57 STATEMENTS OF FACT
RELATED TO THE CONTINUING GUARDIAN****P
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Prefactory Note: In the fall of 1996, the newsgroup known as
soc.religion.bahai and run by members of the sans-Guardian Bah=E1'=ED
Faith carried a number of postings dealing with the Lesser Covenant of
Bah=E1'u'll=E1h. Franklin Schlatter, the secretary for the Mother
Bah=E1'=ED=
Council of the United States, managed to get two postings onto the
newsgroup, the first of which are the nineteen syllogisms located
elsewhere on this Home Page. The first posting challenged other
newsgroup participants to provide counter-syllogisms, but the
challenge was not taken up by anyone. Instead, others resorted to name-
calling and advised the newsgroup to avoid what Schlatter had written.
On 11 September, Schlatter's second posting to the newsgroup was
briefly disseminated and then it disappeared, apparently because the
statements of fact were more factual than the moderators could
countenance!
Some weeks later the moderators of the social.religion.bahai
newsgroup provided additional credence to such a position when they
changed the charter of the newsgroup so that Orthodox Bah=E1'=EDs were
precluded from providing to the newsgroup their perspective on the
continuing Guardian****p of the Faith.
What is given here is the posting that appeared and then,
within 24 hours, disappeared from the social.religion.bahai newsgroup.
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When an individual has been identified as a "Covenant-breaker" it
becomes very easy for those who maintain that they are within the
Covenant to resort to such emotional, opinion-molding devices as name-
calling, guilt by association, stereotyping, smokescreens, and
glittering generalities. And whether the person be a loyal follower of
the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice or an accused Covenant-
breaker, what gets lost in all the dialogue is that what, in fact, is
happening is that we are experiencing a difference in interpretation
of the writings, and only the Guardian of the Faith has the mandate
from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 to resolve such
differences. Thus, emotional appeals and/or condemnations become
counter-productive in whatever dialogue is developed.
I wonder, therefore: Is it possible for us to communicate our
views without resorting to name-calling and to reach some kind of
agreement regarding our disagreements--and especially our differences
in interpretation?
If communication (not necessarily "association") is possible, it
is clear that those engaged in the dialogue need to establish specific
points of agreement and disagreement. As an initial step in this
process I'd like for the members of this newsgroup to determine for
themselves the veracity or falsehood of each statement in the list of
statements that follows. (Call it a true-false test if you will, for
all each of us has to do is to identify whether each statement is true
or false.) Once you have completed this survey, I'd like to suggest
that you add your own *specific* facts to the list and share them via
the newsgroup. In this way, progress toward common understandings
might be achieved.
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1. In His Will and Testament 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 did not set any age
limitations on the one appointed as Guardian of the Faith.
2. In the third part of the Will and Testament 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not
refer to the Aghsan at all.
3. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not say that the
appointment of the Guardian's successor is to be done by means of a
will and testament.
4. In the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 it says that it is
"in***bent" upon the Guardian to appoint his successor "in his own
life-time" so "that differences not appear after his passing."
5. The English translation of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1's Will says that if the
Guardian's lineage is not "matched with a goodly character, then must
he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to
succeed him."
6. In the English translation of the Will and Testament that Shoghi
Effendi provided the believers, the "b" in the word "branch" is in the
lower case in the passage that is cited in statement #5.
7. The Will and Testament says that the Hands of the Faith "must elect
from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied
in the im****tant service in the work of the guardian of the Cause of
God."
8. The Will and Testament says these nine Hands (see #7) "must give
their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause
of God hath chosen as his successor."
9. During Shoghi Effendi's lifetime the Hands of the Faith did not
elect from their own number the nine Hands who, according to the Will
of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1, were to "give their assent to the choice of the one
whom the guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor."
10. Shoghi Effendi gave his interpretation regarding the provision in
the Will which calls for nine Hands to give their assent to the
Guardian's successor, when in the "Bah=E1'=ED News" of February 1955 he is
quoted as saying: "The statement in the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not
imply that the Hands of the Cause of God have been given the authority
to overrule the Guardian. 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 could not have provided for a
conflict of authority in the Faith."
11. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 says that the Hands of the
Faith are under the Guardian, that they are to obey his command, and
that the Guardian must "continually urge" the Hands "to strive and
endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse the sweet savors of
God, and to guide all the peoples of the world..."
12. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 says that the "guardian of
the Cause of God" is the "sacred head and the distinguished member for
life of that body"--meaning the Universal House of Justice.
13. 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 in His Will provides the Guardian with the power to
expel a member of the Universal House of Justice from that body if the
member should "commit a sin injurious to the common weal."
14. The Will of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not specifically give the power to
expel a member of the Universal House of Justice to any other person,
persons, or institution except the Guardian.
15.The Will of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not give the Universal House of
Justice the power to countermand the Guardian's appointment of his
successor, or even to investigate the processes by which the Guardian
chooses his successor.
16. At the time when 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 stated that the Guardian "is its
sacred head" the democratic element of the Universal House of Justice
had not been elected, so the provision of the Guardian being the
"sacred head" was not then in effect, and, thus, the provision, as
written, deals with a future relation****p between the Guardian and the
Universal House of Justice.
