Re: Just governments...

[Rich Ater]

With regard to obedience/disobedience to governments... there is a "qualifier" that seems to be missing from the discussion. That word is "just". Obedience to JUST governments. Hi everyone,     Just wading in briefly. If I remember right, Shoghi Effendi defined a just government as one legally formed under the laws of the given country in question. A glaring example was Nazi Germany. A horror to be sure, but duly elected under the laws of the Weimar Republic. If I remember the story, the Gestapo demanded that they turn over the names of Baha'is of Jewish descent. They cabled the Guardian who immediately ordered them to disband, thus there was no Baha'i Community to comply and no Baha'i Community throughout the Nazi Era. At least thats the story I heard, I'd love to read a history of the Faith in Germany during that time. As to just standing by, we are allowed to exercise our right to protest in countries where it is legal. We must do so as individuals and not as representatives of the Baha'i Faith. That's the advice that National gave to my wife and I when we asked if we could march against the WTO in Seattle, which we did on the first day. Rich __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu