidence that the method and standard of test must have been faulty and insufficient.

(The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, p. 254)

Understanding of the Writings requires belief in the Manifestation of God, for, as the Master states:

… the knowledge of God is the cause of spiritual progress and attraction, and through it the perception of truth, the exaltation of humanity, divine civilization, rightness of morals and illumination are obtained.

(Some Answered Questions, p. 300)

Other important components in this process include an attitude of prayerful humility, acceptance of the statements of the Manifestation, confidence in the knowledge that understanding of their meaning will emerge with meditation, study of the texts and the passage of time, willingness to acknowledge that one’s views may be erroneous, and, courage to follow in the direction defined by the authentic sacred texts.

The House of Justice urges your National Spiritual Assembly to use the guidance contained in this letter as a basis for guiding and educating the believer in question about some of the fundamental verities of Bahá’í belief as a means of assisting him to determine his relationship to the Faith.…

We are asked to assure you of the prayers of the House of Justice for the implementation of this weighty responsibility.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

September 29. On this date in 1997, an individual asked the the Universal House of Justice "regarding the Covenant-breaking material sent to your personal email account," receiving the answer "it is closely following this issue...The friends should, of course, ignore any materials produced by Covenant-breakers which they may receive unsolicited by email or happen on while exploring the World Wide Web. With regard to your concerns over the content of the message, you are advised to turn to your Local Spiritual Assembly or an Auxiliary Board member for assistance in dealing with the spurious claims advanced in that message."

 


September 29. On this date in 1997, an individual asked the the Universal House of Justice "regarding the Covenant-breaking material sent to your personal email account," receiving the answer "it is closely following this issue...The friends should, of course, ignore any materials produced by Covenant-breakers which they may receive unsolicited by email or happen on while exploring the World Wide Web. With regard to your concerns over the content of the message, you are advised to turn to your Local Spiritual Assembly or an Auxiliary Board member for assistance in dealing with the spurious claims advanced in that message."

The Universal House of Justice has received your email message of 29 September 1997 regarding the Covenant-breaking material sent to your personal email account.

The House of Justice is aware of such activities on the part of Covenant-breakers, and while it is closely following this issue, it sees no cause for undue concern. The friends should, of course, ignore any materials produced by Covenant-breakers which they may receive unsolicited by email or happen on while exploring the World Wide Web. With regard to your concerns over the content of the message, you are advised to turn to your Local Spiritual Assembly or an Auxiliary Board member for assistance in dealing with the spurious claims advanced in that message.

The best countermeasure to Covenant-breaker initiatives and the greatest protection for the Cause is for the believers to acquire a deeper appreciation of the station and purpose of Bahá'u'lláh and to become well-grounded in His Covenant.

(From a letter dated 7 October 1997 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual)

September 29. On this date in 1977, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer stated that "the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which were revealed by Abdu'l-Bahá during the First World War, are the Charter for the teaching of the Faith. All the teaching plans launched by the beloved Guardian, as well as those subsequently directed by the Universal House of Justice, are stages in the implementation of this master plan conceived by the Centre of the Covenant for the diffusion of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh."

 


September 29. On this date in 1977, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer stated that "the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which were revealed by Abdu'l-Bahá during the First World War, are the Charter for the teaching of the Faith. All the teaching plans launched by the beloved Guardian, as well as those subsequently directed by the Universal House of Justice, are stages in the implementation of this master plan conceived by the Centre of the Covenant for the diffusion of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh."

1628. The Tablets of the Divine Plan Are the Charter for Teaching

"As you are no doubt aware, the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which were revealed by Abdu'l-Bahá during the First World War, are the Charter for the teaching of the Faith. All the teaching plans launched by the beloved Guardian, as well as those subsequently directed by the Universal House of Justice, are stages in the implementation of this master plan conceived by the Centre of the Covenant for the diffusion of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, September 29, 1977)

September 29. On this date in 2004, an article by the Bahá'í New Service begins "Participants at a Baha'i summer school here visited the summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938), the first monarch to embrace the Baha'i Faith."

 



September 29. On this date in 2004, an article by the Bahá'í New Service begins "Participants at a Baha'i summer school here visited the summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938), the first monarch to embrace the Baha'i Faith."

Although Bahá'ís frequently refer to Queen Marie of Romania as "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith," Queen Marie's daughterPrincess Ileana of Romaniadisputes this claim:

"It is perfectly true that my mother, Queen Marie, did receive Miss Martha Root several times.....She came at the moment when we were undergoing very great family and national stress. At such a moment it was natural that we were receptive to any kind of spiritual message, but it is quite incorrect to say that my mother or any of us at any time contemplated becoming a member of the Baha’i faith."

