Re: Our Interfaith Group

I am not sure consultation is a path to truth, but rather a way to be
guided (snip)
The Universal House of Justice might rule that every Baha'i must
wear an armband, and we would comply, but it is not truth.

In the realm of hypotheticals one can always construct untenable
scenarios and pass them off as actual possibilities. To even suggest
that the Universal House of Justice might rule that every Bahá'í
must wear an armband makes that Institution look frivolous and petty.

Let's test your theory. Instead of some made up absurdity,
let's actually examine something that the Universal House of Justice
"has" ruled that every Bahá'í must do? Then we can look at a
real life decision and see if it has truth in it.

"Over the course of three successive epochs now, the Bahá'í
community has laboured assiduously within the framework of the global
Plans issued by the House of Justice and has succeeded in establishing
a pattern of Bahá'í life that promotes the spiritual development of
the individual and channels the collective energies of is members
towards the spiritual revival of society. It has acquired the capacity
ro reach large numbers of receptive souls with the message, to confirm
them and to deepen their understanding of the essentials of the Faith
they have embraced. It has learned to translate the principle of
consultation enunciated by its Founder into an effective tool for
collective decision-making and to educate its members in its use. It
has devised programmes for the spiritual and moral education of its
younger members and has extended them not only to its own children and
junior youth but also to those of the wider community. With the pool
of talent at its disposition, it has created a rich body of literature,
which includes volumes in scores of languages that address both its own
needs and the interest of the general public. It has be come
increasingly involved in the affairs of society at large, undertaking a
host of projects of social and economic development. Particularly
since the opening of the fifth epoch in 2001, it has made significant
strides in multiplying its human resources through a programme of
training that reaches the grassroots of the community and has
discovered methods and instruments for establishing a sustainable
pattern of growth.
"It is in the context of the interplay of the forces described
here that the imperative of advancing the process of entry by troops
must be viewed. The Five Year Plan now opening requires that you
concentrate you energies on this process and ensure that the two
complimentary movements at its heart (expansion and consolidation) are
accelerated. This should be your dominant concern." Universal House
of Justice, Ridván 2006

I see a great deal of truth in the guidance that the Universal
House of Justice has given us--the truth that nothing of significance
can be achieved without unified effort; the truth that the Cause of God
is about more than just some nebulous personal benifit; the truth that
the Kingdom of God is beginning to take shape throughout the world; the
truth that the Universal House of Justice has its finger on the pulse
of humanity and is administering the Divine remedy brought by
Baha'u'llah."

"That which God hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of the world is the union of all
its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no
wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an
all-powerful, and inspired Physician. By My life! This is the truth,
and all else naught but error." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp
62-63

Carl Brehmer


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