Re: Shoghi Effendi seems to think the Will and Testament is Baha'u'llah's

It seems even stranger to me in view of the fact that they claim their
guardian was appointed in a manner which was anything *but* explicit
and emphatic. In fact, they instead use the 'test' argument for its
*not* being so.

Dear Susan,

It is evident that you, and the countless others who follow the current
bogus UHJ, are all looking for specifically written words from Shoghi
to the effect of "... I, Shoghi Effendi, First Guardian of the Baha'i
Faith, do hereby appoint Mason Remey to be the Second Guardian of the
Baha'i Faith, in fulfilment of my obligation to the directives of
'Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament."

I would opine had he done that, there would still have been conflict
and confusion among the Hands in 1957. It is not likely that they would
have willingly conformed to any of Mason's directives at the time, and
would have done all in their power to prevent Mason from having the
audience and respect he deserved. And certainly today, there would be
those who support the contemporary arguments, that the appointment was
not valid since Mason was first of all, God forbid, an American.
Likewise he was not Aghsan, and the appointment was not validated by
the Hands (of whom there were no living Hands at the time of the
appointment to give such validation.) We would also learn from the
naysayers that Shoghi did not really mean what he wrote in his
appointment of Mason since he had not first appointed some Hands in
order that a very important part of the Will and Testament could
conform to their preconceived ideas. And the BIG ONE. Shoghi never had
a son. There are no doubt many other possibilities for their denial of
Mason, and other rocks would have been turned over in order to do so.

And all their attempts to discredit and deny Mason would probably have
resulted in some sort of man-made organization. It would not be
exactly the same as the current UHJ, but would have been some sort of
bogus organization. Actually, its duration may not have been until this
day, but who knows?

There are many lessons to be learned from this Most Tragic event in the
Faith's history, but one of the very important ones, which will need to
be understood in order for any progress to be gained, is that the Will
and Testament is a Divinly Conceived Document, and as such, it will
apply to the needs of the inhabitants of this Earth for each of the
countless years of its expected duration. It is a living document. With
that background there is no way that it will not ultimately be
completely fulfilled. We were instructed by both 'Abdu'l-Baha and
Shoghi Effendi that living things effloresce. The will, as a living
document, was in a process of efflorescence from its very beginnings,
from the time that Baha'u'llah's Mind conceived it, and a few years
later when 'Abdu'l-Baha penned it. That part of the Divine
Efflorescence did not happen over night, why should the believers
expect that the remainder of its unfoldment process would conclude
quickly?

It was not even a part of human awareness until after the moment of
'Abdu'l-Baha's death, although it had already existed within the Mind
of God for a period of time not even within the understanding of
humans. It had already "been" before we ever knew about it. And the
results, that of absolute conformation with the Will and Testament, are
a done deal as well. It has already "been." And no action of any humans
can change that.

I doubt that the believers thought much about efflorescenc in 1921, but
over the course of Shoghi's ministry, they should have paid attention
to the lessons of 'Abdul-Baha, and Shoghi's elucidations on those
lessons. It would seem that a lesson not yet learned is that the
efflorescence of the Will could only take many, many years of
unfoldment. As a result, all of the provisions of the Will could not be
fully manifested in an instant.

Understanding that, while finding somewhat of a disconnect with their
expectations, the next best thing for the seeker, and the only
God-given path to follow from 1957, would have to conform with the
Center of the Covenant at that time, through Shoghi's written words.
True, he did not use the specific words of my first paragraph in naming
his successor, but he did use words released over a period of years,
with instructions that had to be followed in order for the Sacred
Document to effloresce and be fulfilled. Those words are available for
all the world to see in his Messages to the Baha'i World, 1950-1957.
Why do the believers choose to ignore those words?

As a result of the outline given us by Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha and
Shoghi Effendi, and the human tendancy to ignore any part not
conforming to preconceived notions, time has more or less stood still
for any real progress in the Faith, as God and His Kingdom await the
time that humans finally believe and apply those instructions. In the
meantime, there will continue to be no real progress. However, at some
point in the future, there will be significant numbers of humans that
will believe those instructions. As they begin a quest to follow the
path from 1957, they will discover that lo and behold, the Institution
of the Living Guardianship is alive. It did not die with the death of
Shoghi Effendi. As they declare their allegience to the logic of that
path outlined in the Will and Testament, and its Irrestible Covenant,
progress will once again move forward toward the efflorescence of the
Administrative Order of that Covenant.

Sincerely,

David

.

Relevant Pages

  • A response to Hasl
    ... Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Cause of God, as a weak, ... Guardian without appointment. ... (Ruhiyyih Khanum, The Passing of Shoghi Effendi, p. 8) ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: Shoghi Effendi seems to think the Will and Testament is Bahaullahs
    ... to the appointment of Shoghi Effendi as first Guardian of the Baha'i ... Guardian of the Baha'i Faith as its "sacred head". ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: The Authority of Shoghi Effendi
    ... Shoghi Effendi never got around to doing that. ... >> House of Justice cannot be challenged by faithful Baha'is. ... >> Faithful Baha'is do not challenge that appointment. ... >> The website of the living Guardian of the Baha'i Faith: ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: MORAL RELATIVISM
    ... The Guardian made it clear that the Hands did not have the right to ... > appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. ... > ever vote on a true successor of Shoghi Effendi. ... appointment had indeed been made and that they might not all agree. ...
    (soc.religion.bahai)
  • Re: How the Guardianship passed on
    ... When he turned the "affairs of the Faith" over to Joel B. Marangella, ... the successor (Joel B Marangella the third Guardian of the ... appointment and at the same time, an assurance for the preservation of the ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)