Posted by Stuart (65.92.107.208) on October 04, 2002 at 20:40:25:

In Reply to: Re: Baha'i scholarship is academically sound posted by Dawud on October 03, 2002 at 19:19:27:

"Finally, some mention should be made of the Baha'i authorities' reprehensible practice of opening their archives only to the extent that it is likely to further their goals." - Dawud

Let me see... Bahai goals are world peace, inclusion of all peoples, equality of men and women, wealth for all humanity (end of poverty, famine), compassion, understanding, generosity, forgiveness....

The extent to which I open my archives to further these goals is ??? "reprehensible"? And since you do not know what is in my archives and what I reveal furthers goals that are universally adopted in every charter of Human Rights and Freedoms extant, I am struggling to look more closely into my library for "reprehensible" documents that I am certain I have never seen.

Yes, there are pressures to conform = I recall Moses coming down the mountain with the tablets and finding his people worshiping the golden calf and celebrating with wine and fornication. In a rage, he broke the sacred tablets and displayed an understandle degree of anger. A religion so young, that a few days away from his flock and they reverted to paganism, hedonism, idolotry... from whence they came.

There is no religion, old or young, that does not censor, censure, pressure, excommunicate, or otherwise sanction those who join it and break its sanctity. The idea that there are sanctions for "sin" is no different than punishment for crime. To say, ahah!, Baha'is are to be criticized or doubted because they sanction those who break their own religious laws, is a multi-septered oxymoron.

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