While the Administrative Order publicly eschews involvement in partisan politics, it has no reservations about routinely using its media outlets to proudly tout unelected royal leaders who are Bahá'í.

For example, on February 19, 1968, Malietoa Tanumafili II, one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, became a Bahá'í.

Also, On April 24, 2017, the Bahá'í World News Service published a story about Djaouga Abdoulaye, who "became a Baha’i in the 1980s when the Faith initially came to Benin." The news report states that he was enthroned High Chief in July of 2016, assuming a "position of moral and customary authority for the approximately 100,000 Fulani living in the area."

While rare and not promoted in the media outlets of the Administrative Order, there have been Bahá'ís who have been elected to office, such as Ted Livingston, who was the first Bahá’í in the United States to be the mayor of a city when he was elected Mayor of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

September 29. On this date in 1942, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Concerning your question whether the heirs to whom the principal residence, furniture and clothing of the deceased are transferred by way of inheritance will be exempt from the payment of Huqúq or not, he said: Since the residence, furniture and the tools of trade have, in accordance with the explicit Text, been granted exemption from the Huqúq, therefore when the transfer of ownership takes place such possessions continue to be exempt."

 


September 29. On this date in 1942, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Concerning your question whether the heirs to whom the principal residence, furniture and clothing of the deceased are transferred by way of inheritance will be exempt from the payment of Huqúq or not, he said: Since the residence, furniture and the tools of trade have, in accordance with the explicit Text, been granted exemption from the Huqúq, therefore when the transfer of ownership takes place such possessions continue to be exempt."

Concerning your question whether the heirs to whom the principal residence, furniture and clothing of the deceased are transferred by way of inheritance will be exempt from the payment of Huqúq or not, he said: Since the residence, furniture and the tools of trade have, in accordance with the explicit Text, been granted exemption from the Huqúq, therefore when the transfer of ownership takes place such possessions continue to be exempt.

(29 September 1942, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, translated from the Persian)

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

September 28. On this date in 1990, "The Universal House of Justice draws to your attention that portion of the most recent Ridvan message in which the friends throughout the world are asked to focus on the need to attract people of capacity and prominence to the Faith" providing all NSAs a compilation to aid in converting "accomplished and distinguished figures, with people of capacity and with those occupying prominent positions in society."

 


September 28. On this date in 1990, "The Universal House of Justice draws to your attention that portion of the most recent Ridvan message in which the friends throughout the world are asked to focus on the need to attract people of capacity and prominence to the Faith" providing all NSAs a compilation to aid in converting "accomplished and distinguished figures, with people of capacity and with those occupying prominent positions in society."

Compilation on Reaching People of Capacity and Prominence

28 September 1990

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá'í Friends,

The Universal House of Justice draws to your attention that portion of the most recent Ridvan message in which the friends throughout the world are asked to focus on the need to attract people of capacity and prominence to the Faith. Because of the emphasis the House of Justice wishes the friends to place on this matter, the Research Department was asked to prepare a compilation of texts on the subject. The compilation is now ready and a copy is enclosed.

It is the ardent prayer of the House of Justice that careful study of the passages included will assist the believers to appreciate the importance of fostering cordial relations with accomplished and distinguished figures, with people of capacity and with those occupying prominent positions in society. The aim of the believers should be to make of them friends of the Faith, dispelling any misconceptions they may have and unfolding before their eyes the vision of world solidarity and peace enshrined in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. The friends should be confident that the spiritually minded and receptive souls among such people will eventually accept the truth of the Bahá'í Revelation and join the ranks of its active supporters.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

September 28. On this date in 1941, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Chastity implies both before and after marriage an unsullied, chaste sex life. Before marriage absolutely chaste, after marriage absolutely faithful to one's chosen companion. Faithful in all sexual acts, faithful in word and in deed."

 


September 28. On this date in 1941, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Chastity implies both before and after marriage an unsullied, chaste sex life. Before marriage absolutely chaste, after marriage absolutely faithful to one's chosen companion. Faithful in all sexual acts, faithful in word and in deed."

32. Chastity implies both before and after marriage an unsullied, chaste sex life. Before marriage absolutely chaste, after marriage absolutely faithful to one's chosen companion. Faithful in all sexual acts, faithful in word and in deed.

