A FRAUDULENT TESTAMENT Part-10

Chapter 11.

 

XI. HUMANITY RENEWED BY RELIGION CREATES A NEW SOCIETY AS A
FOUNDATION FOR A NEW WORLD.

Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha have brought into relief a new man, and a new world order resulting therefrom. "For If the charactar of mankind be not changed, the futility of God's universal Manifestations would be apparent." ³⁰⁵ Here the teachings of the founders of the Bahai religion and the teachings of Jesus meet. Kurt Hutten is completely right in saying that a better future is only possible "if the Bahai religion and the men in it can move .. . pulling up the roots of selfseeking, of jealousy, of greediness, of the quest for power etc. out of the hearts of men. A sound world order presupposes sound men."³⁰⁶ The Bab, Baha'u'llah, and Abdul Baha, were the models of these sound men In our time, as Mohammed and Jesus were in their times. And this model was so strong that at the burial of Abdul Baha in Haifa on the slope of Carmel (1921) with the believers, approximately 10,000 Mohammedans, Christians, and Jews followed his casket and "consoled each other". His personality made It possible to tear down all barriers between religions and confessions. His life was tha realization of the teachings of Baha'u'llah united with those of Jesus and Mohammed. Without the realization of the teachings of this Manifestation the world has no chance to have a better future. But if the Will of God penetrates through his prophets into the hearts of men and changes them, then we have the basis capable of forming a New World, which men will easily accomplish with the teachings of Baha'u'llah, which in the meantime will have become intellectual public property.

---

305.  Baha'ullah, The Book of Certitude, 1970, p. 240 f.
306.  Deutaches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt". Nr. 43, October, 1968

Chapter 12.
 
EPILOGUE

The single reaction of the Bahai Administration to the preceding text might be that they promote me to the status of "enemy of the Bahai religion" without presenting a single proof for this. In 1964 I was recognized in the (private) "Bahai Nachrichten", of October 16, Vol. 12 as a "covenant-breaker" because I had independently spoken in smaller and larger cities in southern and northern Germany about "the Return of Christ" in Baha'u'llah. In this connection I had only made the remark about the Bahai Organization that we should "come to an understanding". At that time, I myself still believed In a "modus vivendi" with the "recognized Bahais" until I was labelled as above. I could not be excommunicated, because I had never belonged to the Bahai Organization, as I was a member of the former Welt-Union-Bahai and the group around Wilhelm Herrigel. Now I was in the best company, namely in that of Ruth White and Ahmad Sohrab. The latter was designated at his death in 1958 as an "unyielding enemy of the organization", Mrs. White twenty years earlier as a "besotted woman", despite the fact that these two had been excellent fighters for the Cause of Baha'ullah and Abdul Baha. From this moment on I read Sohrab's Broken Silence and Ruth White's Abdul Baha's Questioned Will and Testament 1946 as well as Shoghi's publications and the totally modern Bahai literature. Because my mind would no longer be so manageable, as I grew older and the service as teacher left one with too little time and strength to be able to pursue these not-so-simple questions intensively, I took advantage of the first opportunity to retire.

Exactly at this time, a popular scientific book came into my hands: G. Prause's "Niemand hat Kolumbus ausgelacht", 1966, (No One Had The Last Laugh Over Columbus) in which "the forgeries and legends of history were set right". A page of this book was devoted to the "Constantinian Grant", and this strengthened my Intention to study this old falsification somewhat more closely.

With this I came to the not at all surprising conclusion of a great similarity between the two falsifications. By intensive reading of the alleged testament of Abdul Baha and the simultaneous study of Shoghi's God Passes By I came upon several similar turns of speech. As I systematically opened these up and categorized them, I obtained the Interesting list of almost Identical linguistic phrases.

My brochure published In 1950 Die Wlederkunft Christi, von der die Prophezeiungen sprechen... (The Return of Christ, of Which the Prophecies Speak...), proves that I am no enemy of the Bahai Cause. In it, I took pains to point out the historical bonds between the religion of Christ and the Bahai religion in the nineteenth century. The former member of the "National Spiritual Assembly of Bahai in Germany and Austria" and member of the "Spiritual Assembly of Bahais of Stuttgart", A. Spieth, a colleague, whom I did not know personally at all, assured me In a letter that this representation of the Bahai teachings was "in order". The problem of the alleged testament of Abdul Baha, of the Guardianship and of the Bahai organization were not broached by me at all. After more than eight years' absence in the army and as a POW, I returned home only in 1948 and ended my brochure with the death of Abdul Baha in 1921. The difference in time was too small and — what is still more determining — the necessary literature was not available at that time.

