A FRAUDULENT TESTAMENT Part-8

Chapter 9.

 

IX. THE DECLINE OF THE BAHAI RELIGION,  THE ANTITHESIS OF THE "DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY"

The diminution of power is not a phenomenon of decline — The separation of church and state is likewise not a phenomenon of decline — The "Christians are blind", but the Bahais are stoneblind — The infallibility of the Pope matches that of tha Guardian — The Bahai religion is not a monolithic block — Modern factual knowledge is taught neither by the Bahais nor In the church - The Bahai teachings of the Administration are very different from the teachings of the founder of the Bahai religion -   The Christian churches in the USSR are permitted, the Bahai religion is prohibited — The difference in views in the Bahai camp is greater than that between the modern and traditional Protestant theologies — Medieval ways of asserting authority by the Bahai Administration — The fifth principle of Baha'u'llah, "Religion must be in accord with Science and Reason", is swept away by the Bahai Administration.

One of the really great advances of the new age is a mental advancement in the area of religion. In the Vatican Council decrees there is a statement which indicates the astonishing transformation of the Catholic church in a rapidly changing world: 

"The Church also views with high esteem the Moslems, who worship the one God... the Creator of Heaven and Earth, who has spoken to men." ²⁷² This truly cosmopolitan attitude, which communicates a clear denial of spiritual provincialism, is now returned substantially modified by a former Moslem, or member of a former Moslem family. In 1967 the Persian Hushmand Sabet who lives in Stuttgart published a book about the Bahai religion, Der gespaltene Himmel ("The Divided Heaven"). In order to make it palatable to the Christian West the largest subjection of the first chapter is called "The Decline of Christianity". We do not think that Sabet knew the harsh words of Machiavelli, that "A new religion's first concern is to exterminate its forerunner in order to obtain validity for itself " . . . or he would have certainly chosen other wording. The teaching of Christ will still hold as long as the world exists, as will the religious roots of the teaching of Mohammed or Baha'u'llah. The Bahai religion, hardly 100 years old, supplies a classic example of how all these teachings are hurt by careless handling in the area of the human sphere. On the basis of the same examples and quotations with whitih Sabet points out the "Decline of Christianity", we will present the decline -that is, revaluation of the Bahai teachings.

Remarkably, the first symptom of the "Decline of Christianity" for Sabet is that the Pope was robbed of his wordly power. When then did the Pope receive this wordly power? Was it not by the "Constantinian Grant", that mammoth falsification of the eighth century, which was tacitly acknowledged 1000 years later as such by the Catholic church? Sabet says nothing about a modern parallel of that famous falsification being enacted 78 years after the beginning of the Bahai revelation that this is done by the very religion which wants to offer itself as an alternative to the Christian one, the Bahai religion. What were the reasons back then? Desire for might and money by the ruling class or an individual. And in the present? Desire for might and money by an individual or a small group, who with the help of a false testament and the favorite maxim of all swindlers, "The world wants to be deceived", takes advantage of the falsification in order to lead a life in grand style.If Sabet had published his Divided Heaven a little later, he would have been able to recognize, with one glance at the Proclamation of Baha'u'ilah (1967) of the Bahai World Center, that Baha'u'llah himself had advised Pope Plus IX to relinquish his power. Former canon Townshend had presented Baha'u'llah's demands, however, very clearly in his Christ and Baha'u'llah 1971 on page 82:"... sell all the embellished ornaments thou dost possess and expend them in the path of God ... Abandon thy kingdom unto the kings, and emerge from thy habitation..." Townshend continues: "... the following year... (the Pope) was by force deprived of the temporal rule which he had refused to surrender voluntarlly..."

The following statement of Baha'u'llah, directed to Napoleon, could also be put in the album of the whole Bahai Administration, whose demand for power has become an open secret by this presentation of Sabet:

"Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Baha, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant?" ²⁷³

The separation of church and state which was carried out in various countries — as a further proof for the phenomena of decline — is welcomed by Sabet a couple of pages later, because it "was a great advancement in European spiritual life" ²⁷⁴ There we are of the same opinion! But what was the opinion of the first man of the Bahai Administration after the Guardian, Horace Holley? 

