Posted by Robert Stauffer on May 29, 2101 at 14:31:54:

In Reply to: Stop accusing the host posted by PatK on May 27, 2101 at 09:44:53:

In reply to posts by "Robert":

Since this is a private website owned by Jonah Winters, he has every right to delete any posts he wishes for any reason he wishes. He has deleted my posts on a number of occasions and I would not insist he place them up simply because I may think I have a better opinion or know better then he does. Would you deny him his civil right to publish what he wants? Or do you insist that publishers must publish everything that authors bring to them? We are free to make satatements on our own websites and Baha'is are perfectly free to view and comment such websites without any resulting commendation from the Faith's institutions or other Baha'is.

Baha'is do not follow Jonah as to what we can say or think and it is inaccurate to make such a claim. Every Baha'i is encouraged to follow the dictates of their own wisdom and not follow anyone individual Baha'i blindly and mindlessly as you allude with absolutely no proof. As everyone who knows the slightest thing about the Baha'i faith, that is a major tenet of the Faith, namely, "independent investigation of truth".

The claim that the Baha'is are a cult is unfounded. Are you trying to control the thoughts of a few of the ignorant by making such a wild and unfounded statement? Why should we believe in you? A Baha'i doesn't believe in following anyone just because they have a claim on the truth. We encourage people to investigate the truth for themselves and listen to every point of view.

Baha'is I have known are very happy and well adjusted people. They are from all walks of life and are trying to make the world a better place by following sane religious principles, not the kind of extreme cultish practices you allude to by the defintion you gave:

Baha'is are encouraged to associate with their families, people of all faiths and spectrums of society at large. We are not isolationists.

We don't believe in suicide (individual or mass).

Baha'is don't believe in the imminent end of the earth.

We don't believe in alien flying saucers coming to take us away.

We don't believe in immoderate religious practices and follow our consciences in everything we do.

We believe in making a livelihood by working, contrary to any allusion that Baha'is do not believe this.

Involvement with groups within the Baha'i Faith, giving to its Funds, and association of all kinds is completely voluntary be the individual Baha'i. No one is forced to marry against their will.

We believe in dependency and reliance upon God, not upon anyone else.

Anyone may leave the Baha'i Faith any time they wish. There is no compulsion to remain a Baha'i or become a Baha'i. This is left to the individual to seek.

The Baha'i Writings say nothing about communism other than that it is one of three false gods and an unacceptable way to bring about the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty. Baha'i do believe that voluntarily people of wealth should give of their wealth to aid the poor. Again, this is a voluntary matter. The Baha'i Writings are very clear about this.

The Baha'i Faith is a new religious dispensation, not a splinter from Islam in the same regard that Christianity is a new dispensation and not a Jewish cult. Scholars and renown people of thought for decades have affirmed this. Islamic courts have affirmed this.

Islam was the height of progressiveness during the European dark ages. Her fruits lead Europe out of the dark ages to an Enlightened Age. Ultimately, though, both civilizations lost most of their religious progressiveness, and over the centuries sank deeply into quarreling nation states at war or antagonistic with each other at one level or another. Baha'is would agree, both civlizations have espoused genocide, offensive warfare, racism, sectariansm and extremes of religious nationalism at the expense of religious truth and individual conscience and human rights.

To allude to the Baha'i Faith as espousing the corrupt ideas of the bankrupt leadership of both so-called Islamic and Christian nations of the past few centuries is, to say the least, ignorance of the intention and goal of the Baha'i teachings which to the contrary seek to remedy this situation.

I would suggest Robert read "The Promised Day is Come" by Shoghi Effendi.

Regards,

Robert Stauffer

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