Re: True Authority in the Bahá'í Faith

On Jan 25, 2:23 pm, Bob <RobertAr...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 25, 12:27 pm, Hasl...@xxxxxxx wrote:

Bob, I have every reason to believe that he was still in the process
of trying to produce an heir. No doubt, that is why he was making
comments in pilgrim's note up until a few months before he died. At
the time he was apparently in good health and his wife was still of
child-bearing age.

That's irrelevant. Every excuse made, for the lack of a successor,
basically amounts to blaming it on happenstance.

That might be okay were we not speaking about a supposedly divinely
ordained institution. "Whoops" just does not cut it when a key, "twin
pillar" institution goes poof. Shoghi already knew, or should have
known, that by happenstance, he could have died at any moment. With
the awesome responsibility assigned to him by the LW&T, he had an
ancillary duty of taking reasonable precautions should something
happen to him. A simple, provisional, "here's just in case" letter of
instruction was called for, at the very least.

Handwriting experts need not understand the language of a document to
analyze the handwriting.

Or the script in question? And your evidence for this is . . . ?

Almost any basic text on handwriting analysis. Remember, what we are
doing here is comparing things like slant, stroke length, and other
variables between two documents, one of which is of known authorship.
Very similar principles are used to detect artistic fraud in museums,
where no language at all is involved.



However, the entire matter is easily verifiable, should the keepers of
the document choose to settle the issue, by inviting independent
analysts to make their findings public.

I'm sure they would have had anyone with standing in the matter
challenged the authenticity of the Will in court. But those who had
standing, and the most to gain by challenging the Will did not do so
because they knew it was authentic. The Baha'i institutions are not
obliged to respond to every crackpot that comes along.

Calling people crackpots is not a valid response. The LW&T is a
critical, historic document, of central importance to the legitimacy
of the UHJ. It would be a simple matter to analyze the handwriting.

Ruth White was by no measure a crackpot, being a devotee of Abdul
Baha. Her writings concerning him would undoubtedly be mainstream
Baha'i literature had she not (because of her association with him),
doubted the authenticity of the LW&T.

In any case, the entire controversy surrounding Shoghi is a case study
in how it is that the "true believer" syndrome is capable of blinding
the adherents to the obvious. I hold little hope that, once
indoctrinated, or otherwise attached, a person can be dissuaded by the
evidence from "ignore-ance" of plain evidence.

Many a prospective Baha'i detects these numerous discrepancies in
Baha'i teachings, early on, and thereby avoids this syndrome. Some
others detect them far later in the process, and suffer a painful
disillusionment, but still effect an escape into the blessings of
truth.

TRB provides a valuable service to those who would rather investigate
the Baha'i religion than to accept the word of those who promote it.
That's why I post here.

Bob,

Good line about "escape into the blessings of truth."

I believe that Shoghi Effendi fulfilled his obligation to name his
successor during his lifetime. His successor was the International
Baha'i Council with Mason Remey as its sacred head. The UHG and the
Guardian - the twin pillars.

Shoghi Effendi obviously made a mistake by not being forthcoming on
the question of the Guardianship. He never claimed anything but a
human station --- i.e. prone to error. Quite honestly the whole
infallibility thing is really mostly smoke. The Guardian is only
infallible when interpreting the Writings. Of course, you cannot prove
the Guardian right or wrong about his interpretation of the Writings,
so infallible really means unquestioned or authoritative. Of course,
it may have been God's will to test the followers of Baha'u'llah and
Shoghi Effendi was perfectly right to keep the appointment of his
successor in plain view but without explanation. God only knows.

If the Will and Testament were proved a forgery, it would be a great
thing for the sans-Guardian UHJ, because then they could claim their
authority from Baha'u'llah and they could dispense with the
Guardianship with justification. Maybe you just gave them a great
idea.

Until I am proved wrong, I believe the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-
Baha is authentic and immutable.

Jeffrey
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Shoghi Effendi seems to think the Will and Testament is Bahaullahs
    ... surprising EMPHATIC LANGUAGE WITH WHICH THEY HAVE CLOTHED THE PROVISIONS OF THEIR WILL, COULD POSSIBLY SAFEGUARD THE FAITH for which they have both so gloriously labored all their lives. ... than obedience to a living Guardian under the provisions of The ... written in order to justify Abdu'l Baha's decision to change the provisions of Baha'u'llah's will, and alter the course of succession from Muhammad Ali to create a new form of leadership in the Guardian, and appoint his grandson Shoghi Effendi to that position. ... not have been the vehicle for appointing a successor, since the lauded book, the safeguard of the faith, the fruit of such glorius labor, in clear, emphatic language laid out the means by which Shoghi Effendi would appoint his successor to the Guardianship: he would provide the name of his nominee to a body of the hands of the Cause, who, in turn, would assent to the nomination. ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: hands of the cause
    ... did it ever occur to you that Shoghi Effendi who was ... in his 50's wouldnt likely appoint a man in his 80's to be HIS ... Their choice of successor is divinely guided ... Guardian of the Faith in the Will and Testament. ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Proofs Prophets and Covenants Excerpt 9
    ... ?He (the Guardian) feels it his duty to explain that the ... Shoghi Effendi, First Guardian of the Bahá?í Faith, ... `Abdu?l-Bahá Center of the Covenant ... Shoghi Effendi, Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi, p. 16. ...
    (talk.religion.bahai)
  • Re: Can we run with scissors since we are on usenet? (was: What did Shoghi Effendi mean when he said
    ... "im saying to you that we didnt have Shoghi Effendi in 1907 to TELL US ... Universal House of Justice should be established except him. ... about Shoghi Effendi, a Guardian, or to incorporate the first part of ...
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  • Re: What is there about "Everything" that you do not understand?
    ... The above statement by Shoghi Effendi is known to be a Pilgrim’s Note, ... passing even though they insist the Guardian himself never did so. ... It gets back to where the Power of God ... understood where to look for the Germ of guidance. ...
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