"Religion giving a law to the nation"! ²⁷⁵ The clever secretary in fact maintains "this ist the most revolutionary conception which can enter the mind of man". Yet he appears to have overlooked that there has already been such an age, and today it is called the "darkest Middle Ages".

Sabet can not avoid exposing the blind, uncritical belief of the church-loyal Christians, because he quotes a Catholic theologian. Does he want to say perhaps with this that the Bahais for whom he speaks are less blind and more critical? Unfortunately that is not true! Criticism was not necessary as long as Abdul Baha, the Master, lived. However when after his death a Testament allegedly coming from him appeared, it shows that the great majority of Bahais were exactly as uncritical and just as blind, and still are today. Yes In reality they see even less. Because it is praised as a "religion without dogmas", and the Bahais do not notice that they have at least three dogmas. First, there is the alleged Will and Testament of Abdul Baha (which Is cemented in three times in their by-laws), to which one must "subordinate" himself, and in addition as a second dogma, the Bahai Administration. Without "unreserved acceptance" of these two points, there is no right to vote as a Bahai." ²⁷⁶

Sabet continues the scale of "phenomena of decline" with the dogma proclaimed in 1870 of the infallibility of the Pope, the passage of which is attributed to the determining influence of a radical group within the church. The same dogma has been taken on in the Bahai religion without being designated as such: "The Guardian of the Cause of God (the late Shoghi [Effendi] Rabbani 1957) . . . who stands under the infallible protection of Baha'ullah."²⁷⁷ This means to say that Shoghi is infallible! In more quotations about this third dogma of the Bahais, the Guardian himself speaks of "the Administration of Baha'u'llah's invincible Faith . , . this infallible Organ for the accomplishment of a Divine Purpose". ²⁷⁸ The wife of the Guardian Ruhiyyih Khanum, who still plays a great role in the Bahai Administration today, defines the infallibility of the Guardian still more exactly: "Therefore we might believe that he (the Guardian) will never err in the fulfillment of his functions and responsibilities in reference to the belief and can never err. Divine leadership means this, namely to be endowed byGod with Infallibility..." ²⁷⁹

The only difference between these two dogmas of "infallibility" is that in the Catholic church this dogma is avoided and omitted as much as possible, while the Guardian's words represent the "ultima ratio" (the highest point), so that "the very teachings which Abdul Baha devoted his life to uphold and disseminate have fallen into an obscure background" ²⁸⁰

The division of the Christian church into smaller and smallest groups which was begun in the 19th century is also viewed by Sabet as a further phenomenon of decline. It is a self deception if Sabet wants to present the Bahai Religion as a monolithic block, as a counterpart to this fact. In the Bahai religion there are at least two groups: the organized main establishment, which follows the Administration of the Guardian, and the free Bahais, whose model is Abdul Baha. There are free Bahais everywhere where there were Bahais in Abdul Baha's time. Especially there must be many of these followers of the Master in Persia, the land of the Bahai religion's birth. As an indirect proof for this, I would like to bring up the various precautionary measures, which are supposed to, or must, be observed since the second letter of the Guardian in March 1922 concerning the "Orientals". At the end of our presentation a few samples will prove how difficult it is today to travel to Persia, even if one possesses a full checkbook.Yet the main stem of the Bahais also has great worries. There was the American Mason Remey, appointed by Shoghi President of the International Bahai Council in Haifa. Because around 1960 he was afraid of soon losing his nice post, he wanted to be instituted as Guardian number 2 and therefore had to be excommunicated, with his group of supporters. The head group of the "Hands of the Cause" in Haifa under the leadership of the Guardian's wife also came heavily under pressure in the election of the Universal House of Justice In Haifa, when not she herself or her group but a completely different people were elected.Not one more German in Germany declared his willingness to take over the chairmanship of the National Spiritual Assembly. One had to refer to Persians, who compose only 25-30 per cent of the approximately 1500 Bahais in Germany. When Mohammedan students in Giessen near Frankfurt spoke against the Bahais in a flier, an answer was immediately sent. When Professor Rosen-kranz (Tuebingen, 1958) spoke, among other things, of a schism in the Bahai religion in an article in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine", the well-known German newspaper a position against this was taken a good year later. Similarly, accusations of the Protestant church in one of its periodicals were answered. Our "open letter" to H. Sabet of May and October, 1969 and its sequel in January, 1970 were completely ignored, in spite of or exactly because these attacks were much more dangerous. The truth however is not held back by these tricks, to be sure.