So to whomever now still maintains that I am an enemy of the Bahai religion, I would like to say that in 1937 shortly after the prohibition of the Bahai religion by the Gestapo,  I attempted to request the removal of this ban with the leader of the SS Heinrich Himmler, Boss of the Gestapo in Berlin. In order to lend greater pressure to my written attempt, I went myself to Berlin during my summer vacation in order to speak to the one in charge of the Gestapo. He asked me only one question, "Who gave you the money to travel to Berlin?" When I told him the truth, that I had worked overtime to furnish the money for it, he wanted to know nothing else. Because he could not permit the non-organization Bahais a lifting of the ban of assembly for reasons of principles, I asked him lastly about a time for a renewed discussion about a possible lifting of the ban. He told me I should come back in two years; that would have been in August, 1939. However, there was war in the air by that time, so I did not return to Berlin. My Bahai friends had warned me in 1937 not to travel to Berlin with the words, "You will be put into a concentration camp!" I had only replied to that, "Then I will just be put in a concentration camp."

To whoever further maintains that I am an enemy of the Bahai Religion, I would like to ask one last question: What have you done to get the Bahai religion on the right track? The employees paid by the Bahai Administration, the Hands of the Cause, the secretaries or publishers of all the periodicals are not addressed here. They all sing the song of the one who pays them! Ruth White paid for her critical works herself, Ahmad Sohrab published his criticism of the development of the Bahai religion himself only after the disgraceful trial against him and his employer Mrs. Chanler, who offered her complete means to give the Bahai religion a better start in the USA. Whether my presentation leads the Bahai religion out of its blind alley, I cannot say. Such great organizalions have their own laws, even if there were not "twenty million Bahais" in the world, but perhaps only two million.


Chapter 13.


PRINTS BY PHOTOCOPY - MIMEOGRAPH

As I have already mentioned elsewhere, the Bahai Administration has found it useful to allow critical literature from the Free Bahai group to disappear. Should you not find the books of Ruth White or Ahmad Sohrab in public libraries, prints by photocopy-mimeograph can be forwarded when an enclosure of a postal reply-coupon or Its equivalent in stamps and your exact address are added. Prints:

1. What Mrs. White has to say about the destiny of her check for $US 500.- made out to Abdul Baha (Abbas Effendi) (p. 204f.).

2. Photocopy of this check with the signature of its casher Sh. Effendi, the later Guardian Shoghi (Effendi) Rabbani. (between p. 204 and p. 205).

3. The report of the handwriting expert Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, Colleague of the British Museum in London and publisher of the periodical "The Analyst", about the comparison of the photocopies of the authentic handwriting investigations of Abdul Baha of June 3, 1930 in Ruth White, Abdul Baha's Alleged Will is Fraudulent, an appendix to The Bahai Religion and its enemy... 1930, Rutland, Vermont, p. 14-17.

4.The verdicts printed in American newspapers about the trial by the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahai in the USA and Canada as well as the Spiritual Assembly of Bahai of New York in New York against the New History Society (Free Bahais) under  Mrs. Julie Chanler and Ahmad Sohrab, former secretary to Abdul Baha from 1912-1919. The Bahai Administration lost the first case. Published verdict in "New York Herald Tribune" of April 2, 1941 and in "New York World Telegram" of April 1, 1941. The Bahai Administration also lost the appeal. Published verdict in the "New York World Telegram" of June 19, 1941, in "New York Herald Tribune" of June 20, 1941, and in the "New York Law Journal" of June 19, 1941. The photocopies come from Sohrab, Broken Silence, New York 1942, p. 196, 197 and p. 258.

5. The excommunication of half of the extended family of Abdul Baha by Shoghi Effendi in telegrams of the Guardian of November and December 1941 with his reasons,  taken from Sohrab, Abdul Baha's Grandson (Ruhi Afnan) New York, 1943, pp. 22-29.