The world today is submerged, amongst other things, in an over-exaggeration of the importance of physical love, and a dearth of spiritual values. In as far as possible the believers should try to realize this and rise above the level of their fellow-men who are, typical of all decadent periods in history, placing so much over-emphasis on the purely physical side of mating. Outside of their normal, legitimate married life they should seek to establish bonds of comradeship and love which are eternal and founded on the spiritual life of man, not on his physical life. This is one of the many fields in which it is incumbent on the Bahá'ís to set the example and lead the way to a true human standard of life, when the soul of man is exalted and his body but the tool for his enlightened spirit. Needless to say this does not preclude the living of a perfectly normal sex life in its legitimate channel of marriage.

(From a letter dated 28 September 1941 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)

September 28. On this date in 1926, the Toronto Daily Star published an open letter from Queen Marie of Romania about the Bahá'í Faith. While Bahá'í sources claim Queen Marie was the first monarch to convert to the faith, her daughter Ileana denied any such conversion had taken place.

 


September 28. On this date in 1926, the Toronto Daily Star published an open letter from Queen Marie of Romania about the Bahá'í Faith. While Bahá'í sources claim Queen Marie was the first monarch to convert to the faith, her daughter Ileana denied any such conversion had taken place.

From Chapter 4 of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum's book The Priceless Pearl, titled "Martha Root and Queen Marie of Rumania"...

Among the things Queen Marie, who was not only a famous beauty, but an authoress and a woman of character and independence wrote in her "open letters" published during 1926, on 4 May and 28 September in the Toronto Daily Star and 27 September in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, were words such as these: "A woman brought me the other day a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength and beauty...I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá comes to your attention, do not put their writings from you. Search out their Books, and let their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into mine. One's busy day may seem too full for religion. Or one may have a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of these gentle, wise and kindly men are compatible with all religion, and with no religion. Seek them, and be the happier." "At first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves...This is not so. We cannot, with our earthly faculties entirely grasp His meaning - no more than we can really understand the meaning of Eternity...God is all, Everything. He is the power behind all beginnings. he is the inexhaustible source of supply, of love, of good, of progress, of achievement. God is therefore Happiness. His is the voice within us that shows us good and evil. But mostly we ignore or misunderstand this voice. Therefore did He choose His Elect to come down amongst us upon earth to make clear His Word, His real meaning. Therefore the Prophets; therefore Christ, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh, for man needs from time to time a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the true God. Those voices sent to us had to become flesh, so that with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand."

Shoghi Effendi wrote to Martha root on 29 May, after he had just received from Canada a copy of the first of the Queen's "open letters", that this was "a well deserved and memorable testimony of your remarkable and exemplary endeavours for the spread of our beloved Cause. It has thrilled me and greatly reinforced my spirit and strength, yours is a memorable triumph, hardly surpassed in its significance in the annals of the Cause." In that same letter he asks her to ponder the advisability of approaching Her Majesty with the news of the Jahrum martyrdoms and possibly enlisting her sympathy in the cause of the Persian persecutions. That this consideration influenced the Queen in making her further courageous statements on the Faith there can be no doubt, as her letter to Shoghi Effendi indicates that this was the case. The news of this victory had reached Shoghi Effendi on the eve of the commemoration of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh in Bahji, at a time when, as he described it in one of his general letters, "...His sorrowing servants, had gathered round His beloved Shrine supplicating relief and deliverance for the down-trodden in Persia" and Shoghi Effendi goes on to say: "With bowed heads and grateful hearts we recognize in this glowing tribute which Royalty has thus paid to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh an epoch-making pronouncement destined to herald those stirring events which, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá has prophesied, shall in the fullness of time signalize the triumph of God's Holy Faith."

This marked the inception of a relationship not only with the Queen, but with other crowned heads and royalty in Europe on the part of Martha Root, and in a few instances of Shoghi Effendi himself. He not only greatly encouraged and guided her in these relationships but, always sincere in the human relationship, he nevertheless used these contacts to service the interests of the Cause through heightening its prestige in the eyes of the public and through seeing that they were pointedly brought to the attention of the enemies of the Faith.

Although Bahá'ís frequently refer to Queen Marie of Romania as "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith," Queen Marie's daughterPrincess Ileana of Romaniadisputes this claim:

"It is perfectly true that my mother, Queen Marie, did receive Miss Martha Root several times.....She came at the moment when we were undergoing very great family and national stress. At such a moment it was natural that we were receptive to any kind of spiritual message, but it is quite incorrect to say that my mother or any of us at any time contemplated becoming a member of the Baha’i faith."

While the Administrative Order publicly eschews involvement in partisan politics, it has no reservations about routinely using its media outlets to proudly tout unelected royal leaders who are Bahá'í.

For example, on February 19, 1968, Malietoa Tanumafili II, one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, became a Bahá'í.