17. Because the Hands of the Faith during Shoghi Effendi's ministry
did not elect nine Hands "from their own number" who "shall at all
times be occupied in the im****tant services in the work of the
guardian of the Cause of God," that provision of the Will of 'Abdu'l-
Bah=E1 relating to the Hands' assent to the Guardian's choice of a
successor was not in effect prior to Shoghi Effendi's passing.
18. In Shoghi Effendi's January 9, 1951, cablegram to the National
Assemblies of the East and West, announcing the formation of the
International Bah=E1'=ED Council, the first word is "Proclaim."
19. In that January 9, 1951, cablegram Shoghi Effendi said that his
"historic decision" to establish the International Bah=E1'=ED Council at
that time was the "most significant milestone in the evolution of the
Administrative Order of the Faith of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h in the course of the
last thirty years".
20. In his January 9, 1951, cablegram Shoghi Effendi identified the
stages through which the International Bah=E1'=ED Council would evolve.
21. At no point in his January 9, 1951, cablegram does Shoghi Effendi
use the word "dissolve" in his description of the stages through which
the International Bah=E1'=ED council was to evolve.
22. In a message from the Hands in the Western Hemisphere in May of
1960, page four, they wrote: "All the other Hands of the Faith [except
Mason Remey] were entirely united that the International Council as an
'appointed' institution becomes dissolved when it becomes 'elective.'"
23. In a cablegram of March 2, 1951, Shoghi Effendi welcomed the
assistance of the newly-formed International Bah=E1'=ED Council, and
identified Mason Remey as its President.
24. In none of Shoghi Effendi's messages is there to be found the word
"tem****ary" to describe the position of President on the International
Bah=E1'=ED Council.
25. In their message from the Hands in the Western Hemisphere in May
of 1960, Hands of the Cause Grossman, True, and Sears write: "...the
'appointed' phase of which Mr. Remey was the tem****ary President,
would no longer even exist with the same identity after it was
democratically elected..."
26. Shoghi Effendi wrote: "That Bah=E1'u'll=E1h in His Book of Aqdas, and
later 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 in His Will--a do***ent which confirms, supplements
and correlates the provisions of the Aqdas--have set forth in their
entirety those essential elements for the constitution of the world
Bah=E1'=ED Commonwealth, no one who has read them will deny."
27. In his "The Dispensation of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h" Shoghi Effendi identifies
two components of the Universal House of Justice, "the democratic
election by the representatives of the faithful" and the "hereditary
authority" exercised by the Guardian of the Faith.
28. In his January 9, 1951, cablegram Shoghi Effendi stated that its
evolution into a Bah=E1'=ED Court was an "essential step."
29. In his cablegram of October 8, 1952, launching the world-embracing
ten-year crusade, Shoghi Effendi set for a goal "The establishment of
a Bah=E1'=ED Court in the Holy Land, preliminary to the emergence of the
Universal House of Justice."
30. The establishment of the Universal House of Justice in 1963 was
not a part of Shoghi Effendi's ten-year crusade goals.
31. In November of 1954 Shoghi Effendi stated that the raising of the
Archives Building on Mount Carmel would "herald the construction, in
the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of
several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats
of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardian****p, the Hands
of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice."
32. In November of 1957 Shoghi Effendi died.
33. In a message of the Hands of the Faith of November 25, 1957, the
Hands wrote: "The first effect of the realization that no successor to
Shoghi Effendi could have been appointed by him was to plunge the
Hands of the Cause into the very abyss of despair."
34. In the message of November 25, 1957, from the Hands they stated
that Shoghi Effendi "in his mysterious insight into the present and
future needs of the Bah=E1'=ED Community, called into being the
International Bah=E1'=ED Council and the company of twenty-seven Hands
with their Auxiliary Boards, whom in his final communication to the
Bah=E1'=EDs, he designated "Chief Stewards of the Embryonic World
Commonwealth of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h."
35. In a resolution adopted by the Hands in 1957 the Hands made the
following decision: "We nominate and appoint from our own number to
act on our behalf as the Custodians of the Bah=E1'=ED World Faith...[named
here are nine Hands] to exercise--subject to such directions and
decisions as may be given from time to time by us as the Chief
Stewards of the Bah=E1'=ED World Faith--all such functions, rights and
powers in succession to the Guardian of the Bah=E1'=ED Faith, His Eminence
the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, as are necessary to serve the
interests of the Bah=E1'=ED World Faith, and this until such time as the
Universal House of Justice, upon being duly established and elected in
conformity with the Sacred Writings of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h and the Will and
Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1, may otherwise determine."
36. Between 1957-1960 Mason Remey maintained a diary known as his
"Daily Observations" in which he repeatedly noted that the other Hands
of the Cause showed by their attitude that they did not want another
Guardian.
37. In his "Daily Observations" Mason Remey records that he attempted
to get the other Hands to reconsider their position that the
Guardian****p of the Faith had ended.