6. Brochure Die Wiederkunft Christi, von der die Prophezeiun-gen sprechen..." by Hermann Zimmer, Waiblingen, 1950.

Chapter 14.

 

ABBREVIATIONS OF BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shoghi Effendi
WOB	World Order of Bahau'llah	New York 1938
GPB	God Passes By	Wilmette 1970
Promised Day	The Promised Day Is Come	Wilmette 1967
Ruhiyyih Khanum
Guardianship	Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship	Wilmette 1948
Passing	The Passing of Shoghi Effendi	London 1958
(Allegedly) Abdul Baha
W.& T.	Will and Testament of Abdul Baha	Wilmette 1971
Esslemont
New Era	Baha'u'llah and the New Era	1923/1970
Hofman
Commentary	A Commentary on the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha	Oxford 1955
White
Bahai Religion	The Bahai Religion and its Enemy the Bahai Organization	Rutland 1929
Ahmad Sohrab
Silence	Broken Silence	New York 1942
Grandson	Abdul Baha's Grandson (Ruhi Effendi Afnan)	New York 1943
Will	The Wll and Testament of Abdul Baha, an Analysis	New York 1944
Bahai Publishing Committee
Bahai	The Covenant and Administration German-Swiss Edition: Bahai, Das Bundnis und die Verwaltungsordnung	Switzerland 1959
RGG	Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Handworterbuch fur Theologie und Religionswissenschaften	1929/1959
"SdW"	Sonne der Wahrheit	Stuttgart 1921-1953
"BN"	Bahai Nachrichten

Chapter 15.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baha'u'llah
The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, Haifa 1967
The Book of Certitude, Wilmette 1970
Three Tablets of Baha'u'llah, Chicago 1918   
The Seven Valleys, Translated by Ali Kuli Khan, Chicago 1906   
The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, Translated by Ali Kuli Khan, New York 1936
L'Oeuvre de Baha'u'llah: Les Sept Valees du Voyage Vers Dieu.Traduction    Francaise par Hippolyte Dreyfus, Paris 1923   
Sieben Taler. Deutsch von Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Stuttgart 1950   
Sieben Taler - Vier Taler, Frankfurt 1963
Edward G. Browne  
A Traveller's Narrative, New York 1930

Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha    
Bahai Scriptures, New York 1928   
Bahai World Faith, Wilmette 1971 

Abdul Baha
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Vol. I, Chicago 1922
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Vol. II, Chicago 1925
Tablets I, New York 1930
Tablets II, Chicago 1919
An die Zentralorganisation  fur einen dauerhaften Frieden, Den Haag, 1919, Frankfurt/M.1948 und Frankfurt/M. 1968
Bahai Publishing Society    

Abdul Baha in London, Chicago 1921
(Allegedly) Abdul Baha - Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, Wilmette 1971
Alfred Diebold

Erlauterungen zum Testament Abdul Bahas, Stuttgart 1930, mim.
David Hofman   

A Commentary on the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, Oxford 1955
Thornton Chase     

In Galilee, Chicago 1921
Bahai Revelation, German Translation 1925, Excerpt: "Zweck und Ziel der
Bahai-Offenbarung", Waiblingen 1962
Shoghi Effendi    

The World Order of Baha'u'llah, New York 1938
The Promised Day is Come, Wilmette 1967
The Advent of Divine Justice, Wilmette 1969
God Passes By, Wilmette 1970
Bahai Administration, Wilmette 1968   
Citadel of Faith, Wilmette 1970   
Messages to the Bahai World, Wilmette 1971   
The Faith of Balia'u'llah, Wilmette 1971
Der Bahai-Glaube -1844-1952, Frankfurt 1956
Messages To America, Wilmette 1947

Marcus Bach     
Shoghi Effendi, An Appreciation, New York 1958

Ruhiyyih Khanum    
Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship, Wilmette 1946   
The Priceless Pearl, London 1969

Ruhiyyih/Ferraby
The Passing of Shoghi Effendi, London 1958

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the United States     Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, Wilmette 1969