Also, On April 24, 2017, the Bahá'í World News Service published a story about Djaouga Abdoulaye, who "became a Baha’i in the 1980s when the Faith initially came to Benin." The news report states that he was enthroned High Chief in July of 2016, assuming a "position of moral and customary authority for the approximately 100,000 Fulani living in the area."

While rare and not promoted in the media outlets of the Administrative Order, there have been Bahá'ís who have been elected to office, such as Ted Livingston, who was the first Bahá’í in the United States to be the mayor of a city when he was elected Mayor of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

September 28. On this date in 1941, a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer stated, regarding Spiritual Assemblies, that "These bodies have the sacred obligation to help, advise, protect and guide the believers in every way within their power when appealed to--indeed they were established just for the purpose of keeping order and unity and obedience to the law of God amongst the believers...You should go to them as a child would to its parents...."

 


September 28. On this date in 1941, a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer stated, regarding Spiritual Assemblies, that "These bodies have the sacred obligation to help, advise, protect and guide the believers in every way within their power when appealed to--indeed they were established just for the purpose of keeping order and unity and obedience to the law of God amongst the believers...You should go to them as a child would to its parents...."

9. Purpose of Spiritual Assemblies

"...These bodies have the sacred obligation to help, advise, protect and guide the believers in every way within their power when appealed to--indeed they were established just for the purpose of keeping order and unity and obedience to the law of God amongst the believers.

"You should go to them as a child would to its parents...."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, September 28, 1941: The Local Spiritual Assembly, compiled by the Universal House of Justice)

September 28. On this date in 1928, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Only through such supervision and control of all Bahá'í press activities can the friends hope to avoid confusion and misunderstanding in their own minds and in the mind of the general public whom they can reach through the press."

 


September 28. On this date in 1928, Shoghi Effendi wrote "Only through such supervision and control of all Bahá'í press activities can the friends hope to avoid confusion and misunderstanding in their own minds and in the mind of the general public whom they can reach through the press."

The matter of refuting attacks and criticisms directed against the Cause through the press is, he feels, one which devolves on the National Spiritual Assembly to consider. This body, whether directly or through the agency of its committees, should decide as to the advisability of answering any such attacks, and also should carefully examine and pass upon any statements which the friends wish to send to the press to this effect. Only through such supervision and control of all Bahá'í press activities can the friends hope to avoid confusion and misunderstanding in their own minds and in the mind of the general public whom they can reach through the press.

(In a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 28 September 1928 to an individual believer)

September 28. On this date in 1939, Martha Root died. Shoghi Effendi had called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century" and posthumously named her a Hand of the Cause. Martha Root had met with Queen Marie of Romania, who Bahá'í sources claim was "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith," although her daughter, Princess Ileana of Romania, disputes this claim.

 


September 28. On this date in 1939, Martha Root died. Shoghi Effendi had called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century" and posthumously named her a Hand of the Cause. Martha Root had met with Queen Marie of Romania, who Bahá'í sources claim was "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith," although her daughter, Princess Ileana of Romania, disputes this claim.

It is perfectly true that my mother, Queen Marie, did receive Miss Martha Root several times…..She came at the moment when we were undergoing very great family and national stress. At such a moment it was natural that we were receptive to any kind of spiritual message, but it is quite incorrect to say that my mother or any of us at any time contemplated becoming a member of the Baha’i faith.

As regards her travel teaching, Shoghi Effendi noted Martha Root's cooperation with Esperanto societies as "an excellent means of spreading the Cause."

Martha Root also authored a number of works, including one about Táhirih, titled Táhirih the Pure, wherein she notes...

The question of her returning to her husband arose, and this she absolutely refused to do. Try as they might, she would not consent to be reconciled with her husband, Mullá Muhammad. She gave as her reason: "He, in that he rejects God's religion, is unclean; between us there can be naught in common."

While the Administrative Order publicly eschews involvement in partisan politics, it has no reservations about routinely using its media outlets to proudly tout unelected royal leaders who are Bahá'í.

For example, on February 19, 1968, Malietoa Tanumafili II, one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, became a Bahá'í.

Also, On April 24, 2017, the Bahá'í World News Service published a story about Djaouga Abdoulaye, who "became a Baha’i in the 1980s when the Faith initially came to Benin." The news report states that he was enthroned High Chief in July of 2016, assuming a "position of moral and customary authority for the approximately 100,000 Fulani living in the area."

