"The light of men is Justice.
Quench it not with
the contrary winds of oppression
and tyranny."
--Baha'u'llah
"According to the direct and sacred command of God we are
forbidden to utter slander." --Abdu'l-Baha
Yahoo! Groups
Links of Conscience
Archives
Bahai Censorship
"If he exercises his anger and wrath against the
bloodthirsty tyrants who are
like ferocious beasts, it is very praiseworthy...."
Abdu'l-Baha, SAQ, 215
Psalm 35
Bahai Hate Mail, AOL, Etc.
Ex-Bahais, Recovery & Support
Religious Freedom & Liberty
Reform
Bahai Press
Seeks New Translations, Manuscripts
Disclaimer:
Given Abdu'l-Baha's respect for the individual's
conscience and the frequent lack of it in everyday Bahai
life, I must emphasize all ideas and opinions belong to
their authors and do not necessarily reflect my views.
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Created and maintained since May 8, 1998 by
Frederick Glaysher. Dedicated to the restoration of Abdu'l-Baha's
respect for free speech and conscience.
Wiki Bio - Frederick Glaysher
Indexed on Google
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do
it from religious conviction." Pascal, Penses #894.
Frederick Glaysher reflects on the cultural,
political, and religious history of Western and non-Western
civilizations, pondering the dilemmas of postmodernity, in a compelling
struggle for spiritual knowledge and truth. Fully cognizant of the
relativism and nihilism of modern life, Glaysher finds a deeper meaning
and purpose for the individual and the world community in the writings
and global vision of Baha’u’llah, as expressed in the Reform Bahai
Faith. Confronting the antinomies of the soul, grounded in the
dialectic, Glaysher charts a path beyond the postmodern desert.
JUST PUBLISHED:
April 15, 2008
Shoot the Messenger |
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"The shining spark
of truth cometh forth only after the clash of
differing opinions." --Abdu'l-Baha
Or what's the difference between
some of
the followers of
Muhammad
and those of Baha'u'llah?
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U.S. District Court Rules against Haifan Bahais:
April 23, 2008 -
Judge Amy St Eve, US
District Court of Northern Illinois
rules against Haifan Baha'is
in their Lawsuit against Other Bahai Denominations
January 7, 2008 -
Letters to Judge Amy St. Eve - Reform Bahai
Faith,
Response to the US
District Court Ruling
Nine Bahai
Denominations
Compare EXCERPTS from
Mirza Ahmad
Sohrab regarding the 1940 Lawsuit
Ruth White, EXCERPTS The Bahai
Organization the Enemy of the Bahai Religion? 1929. 22 pages. Discusses the
unauthenticated Will of Abdu'l-Baha. The foremost British
forensic expert of the day, Charles Ainsworth Mitchell, judged
it to be a fraud, writing to White on June 3, 1930, “A minute
comparison of the authenticated writing [of Abdu'l-Baha] with the
writing on every page of the alleged will....has failed to detect in any
part of the will the characteristics of the writing of Abdul Baha”
(from
White's Bahai Leads Out of the Labyrinth . 259. New York
: Universal Publishing Co., 1944).
"These are effectual and sufficient proofs
that the conscience of man is sacred
and to be respected; and that liberty thereof produces widening of
ideas, amendment of morals, improvement of conduct, disclosure of the
secrets of creation, and manifestation of the hidden verities of the
contingent world. Moreover, if interrogation of conscience, which is
one of the private possessions of the heart and the soul,
take place in this world, what further recompense remains
for man in the court of divine justice at the day of
general resurrection? Convictions and ideas are within
the scope of the comprehension of the King of kings, not
of kings; and soul and conscience are between the fingers
of control of the Lord of hearts, not of [His]
servants. So in the world of existence two persons unanimous in all
grades [of thought] and all beliefs cannot be found." --Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveler's
Narrative, 91.
"This is a goodly temple and
congregation, for--praise be to God!--this is a house of
worship [Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn on 16
June 1912] wherein conscientious opinion has free sway.
Every religion and every religious aspiration may be
freely voiced and expressed here. Just as in the world of
politics there is need for free thought, likewise in the
world of religion there should be the right of
unrestricted individual belief. Consider what a vast
difference exists between modern democracy and the old
forms of despotism. Under an autocratic government the
opinions of men are not free, and development is stifled,
whereas in a democracy, because thought and speech are
not restricted, the greatest progress is witnessed. It is
likewise true in the world of religion. When freedom of
conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech
prevail--that is to say, when every man according to his
own idealization may give expression to his
beliefs--development and growth are inevitable.
Therefore, this is a blessed church because its pulpit is
open to every religion, the ideals of which may be set
forth with openness and freedom." --Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of
Universal Peace, 197.
Newcomers might want to start here or with
Essential
Reading:
Shunning > Menu
Professor Juan Cole Surveys Bahai Censorship:
Assorted Controversial Documents & Issues:
Reposts
Talk.Religion.Bahai - Finally Passed on 3rd Vote Jan. 1999 - 218:
63
Early Reform Bahais
"Censorship is not wanted anywhere, especially in
the Bahai Cause; and if we allow it to retain the upper hand in the
great movement that has been entrusted to us, we will set ourselves up
before the world and in the face of history as false trustees, and as
men and women unworthy and unfit to call ourselves Bahais." --Mirza Ahmad
Sohrab. Broken Silence. The Story of Today's Struggle for Religious
Freedom. New York: Universal Publishing, 1942. 399.
EXCERPTS
Ruth White, EXCERPTS The Bahai
Organization the Enemy of the Bahai Religion? 1929. 22 pages. “A minute
comparison of the authenticated writing [of Abdu'l-Baha] with the
writing on every page of the alleged will....has failed to detect in any
part of the will the characteristics of the writing of Abdul Baha” (Dr.
C. Ainsworth Mitchell quoted in
White's Bahai Leads Out of the Labyrinth . 259. New York
: Universal Publishing Co., 1944).
Hermann Zimmer, A FRAUDULENT TESTAMENT Devalues the Bahai
Religion Into Political Shoghism. 1973.
freebahais.com
Synopsis of Hermann
Zimmer.
"Almighty God hath created the mind free.
All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or
burthens . . . are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion . . . No man shall be compelled to
frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or
shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious
opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess
and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of
religion." --Thomas Jefferson
"Few things have done more harm than the belief on the part of
individuals or groups (or tribes or states or nations or churches) that
he or she or they are in sole possession of the truth: especially about
how to live, what to be & do-& that those who differ from them
are not merely mistaken, but wicked or mad: & need restraining or suppressing. It is a terrible
and dangerous arrogance to believe that you alone are right: have a
magical eye which sees the truth: & that others cannot be right if
they disagree. ...the first people totalitarians destroy or silence are
men of ideas & free minds." --Isaiah Berlin
"I, too, had to face the savage personal attacks by my former
comrades that were designed to warn others to remain within the
fold." --David Horowitz, Radical Son
"The right to search for truth implies
also a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one
has recognized to be true." --Albert Einstein
"Unmeasured vituperation employed on the side of the prevailing
opinion really does deter people from professing contrary opinions and
from listening to those who profess them." --John Stuart Mill, On
Liberty (51-52).
"Just and moderate governments are everywhere quiet, everywhere
safe; but oppression raises ferments and makes men struggle to cast off
an uneasy and tyrannical yoke." --John Locke
"In the past Americans have always been dissenters. Americans
have never submitted for long to injustice."
--Robert Hayden, interview in World Order, reprinted in
Collected Prose, edited by Frederick Glaysher. University of
Michigan Press, 1984 (85).
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