J. E. Esslemont   
Baha'u'llah and the New Era, London 1923   
Baha'u'llah and the New Era, Wilmette 1970   
Baha'u'llah und das Neue Zeitalter,   
Verlag des deutschen Bahai-Bundes, Stuttgart 1927
Baha'u'llah und das Neue Zeitalter, Stuttgart 1927
Baha'u'llah und das Neue Zeilalter, Frankfurt 1963
Baha'u'llah und Das Neua Zeitalter, Oberkalbach 1972

Ruth White   
Abdul Baha and the Promised Age, New York 1927
The Bahai Religion and Its Enemy, The Bahai Organization, Rutland 1929
Abdul Baha's Alleged Will Is Fraudulent, Rutland 1930
Abdul Baha's Questioned Will And Testament, Beverly Hills 1946
Correspondence between lhe High Commissionerof Palestine and Ruth White
concerning the alleged Testament of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas, March 1932, German translation, Stuttgart, mimeographed

Ahmad Sohrab   
Abdul Baha In Egypt, New York 1929   
Broken Silence, New York 1942
Abdul Baha's Grandson (Ruhi Effendi Afnan), New York 1943
The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, An Analysis, New York 1944

Bahai Publishing Committee    
Principles of the Bahai Faith, edited before 1939

Bahai Publishing Trust    
The Covenant and Administration, Wilmette 1971

William Sears    
Thief in the Night, London 1971

G. Townshend    
Christ and Baha'u'llah, Wilmette 1971
Lady Blomfield    
The Chosen Highway, Wilmette 1967
Hushmand Sabet   
Der gespaltene Himmel (The Divided Heaven),Stuttgart 1967

Hermann Grossmann
Das Bundnis Gottes in der Olfenbarungsreligion, Frankfurt 1956

G. Rosenkranz   
Die Bahai, Stuttgart 1949

Kurt Hutten   
Seher, Grubler, Enthusiasten, Stuttgart 1958

Hermann Zimmer   
Die Wiederkunft Christi, von der die Prophezeiungen sprechen ..., Waiblingen 1950      
"Sonne derW ahrheit", Organ des Deutschen Bahai-Bundes Stuttgart
"Bahai-Nachrichten des Nationalen Geistigen Rates dar Bahai in Deutschland"
"Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt", Hannover
"Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", Frankfurt/M.
 "Stuttgarter Zeitung", Stuttgart
Ruhi Afnan, Sekretar Shoghi Effendis von 1922-1936, to Alfred Diebold, Letter of March 12, 1930
Alfred Diebold an die Bahai-Freunde, Letter of May 28, 1930, mimeographed
Adolf Spieth an Frau Luise Zimmer, Letter of  March 1955

Udo Schafer   
Die MiBverstandene Religion, Frankfurt/M. 1968 `   
Die Grundlagen der "Verwaltungsordnung" der Bahai, Heidelberg 1957, Dissertation

Rudolf Jockel   
Die Lehren der Bahai-Religion, Tubingen 1952, Dissertation

Oswald Spongier   
Untergang des Abendlandes, Vol. II, Munchen 1922

Rossler/Franz   
Sachworterbuch zur Deutschen Geschicihte, 1958

Johannes Haller    
Das Papsttum 1934/1950    
Nikolaus 1. und Pseudo-lsidor, 1936

Johannes DoIIinger   
Die Papstfabein des Mittelalters, 1890

Macchiavelli   
Fischer Bucherei 1956

Helmut Lupke   
Historische Falschungen als Werkzeug der Polltik, Berlin 1939

H. Brunner   
Das "Constitutum Constantini" in 'Festgabe fur R. v. Gneist' 1888

Max Buchner   
Die Areopagitika des Abtes Hilduin von St. Denis . . .   
Studien zur FalsChungstechnik am Vorabend der Entstehung der Pseudo-lsidorischen  Dekretalen. 1939

G. Prause   
Niemand hat Kolumbus ausgelacht, Dusseldorf 1966

F. v. Schiller   
"Wallensteins Tod" 1/3Martin Luthers sammtiiche Werke, Erlanger Ausgabe 1830, Vol. 25 -Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche, 1961
Realenzyklopadie fur Protestantische Theologie, 1902 .
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Handworterbuch fur Theologie und Religionswissenschaften 1929/1959
The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English Oxford 1952
Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary 1971

A FRAUDULENT TESTAMENT Part-9

Chapter 10.

