Jeffrey,
Upon further reflection this morning, I would emphasize that
what is of concern is not vengance nor money but justice--
and defending the weak, the vulnerable, the uninformed,
the deceived, the simple, the trusting, the unsuspecting
from such trauma as many thousands, if not tens of thousands,
of American citizens have been subjected to in one way or
another by the spiritually sick and corrupt organization that has
imposed itself upon Baha'u'llah's Faith, subverting it into a fanatical
system of oppression almost beyond what the average person can
imagine, as recounted below in your own words in the court do***ents:
http://www.truebahai.com/court/obf-goldberg.pdf
"26. On May 27, 1997, my wife and I were declared to be covenant-breakers
and all of my friends in the Faith were instructed to shun me entirely and
never to have any contact with me or face the same expulsion themselves. A
true and correct copy of the NSA's letter of May 27, 1997, and the front
page
of The American Bahá'í for June 24, 1997, are attached as Exhibit 5).
27. My wife did not join the OBF at that time but she was also expelled
and
shunned because she refused to take my children and divorce me as they had
insisted she must.
28. The NSA organization claims that shunning us as covenant-breakers is
required to maintain the unity of the Faith. The OBF believe, on the other
hand, that unity in the Faith is achieved and maintained by obedience to
the
Center of the Cause, the living Guardian, and that a
covenant-breaker is one who rejects the authority of the Guardian.
29. Only one member of my former community, the Bahá'ís of Barrington,
Illinois, was willing to speak with me (Janice Franco). At first, I was
reluctant to tell Ms. Franco what I had learned because I did not want her
to face the same dilemma that I now faced. She insisted,
however, that I explain to her what I discovered. I then carefully
explained
the situation using only materials officially accepted by the NSA to show
her my belief that the Hands wrongfully usurped authority and that their
Universal House of Justice should have the Guardian as its head. Ms.
Franco
was declared to be a covenant-breaker and shunned after she dared to share
these arguments with the rest of the community. The other community
members
rejected these arguments after they were threatened by a representative of
the NSA's organization that they too would be shunned and cut off forever
from many of their friends and family unless they rejected these ideas and
shunned my family and I, and Ms. Franco.
30. Just before I had declared my acceptance of the Guardian****p, my
brother, who was not a Bahá'í at all, coincidentally became engaged to
marry
a believer under the NSA's organization.
31. I was not permitted to attend my brother's wedding, and my family
thereafter had to hold separate family functions so that I would not be
present at the same time as brother's wife who literally held the belief
that I was satanic and my breath was poisonous so that mere contact with
me
would be dangerous.
32. After the birth of my nephew, I was not allowed to see him at all, nor
does he even know of the existence of his uncle and the rest of my family.
33. My story is by no means unique. Many of my fellow believers within the
OBF re****t similar experiences. Juan Cole, a professor of modern Middle
East
and Southeastern Asian history for the History department of the
University
of Michigan has written about the fanatical shunning behavior exhibited by
the
NSA and its organization, characterizing it as "cultlike." Attached as
Exhibit 6
are emails written by Dr. Cole. Attached as Exhibit 7 is an article by Dr
Cole
detailing the shunning practices."
http://www.truebahai.com/court/
Related do***ents regarding nsa lawsuit in
2007 against the Orthodox Baha'i Faith
In a different context, Baha'u'llah wrote "crush the oppressor who
flourisheth with
the rod of the commandments of your Lord," addressing the leaders of the
United States. Admittedly referring to international conflict, he
nevertheless
allowed and presupposed there are times when force must be used for
the benefit of social order and preservation of the values of a humane
society. There are despots in this world who understand nothing but force.
The perverted organization of the Wilmette nsa and Haifan uhj has beyond
doubt demonstrated for many decades its toxic corruption to the body
politic and its own members for whom it has very little regard.
In my view, it would be a mistake to treat it in a manner better than it
deserves,
for it will only continue to malign and persecute other innocents if not
brought
to bar of justice under the full force of the law. The heavy burden
Baha'u'llah
places on secular and religious leaders is to understand the widsom that
there are times when they must "crush the oppressor who flourisheth," for
the common good.
If you didn't notice the sneering and contempt, I would say you either
missed it
or misread it.
--
The Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensor****p/
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