At 12:05 +0000 5/21/05, Jim Habegger wrote:
Have you ever seen any decision by the Universal
House of Justice, that forbids us to promote the
inclusion of Women on the Universal House of
Justice, or a Guardian after Shoghi Effendi, or
any other view in particular?
Have you ever seen any decision by the Universal
House of Justice that forbids us to promote any
view that we imagine is contrary to its own?
Have you ever seen any decision by the Universal
House of Justice that requires us, before
promoting any view, to first make sure that it
is not contrary to anything the Universal House
of Justice has ever written, as we understand it?
In Addition to what Brent wrote/cited are the following -
Response from Universal House of Justice
18 May 1995
Your message suggests that the House of Justice
"outline which aspects of current Bahá'í
Administration are permanent and which are
subject to change". You have made this suggestion
in the light of your concern that some of the
ideas you have seen expressed for making the
administration work better might be
inappropriate. The House of Justice judges that
for it to make such a categorization would not be
fruitful. The believers' own study of the
writings, especially those of Shoghi Effendi and
including the Constitution of the Universal House
of Justice, should enable them to arrive at an
ever greater understanding of the essentials of
the Administrative Order. The workings of the
community, as you will appreciate, are organic in
nature and so is its growth. As time passes, the
community expands, and conditions change, the
House of Justice will make such adjustments and
developments as are required. In so doing, the
House of Justice takes cognizance of the
conditions prevailing in the community and any
views presented to it, reserving for itself the
right of an unfettered decision in the manner
described by Shoghi Effendi in "The Dispensation
of Bahá'u'lláh". Its first consideration must
always be to remain faithful to the revealed
purpose of Bahá'u'lláh, as expounded and
interpreted by Abdul -Baha and the Guardian.
Individual believers are entirely free to make
their own recommendations for developments which
they feel would be desirable, but the manner in
which they do so is important, because this
relates to fundamental principles of the
functioning of Bahá'í society. On the one hand
they may present their recommendations at the
Nineteen Day Feast, or directly to their Local or
National Spiritual Assembly, or even the to the
Universal House of Justice. On the other hand,
they are free to discuss these matters informally
among themselves. Any actions, however, which
savour of factionalism, of mobilizing pressure,
or of stirring up contention among the Bahá'ís
would be an inadmissible intrusion of the spirit
of partisan politics into Bahá'í community life.
In general the House of Justice advises the
friends to be less concerned with correcting what
they conceive to be present imperfections in the
administrative system, than with thoroughly
understanding the principles which underline it,
as clearly expounded by the Guardian, and with
perfecting the application of those principles in
practice.
(http://bahai-library.com/?file=uhj_suggestions)
Of particular importance is the sentence, "Any
actions, however, which savour of factionalism,
of mobilizing pressure, or of stirring up
contention among the Bahá'ís would be an
inadmissible intrusion of the spirit of partisan
politics into Bahá'í community life."
I would also suggest two other statements by the House of Justice -
Individual Rights and Freedom of Expression
Some Issues Concerning Community Functioning.
In my opinion, there are 3 topics which can not be appropriately advocated -
Women on the House of Justice,
A second Guardian
Homosexual marriage
There are very explicit statements from the House
on these issues at http://bahai-library.com/.
At the same time, as the House of Justice says in
the above letter, "On the other hand, they are
free to discuss these matters informally among
themselves." Personally, having watched the
ranting and raving that went on during the late
90's, I'm no longer interested in discussing
these issues.
Don C
--
He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not.
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