 

X. THE BAHAI RELIGION IS ALTERED TO FUNCTION AS "SHOGHISM"

What today is presented as Bahai Religion is in truth, "Shoghism" — Shoghism, the supposed Bahai Religion, as practiced today — Censorship, prohibition of political activity and excommunication are not milestones for a new world order.

What is taught today by the Bahai Administration, the teachings of Shoghi plus the administrative fiddle-faddle is not the Bahai religion, but "Shoghism". All the alterations of the Bahai religion can be classified under this concept: the forged testament with Guardian and Guardianship and his position at the summit of the "World Parliament"; his "bodyguard" (the "Hands of the Cause"); the money offerings, named "Right of God", which must pass through the Guardian to the Cause of God together with the whole Bahai Administration with Local and National Spiritual Assemblies; the Bahai World State, also called Bahai-Commonwealth: the introduction of censorship; the demand of church renunciation by converts; the declaration of trust with by-laws and its inclusion ol the alleged testament of Abdul Baha: religious isolation by prohibition of practicing the active and passive right to vote: excommunication, theocratic organization with Bahai-hierarchy; the subordination of the individual conscience to that of the group: prohibition of free assertion of opinion to be found in the alleged testament of Abdul Baha: the patenting of the name "Bahai", monopoly of the Bahai religion with trials against "Free Bahais" because of the use of the word "Bahai" for a mini-Bahai bookshop, on posters, and in brochures. ²⁸⁹

We would all like to live in a better world, in a world which is closer to the ideal image that the great religious founders of human history drew before us again and again in theory and lived in practice before us. To do this requires, of course, much effort from many human souls, all over the world.

It Is different with Shoghism. There this new world simply comes from the retort with hocus-pocus-falsifications. Therefore it also looks appropriate: Extension of Identification card:

"Is your Bahai card already renewed? On January 31, 1967 the validity of the 1966 stamp runs out" ²⁹⁰

If the situation earlier in Germany was that "Non-Aryans not admitted", this statement now applies for non-Bahais in Haifa.

This news we read in the "Bahai Nachrichten" of Oct. 16, 1964, volume 12. "To our regret relatives who accompany a Bahai pilgrim but who are not Bahais themselves cannot be accommodated in the Pilgrim House and cannot take part in the program of the pilgrim residence. They are, however, welcome If they want to visit the shrines and gardens."²⁹¹

The following example is a foretaste of how complicated and limited life will become:

"Message from the Persian National Spiritual Assembly: Friends who want lo visit Iran are asked first to obtain permission from the Universal House of Justice (in Haifa) by means of the appropriate National Spiritual Assembly. Simultaneously they should inform the Persian National Spiritual Assembly, so that it can forward its decision to the Universal House." ²⁹²

However, if a Bahai from Persia wants to visit us, it is even more difficult: "Legitimation of our newly arrived Persian friends: The Spiritual Assemblies and groups are hereby informed that newly arrived Persian friends are to be asked about their Bahai identification. At the present time these papers are mostly filled out in Persian, therefore the National Spiritual Assembly asks the Spiritual Assemblies and groups to transfer these papers by a local member of the committee of Iranian Bahai Students with a corresponding translation to the Secretary ot the National Spiritual Assembly or, in case members of this committee cannot be reached, directly to the National Spiritual Assembly Secretary." ²⁹³

Two years later, the talk becomes still more open. The Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran literally writes in his newsletter of July 5, 1957, "If a person does not lay before you such a credential letter from us and calls himself a Bahai, you should in no case accept him, even if other Persian friends confirm that they know the person". ²⁹⁴

The following example shows how the Bahais are drawn to hairsplitting:

"Prayers should be read as they were written. Now to your question about prayers and alterations by the pronouncer: This is not allowed to happen, also not in the long prayer of duty or in the prayer of healing. We must either accept the insignificant discrepancies or say a prayer that is appropriate to our sex or our number." ²⁹⁵

True triumphs attain obstinancy and lack of compromise with the Administration Bahais; in spite of this the word "tolerance" is written in capital letters by them (in theory). "If a Bahai who has been taught of the necessity of a Bahai marriage ceremony has only a civil ceremony, the administrative rights must be taken away from him or her.
With kindest regards, The Universal House of Justice."