While rare and not promoted in the media outlets of the Administrative Order, there have been Bahá'ís who have been elected to office, such as Ted Livingston, who was the first Bahá’í in the United States to be the mayor of a city when he was elected Mayor of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

September 28. On this date in 2020, Douglas Martin, who served on the Universal House of Justice from 1993 until his retirement in 2005, died in Toronto, Canada. In 2000, Juan Cole wrote "A Brief History of Douglas Martin, Member, Universal House of Justice"

 


September 28. On this date in 2020, Douglas Martin, who served on the Universal House of Justice from 1993 until his retirement in 2005, died in Toronto, Canada. In 2000, Juan Cole wrote "A Brief History of Douglas Martin, Member, Universal House of Justice"

Douglas Martin was born in Ontario, Canada, on February 24, 1927, where he pursued a professional career as a consultant in advertising and public relations.

On February 28, 1988, Douglas Martin wrote a preface to the 1999 re-publishing of Shoghi Effendi's "Messages to Canada" which is a compilation of letters written to Canadian Bahá’ís from 1948 to 1957. 

Douglas Martin served on the NSA of Canada from 1960 to 1985, when he was appointed director-general of the Bahá’í International Community's Office of Public Information at the World Centre in Haifa. He served in that capacity until 1993 when he was elected to the Universal House of Justice where he served until retiring in 2005. 

Douglas Martin died on September 28, 2020.

In 2000, Juan Cole wrote "A Brief History of Douglas Martin, Member, Universal House of Justice"

A Brief History of Douglas Martin, Member, Universal House of Justice by Juan Cole, one of his victims 31 January 2000 Doug Martin told John Walbridge and several other Baha'is in the early 1980s that he viewed me as a covenant breaker. I was at the time a Baha'i in good standing, a former pioneer in Lebanon and Jordan, a travel teacher, studying at UCLA with the son of a Hand of the Cause. It is absolutely outrageous that he was making such charges then, but this is the way he has behaved all along. I presume that he confuses thinking creatively or academically with breaking the Baha'i covenant, an attitude that I think qualifies him as a fundamentalist, or perhaps even a cultist. 

This was at a time when he was powerful in the Association for Baha'i Studies and had read some of the materials I submitted to it, as well as corresponding with me about a particular issue. He gave a talk in Canada about the faith in which he advocated Israeli control of Jerusalem. Unbeknownst to him, this talk was taped by the conference organizers, who assumed it was his conference paper submission, and they typed it up and printed it in a book published in India. I discovered the book and wrote him a protest that he was involving the faith in politics in a big way. (The status of Jerusalem is still undetermined in international law). He explained that he had not intended for his remarks to be published. I now realize that he must have been petrified that I might use this incident to discredit him, since of course behind the scenes that is the way he himself has behaved throughout his entire Baha'i career. In fact, I let it go. He nursed a grudge against me thereafter. This Jerusalem talk was typical of the kind of fundamentalist "Zionism" he espouses, along with a lot of other wacky ideas like the world changing dramatically in the year 2000. (How will he backpedal about that?) There isn't much difference between his discourse and that of someone like Jerry Falwell. Note that like the rightwing "Christian Zionists," Martin actually does not mean the Jewish people particularly well, since he just wants to convert them to his religion. His "Zionism" is a use of them for his own, fundamentalist and apocalyptic purposes.

In fact, putting the Canadian clique of Martin, Hatcher and Danesh in charge of the Association for Baha'i Studies in the late 70s and through the 80s was clearly a strategic move on the part of some conservative House members of the time. That clique had no academic credentials in the humanities or social sciences and they so mismanaged the organization that they alienated from it most of the real academics and intellectuals. They provoked the resignation of the California regional committee of the ABS in the mid-80s, and when John Walbridge protested their policies Martin had him fired from the ABS board. When [Gerald] travelled around Europe and made up a directory of Baha'i scholars in Europe, he showed it to Martin, who harshly criticized him for taking the initiative and so hurt his feelings that he left the faith for ten years. 