38. At Ridv=E1n 1960 Mason Remey issued a proclamation, stating that he
was the second Guardian on the basis of his having been identified by
Shoghi Effendi as the President, or head, of the International Bah=E1'=ED
Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice.
39. Following Mason Remey's proclamation, the other Hands of the Faith
labelled Mason Remey and his followers as Covenant Breakers.
40. The French National Spiritual Assembly in 1960 voted to accept
Mason Remey as the second Guardian of the Faith.
41. The Hands of the Faith as re****ted in the "Bah=E1'=ED News" of July
1960 "sent Hand of the Cause 'Abu'l Qasim Faizi to France as their
representative, with specific instructions to dissolve the National
Assembly and call for a new election."
42. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 has no provision within it
which states that the Hands of the Cause have authority over National
Spiritual Assemblies.
43. The Hands of the Faith, not the Guardian of the Cause, set the
election of the Universal House of Justice for 1963.
44. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 has no provision within it
for the Hands of the Cause to determine the election of a Universal
House of Justice.
45. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 has no provision within it
for the Hands of the Faith to consult with the Universal House of
Justice.
46. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not give the Hands a
position of authority over the Universal House of Justice.
47. Shoghi Effendi interpreted the meaning of the expression "This is
the day which will not be followed by night" in the "Bah=E1'=ED News" of
June, 1950 when he wrote:
"Once the mind and heart have grasped the fact that God guides men
through a Mouthpiece, a human being, a Prophet, infallible and
unerring, it is only a logical projection of this acceptance to also
accept the station of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 and the Guardians. The Guardians
are the evidence of the maturity of mankind in the sense that at long
last men have progressed to the point of having one world, and of
needing one world management for human affairs. In the spiritual realm
they have also reached the point where God could leave, in human hands
(i.e. the Guardians'), guided directly by the Bab and Bah=E1'u'll=E1h, as
the Master states in His Will, the affairs of His Faith for this
Dispensation. This is what is meant by 'this is the day which will not
be followed by night'. In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on
to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through, first the
Master, and then the Guardians. If a person can accept Bah=E1'u'll=E1h's
function, it should not present any difficulty to them to also accept
what He has ordained in a divinely guided individual in matters
pertaining to the Faith."
48. Prior to Shoghi Effendi's passing the accepted definition of a
Covenant Breaker was as given by John Ferraby in "All Things Made
New" (printed in 1960), p. 251: "These Covenant-breakers profess to
accept the teachings of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h but they turn away from the Centre
of the Cause--in the day of the Centre of the Covenant, 'Abdul-Bah=E1,
and in our day, the Guardian..."
49. Following Shoghi Effendi's passing and the assumption of control
of the Faith by the Hands and then by the sans-Guardian Universal
House of Justice,, the definition of a Covenant Breaker--as given in
John Ferraby's "All Things Made New", printed in 1975--became "These
Covenant-breakers profess to accept the teachings of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h but
they turn away from the central authority in the Cause to which all
must turn and thereby they deny what they profess to accept." (p. 252)
50. The qualifications for a believer during Shoghi Effendi's ministry
were spelled out by Shoghi Effendi in 1925 and included the proviso:
"loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved's sacred
Will."
51. The changes in the sans-Guardian Faith now make it impossible for
the followers of the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice to
adhere to every clause of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1.
52. Shoghi Effendi wrote in "The World Order of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h" that the
Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 and the Aqdas are "inseparable
parts of one complete unit". (p. 4)
53. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 does not specifically give
the Universal House of Justice the power to change the provisions of
the Will and Testament.
54. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 establishes that the Huquq,
the fixed money offering, is to be "offered through the guardian of
the Cause of God."
55. The sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice, to adapt to what it
considers new conditions in the Faith, has taken control of the Huquq.
56. The Huquq is not identified in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-
Bah=E1 as the "endowments dedicated to charity" that the sans-Guardian
Universal House of Justice on 7 December 1969 makes reference to when
claiming that the possibility of a break in the line of Guardians is
shown in that passage taken from the Kit=E1b-i-Aqdas.
57. Within the declaration statement to which Orthodox Bah=E1'=EDs
subscribe when they join the Faith are the following: "That 'Abdu'l-
Bah=E1, the eldest Son of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h, is the appointed Center of His
Covenant with the Bah=E1'=EDs, the sole Interpreter of His Holy Word, the
perfect Exemplar of the Faith and the Author of a divinely-conceived
Will and Testament whose immutable provisions constitute the Charter
of the World Order of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h for as long as His Dispensation
shall endure." -and- "That Shoghi Effendi was the first Guardian of
the Bah=E1'=ED Faith, appointed by 'Abdu'l-Bah=E1 in His Will and
Testament,=
the designated Interpreter of the revealed Word of Bah=E1'u'll=E1h, the
permanent and sacred head of the Universal House of Justice described
in that Testament and the one towards whom all Bah=E1'=EDs were enjoined
to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination in matters
of the Faith."
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I see all the statements in the preceding series as true. Where do we
differ?
Sincerely, Franklin D. Schlatter
obfusa@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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