I do not know how far the "withdrawal of the administrative rights" is from being thrown out of the Bahai Organization. These "administrative rights" essentially consist of the right to vote as a Bahai."²⁹⁶ The Bahai Dogmas —

1. Unreserved acceptance of subordination and adherence to the alleged will of Abdul Baha2.  Absolute bond to the Bahai Administration which is derived from it 3.  Infallibility of the Guardian

are indirectly extended by this important fourth dogma of the regulation of Bahai marriage ceremony, which (up to now) Is not yet retroactive. The penalty for not following the regulation of Bahai marriage is the same as for not recognizing the alleged testament of Abdul Baha and the Bahai Administration which is bound to it" ²⁹⁷ The "kindest regards" of the Bahai World Bureaucracy, then, are supposed to be the band-aid of consolation for this lash of the whip.

The following note by which a woman was raised to martyrdom proves how much one must rearrange his thinking with the Administration Bahais:

". .. an American . , . Lua Getsinger... was on the return trip to America after one of her visits with Abdul Baha in Haifa when she became sick in Cairo and had to leave her ship. While she lay sick In Cairo, the first World War broke out and she did not receive permission to leave the country . . . she took care of the soldiers for many years . .. Lua died a martyr's death in 1916... a modest monument . . . for the first martyr on African soil." ²⁹⁸

During the Guardian's lifetime two other women were raised to martyrdom. Mrs. Keith Ransom-KehIer died in Persia whera she had exerted herself in petitions to the Persian government to obtain greater freedom for tha Bahais again. She was raised lo "martyrdom" Just as Mrs. May Maxwell, who died a completely natural death in Buenos Aires, after she had worked for Bahai Propaganda in South America. According to universal language usage a martyr is a man who offers his blood for his belief or who has had to suffer persecution for this belief. But that is not discussed in the three cases mentioned.

Are all of these earlier mentioned examples assertions of the New World Order "within whose administrative structure an embryonic civilization, incomparable and world-embracing, is imperceptibly maturing"? ²⁹⁹ I can only establish: Everything is turned upside down.

Is it not Irresponsible of the so-called Universal House of Justice in Haifa to encourage the Bahais to go to countries in which the Bahai religion is prohibited? These people sit with well endowed sinecures in Haifa where, at most, curious tourists and pious pilgrims press them and then they write as follows:

To the Bahais of Germany
Haifa,
April 1964

Dearly beloved friends,

The German Bahai Community .. . carries a great responsibility for spreading the light of God's belief over all of Europe, especially eastward into the countries of Eastern Europe ... to far inside Russia "³⁰⁰

The absolute prohibition of the Bahai teachings in the USSR does not go on the account of the Bahai religion, but on to the burden of political Shoghism. One would like to say to that Bahai hierarchy therefore, "Take care that Shoghism will again become the Bahai religion, and also that communism will face again with friendship the teachings of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha, as it is expressed in the quoted reports. But as long as you have not done that: Show us a good example! Go yourselves to Russia!"

As already reported, the Guardian had introduced a censorship of everything which was publicly spoken or printed a couple of months after thebeginning of his office. This is not the scientific method! The favorable words which were brought out by personalities in public life who are acquainted with the Bahai religion, be they scientists or writers, have been virtually completely silenced since the death of Abdul Baha. The few exceptions confirm the rule. If the facts were known to them they would no longer maintain their opinions or they would say, "This is something completely different from what was taught in the time of Abdul Baha." Here also the basic dynamics have grown static, still more of a retreat into a long overcome age. The "Iron Age", so-called by the Guardian," ³⁰¹ came under his brazen heel. This is seen in the following requirements for a "recognized Bahai":

1 "Recognized Bahais of the United Stales and Canada must not take part in any local, provincial or national election, conducted by political parties, where votes are to be cast for one or two or more candidates.

2 Recognized Bahais must not run for any public office as candidates of any political party, nor take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion of any party or party platform.

3 Recognized Bahais must not vote in any election based upon a party system.

4 Recognized Bahais must abstain from association with movements advocating social changes that presume partisan political action.