The disputes in the Christian church between the modern points of view and the traditional leavings run parallel to the division between the Administration Bahais and the free Bahais, so that the statement quoted by Sabet from tha theologian Conzelmann in the appropriate modification looks like this:" The Bahai religion of the Administration actually exists because the results of the scientific research on the alleged testament of Abdul Baha are not public." So too among the Bahais "everything totters", they just don't notice it. If there is a battle about demythologizing, it is with the Bahais, not only of the alleged Guardian and his privileges, but above all the Bahai Administration, which derives its authority from the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha. This Bahai Administration, however, forms the "framework for the Bahai-Commonwealth", the future "Bahai World State". What this goal is supposed to have to do with religion is hard to explain. A Baha'u'llah and an Abdul Baha would drive the messengers of such teachings — allegedly their own teachings - out of the temple, as is reported of Christ and the money changers. In addition, Abdul Baha says:

"Should they place in the arena the crown of the government of the whole world, and invite each one of us to accept it, undoubtedly we shall not condescend, and shall refuse to accept it" ²⁸¹

The following quotation in Sabet from theologian Ernst Barnikol can be transferred in the same form to the Bahai religion because that which is proclaimed about this religion by the Bahai Administration is hardly still identical with that which Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha proclaimed. In addition there is the judgement of the editors of Bahai books, who also once belonged to the Bahai organization: "The Will is ranked as more important than the actual Teachings."²⁸³

And Mrs. White defends the view: "Although only a little over seven years have elapsed since the passing of Abdul Baha, in these seven years the Bahai Religion has been diverted from its original intent and strangled more completely by organization than Christianity was diverted and strangled in the first three hundred years of its inception. In fact the policies of the Bahai organization are the inversion of the Bahai Religion." ²⁸⁴

The name "Shoghism" in the title of this treatise is no exaggeration. Thus it can happen that the name of the Guardian is found in an issue of the "Bahai Nachrichten" (News) a dozen times; the names of Baha'u'llah and of Abdul Baha only, however, a few times.

In the continuation of "phenomena of decline" Sabet now takes up the church of Eastern Christianity. There especially, much was destroyed at the beginning of the communist take-over: however, today there is still a Greek-Orthodox Church in Russia, together with other Christian faiths. The Bahai religion was prohibited. The first Bahai Temple in Ishkabad was torn down, supposedly because it was damaged by an earthquake, and the site was levelled. The Bahai religion remains prohibited, which is easy to understand after hearing the alleged goals quoted earlier. This would be a plus for the Christian religion and a strong vole of non-confidence for what is today allegedly called the Bahai religion. The Soviets had the impression all too well that there was more real religion with the Christian church, than with the Bahais with their "Administration".

Sabet establishes that there are at least two fully opposing viewpoints in the Protestant church, especially in connection with the demythologizing. Exactly the same thing can be said about the Bahais. In a letter from 1955 a former member of the National Spiritual Assembly concedes to Mrs. Luise Zimmer:

"You are completely right that between you and your friends in the Bahai Union and us, an unbridgeable gap exists..."

And if with these spiritual disputes the Christians "often enough doubt the right belief and Christianity of their adversaries.. .'"²⁸⁵, then this statement of Sabet is all the more aggravating, as he himself behaves exactly so. No answer was received to an "open letter" which was sent by the author to him and two other leading Stuttgart Bahais with these problems of the "decline of Christianity" and their application to the Bahai religion of the Administration. The non-defense of his views seems to be the best defense for Sabet. For a man who after studying engineering could still also study comparative religion (see book cover) this attitude would appear an evidence of incapacity. But probably the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahais recommended this attitude. Shoghi, the dead Guardian, did it similarly ... If peace comes again after the storm of the spiritual lightnings and the thunder of cool considerations in the atmosphere, then the sun of the Bahai Administration with its "victories" foredated in the present shines again on these gullible children of the twentieth century.