Martin also wrote fierce editorials in the Canadian Baha'i newsletter in the mid-1980s viciously attacking Kalimat Press's Circle series of intellectual explorations of peace, gender equality, etc., for daring suggest that these were "Baha'i" views. As big Honcho in ABS he often rejected paper submissions for being insufficiently fundamentalist, and this happened to a number of bona fide Baha'i academics. He saw ABS as a way of controlling rather than nurturing "Baha'i Scholarship." In the late 1980s he had Abbas Amanat out to speak at an ABS convention in Canada. He was very pleasant to Abbas's face. But when Abbas left he conducted a kvetching session with the rightwing Baha'i fundamentalists in the audience who had been enraged by Abbas's academic talk. There is a Hindi-Urdu proverb that someone has a dagger hidden under their arm but keeps chanting the name of Ram in public. (Baghal men~ churi, mun~ men~ Ram Ram.) In 1990 or '91 Martin was brought to Haifa by his buddies on the UHJ to be a publicist for it, and this was read by the NSA members as a signal that the UHJ viewed him as electable to that body. He was also in a prominent position to subtly lobby NSAs. We heard from a Polish Baha'i that their NSA beseeched him for a reply to a Christian critique of the faith in the early '90s and he obliged. There was 9 votes, right there. The NSA members dutifully put him on in 1993, along with Farzam Arbab, who had been brought to the ITC. A shift occurred after 1983 in UHJ elections whereby only appointees of the House were thereafter elected, rather than the members coming from NSAs as had earlier been the practice. I cannot explain this shift except to say that as a social scientist it strikes me as likely to have been engineered behind the scenes rather than being an accident. Since most of the people appointed by the UHJ have been hardliners, this change has allowed arch-conservatives to capture the UHJ. 

In 1994-96 when talisman@indiana.edu started up, Martin, Arbab and Semple were constituted as a subcommittee of the UHJ charged with monitoring talisman and the Western Baha'i academics. In fact, of course, there was nothing in the slightest wrong with having a Baha'i discussion list or posting email messages on it. They viewed this as a crime in the making! They early on wanted to crack down on us, but were cautious about the possible backlash. By spring of 1996 they had decided to have us accused behind the scenes of breaking the covenant (which was, as they knew very well, ridiculous). Since this had been Martin's line since the early 1980s, it is likely to have been his idea. It was, of course, a disaster for the intellectual development of the faith, though since we really have the faith's best interests at heart it hasn't been as much a disaster as it could have been. 

The 1997 expulsion of Michael McKenny from the Canadian Baha'i community (apparently for the crime of holding enlightened views and speaking them on email) is almost certainly also the work of Martin, who has the Canada portfolio on the UHJ. 

So, behind the scenes, this man has played a very sinister role in making the administration of the faith inhospitable to intellectual and spiritual exploration of the sort Baha'u'llah clearly desired for us. He has taken what should have been an open-minded faith and made it a crucible for inquisition. Martin doesn't know a word of Arabic or Persian, and has a limited intellectual range. He has by his charisma managed to rise to a number of high offices and has employed double dealing, smear campaigns, behind the scenes threats, and blackballing to shape Baha'i culture in his own misshapen image. 

Now, of course, I regret, as a Baha'i, having to speak this way about a fellow Baha'i, but his behavior over 20 years has been so egregious as to leave me, in the end, no choice. However, I will say that he is not beyond redemption, as none of us are. It is not too late for him to reconsider, to repent, to begin actually playing the sort of positive role in Baha'i thinking that he has pretended in public to play for so long. His actions have profoundly damaged the Cause of Baha'u'llah. It can survive him, but does he really want that to be his epitaph? And my hand of friendship is waiting to be outstretched toward him, should I see that he has genuinely re-thought his past actions and wishes to make amends. It is his choice. 

cheers Juan 

[P.S. I attach some emails about Martin's activities that I have received through the years. A typical Baha'i apparatchik, stabbing people in the back and gathering power in his hands through subterfuge. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




To: "Juan Cole" jrcole@umich.edu

Subject: RE: infallibility 

Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:20:45

Dear Juan, 

Yes, the thought that Doug Martin [is infallible] would lead you to uncontrollable fits of laughter is understandable. 

What astounds me is the Zen-like humor of the Godhead. When the gentleman in question went from being the secretary of the Canadian NSA to the International Teaching committee, I thought that it was a question of "up and out". Boy, was I wrong! 

At one point I was informed that the only way to get anything on the agenda of the Canadian NSA was to go though Doug, I realized how screwed up things were. He effectively ran the Canadian Bahai community. His biases formed the policy of the Canadian NSA, whether the other members of the NSA were aware of it or not. Assemblies learned to approach him via assemblies that were for some odd reason, in favor. It was a subtle dynamic. However if an assembly really needed something done they had to approach an individual on certain other assemblies in order for these ideas to eventually be seen by Doug. 

Take care, 


At 04:14 PM 3/16/98 +0500, John Walbridge wrote: 

. . . Back in about 1982, [Gerald] was a young scholarship groupie . . . I remember doing Sufi dancing with among others him and Steve Scholl on the lawn of Green Acre. Anyway, he wanted to be involved with ABS scholarly activities. He went to Europe, traveled around, met all the aspiring scholars there, and wrote a very detailed report on Baha'i scholarly activity in Europe, telling what everybody was up to. I thought it was rather useful myself; it was the days before the European and American Baha'i academics had had very much contact. I still have a copy of it somewhere. 