5 Recognized Bahais who speak on Bahai platforms must abstain from making any critical statements about any particular government or national policy.

6 Every Local Bahai Center must be responsible for the carrying out of the above laws by the Bahais in their respective communities. Local membership must include only the names of those who faithfully obey these regulations.

7 Recognized Bahais must not retain or apply for membership in any church or religious group. ³⁰²

8 Bahais failing to give unreserved obedience to the above regulations and to numerous others which are constantly legislated, and month after month spread on the pages of "Bahai News" by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the United States and Canada, are expelled or excommunicated from the Cause, and the Bahais are not permitted to associate with these expelled or excommunicated ones, regardless of friendship, no matter of how long standing nor of the depth of their affection or love." ³⁰³

 

What intelligent men who believe they belonged to a progressive movement do is easy to guess.The dogma of the physical ascension of Mary or the condemnation of the Copernican teachings - which were later retracted -are harmless compared with the above mentioned rules of behavior because they cannot cause much damage. They indicate a spiritual attitude which can most honestly be classified with that of the Inquisition. And at the same time tolerance is a concept on which the Bahais put particular value. There is one statement from Sabet which I would like to introduce here almost literally; it was supposed to apply to religions in general, but I am going to use it in reference to the Guardian and his Administration."In the course of the last 50 years — not of the centuries — human inadequacy has increased so much that the Sun of Truth was darkened by the clouds of human inertia, greed for power, and intolerance and a critical observer, without being malicious himself, can come to the opinion that It has something to do with — in the alleged Bahai religion of the Guardian — the opiate of the people."

Even the most beautiful temples with gilded tiles and splendid gardens cannot submerge the fact that these things only serve as advertisement and tourist attracion for a system which is unique in the history of religions. Name-calling is unnecessary. Shoghism is exactly the opposite of the Bahai religion. Even if the Guardian has not been there for more than a dozen years, the "Hands of the Cause" and this alleged "Universal House of Justice" in Haifa work further, certain of their goal, to the reversal of the Bahai religion as Baha'u'llah would have it. Where in the whole enumerated catalogue of Shoghism is there a hint of "the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals", as it so seductively reads in the three page excerpt from Shoghi's writing in the introduction to the Proclamation of Baha'u'llah'" ³⁰⁴ Exactly the opposite is the case! And because, happily, men turn instinctively against the "Guardian concentration camp", the Bahai-Administrators lose their courage. "Mankind has been struck blind", one of their spokesmen recently established In the "Bahai-Briefe" (Bahai Letters).

With our presentation we hope, however - even with calculation for some mistakes and errors which always slip in - to have provided additional evidence to the various demonstrations of the falsification of the alleged testament of Abdul Baha, so that the followers of the Bahai Administration may recognize how they themselves have been struck blind.

PART TEN

---

289.  Details about the trial see Sohrab, Broken Silence, 1942, pp. 196 and 258 with photocopies of the verdicts in great American newspapers
290. "BN" of December/January 1967, p. 6
291.  The Universal House ol Justice, Bahai World Center Haifa (Israel) August. 1964
292.  "BN", 1965, Vol. I, p. 7
293.  "BN". 1955, Vol. 7. p. 5
294.  quoted in "BN". Sept/Oct., 1957, Vol. 6/7, p. 8
295.  Shoghi Effendi, Principles of Bahai Administration, p. 8, quoted in "BN", 1965, Vol. 17
296.  see Esslemont, Neues Zeitalter, Frankfurt 1963, p. 307, footnote
297.  see Esslemont. New Era, 1970, p. 271f. "
298.  "BN" 1960, Vol. 17. p. 11
299.  Shoghl Elfendi, Promised Day, p. 16
300.  Bahai Nachrichten" 1964, Vol. 4
301.  GPB. pp. Xlll/324
302.  For the details of above regulations from Nos. 1 to 7 read "Bahai News", December 1932 and July 1933. Quoted by Sohrab, Silence, p. 155f.
303.  For item No. 8 read article entitled "The Determination of Membership" on page 3, January 1940 issue of   "Bahai News". Quoted by Sohrab, Silence, p. 156
304.  Haifa 1967, p. Xf. and Esslemont, New Era 1970, p. 280