Re: True Authority in the Bahá'í Faith

Before you can validate the authority of Remey, you must first find a
way to validate the authority of Shoghi.

Shoghi had the clear and unambiguous responsibility of appointing a
successor in his own lifetime. He had PLENTY of time to address this
matter. He NEVER made it clear that he was appointing anyone to
succeed him as guardian. Only AFTER his death, and quite a bit after
it, did Remey make any public claim to the guardianship, based on
indirect interpretations of Shoghi's actions.

The very BEST excuse for either of these failures (of Shoghi and
Remey) admits (at the least!) of ghastly ineptitude and
irresponsibility in failing to fulfill what was ostensibly a divine
requirement, the requirement for succession, and the requirement for
it to allow for no reasonable challenge by pretenders.

The most LIKELY explanation is that there was never any divine
authority behind the guardianship to begin with. That likelihood is
supported by the never-verified, indeed refusal to verify, the
authenticity of the Last Will and Testament.

If the LW&T is a forgery, and Ruth White presented reasonable evidence
to support an investigation, then the whole house of cards collapses.

If it is NOT a forgery, then the inactions of Shoghi AND of Remey
still discredit any claim that the LW&T had divine authority.

None of this addresses the authenticity of Mirza Husayn Ali's claim to
be an equal of Jesus the Christ. That claim is adequately refuted by
the Bible.



On Jan 23, 3:20 pm, Dream Lover <dreamlo...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
1.  The IBC had zero administrative authority.  Look at the complete
list of tasks it was assigned
    * establish links with the Israeli authorities, and
    * negotiate with them concerning an establishing of a Bahá'í court
to deal with personal matters,
    * assist Shoghi Effendi to complete the superstructure of the
Shrine of the Báb
    * serve as an international Bahá'í secretariat.

In 1947 Authority over Haifa passed from a distant London to a much
closer Jerusalem, suddenly you had a very close, very involved
authority, this was one of the reasons the IBC was created.  It is the
first thing Shoghi Effendi mentions.  Look at the others, the second
one deals with Israel again, in 1951 Israel was talking of separate
religious courts.  The IBC was to take care of that.  Third one, help
build property, work with local contractors, etc.  The fourth,
communication.  That's it, no authority over any Institutions.

2. Mason Remey, president of the IBC.  In 1951 ALL Baha'i institutions
had presidents.  It was an elected office similar to the role of
chairman today.  The president of the US NSA was not elected for life,
the president of the LSA of New York was not a life appointment.
Shoghi Effendi never established a term of office for IBC members,
they all served at his will.  There is nothing unique about Mason
Remey's appointment.  We don't really know what Shoghi Effendi had in
mind as to how the UHJ would have worked in it's day-to-day business
but presumably the UHJ president would be the highest elected office
and second only to the Guardian himself.

It a shame in a way that the minutes of the IBC are locked away in the
archives, it would have been interesting to see how a meeting actually
functioned.  Since Shoghi Effendi was present they probably deferred
all authority to him.

This was the problem, when Shoghi Effendi died nobody had
administrative authority.  The nine Hands in the Holy Land had
authority to protect the succession and the Hands themselves had
authority to act on behalf of the Guardian so they did their best with
that.  The problem was that there was no one to pass the authority
to.  Since Baha'u'llah talked f the UHJ, Abdu'l Baha spoke of calling
it into being if He died in 1909, it was clear that in the absence of
a Guardian the only authority in the Faith is the UHJ.

It is not the first time the named authority changed.  Baha'u'llah
said that Muhhamad Ali
 was to succeed Abdu'l Baha *not* Shoghi Effendi.  The Aghsan were to
be honoured but in the end they turned out to be shifting sand and
their role lost.

On the other hand I believe that the UHJ does indeed have the
authority to name a Guardian if a successor isn't named.  It makes
sense but structurally and procedurally.  I believe that come the end
of the thousand years they will exercise the power in order to see the
next Manifestation of God.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A quick summary of the "99 Percenters" Stand...
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  • Re: The Guardian Paradox
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    (talk.religion.bahai)
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    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: Susan wrote: "Everyone is free to write the Universal House of Justice..."
    ... > hoping that the Hands wouldelect a Guardian in Conclave as the Cardinal ... and the Custodians may nominate one or more persons to act on ... So if indeed Mason Remey did have authority as a Guardian in afixing ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • It is impossible for any woman or man to accept Shoghi Effendis Guardianship without accepting the A
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    (talk.religion.bahai)