He presented this thing to the ABS board, hoping for some thanks and I think seeing himself as a sort of contact person between the Europeans and Americans. Doug hit the roof, complaining loudly that no one had asked him to do that and making it clear that he should not speak until spoken too. There was some administrative principle at stake, although what it might have been, God only knows. I think a letter to that effect was probably sent to [Gerald]. It seemed churlish to me, since the report struck me as useful. Even if it wasn't, a politely hypocritical letter wouldn't have cost us anything. [Gerald] seems to have slunk away and soon after left the Faith for a good many years. He seems to have returned chastened . . .


Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 21:42:08 -0700 

Subject: Re: Files 

Yes, your reporter's [account] seems to be what I recall. I did not know all the details about who at ABS flipped out over his report. Danesh, Hatcher and Martin often seemed to be one-in-the-spirit and they loved to knock down any of us young upstarts who tried to do anything at all. My first Bahai interrogation came at their hands, when the NSA/ABS sent Hatcher to "chat" with me when I was at McGill. 

But, as I mentioned, I think [Gerald's] exodus was more complicated than just being upset with ABS. After all, he still had supporters among his peers who would have given him a clearing space to vent and be welcomed. . . . I suspect, but have no inside knowledge, that he felt that his academic prowess was suspect as well and so he left Baha'i studies circles for several years to focus on his music career. This led him to his marriage to a non-Baha'i and it seems that he only returned to Bahai after this marriage ended. 


Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 22:33:40 -0500 (EST) 

From: jwalbrid jwalbrid@indiana.edu

Subject: Re: Status Quo Ante Hardly 

I think I wrote up the events for my own benefit at the time, but I don't know where they are. What happened is this, to the best of my memory. 

I was appointed to the Board of ABS in 1980 as the first US representative. There were a number of problems with people in California, [T] notable among them. At any rate, the Board eventually decided to seize the nettle and set up a California committee consisting of {BP], [T], and the [B's]. The California committee then wanted to do a conference on Baha'i history, a touchy topic in the aftermath of the West LA Deepening Class and the defection of MacEoin. 

This caused a great deal of debate on the Board. What is worse, [BP] wanted to have an anti-nuclear peace conference--in effect, thinking up the Peace Message two years before the House of Justice did. The ABS Board was terrified of losing control in California--at least the Canadians were; I didn't much care. I made two trips to California, the second one at least with Doug Martin, to try to iron things out. 

After the second trip, we had a very tense Board meeting at which we ironed out a complicated compromise on how to handle the situation. At that time, I was living in Upper Michigan and had to take this grueling six-leg plane trips to get to and from the meetings in Ottawa, usually involving lost luggage, late or missed flights, or both. The meetings usually petered out on Sunday morning, so for once I decided I would leave at lunch. After lunch, Doug and Bill Hatcher decided to reopen the issue, and the decision was changed after I left in ways that everybody knew I would not have agreed with. I heard about it a couple of days later when I called the ABS office about something else. I was livid and demanded that the issue--whatever exactly it was--be reopened since such a decision should not have been made without consulting me. I heard nothing more, and called [the secretary] back a week or two later. "Oh," she said, "Doug talked to Firuz, and your NSA agrees with him." In fact, this was not true, but it was too late to do anything about it. The California regional committee was dissolved. 

There was an aftermath too. I called [the secretary] a month or two later about some routine item of business and asked her when the next Board meeting was scheduled for. "Don't you know?" she asked. "Your NSA has replaced you." I called Firuz, who was the secretary that year, and he said, "I'm very sorry. I had been meaning to call and tell you." 

When Hossain Danesh made his annual report to the ABS meeting that year, there was no mention of the California events or of me, for that matter . . .

john



Date: Sat, 22 Jun 1996 

Subject: Re: ABS California Committee Redux 

As I recall, the ABS Ex. Bd. was not satisfied with disbanding the committee. After the History Conference went forward under the aegis of the LA Assembly, they went to the US NSA and asked them to suppress the conference. The NSA, primarily I suspect out of a sense of territoriality (and also because there was no love lost between Doug Martin and Firuz Kazemzadeh), refused, saying that they saw no reason to intervene in the affairs of an LSA. Still, Firuz Kazemadeh declined an invitation to attend himself, while Danesh and Martin actively and publicly campagined against the conference. 

