Posted by Misagh (47.248.0.41) on November 30, 2002 at 22:35:04:

In Reply to: Re: First and last public response to Stuart posted by SG on November 30, 2002 at 18:46:03:

Hello,

I dunno if I should add anything here, but what the heck. I'm a head-strong, wild and crazy guy by nature, so here goes:

i'd like to post some quotes, quotes that I hope will be thought provoking for everyone, not only on this Board, not only in the Baha'i community, but for everyone who may have the bounty of coming upon them:

"A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding." - Baha'u'llah

"'Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.'" - Baha'u'llah

OK, there are so many references in the Writings to the need for love, compassion, understanding, patience, and humility amongst the peoples of the world, but most importantly the people of Baha. So, I won't post them all here (even though I originally intended to post lots and lots of quotes... :) )

I personally don't think it's any one person's place to decide (outside of considerations of integrity of the Covanent, loss of voting rights, administrative issues such as those... itself a big can of worms... which, by the way, are not individual decisions but group decisions) if anyone else is a good Baha'i, a bad Baha'i, or whatever. When one decides to believe in Baha'u'llah and try their best to follow His teachings, one is bound to slip up, fall down, twirl around in circles, etc. This is the struggle... this is life. We will all, without exception and without fail, screw up at least once in our lives. That's simply because we aren't perfect.

Wouldn't it be great if we, as Baha'is, could encourage our fellow believers, keeping in mind the quotes above and the quotes repleat in the Holy Writ, and help each other along in the spiritual journey?

Another principle that just flashed in my mind is that of protecting the Faith. We are told that to rise up and defend the Faith against external attack (not through the sword, preferably through the pen) is a noble thing to do. And when it comes to internal matters, indeed, when someone is thought to be damaging the good name of the Faith, the administrative order (brought to us by Baha'u'llah Himself, enlarged and buttressed via the Covanent) has the responsibility of dealing with this situation. But, another thing to think about is that the Faith doesn't really need us to defend it from falling apart. What I mean by that is that God has ordained this Faith to be the world religion for a new civilization. Ergo, it will last, it will succeed, and it will bring about the Kingdom of God on earth, essentially whether we like it or not. I don't think it's the place of individual Baha'is to take it upon themselves to cleanse the Faith from internal difficulties. If one has beef with something happening from within the Baha'i community, bring up the topic through the appropriate channels and then pray and leave it all in the hands of God and his Covanent (which is in place to deal with these things).

If I've totally missed the mark on any issue (esp. above regarding responsibilities when faced with external vs. internal attack) please lemme know.

If we are told that even the worst Covanent Breakers will not only not hurt the Faith, but help in its spread and in bringing it to its full glory, then I don't see how a few comments on this bulletin board will do any lasting harm to the Faith of God.

I know, easy for me to say... indeed, many people read this stuff, and many people start to form opinions... *sigh*, the internet is a new medium, and we are still learning to use it effectively and maturely...

Stuart, I feel stupid saying this, because I know the contrary is true, but don't let the doings or sayings of Baha'is phase you too much. I wish I wasn't the world's biggest hippocrit, because perhaps then I would take my own advice and not let the pain I feel when I see what I feel to be wrong, affect me so much.

I hope I haven't offended you or embarrased you in any way Stuart, or anyone out there. Stuart, you know I love you man, and from what I've read, you welcome replies to your postings... so i'm pretty sure i haven't offended you or anything. but if i have, I'M SORRY!!!

anywho, that's enuf of me. you're all probably going blind from having to read all of this, and it's 11:35 pm here and I need some serious zzz's...

g'night!

this topic is closed - post at bahai-library.com/forum