RE: Just governments...

[Ian Kluge]

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.       Dear Rich,   You write:   “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.”   Ian:   Sorry, but a couple of points of history. “Duly elected” is not really the accurate phrase.   Hitler was never elected Chancellor; in Germany’s last truly democratic election, he pulled 37% of the vote, which means that 63% of voters opted for various other parties.   Stalin then ordered the Communist Party *not* to form an anti-Nazi alliance with the Social Democrats (together they could out vote the Nazis.).   Thus, under Weimar law (and normal parliamentary practice) Hindenburg had to call on Hitler as the leader of the largest contingency in the Reichstag to form the government, which he did on January 8, 1933.   Hitler them proceeded to take over *illegally.* The Nazi’s set the Reichstag Fire (Feb. 27, 1933), blamed it on the Communists and got Hindenburg to give Hitler emergency  governing powers with which he intimidated his political enemies.   He then had another ‘election’ and got 44% (still not 50% even at this point) of the vote, used the Brown Shirts to prevent socialists and communists who had been elected from taking their seats and pressured the other parties to pass the “Enabling Laws” that gave him absolute dictatorial power.   This doesn’t look “duly elected” to me. Nor just.   Best wishes,   Ian                        __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 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