I believe that the "Central Committee," as I liked to call it, planned all of the regional conference for the first few years until the local committees had proven themselves. But they still might intervene to change the program. When I was invited to speak at a conference in the Northwest region in the 1980's, someone on the committee called me one day before the conference to say that my paper had been cancelled because of a reference to "Babi uprisings" in the introduction--I was informed in no uncertain terms that there were no Babi uprisings. Someone on the committee, it turned out, had complained to friends in Ottowa after the invitation (with a promise of airfare and accomodations) had been issued. Never mind that the term was not even in the shortened version of the paper that I planned to deliver there--somehow, because I would harbor such an idea, my ideas were tainted and therefore I shouldn't be allowed (let alone invited) to speak. After that I didn't see much point in participating in ABS, which I presume is precisely what the Central Committee wanted. 


Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 09:36:50 +0800 (HKT) 

Subject: Re: jilted and scorned 

On Mon, 16 Dec 1996, X wrote: 

The publishing thing seems to be a particularly ingrained bee in the bonnet for the US NSA. When George Ronald was founded (with Shoghi Effendi's 'connivance') the US NSA wrote to the British NSA and lectured them in very sharp terms about the unwisdom of permitting this and how they would never permit any publication of Baha'i materials that was not under their direct control. 

More than "connivance," GR was started with SE's encouragement and personal financial support--primarily, I gather, because the BPT was totally incompetent. The former manager of the BPT use to delight in tellling about how the US NSA tried to suppress GR at a time when Shoghi Effendi was so supportive of the endeavor. 

It is true that the publishing issue has been almost an obsession with the NSA, though I am not sure why. When a Baha'i in Oregon reprinted the Song Celestial in the 1960's he was told by the NSA that he could not distribute the book within the Baha'i community, although it had passed review. And the US NSA has made numerous attempts to control the distribution of Kalimat (and, I think 1 or 2 GR) books that they did not like, as did the Canadian NSA under Doug Martin. 


On Tuesday, 18 Feb 1997 I received a message reporting that on a BBC broadcast, Douglas Martin said that the proof of the truth or falsity of the Baha�is faith would be that universal peace would arrive by the year 2000. It was pointed out that since Martin�s faith seems to rest on such matters, he might be forced into apostasy by the next war. J


Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 

Re: Danesh resigns over sex charges 

On Tue, 1 Apr 1997, X wrote: 

Martin must have arranged the cushy Landegg position to get Danesh out >of the hot seat in Canada . . . The old boy network forgives anything >but sass. 

I was not aware there were three patients involved in this complaint; I thought there was only one (who was a Baha'i). Danesh was actually given an opportunity to give his version of these events at the Canadian Baha'i National Convention; his accuser received no such opportunity. 

[I have heard of an alleged] instance in which Danesh leaked confidential information gleaned from therapy sessions with a patient to the Baha'i World Centre personnel office (as a member of the NSA), which itself is a serious violation of professional ethics. 


Date: 01 Apr 97 11:48:39 BST 

Subject: Re: mischief 

There is little doubt that Martin set up Danesh with the Landegg job. You may also note that the UHJ have written letters in support of Danesh's crap Applied Spirituality course there. The problem is Landegg's programme. Notwithstanding the fact that he (and usually a family member) speak at EVERY course, there seem to be a liberal sprinking of NSA members invited to speak . . there were NSA members flown in from Brazil, America, Canada. He invited the whole of the UK NSA there a few months ago for a seminar on consultation. People less cynical than me may say that he is campaigning. 

Clever he is - to ingratiate himself further with Haifa, he invites family members . . . 


Date: Tue, 27 Aug 96 

Subject: house members 

I think Bill Hatcher is another one that was highlighted for membership [on the UHJ], but for the same reasons, delegates refused him. During the time of the peace statement, it became widely known that Hatcher, Martin and Kazemzadeh were the 3 persons who wrote that statement -- of course this info was leaked by Haifa itself. 

Hatcher is young enough that he might still make it, though its also widely known that he has heart problems. 


Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 

Subject: Impact of Talisman 

I don't think that there is any doubt that Talisman is having an impact. When X was in Haifa a few months ago, she questioned by two different House (Peter Kahn and Douglas Martin) about Talisman, and they particularly wanted to know how she and her twenty-something Baha'i peers viewed it . . . it is more of an indication about the state of the Baha'i Community than about the nature of the discussions. Talisman should not be a such a big issue, but the fact is it is. 


Date: 23 Aug 96

Subject: Snooping around

[I�ve heard that] someone on the House has asked Hussein Danesh to find out what you guys are up to, and in particular what the discussions on the Birkland matter were leading to on IRFAN.