Re: Can someone make sense out of this theologian thing for me?

Dearest Susan.

smaneck@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > If someone contradicts what is obviously correct, there is no point
> > abusing power to seek his expulsion from the community of his fellow
> > believers.
>
> They didn't. They just removed him from the rolls because if one
> rejects what is obviously the teachings, they aren't a Baha'i.

No one is in a position to insist authoritatively that there is "what
is obviously the teachings." If it was obvious, then deepened believers
would not be rejecting it. They might admit that they're having a hard
time living up to them, but they would concede that sobriety, for
example, is included in Baha'i teaching.

In fact, Baha'u'llah is quite a remarkable guy saying that the inner
reality he conveys, the great gift of the spirit he urges upon humans,
the illumined manner of life (prayer, fasting, charity) are all
personal and no one is allowed to meddle in the living of such a
spiritual life. The declaration of belief in the Manifestation of God
for this age, as Baha'is perceive their prophet, is open to anyone and
to none is given the authority to hinder the believer.

The statement about what is obvious Baha'i teaching is all the more
heart rending, inasmuch as the only teaching insisted upon by those
insisting on a single perception of Baha'i is that the guys calling
themselves the universal house of justice can do whatever they like,
erase the totality of the spiritual teaching of Baha'u'llah and erect a
self idolotrous cult in place of what was intended to be an example of
human harmony.

> > Really looks like fear to me, something incompatible with the reality
> > of the Universal House of Justice, at whatever time that institution
> > comes into existence.
>
> Nope. Just acknowledgement of Abdu'l-Baha's warnings about not letting
> the 'learned' make pronouncements in Islamic law which are contrary to
> the pronouncements of the Universal House of Justice.

There is no universal house of justice. There are no Baha'i clerics.
Anyone asserting clerical status encounters from the start the clear
teaching of the non-existence of clergy in Baha'i, as well as the clear
teaching that human harmony depends upon the free expression of the
diversity of views within Baha'i. Any proclamation by anyone is
invalid, if it contradicts these clear teachings. The proclaimers
remain Baha'is, if they so self identify. They just don't have the
authority to make proclamations, and certainly not to make
proclamations about the belief status of fellow Baha'is.

Thrice Three Blessings, Michael

.

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