At the end of this interesting section about the "Decline of Christianity", Sabet takes up the authority of the church. Have not, however, some Protestant and Catholic clergymen, especially in the post-war years, drawn extraordinary sympathies by their personal efforts and thereby given a little sparkle again to this lost authority?

All these men certainly do not come close to the authority of the deceased Guardian! However, no single selfless deed is reported about him. He did it easier for himself. He simply calls on a testament supposedly originating from Abdul Baha, where it reads:

whoso denieth him (the Guardian) hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath "in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath the fierce indignation, the vengeance of God rest upon him!"

(Alleged Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, Wilmette 1971, p. 11)One can then understand having read in the (private) newsletter of the Bahais the ever returning refrain of the Frankfurt secretary for years and years: More native believers have to be won." No one wants to make better acquaintance with these medieval ways of thinking.

The sub-section following the "Decline of Christianity" is titled "Christianity and Science*', The endeavors of modern Protestant theology are followed with much sympathy by all Bahais. But what is the situation concerning the problem of "Bahai Religion and Science"? There much is in a bad statel The fifth principle of the twelve basic rules of the Bahai religion says, "Religion must be in accord with science and reason". Yet this statement applies only in Bahai theory !   In reality, the Bahais let voices of emotion overcome the voices of reason. This former Stuttgart Bahai writes In the above mentioned letter to Mrs. Luise Zimmer:

"And when Shoghi showed this Testament (the alleged 'will and testament of Abdul Baha' to a Stuttgart friend who visited him in Haifa in the twenties, and said with tears in his eyes 'I have done nothing to this Testament', I believe him more than 100 graphologists and sophists put together."

Not much can be clone against such a method of proof. Eleven years earlier the alleged testament was also spoken of in the "Sonne der Wahrheit". A Stuttgart Bahai, who had rendered great service to the Cause by her work, made her second visit to Shoghi Effendi in Haifa, and wrote "And then came a gripping moment Shoghi Effendi showed us Baha'u'llah's Testament and that of Abdul Baha. . . He handed Abdul Baha's testament first to me, then to the friends. Involuntarily I stood with this invaluable treasure in my hands!" ²⁸⁶

A lady of the best Stuttgart society of the "powerful prewar Germany" gives reverence to this forgery of the sly Levantine? What a feeling of satisfaction and compensation must have come over the Guardian-forger then! The great disappointment about his having to leave the college in Beirut without a degree was now more than compensated!

How elegantly Shoghi sneaked away from the positive proof of the validity of the long doubted alleged testament of Abdul Baha, the following sentence shows:

"I will not attempt in the least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as fo the unanimous confidence of the believers in the genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed master," ²⁸⁷

One must hand it to the Guardian: he played with words masterfully and understood how to envelop his followers in his statements. The protesting of the Bahais still reverberates today In the just quoted book, which Horace Holley the secretary of the American Bahais and Shoghl's spiritual descendant wrote nine years later: "No longer do the Bahais require Abdul Baha's written Testament to prove the existence of the Guardianship. . ." ²⁸⁸

PART NINE

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272.  cited by U. Schaefer, Die Missverstandene Religion, 1968, p. 52
273.  BWF, p. 50
274.  Sabet loc. cit, p. 23
275.  WOB. p. VI
276.   Esslemont, New Era, 1970, p. 271 and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, Wllmette 1969, Art. II, p. 9
277.  Sabet, p. 33, footnote
278.  Shoghi Effendi, WOB, p. 89
279.  from Ruhiyyih Khanum, "Lehrprobleme". quoted in "Bahai-Lehrbrief" 3/109, p.3
280.  Sohrab. Will, Introduction, p. 7
281.  BWF, p. 425
283.  Sohrab, Will, p. 10
284.  White, Bahai Religion, p. 2
285.  Sabet, p. 18
286.  "SdW" 1936, p. 152
287.  Shoghi Effendi, WOB, p. 4
288.  Shoghi Effendi, WOB, Introduction by Horace Holley  p. VI