Dear Brent,
I'm a bit short on time, but I like to comment on your post.
> my point is that he didn't include "history" in that
> letter he directed his secretary to write on his behalf.
What he included was "etc." That's critical. For example, he didn't include sociology in that list. But if I want to know sociology, I rather hear from Mark Foster.
> and careless remarks needlessly hurt people
I suspect this barb was aimed at me. I'm surprised that you would characterize my comments as "careless". You should know better.
But what I'm really surprised is that you're playing into this "victim society" that we live in. Everybody is a victim. One can't say anything substantive because it might possibly "hurt someone's feelings". One can't even serve hot coffee in McDonalds anymore because someone might burn themselves and sue the place (which has happened). Everyone must be treated with velvet glove!
Give me a break. I thought there were grown ups on this list who could handle a bit of direct communication and the truth.
Perhaps I should do what others do on this list which is to pile a bunch of mindless "loving" stuff that says absolutely nothing and contributes zero to our intellectual advancement.
> 4. Shoghi Effendi many times uses the Dawn-breakers
> as a source for his own history of the Faith,
> throughout God Passes By.
This is simply not true. He used a wide variety of sources. Read the Priceless Pearl. He spent a year reading and taking notes.
> What's good enough for him, is good enough for me.
He also had a mustache. Do you have a mustache. He vacationed only in Switzerland. Do you vacation only in Switzerland? He married a Canadian woman. Did you marry a Canadian? He married when he was 40. How old were you when you got married? He loved eggplants. Do you like eggplants? He wore only dark suits. I better not catch you in any light-color suit. He loved gardens. Do you guys have very many gardens in New Mexico?
> The fact that he so copiously annotated it with
> quotations from impartial historical and diplomatic
> sources shows that he regarded it as a work of
> authentic history, and wished us to do so, too.
Your logic alludes me. In fact, I think the very opposite. The fact the he thought he had to add miles and miles of footnotes is because he knew very well that a lot of things that Nabil had to say had to be balanced with other sources.
> 10. Steve Lambden has written a very good article
> (which I can't locate) in which he convincingly shows
> that the incident recounted in the Dawn-breakers (p. 75)
> where the teacher brings the Bab back to His uncle and
> says he can't teach Him anything, is probably allegorical
> (my term), as the same story is recounted in some instances
> word-for-word in traditions about earlier Prophets.
And in your view that doesn't undermine the authenticity of Nabil's?!
The main problem that I see is that if we tie Shoghi Effendi's office too closely with a book like Nabil's or with a history book like God Passes By, then once people find errors in them (and there are plenty to be sure, at least in Nabil's), it will begin to undermine the Guardianship too. As such, I like to be wise about it and put a bit of distance between the two. That way, when Nabil's history is criticized, that fire is not aimed at the Guardian and his office remains immune.
I think I've said all I wanted to say on this topic and will post no more.
Regards,
ahang.
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